From a blackboard-bound teacher to a keyboard

Discussions in the house during my meetings with the principal and management had to be in hushed tones.

I am a teacher. Overnight I became an online teacher, for the new norm academic year2020. What I used as an audio-visual resource has now become a virtual class resource. The school began facilitating me with new platforms for the learning process of students.

Google Classroom, Seesaw, Cisco, Zoom, TCs ion, Wikipedia, Google, quizzes polls, etc all became handy tools as and when required. One of my rooms in the house got transformed into a classroom with my laptop, whiteboard, wifi router and subject-related attractive charts. My fingers started using the keyboard faster than chalk on the board.

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I had to face now not the students alone but parents who sit beside them and keep telling me to focus on their child. I became very calm, composed and learnt to keep a smile on my face throughout despite irritation at times.

Mic checking, muting, disabling chat and screen share became my weapons for controlling the class instead of ‘keep quiet, raise your hand before you talk, stand outside the class, keep the board clean, why didn’t you submit your assignment?’ These phrases disappeared from my vocabulary.

Work from homemade my life very complicated as I had to manage my 3-year-old son who would peep or walk-in asking for something. Discussions in the house during my meetings with the principal and management had to be in hushed tones.

Remedial support and personal attention to students with special needs required extra time. Oh! I forgot parents who are working, needed my attention for their ward at their convenience.

Interestingly, my teaching now is for the entire family, not the student alone. All are aware of what I teach, how I teach, what common words I use, my gestures, time management, competition, updating, online courses, submissions, events…. A million other things to being an online teacher.

All that was required as an online teacher was not only to be adept with technology, global standards of teaching and learning the subject, using internet tools and resources but also taking courses and attending webinars enthusiastically organised by various agencies became a mandate.

I am an online teacher ready to face the challenges of the new norm, a continuous learner, a better time manager, multiple taskmaster and do not want to be irrelevant or obsolete more so not ready to give up my passion.

Dr. Sudha Turaga
Director, DPS and Pallavi Educational Institution

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