The classroom may have gone but the BMS community is still here every morning on my laptop. While I may try to elude online video conference calls reflecting instead on the availability of a hairdresser, our established online platform has allowed the coherence between lessons taught in the classroom and what I now post online.  My day may start slightly later and although food and cups of tea now punctuate my time rather than a bell much surprisingly remains the same. The scheme of learning still needs following, lesson planning and marking completing.  

In every lesson I plan, I find a new skill set is developed. For underpinning this planning process is an understanding that the student now works one-to-one, whereas, classroom lessons have many students and interactions to aid their comprehension of the content. As such, working with the student and evaluating what they produce gains a new dimension that comes down only to what is written on a screen. Whereas my lessons involve a lot of talking I must now cater to an absence of this and yet help to create a virtual environment where the student can express themselves. Up-lifting has been the student response, their readiness to engage with the resources and participate in the work that is set. Indeed, the routines students developed for using this platform in school mean that older year groups have set up their learning forums to share ideas about the work set and motivate each other to complete it.

Being an online teacher has increased the opportunity for me to research into the subject matter that I am teaching thereby, enriching the work I ask students to complete. It is, however, with a heightened awareness of pop-ups and advertisements that I now scroll for relevant video clips to enrich my presentations and engage the student. What I have found is that as some students struggle with the discipline of sitting down at home to work, I have found myself battling with two cats and a husband to find space and a lasting internet connection. What I have learned is that routine is key to making the most of the day and not taking 3 hours on a task that would normally only be worth a 10-minute slot. Indeed, a tick list and following my normal school timetable as recommended by a Year 8 student on a rare day in school has become a necessity in organising my schedule.