In my crisis teaching mode, I have come up with eight rules that have helped me to navigate through this new normal. There’s more than content and delivery to be discussed when this period is behind us. Perhaps the lesson to be learned is not about what or even how we taught during COVID-19. Perhaps this period is a lesson in why we teach.
By Jennifer Snodgrass
At 10:50 a.m. recently, I was all set to teach my Theory II class. My I-Pad was charged. I had the links queued up to the textbook for screen share, and I had already created several videos explaining the concepts. When the 11:00 a.m. hour arrived and only two students were visible on Zoom, my confidence started to plummet. By 11:05 a few more students had arrived, but my technology was not working quickly and my internet was at best, spotty. I noticed that not one of my students had logged on to watch the videos I had worked so hard on during the late hours of Saturday night. In those first ten minutes of teaching, my students said very little and looked like they wanted to be anywhere but on my zoom session.
During the class meeting, my nine-year-old daughter came rushing into my home office to ask a question about her English assignment. I had to ask my husband working in the other room to get off the internet for 30 minutes so I could have the speed I needed to complete the discussion. And even though there was a bit of laughter at the end of our class session, both my students and myself know that this is not normal. This is the reality of teaching in the wake of this pandemic. And while some are discussing the joys of home schooling or the ability to teach all of their music classes from their studios, I don’t know if I would call what I am doing home schooling or effective online instruction. I am in crisis mode and I am crisis teaching.
In my crisis teaching mode, I have come up with eight rules that have helped me to navigate through this new normal.
Step away from the computer and find the most recent version of your teaching philosophy. Read it out loud. Have your core teaching principles and teaching philosophies changed or have they just been challenged in this time of crisis teaching? For most of us, the answer is somewhat and for others it may be an enthusiastic no or defeated yes. The answers don’t lie in the latest technology, but in our abilities to be authentic and effective educators. What defines students success in this period of time may look completely different. A successful student may not be the one that achieved the highest GPA or was awarded the top assistantship. It’s the student that was determined to learn and showed up when they could. An effective instructor may not be the one who is able to use four programs at the same time while recordings multiple voice parts for a sight singing project. It’s the instructor that cares and is willing to go the extra mile to empower the spirit and the mind of their students through a new platform. Both parties show up, admit the challenges, embrace the newness, and do what they can to not only master content, but to connect in ways that perhaps we didn’t know were vital.
There’s more than content and delivery to be discussed when this period is behind us. Perhaps the lesson to be learned is not about what or even how we taught during COVID-19. Perhaps this period is a lesson in why we teach. I would like to think it has to do with importance and the power of creative thinking and the human spirit.
Jennifer Snodgrass is Professor of Music Theory at Appalachian State University where she teaches courses in music theory, aural skills, analysis, songwriting, and pedagogy. A Grammy-nominated educator, Snodgrass has published in a multitude of theory and education journals and is an active presenter around the country. Most recently she was named a co-editor to the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy and is the assistant director of the Gail Boyd de Stwolinski Center for Theory Pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma. She is the author of Teaching Music Theory: New Voices and Approaches.
This post originally appeared on the OUPblog
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