August 2020: Teaching in a Pandemic!
It’s a weird year for lesson planning. I’m having to re-think everything, but that’s not a bad thing. Luckily, my school system opted (finally) for 100% digital learning. For our safety, it is obviously the best choice. But I will miss SO MUCH the student interaction, the wisecracks, the flashes of brilliance, even the epic fails. I wonder if watching “the light bulb turn on” will look the same over Zoom?
And of course I will miss chatting in the hallways with my colleagues, supporting, collaborating, commiserating, celebrating. We will all be making due the best way we can. My department is very united, even though we teach 7 different languages– French, Spanish, German, Latin, Portuguese, Japanese, and American Sign Language. Our group chat never stops!!
So here is my best shot at 100% virtual lesson planning! This semester I only have 1 prep, thank goodness– French 1. I have three block classes per day, and I will finish the entire French 1 course by December (4X4 block schedule). I have decided to “shrink” my usually-colossal units into daily/weekly bite-size chunks, using lots of recycling and spaced-repetition for increased vocabulary acquisition. Or that’s the plan for now! Join me on my journey!