OUT OF CDL, INTO HYBRID

Ben Lawson OMEA President Elect

After 345 days I have been released from the confines of Online Teaching Prison and put-on probation to teach Hybrid Learning. As I reflect on my time served, I immediately dwell on the negatives. My attendance was horrible, kids were failing, cameras rarely came on, and we weren’t making music together. Since I had no control over any of those items, I push them aside to think about what went well.

I think of the 10 or so kids that showed up to class with their cameras on every single day, I never cared that they woke up 30 seconds earlier and were still in bed, I was just glad to see them. I think of my best meetings that involved sisters fighting, horrible puns, constant “rick-rolling”, parents dropping in to say hi, and internet issues that made me “teach” from my phone. I think of the times where the class was over but a few of us just sat in silence doing our own things, our cameras were on, and we were together. I don’t know if any of my students learned anything new, or if they were able to maintain any musical skills they once had, but I do know, for that small group of kids I made a difference. That group of kids, and the chance of something ridiculous happening in a meeting, helped me to turn on the computer each day.

Week one of Hybrid Learning has finished and I know where my program stands. I have gone from 175 kids in 4 classes, to 140 in 9 to annotate directly on scores or music theory worksheets so that my students can see it. classes, with 25 staying with Online Learning. While we are scattered in groups from 6 to 26, we are back. We are making music again!

After you have your scenes set up, you can output these scenes directly to Zoom, Google Meet or the streaming service of your choice.

I was even able to set up a scene that displays a virtual MIDI keyboard on the bottom of the screen that lights up on the appropriate keys when I play my attached MIDI keyboard. For details on how to set this all up, visit this website by music teacher Robby Burns.

While it took a little time to initially set up, using OBS has improved the flow of many of my classes and allowed me to efficiently share a variety of screens and elements of my desktop with my students. I find the built-in screen sharing in Zoom to be cumbersome at best, especially when it is necessary to switch between different shared media, and the streamlined workflow has resulted in kids staying more on task and engaged in the lessons.

Having kids in the building again, and hearing music is invigorating. I have the ability to effectively do my job again. While hesitant to be around people again, my kids are excited to be in the building, and eager to make music. I am now trying to figure out what can be accomplished this year. With smaller classes, I will be able to provide more individual instruction, and create independent musicians. I know that music will be needed at graduation, and that I will be able to hold an outdoor event to finish out the year. I will end this year on a positive note.

There are many questions left to be answered, what music is appropriate for each ensemble, what skills have been lost, how can I bring back the sense of community, and most importantly how do I address my kids social and emotional needs. Finally, problems that don’t involve technology and problems that I have been trained to address.

Our job expectations have changed and are still changing, we are all trying to maintain our programs, we are all worried about our kids. Just remember what you are doing is enough, and it is making a difference. Hang in there, it will get better, we need you, and your kids need you.