Drawing Connections in Distance Learning

What the kids usually see - although the vast majority of my students actually have their cameras on all class.

They know me well. I do love Liverpool and this student has a vast Lego collection.

During our last staff meeting, we were asked to reflect about different strategies that have worked to connect with students while we are in full virtual distance teaching. It’s definitely been difficult talking randomly to students and one of my favorite parts of the day was when students would be working independently and we were past the part where there were a ton of questions and people were finishing up - this was when I could talk to students more freely about their interests and how everything is going. As students got more used to each other and my personality, many would inevitably strike up conversations about sports or music or other current events serious or otherwise.

I’m still trying to forge those relationships but it hasn’t been easy. I was at a good point at the end of the first trimester with a lot of my students but since we’re on a special system this year, I finished a whole years’ worth of math in one trimester and got new kids in November. My new kids are great, don’t get me wrong, but I kind of wish I had more time with my original groups - or just have all my kids at the same time… Well, since we’re wishing, I’m already wishing for things to go back to normal and for us to be able to skip the hybrid phase. I know that’s not going to happen any time soon, but it’s nice to think about.

One thing I’ve been able to do to connect with students since it’s so hard to cycle through breakout rooms is to have them draw. Each day we have a warmup and I do it through a site called Peardeck. Students are able to write on slides and I can see their work in real time. This trimester I started to add a screen at the end where they can just draw whatever. The problem was that some students finished super early - even when I put in more challenge problems. I started with doing it once and they kids loved it so now I do it each day. The kids draw anything from scary creatures to cartoons to memes to cartoons about their lives and they know that the quality of the art doesn’t matter to me. It’s gotten to the point that when I forgot to put the drawing in, they could not handle it. They ended up making the last screen white and painting over that and just put the answer in a corner. It was actually quite sweet and taught me not to forget it ever again.

It has become a tradition that they love even when the material is difficult. It has become motivation for them to work through the warmup faster so they have time to draw and when I say I’ll close the breakout rooms, they always ask for more time. And I give it to them because it’s not really about the art that they produce during this time - it’s a chance for them to talk amongst themselves in small groups and create connections. I have sixth graders who are going to a new school and many haven’t had the time to make new friends. Several have said that they like this time because they can chat with their friends, share drawings, and generally just be more social.

I also chime in and ask about their drawings, but take the time to also ask about their sports, extracurriculars, and how they’re doing in their other classes. What they’ve been doing over the pandemic, and usually they end up talking about random stuff. But that’s what I miss the most about teaching in person anyway. The student connections. I feel fortunate that I have adapted to online teaching pretty well, but even with my amazing setup, I’d rather be in the classroom again just like normal. I know that won’t happen anytime soon so this small strategy has been great. Here are some photos the past few weeks.

I love it when students’ drawings follow a theme day to day. This was one so nice. But little did I know…

It was just a set up for this drawing the next day.