JOIN USAfter a long time, classes began to run offline for us, along with online. I was happy to see the students back but the strength was relatively low compared to what I saw before the second wave. This time, I was all the more conscious as the classes began.
The very first confusion was whether I should look at the students in class and welcome them, or should I look at the camera and welcome the students attending the class online. I welcomed the students in class, “Good morning students, welcome to class!”
Almost immediately, a voice said: “Ma’am, where are you looking? We are here!” Unable to figure out where the voices came from, I looked around the room to see who was calling me out. I find it difficult to identify the students with masks. How do I identify students calling me out wearing masks?
Then two students came forward and pointed at the laptop. I smiled, stood in front of the camera and said: “Well, that was for offline students, I welcome you all as well, online students.” Now I had to practise addressing both online and offline students, which would take some time to get used to.
Another day, I said: “Students, raise your hands if you have doubts.” A voice shouted, “Ma’am!” This time, I stood confidently in front of the laptop with a smiling face but there were no hands raised. I looked around now only to see a boy in the offline class raising his hand. There’s not really much difference between a voice coming from the laptop and the voice from a student wearing a mask.
While the class was in progress, I heard someone giggling. “Who is it? Please mute yourself,” I said. Soon the entire class burst out in laughter and I immediately realised my mistake. I had told an offline student to mute himself instead of asking him to keep quiet!
The most difficult part was to check the attendance. I asked the students for a solution. After a discussion, we came up with a solution. When I call out names, students had to answer “online ma’am”, or “offline ma’am” instead of saying, “present ma’am”.
After a few days, I am still in the process of learning to communicate with both my online and offline students simultaneously. This has given all of us a chance to enjoy some lighter moments, while just hoping that things will get better tomorrow.