Before Covid 19, I’d never even heard of Zoom. I’d heard zoom used as a verb. The car zoomed around the corner. I vaguely remember a PBS show called Zoom with a bunch of dancing 70’s teens. I even remember a song in the 1980s by called “Who’s Zoomin Who?” All due “respect” to Aretha Franklin, but it wasn’t one of her best songs. What did it even mean? Fish jumped off the hook?
Anyway, it wasn’t until 2020 that I heard of Zoom as a noun. For anyone who doesn’t know, Zoom is a virtual meeting app for computers and devices. It allows large or small groups to meet virtually and share ideas.
A live video feed of each participant who logs into the meeting is appears on a grid. The first time I saw the screen, I was reminded of a cross between the old game show Hollywood Squares and the intro to the Brady Bunch.
The first time I saw my own face on the grid, I wondered why it had to be so close-up. I tried to “zoom” out but apparently that’s not an option. Dear Zoom programmers, I know you are all probably 21 years old, but take it from me, No one over 45 wants to watch a close-up video of themselves for an hour or more.
As soon as schools shut down last spring, my kids started having Zoom meeting with their teachers and counselors. Some teachers used Zoom to teach virtual classes. My kids would sit in front of their iPad and interact with their teacher and classmates. One day, just for fun, I walked in front of the camera and “Zoom Bombed” my daughter’s 7th grade class. She didn’t think it was funny.
The first time I used Zoom was as a member of my daughter’s school PTO board. It was all adults, so everyone took turns speaking and listening. We didn’t have many events to discuss since everything had been cancelled, so it was pretty quick and easy.
But then I was hired by a local school district to teach a summer creative writing course for Kindergarten and first graders. I often teach writing classes to kids, but they have always been in person. This would be my first-time leading ad teaching with Zoom. How different could it be?
I wasn’t too worried because my PTO experience had been fairly simple, but of course, those were not 6 and 7-year olds! The moment class began, and 20 little faces appeared on my screen, I realized that I had a few things to learn…and I better do it fast!
The first class was about pets, so I posed the question: Who has a dog or cat? I expected a show of hands, but suddenly they all disappeared from the screen. Had I offended them in some way? Were they bored with me already?
No, they had all gone to grab their pet so they could show me. Gradually, about 15 different types of animals appeared on screen. Some weren’t too happy to be drug away form whatever they were doing.
Next, I had to learn the art of the “mute all” feature. With adults, the screen highlights each speaker as they take turns talking. Participants can mute their mic when they are listening and enable their audio when they have something to say. With little kids, no one takes turns talking and they always have something to say! Kids don’t mute themselves virtually any more than they do in person!
My daughter showed me how I, as the host, could select “mute all” on my computer. This allowed me to read and speak to them without their random comments, or their baby brother in the background, or the sound of their laser gun.
I instructed them to raise their hand, and then I could unmute one at a time. I tried to always let them finish their thoughts before I re-muted them, but there may have been a few loquacious exceptions.
The problem with “mute all” is that the lesson is far less interactive. When I read and teach, I try to make things fun and encourage laughter. My books are silly and are meant to be laughed at. But I couldn’t hear or even see any reaction. I never knew for sure if they were enjoying the story. For all I knew, they had moved into the kitchen for a snack and I was reading aloud to myself.
My next challenge was the “shared screen” feature which allows the host to share a file or document with the whole group. As a children’s author, I began each class by reading and sharing one of my books directly onto the kids’ screen. Little did I know, all members of the zoom meeting are able to “annotate” or write directly onto the shared screen for all to see.
Imagine what fun the kids had with me when they realized that they could scribble right onto the pages of my book! “Who did that?” I teased on the first page which just fueled the giggles and scribbles on every. Single. Page.
After the class, I learned how to disable annotations.
Every parent knows that 6 and 7-year olds do not have a very long attention span. Of course they get fidgety after sitting for a while. In a live class, this means bouncing, or tapping pencils or chatting with their friend. In Zoom class, that means opening their mouth as wide as they can right into the camera or pointing the zoom right up their nose. I’ve learned to suppress my laughter, so I don’t encourage them!
One day I called upon a student named Alexia. “What do you think, Alexia” I asked. My Alexa machine replied that it prefers to answer factual questions. Oops. Luckily there was no one named Siri in my classes.
My summer sessions with the younger kids ends in a few weeks. Now I have begun teaching via Zoom to 4-6th graders. They are much better at listening and taking turns. This last class, it was my dog who wouldn’t stop barking at the mailman. The best part was when a few of the students’ dogs at home started barking back!
Zoom is a handy tool during Covid, but I definitely prefer live interaction with the kids. I’m willing to bet that 99% of teachers would agree. We have all survived the Spring and Summer of Zoom, but please wear your masks, stay away from large groups and do your part to end this pandemic.
If not, Zoom coders, I urge you to add a few filters to the camera feature… or at least the ability to zoom out! I don’t need to see every wrinkle and pore on my face!