RE Log Spring 2021

SPRING 2021 Ransom Everglades LOG 21 Gus Palacios Middle School Science Faculty & Robotics Coach In person I’ve always described teaching as very personal. I feel like my teaching is best when I’m myself and my students feel like they’re themselves, especially at the middle school level. Interpersonal relationships are extremely valuable. I don’t think that learning happens in an impersonal space for children. When we started in remote learning a year ago, I discovered I had to be bigger and more energetic than I usually am in the classroom because I was in this tiny little box on the screen. I had to adopt almost a theatrical presentation because I was trying to reach the cheap seats, trying to really have a visual impact for those kids who were remote. When we got in the classroom, the kids were contributing, so there was a presence in the room. Trying to make sure the kids online had an equal stake in that, it was definitely challenging. I’ve gotten more comfortable and I know my colleagues have as well, in integrating that space. One of the biggest plusses of being back on campus is access to our resources in the sciences. Being able to show something to the kids that is tangible is so important. Seeing something in real life for them – not just on a YouTube video – is exciting. It’s a big deal. Recently, I was able to take out the Van de Graaff generator, and they really went nuts with it. It’s really something cool to see your hair stand on end because of static electricity. You can see it a million times on YouTube; it just does not have the same impact as experiencing it yourself or, in the case of the kids learning remotely in our hybrid model, by watching their peers, their friends, standing up on a stool next to this machine with their hair sticking out. So we’ve had some great moments in class. Sometimes it’s as simple as relaying a question from Johnny in the back of the room, and other times it’s a matter of picking up the computer and saying, ‘Hey guys, what’s going on over here?’ and bringing the remote students into the space. Authenticity, where you’re coming from, matters so much to adolescents. As adults, we try to pull those things back. We adopt this professionalism and think that’s admirable. For adolescents, if you pull back your authenticity and put on his professional facade, they will find you absolutely boring. It’s the Charlie Brown teacher, ‘womp, womp, womp.’ They won’t even hear you. No matter how much I focus on it, there is always some anxiety that some students are feeling more left out. I have some concerns about that. But the other side of that is that difficulties and adversity bring out a shared sense of experience, a shared sense of we’re going to get through this together. I think that has been there in the Ransom Everglades community. If the roots are strong, the tree will survive the storm, and I think our roots are strong. It’s been challenging. Sometimes it’s been fun. Sometimes it’s been more than a little harrowing. It’s definitely been rewarding: We are getting through it.”