Virtual Teaching

For those of you who are teaching remotely this year, here is a schedule that was shared on a Music Teacher Facebook Group not too long ago.  I asked the author if I could share it and she agreed.

"I am teaching fully remotely. My classes are all 30 min. For kinder, I structure my lessons like this.

1. Hellos - we sing “hello everyone”/“hello Mrs. marsh” (m-r-ddd). We sing once or twice as a class with mics off (I sing both part, and use two stuffed animals to represent both parts. I say, the ____ is my job, the ____ is your job). Then I invite kids to sing on their own, 2-3 solo singers who turn their mics on while they sing. We say “good job, _____” to each kid.

2. Attendance - I ask a This or That question and give a motion to represent each answer. When I call their name they leave mic off and answer the question with a motion.

3. Movement Activity - we use a song or recording for a creative movement or steady beat song.

4. Song - I used the stuffed animals again for an echo or call-and-response song. Start with “match the ____” and then “sing the ____ part without my help”. Normally (in person with no singing restrictions) I would not have them sing WITH me but I worry that never having been in music class in school they may need another voice to help build their musical confidence. Normally they would have their classmates for that.

5. Read aloud/SongTale - I read or sing a songtale to the kiddies and incorporate as much interactive and movement as possible, as well as literacy strategies.

This leaves me with a few minutes at the end to sing and say our goodbyes and for me to hear any non-sequiturs that the kiddos need to share.

For a 45 min class, I would separate the movement activity into creative/expressive moment, and beat motion activity; I would also do at least two songs.

I have also a few times give the kids the last 10-15 minutes to work on a Seesaw activity. I have them at the end of the day so if they finish the activity they can just sign off for the day.

It’s a LOT of energy to be this engaged for the entire 30 min and I can imagine it would be more exhausting for 45. But my kiddos are doing AMAZING. They are working so hard and are so engaged and I draw my energy to continue from them, somehow even from the screens. It’s so cute, when they want to show me they are singing they get really close to their cameras so I can see their mouths. I do a lot of “lip reading” to see if they understood what I was asking. “I see you sang ‘Hello Mrs. Marsh,’ good job Cesar!”

 I currently have lost all references to who this is, but will post it later when I find her.  She gave me her permission and her Instagram page, but I waited too long to publish this post and now it's gone.  This is the detailed, step by step plan I needed when I started out teaching and can only imagine how helpful it would have been transitioning into virtual teaching for the first time. Having this plan would give me the confidence to springboard into my own schedule eventually.  I just thought it was a terrific place to start.  Thank you, nameless one, for your insight!    

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