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24 April 2020

The first week back after the Easter break and at the beginning of it I feared that without being physically in the school students may loss track of the days and not view what has been posted in Google Classroom. However the response from most students has been positive. The focus of this weeks lessons were reestablishing their drawing skills wherein tone, form,  line and colour played essential parts in their lessons.

First years were introduced to portraiture, focusing on the nose and eyes. Focusing on the features separately I find makes drawing the face less daunting. I offered to use Google Hangouts to explain the PowerPoint that I had attached to the lesson however one student signed into it. And the two random emails that had not received the code kept sending a request to join the meeting. I've elected not to use it anymore and just to post videos of myself explaining the PowerPoint.

Second years and Fifth years had good attendance and were focusing on their primary sources and drawing with a range of material. I find it difficult at times to give feedback, as I don't want to come across as too harsh when giving constructive  criticism. When seeing it through a small typed paragraph it may be taken harshly. I try to stick to the formula of positive, negative, positive, however I receive no replies to my comments so I don't know their reactions to them and worry about their confidence.

Motivation with the Fourth years is at an all time low. This can be seen across the subjects as teachers discuss performances of the students, as well as responses from parents. In these uncertain times priorities of the students may shift, and in some cases have, as many fourth years are now working part time to help support their families and to help with the growing demand that food shops are under. They email their year head their work time tables with the understanding that while they may not take part in an online class on a particular day, they will be expected to catch up. 

While lectures have ceased, work with collaborative seminar assignments are still underway. This collaboration via online forums is challenging however through communication and cooperation we are working well. This puts in mind of teaching online, that while it is important to maintain,as much as we can the normal day to day routine , without cooperation this is not possible. With patience and a good internet connection we will persevere. 
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