This post was written by 起点传媒member聽Kim Essenburg and is reprinted with permission from her blog聽
Mrs. Essenburg, can we do the question?
It was a couple minutes before the online class was supposed to start, but about half of the students were already in the Google Meet. 鈥淭he question鈥� was what I鈥檇 been asking as an 鈥渁ttendance question鈥濃�攐nce I started recording the meeting to post for students who couldn鈥檛 attend live, I鈥檇 ask a question for everyone to answer in the chat column. Then I could go back and check the transcript to see who was there. It was a different question every day.
The added benefit was what we learned about each other. I was so excited that the student was so eager to answer the question and see her classmates’ answers (forget the attendance benefit) I went ahead and asked 鈥渢he question鈥�: 鈥淲hat are you looking forward to being able to do again after the Covid-19 emergency is over?鈥� Answers ranged from the predictable (getting together with friends) to the unique (riding horses) to the unexpected (nothing鈥擨 love having the excuse to stay home and play computer games all day).
This is such a simple but powerful practice. I started out with standard, nonthreatening questions. 鈥淲hat is a food you like?鈥� (Hint: Try to avoid asking 鈥�-est鈥� questions. I鈥檝e known students鈥攁 daughter and myself included鈥攚ho can be paralyzed by having to choose the color, food, book, or whatever that they like 鈥渂est.鈥�) But “the question” can do many things like . . .
- Set up the lesson. (鈥淲hat is an animal you like?鈥� before we read Carl Sandburg鈥檚 poem 鈥淔og鈥� personifying fog as a cat, and then writing our own personification of a natural phenomenon).
- Offer insight into health and self-care. (鈥淲hat did you have for breakfast today?鈥� or 鈥淲hat did you do for fun over the weekend?鈥�)
- Lead to deeper discussions. (鈥淲hat is a good thing that happened to you yesterday?鈥� 鈥淣othing.鈥� Yes, that lead to a discussion of 1st world problems. . . . )
Yesterday鈥檚 question was, 鈥淲hat are you afraid of?鈥� I modeled, 鈥淪nakes and spiders,鈥� in the chat. Though I added by voice that I鈥檓 not afraid of snakes I know are not poisonous鈥擨鈥檝e held them and they feel really dry and smooth and muscular. But when I nearly step on one, without identifying it, I naturally recoil with adrenaline coursing through my body.
Some students followed my lead: 鈥渟nakes, frogs, and anything ugly.鈥� I responded by telling a story about the time I learned the difference between a personal preference and a true phobia. A friend told me she was afraid of earthworms, so I thought it would be cute to make her a birthday cake that had gummy worms on top. It was not a joke鈥攕he truly did not like it. I felt really bad. One student responded, 鈥淲oah!鈥� I think he got it. Other students responded 鈥渄eath鈥� (serious) or 鈥渘ot being noticed鈥� (double deep).
And that is its own conclusion. There are a lot of things I miss about not being able to observe and interact with students in physical proximity. Computer screens ARE limiting. But consider something as simple as asking an initial question . . . especially in this distanced environment where we can sometimes be more vulnerable than if we were actually physically present with one another. I will continue doing it now and will experiment with continuing to do it even into whatever becomes our 鈥渘ew normal.鈥�
As I run out of questions, there are oodles of blog lists out there, and I鈥檝e begun adding them to my Pinterest board on SEL (Social and Emotional Learning):
What is a great way you have discovered for building classroom community remotely?
Kim Essenburg has taught in international Christian schools in Japan since 1987. She loves to read, write, play volleyball, and go out for coffee with friends, and recently read her own poetry at her first open mic! Essenburg loves to help students discover their love of reading and writing, and to help teachers discover ways to even better engage students in learning. She has two daughters and three grandchildren, and blogs at kimessenburg.blogspot.com.