I Turned My Virtual Classroom into a Talk Show: Re-imagining School During a Pandemic!

Our school, 7 Pillars Career Academy, was brand new in many facets last school year. We took on developing an innovative program for middle school students in Forrest Park, Georgia starting in July 2019. I am so pleased with being a founder teacher of this school that has proven to be a choice more parents in Georgia need; especially during this pandemic.  

What distinguishes us is that our middle school curriculum is online. We also use the term “scholar” instead of “student” as our school vision speaks to a success pathway for each scholar striving to succeed.

The program—while innovative—also requires our scholars to use laptops for a large amount of time of the school day. My 6th grade scholars were getting adjusted not only to middle school but to learning. It was all brand new for them. They are able to now better navigate and adjust to virtual learning than their counterparts in public school districts in Georgia that struggled with the transition. 

Public schools need time, training and patience during the transition from face to face to virtual learning. 

This past school year was more of a very fun roller coaster ride. Exciting, empowering, and even scary at times. I smile when I reflect on this because I’ve been in other school settings where it too was a roller coaster ride but not pleasant. I realized early on in the school year that it was going to take our scholars much longer to adjust to this than what we anticipated.  As December approached, our scholars were finally getting used to the program. The gains in the educational gaps were closing and we were seeing progress.

Then the pandemic hit during the end of the third quarter in March 2020. It felt like a boom from the sound of an imploding building. I could feel my heart dropping.  Immediately, I had to re-imagine teaching my scholars.  I had to do so without the resources and cultural design of a physical classroom.

Let me tell you it was like a bomb just hit and blew up everything we built. As a special education teacher it was very difficult for my students. Every challenge you could think of was happening across the state in the homes of my scholars’. No internet access and no tech devices were immediate issues.

Another challenge was the absence of the physical presence of teachers. With classes being solely online, we quickly saw disparities.  We soon saw which scholars had access as well as which weren’t engaged if there wasn’t a parent or guardian in the room or near them. There were many other scholars who wanted to be in virtual classes but who didn’t have the resources.

Support Georgia families who don't have access to internet or stable internet access here. 

For me, I had to re-imagine how to connect with my scholars. So I modeled my classes after 90’s sitcoms and talk shows. I played a different genre of music each day in the waiting room of my virtual class. This was a strategy I used in class to help keep scholars focused while exposing them to various types of music.

I also continued to use YouTube to help give visual connects for my visual learners.

I created an “All in the Family” tutorial program on Zoom to walk parents through strategies for them to use while learning at home.  I also used technology to provide grade reports, online assignments, and homework.

PowerPoint has been a life saver in helping to illuminate imagination. I used this to create scholar lesson plans with approved links for them to explore educational resources. In re-imagining my lessons, I had to create a different pathway for my scholars to get the resources I used my classroom.

Imagination was also infused in my homework assignments and projects. These tasks were used as assessments which required the students to utilize the resources I presented in class. They had to show what they learned by creating their own PowerPoint presentations.

I turned my virtual classroom a talk show and my love for public relations allowed me to create where it was teaching lessons through various strategies. This allowed me to use imagination and be creative with technology resources while engaging my students.

Jason B. Allen is a Special Education teacher in Georgia. Jason has worked in Education for over fifteen (15) years as a teacher and leader servicing students, families and communities. He uses he platform to empower Black male educators to advocate for social justice through his work with Profound Gentlemen. As an education activist and blogger (EdLanta), Jason actively speaks and writes on ways to improve educational outcomes. He is a member of the Association of American Educators (AAE) and an AAE Foundation Advocacy Fellow.