Oh, I do love hanging out with folks on a Thursday and this week’s coffee breaks did not disappoint. The conversation went in lots of different directions and it was wonderful to come away with lots of questions to think about and not necessarily have the answers. Here are some of the themes which came up:
How do we talk to parents?
There was a great tip which one particpant was given when she started working as a DOS: as far as possible, try to phone home before the student gets there – the idea being that you can explain the school’s understanding of a situation before the student arrives and tells their version. Another tip was to watch the parents of young learners at the end of class: if it seems that a group of parents are conversing with a particular child in the centre, it could be that there’s an issue. And a final tip was to avoid talking to parents as a group if there’s an issue, even if it means having the same conversation a number of times.
How do you say no?
This question was both about not taking on new students – in which case it’s easier to turn someone away and hopefully offer an alternative – and also in ‘giving up’ a student, particularly one you’ve been working with for a while.
What type of background do you have for working online? Has it changed since March 2020?
We chatted a little about having a plain background that might be less distracting but could perhaps be a little too clinical. Other people noted having virtual backgrounds with the company logo in the case of BE classes.
When giving presentations, do we feel less in control on Zoom?
One of the issues withvideoconferencing platforms is that everything is equally loud and you can’t filter outbackground noise in the same way as you can in an in-person conference. There were also questions of the backchannel and how much we interact with participants through it during a talk.
Is it just in teaching where expertise is challenged?
This led on from the Wednesday Question last week about respect. Most people based in Spain felt that there has been a change in the way teachers are viewed over hte last 20 years, but we wondered whether it was limited to education. There was a feeling that in other professions this is also happening, for example, in heathcare.