Art of Adapting • 11
The Art of Adapting The pandemic has forced many of us to adapt to a virtual life. Trying to pivot life virtually can be a struggle as we are all learning how to adapt to this new way of life together. KLASSics decided to take a look into the lives of teachers, students and our alumni to see how change has affected their daily lives. Ms. Armstrong, former teacher at KLASS 2006 - 2015 and now a Deputy Head of the Biology Faculty at Kellett School, The British International School in Hong Kong tells us how she adapted to the sudden pandemic that brought us all into the virtual world. Tell us about yourself. I am a biology teacher, avid hiker and world traveller! I am inquisitive about new cultures, enjoy eating new foods and, perhaps more importantly, I like making genuine connections with new people. I love learning new things – at the moment my passion is for learning about cognitive science. The brain is fascinating!
Julia Armstrong
Former staff, 2006 - 2014
The Art of
Teaching
What method or activity have you had to implement to adapt to virtual teaching? Teaching virtually has meant adapting almost all of my resources. It has also made me reflect more on how I explain things. I have used Screencastify a lot to pre-record some lessons – it’s been interesting listening to them back and thinking – how can I make that clearer? Zoom is also an integral part of my lessons when teaching remotely too – it took some getting used to but now I’m a whiz with polls, breakout rooms and spotlighting! I am always looking out for new ways to engage students when I’m not in the room with them – which is exciting and it has developed me as a practitioner even more. What is the funniest moment you have encountered when teaching virtually? Probably those moments when a student’s mic hasn’t been turned off and they’ve openly groaned about having ‘homework’ to do, or a parent has walked into the room and not realised their child is having a lesson. It’s always fun to see a mortified teenager on screen!
Mr. Howard, current teacher and Head of Sixth form (KLASS 2016 - present) shares with us his take on tackling virtual teaching. Tell us about yourself and what you teach at Alice Smith. My name is Andrew Howard. I am very old and teach History and look after the Sixth Form at Alice Smith. What inspired you to teach and choose Alice Smith? My wife and I were living in Shanghai and wanted to stay in Asia but wanted a better school for our three boys. When we asked around about the best schools in Asia, three names kept coming up, Alice Smith was one of them. We haven’t been disappointed.
Andrew Howard Head of Sixth Form Current staff, 2016 - present
Share with us your experience of virtual teaching that has been ongoing for more than a year now. Virtual teaching was horrendous to start with but I now enjoy it more than being in school! :) How did you adapt to the new way of learning and teaching as a family while having to parent and teach together, especially when you and your wife, Nicola are teachers? My wife is one of the Vice Principals at the Secondary Campus so she had more power than me when we decide who would escape the children and get back into school. We also got a dog and a play station which helped a lot with behaviour management at home. What would the students be surprised to find out about you? My hobby is pushing a heavy bar from my chest up, whilst lying down on a bench. If you could retire now, what would you like to do? Pushing a heavy bar from my chest up, whilst lying down on a bench. More. If you could pass any wisdom to your students, what would you like to share with them? Care less what people think, marry well and if you are good at something work hard at it.
