#103 Teaching from Home: Ben Rooney – structure, social interactions and experimenting with technology

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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Mr Barton Maths podcast, with me Craig Barton.

This is the first episode in my Teaching from Home podcast series.

I am recording this on Sunday the 29th March 2020, at the end of the first week of closures of UK schools due to the Covid-19 outbreak. This has presented a huge challenge, both for teachers and students, having to adapt to a new way of thinking about teaching and learning amidst a time of great uncertainty and anxiety.

My plan in this series is to find out how teachers are coping, with a view to pick up tips and advice, but also to hear stories of teachers’ concerns and struggles so we know we are not alone in finding this situation incredibly challenging.

My aim is that you will hear from a wide variety of teachers, sharing a wide variety of experiences. There will be technology focussed episodes – just how does remote teaching work? But also episodes focussed on the practicalities of coping with setting students appropriate work whilst also having to look after your own children at home. Then there are issues of safeguarding, differentiation, mindset and more that I hope will come up as we progress. There will be maths teachers, teachers of other subjects, and primary school teachers. There will be teachers from the UK and overseas. Hopefully something for everyone. I have no idea how long this series will go on for – but so long as people keep listening and hopefully finding it useful, I shall continue!

So, first up we have Ben Rooney, who as we will hear, has learned a lot about online teaching and learning during this first week. Structure, maintaining social interactions, experimenting with technology, but taking it slow are the key. Oh, and if you want to take part in a drinking game to spice up the episode, try having a shot every time Ben mentons Microsoft Teams…

I hope you enjoy the episode and find it useful. And please stay safe.

On Twitter, Ben is @benjrooney

My usual plugs:

Thanks so much for listening, stay safe, and I really hope you enjoy the show
Craig Barton

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