I am amazed at the hours my virtual teacher puts in. As I mentioned before, this is her first year and aside from all the regular responsibilities she also has to learn all the systems and procedures. We were talking about the systems she uses and discussing some of the other features classmates have blogged about. She IM'd a fellow teacher with some of the questions and received a response within minutes. The other teacher has given her an overview of using one of the systems and I am looking forward to being her test subject tomorrow.
I don't know what it is like for a more ecperienced teacher, but I have been very impressed with the interaction my teacher has with others and how they help each other out and share resources.
4 comments:
I am also impressed with how many hours are put in by the virtual teachers! The teacher I'm observing has been teaching in the virtual school for 8 years and she now has "partnered" with another teacher to share days on-call so that they both have time to do everything else that has to be done without having students call everyday with questions, but students still have access to a teacher on her "off-call" days.
The thing I have readily come to understand is how much time is required to be a virtual school teacher!
The use of MSN Messenger is definitely a more effective tool for them than email it seems. I have had a similar experience with my host teacher using messenger to ask questions or assist another teacher while working with me.
I think all of us have discovered that the virtual school teachers are an extremely dedicated and professional group. My host teacher was willing to give me as much of her time as I needed, and was very open with sharing how her classes worked. While I found using the systems and procedures she used as challenging, she said that the system was easy to work once she got used to it. I think that the virtual school model is a viable option for some students, and that this particular school is a prime example of an option that works.
I think all of us have discovered that the virtual school teachers are an extremely dedicated and professional group. My host teacher was willing to give me as much of her time as I needed, and was very open with sharing how her classes worked. While I found using the systems and procedures she used as challenging, she said that the system was easy to work once she got used to it. I think that the virtual school model is a viable option for some students, and that this particular school is a prime example of an option that works.
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