STUDENT experience My classroom experience has overwhelmingly been positive. While the progression through my course slowed, I think the boys actually enjoyed this new style of learning.
Teaching & Learning [ BY DR. R. BRYAN SEARS, SCIENCE TEACHER ]
The experience looks like this: I record my own lecture videos, example problems and my video feed alongside with my screen-shared slides. For my lectures, I have gotten creative with demo materials, using balloons to mimic hybrid orbitals, a doc cam rigged from my iPad to show my work with the periodic table and worked problems. I have even created my own animations to help my physics students understand the nature and behavior of light. Once a week I meet with the students face-to-face on a Zoom call. We check in with
The Lab Rats Chemistry Club celebrated National Chemistry Week by volunteering at Boston Children’s Museum.
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remotely one another, talk about what is working and what needs to be improved, and review for upcoming assessments. I also hold office hours daily for one-on-one assistance and appreciate the opportunity for face time with students. I even think my office hour appointments are more productive now because students schedule them with specific questions! I believe students and parents appreciate that I record my own lectures, and not just share something on the internet from a stranger. All my videos are archived on Canvas for the boys to watch and re-watch as they study. In science, I think this is especially helpful because seeing the content and problems once is usually too brief for students to digest the ideas. Student benefit greatly from getting a repeat performance of the steps and logic used to solve multistep problems–– and the results have been evident in performance on homework and quizzes. Our Chemistry Club, affectionately known as the Lab Rats, has also continued to meet during our remote learning time. We have met to check-in and support one another, as well as discussing the science behind the pandemic after a wonderful presentation on the biology, chemistry and physics of COVID researched and presented by the group leadership. It is definitely harder to do, but we are making our club work remotely with fun ideas like a cooking chemistry meeting on Friday for grilled cheese sandwiches. In all, I think BC High was well positioned for this pandemic. Our students and teachers were already using the frontlines of technology in the classrooms to delivery instruction, assess student performance and create new learning opportunities beyond their curriculum. Our transition to remote learning went smoothly because our classrooms were prepared and accustomed to have technology as a core learning tool.
