6 STEPS TO ENGAGING VIRTUAL TEACHING FOR CHILDREN: Hey, Artists!
I encourage anyone who cares to share their work as an artist in any media, to do so now. Start with just one simple lesson: something only you can teach because of your unique skills and experience. We artists, workers with our hands, imaginative observers of the world, playful users of words, bearers of culture - need to make our unique vision available to children. The commercial media is such a powerful force, I would like to see more of us getting our vision to a broader audience! Going directly to teachers and children is one way to try. This post offers a first step plan in assembling a lesson format. Past posts offer a little more detail on steps I have taken so far.
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In BACKSTAGE at the moment, as a former live and in-person puppeteer and teaching artist, I am sharing my immediate learning curve in the transition to a virtual audience - in case it may be helpful to others in any kind of similar transition.
And, as the gap in posts shows, I have had so much to learn, I really didn’t have time for the meta experience of writing about it.
PERSONAL GOAL:
My goal is to share what I have developed in countless classroom hours of arts integrated education with teachers and parents who may not have time or access to keep the arts in the curriculum, AND to help them avoid screen fatigue for the students still in virtual classes. Generation of income would be nice, too. I expect this part to take time as I have SO much to learn about social media promotion, etc.
My professional art form is puppetry, and the Zoom type classroom can be a very effective platform for this media, no matter how simple. A stick figure drawn on a scrap of paper moving across the screen in it’s own little world is just as engaging as more involved techniques. Each student, and teacher, for that matter, now has their own little screen on which to create close up, cinematic experiences.
WHAT NOW?
So, right now, in lieu of my in-person performance and teaching work which has totally disappeared due to the pandemic, I am assembling a series of digital/video packets to sell on TeachersPayTeachers - a site I recommend. It is easy to use, with a world-wide clientele, and the products, which are all created by teachers, are offered at low prices, making them affordable to teachers, and sellers take advantage of the very large number of people who use this platform. And membership is free to buyers and free up to a certain level to sellers as well. That said, I am totally new to TpT, and without any proof so far of how well this effort will do. But I am optimistic.
I would mention that there is a lot of room on TpT for arts content in any media. I would love to see more arts integrated digital/video projects available from storytellers, actors, visual artists, and more. It seems to me this could be a way to keep some semblance of the arts in the curriculum, while also generating income. I really believe in this as a (still not proven) possibility! Teachers need help!
AVOIDING THE LECTURE:
Face it - talking human heads on a screen can be yawn-worthy, which is why news media go to extremes to create interest - using strategies from exaggeration, to stories focused on the scary, the over-dramatic, the cute, to vitriolic arguments masquerading as news.
Children prefer to be involved, rather than passively watching. Yes, they will watch Paw Patrol and their ilk for hours, but this format has color, action, humor, adventure, those annoying cartoon voices, music and sound effects, and exciting pauses for mesmerizing commercials.
So, following are some tips for creating either pre-recorded or live virtual lessons. Of course these are universally effective teaching elements, but there is a bit more leeway in a live classroom for things like individual attention and pacing.
These elements do not all have to be included in the video: some may be inside a written project plan. For example, my videos do not lead students through the entire lesson. The teacher is equipped via the project packet with the written steps on elements that are most likely to be familiar: story presentation, activity sheet completion, etc. I include in the video only the parts where I consider the classroom teacher may need the most help: for example, a demonstration of how to make the puppets.
And, by the way, I am certainly learning as I go - somewhat writing to my self here, too, as I constantly want to improve my videos!
1. A DYNAMIC START
Try one of these:
• one short introductory sentence then jump right into action
• wear something unusual
• present in front of an interesting background
• do something surprising - a bell or horn?
• if you are sharing a picture book, read with energy, maybe change your voice for different characters, move the book itself for emphasis
• use a puppet or stuffed animal
2. MINIMIZE “TALKING HEAD” SEGMENTS
Even in a lesson introduction, find something you can SHOW, not just tell.
• a picture or photo
• a mysterious sound
• a surprise
• a QUICK demonstration as you talk, with camera focused on the demo
3. BREAK IT DOWN
• if giving instructions, show/explain just one step then pause
• try to make accessible to students any template or worksheet you are demonstrating
• if students are making something at home, keep the materials list absolutely basic, including recycled cereal box cardboard, etc.
4. WRITE MOVEMENT INTO THE LESSON
• pause the instruction occasionally for even nonsense movement - just to shake it out
• pause for a short clapping rhythm
• pause to practice a movement to be used later in the lesson
5. WRITE SIMPLE MANUAL CONSTRUCTION INTO THE LESSON
• children need to use their hands - the kinesthetic learners, and everyone else too
• certain skills are learned such as using scissors and drawing figures from the imagination
• provides a much needed break from work on screen
• allows STEAM learning in the 3-D world
6. ENCOURAGE PEER OBSERVATION AND POSITIVE CRITIQUE
• provide opportunity written into the lesson for observation of and comment on peer’s work
• request only positive and helpful comments
• everyone needs to know that they have been seen, so some sort of sharing culmination is important
Please feel free to contact me for suggestions, comments, or help!
And please subscribe to the mailing list for updates. I promise there will generally be no more than a single newsletter/month! I don’t have time to be too annoying! (Plus you get a FREE, all ages puppet template for subscribing!)
I am trying to send out 2 posts/month. The next will be a tech post - as I have spent so much time learning simple promotional and other stuff for getting my work out to the public, and I hope to flatten your time vs learning curve a bit!
So much to learn right now, but I say: