High School Virtual Class Updates
Anatomy and Physiology
When we transitioned to virtual schooling, I wanted to ensure that my Anatomy and Physiology students would be able to experience labs in some capacity; therefore, to further enhance the material learned in our Zoom lessons, we are using the Visible Body website. This online resource provides teaching opportunities using visual and interactive tools, and independent practice using 3D technology. Even though hands-on learning is invaluable and irreplaceable, these virtual labs allow students to better visualize the material taught from the comfort and safety of their homes.
English
One of the activities we have done in two English classes is having the students create their own comments or dialogue for different characters by looking at pictures of scenes from the story and then speaking to each other as if they were in the situation. We need more practice, but with cueing they are getting the idea.
Geography
Geography students are working on "travel guides" for where to go and what to explore in Australia, ranging from what cities and landmarks to visit, to finding pictures and special facts on their favorite animals, foods and unusual plants or adventures.
Internships
All internship students completed a mock interview over Zoom, which may be the new wave of how interviews are conducted. In fact, since then, we've had a couple of students interview over Zoom for Project Search. For the mock interviews, all of the students showed up just ahead of their interview time and did a great job figuring out eye contact over Zoom and how to display enthusiasm when not in the same room with someone! They conducted themselves with maturity and confidence!
Drama
We've been acting out conflict scenarios that may arise between roommates. The students have really gotten into their roles and I've even seen a couple of parents peek in - making sure everything is ok - ha! These role plays have led to some really good discussion and self-awareness about the type of roommate each student thinks he or she would be.
Physics
The Physics classes completed a lab experiment on the Refraction of White Light to Produce a Color Spectrum. The teacher mailed each student a separate kit that included a crystal, a card used to direct a beam of white light from a flashlight, and the Laboratory write up, or procedure. Each separate class was able to work as a unit to achieve individual results which reinforced everything that they had learned in class, from lecture and the use of videos. The classes really did an excellent job!
From an OT
I have been doing virtual escape rooms with some of my students that have sequencing goals. They have really liked the escape from Hogwarts and the Avengers themed escape rooms. It gets them to solve puzzles and requires them to work on a lot of executive functioning skills in a really fun way! It's a great break for them from classwork, it gets them thinking, solving and sequencing, as well as working as a team! I have really enjoyed watching them work together to solve the puzzles and problem solve together!
From a Reading Teacher
One group of students is reading the adapted classic version of Around the World in Eighty Days. All students responsibly brought their books home on the last day of school prior to our school shutdown, so we could continue reading and focusing on decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. The students' first assignment was a set of questions to review chapters one - eight. A student took this assignment one step further. After answering questions about the characters, various locations along the route, and the plot, this student spent time perusing YouTube videos until he found a perfect video to parallel this version of the novel (no easy feat!). He shared this link with me. Using a cropped version of "The Hole Story," to include only the chapters we had read, I created an EdPuzzle activity that was a much more interesting follow-up activity. All students completed this review activity with a high degree of accuracy.
Physical Education
Connect Four Fitness has been my favorite activity so far with my PE classes! I split the class into two teams and the students take turns picking where they want to 'drop' their color like in connect four. Wherever the student decides to drop their color, their team has to complete the fitness exercise. For example, if I'm on the red team and pick 5 jumping jacks, everyone on the red team has to complete 5 jumping jacks. This was an interesting twist because students were not only trying to connect four with their colors but they made sure to choose exercises they wanted to do. It was fun to watch all of their different strategies!
