Remote-Learning, do my students even need me?

This avocado was painted by a student using an iPad, the ProCreate app and a simple stylus at home.

To be honest, I doubted, just a little that my students would be able to do the same quality of tech projects from home as they do with me, in person, there to hold their hand and help them with the process. In fact, I felt a little threatened at the thought of my students succeeding without me with them - physically - rather than virtually.


But I am happy to report that after seeing the quality of the tech projects coming in from my students has made me more proud than threatened. Sure some of the audio recordings have not been as clear as when they are recorded in our professional studio here in my classroom, but the content of the podcasts is more real than I have ever heard. It is a different quality, one that is more authentic. 

I guess the current crisis of the world, as we wait to see what will happen next with Coronavirus or COVID-19, has made myself and my students a little more... real. Sure we try to have fun and I try to post funny little photos of myself on social media so that my students and I still stay connected, but there is an underlying uneasiness in the world today and we all can feel it. So most of use throw ourselves into our work (in this case teaching and learning) just for a little normalcy, and I seeing both in my work and in the work of my students, we're trying just a little harder. Because it seems like the right thing to do. When the going gets tough the tough get going and I am so proud of my students for their hard work and amazing tech projects that they turn in as middle schoolers. See what they do makes me want to do more as their teacher -- and together we're going to make this whole remote-learning thing work.

Note: I am a middle school tech teacher and my online tech lessons can be found at www.MyTechtttoos.com and you're welcome to use any of them.