Class-Zoom Fatigue
What’s wearing you down in your online classroom?
I was full of enthusiasm for the massive change that online teaching made to my life when my school closed and went digital two months ago. I’m still enjoying this style of teaching, and the general feedback from the teachers at my centre all concur that they have fewer behavioural issues to deal with and have seen an improvement in student progress.
For all that though, some people are getting a little fed up with their “class-zoom” and finding themselves fatigued. One colleague mentioned that she often gets up from her classes and finds herself face-planting into her bed with exhaustion. I feel like I am yelling at my computer screen even though I’ve been assured that I am not — I guess earphones mess with your ability to gauge your volume.
Here are some of the things I’ve experienced over the last two months with suggestions for improvements at the end.
Too Many Cues Or Not Enough of Them
As a teacher, I feel I always have my attention pulled in multiple directions but the online classroom proves to be differently demanding. Without those turn-taking conversational cues that tell us who wants to speak — raised hands, intakes of breath, the talking over one another — I find one of two things happens…
