When the Governor of Utah gave a two-week student dismissal as a precaution to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, most of us teacher wondered what it meant for us.
To our surprise, it meant that suddenly we were moving to online learning platforms. Teacher employed by the district were to spend Monday & Tuesday uploading their curriculum online. The goal was to implement the online learning on Wednesday.
Private instructors, like myself -- employed by a third party, sat in limbo while our employer found ways for our classes to continue. All the questions came rushing through my head. Do I still have to teach? Am I losing my job? What will happen to my children? Will they continue practicing? Who is gonna cheer them on through these next few weeks? How can i keep my students entertained during this time?
I spent most of my Saturday night and Sunday morning preparing for what I thought would be a temporary fix to the situation. I just wanted to give them a way to continue practicing and receiving feedback. By Monday, I had received the news that I was going to teach online & my curriculum should be uploaded by Wednesday.
Piece of cake, I had already begun my quest for online teaching tools. This was gonna be easy!
Wednesday was not kind.
The Salt Lake Valley woke up to a thundering 5.7 magnitude earthquake.
The earthquake rattled me a lot more than I like to admit (although clearly I'm admitting to it).Still in uncharted territory, using the platforms I was most familiar with, I had submitted all my assignments for students to access with due dates and everything. I included detailed instructions and a paragraph about how due to the unforeseen circumstances, if the assignments were late, that was okay. I really just wanted them to become familiar with the program.
Then we get to the issues. Not every student has accesses to the proper equipment needed to complete assignments properly. I worry that some parents are not reading the emails, or flat out ignoring me. I worry, constantly, about my students who were struggling and how I can help them understand the concepts. I'm extremely grateful for the parents who continuously support me & my program. They are the reason I can continue doing what I love.
Being a music teacher, in uncharted territory, I've learned that I am not alone. The last week, I've spent countless hours on conference calls with colleagues all around the state and country trying to figure this out. We are all doing the same but different things. Spent hours uploading my curriculum, only to find it was uploaded wrong and had to start over.
Don't try to re-invent the wheel. Keep your students engaged and entertained. Provide learning and instruction but also don't be super picky.
Watch the video below. This was a webinar provided by the NAMM Foundation & NAfME. It's about this exact thing we are living and trying to figure out. Bridging the Gap: Learning and Teaching Music Online.
Now, the biggest concern I have is: how am I going to recruit for next year's band program?
Many schools across the country are closing for the rest of the school year. This takes away from performance opportunities for my students, which are often used as recruitment tools. Recruitment is key in keeping a beginning band program alive.
I honestly don't know what I am going to do, but you best bet that I will be on more phone calls trying to figure it out.
This is all new.
