School in the Time of Coronavirus

A new reality

Last Wednesday we learned that the rest of our semester all of our classes will be held online.

In the moment I was really bummed, and it still is a bummer, but in the days since then I’ve both realized the necessity of shutting everything down and come to terms with having classes online.

So far, Zoom class has been going well. We’ve been working on setting up norms so that it can feel as close to normal as possible. During our first Zoom class last Thursday we talked about the importance of seeing each others’ faces to still feel engaged with each other in class, so we agreed to keep our cameras on, if possible. I think it also helps that we’ve been taking classes together for the last six months, so we’re very comfortable with each other. In a video class full of strangers, I think it would be much more intimidating to speak up.

As Yvonne pointed out, one of the biggest losses that we’re going to face with online classes is the moments that we engage with each other informally, before and after class and during breaks. It’s in these moments that we really build relationships and learn from each other. So I’m going to try to be proactive about building in video calls with classmates and friends!

Like this post class group hang out with Steven and Aitana today:

And here are some more pictures of the fun times in Zoom class:

Here’s to hoping that everyone is taking care of themselves at home and that we can all get through this as compassionately and quickly as possible!