Teaching writing on zoom

Spoiler alert: it doesn't totally suck

I have a secret to share: I don't hate teaching on zoom. As I prepare to reenter the classroom one afternoon a week to take up my usual part-time teaching position (this term is Storytelling which is really in my wheelhouse), I am almost nostalgic for the last two years of logging in, the orderly electronic raising of hands, and being able to constantly watch myself in action on camera (okay that part has always been a little unnervng).

Let's get the ugly aspect out of the way first: like everyone I agree that engagement and networking is not nearly the same online as it is in person. Sadly, I could probably pass my students from the last two years in the street and not recognize them. I missed those little before and after class chats, or seeing students begin to form friendships and head off after class together.

Yet there is an upside. I like the face that greater formality online sometimes allows students who might not otherwise raise their hand participate in a discussion. I like that the chat function allows students to contribute to an informal stream of conversation that is sometimes better than we see in class. I like that the international students and even the ones just a bit out of town can make it to class more often. And that I can record so those who don't make it can see what we discussed anyway. Secretly I also love that everyone’s name is beneath their camera window so I don’t need to remember all of them at the start of a new term.

In addition to my in-person class, I'm also teaching my Feisty Freelancer Freelance Writing Intensive this fall. I am doing that over Zoom because it is a familiar platform, and online because it allows participants to join from home, and I'm hopeful for the kind of free-flowing discussion that comes from focus on the topic. If enough of us are local, I may suggest a meetup at some point, but I also don't mind it being all online.

Maybe you want to join us? Visit www.feistyfreelancer.com/courses