What I Learned Teaching Online Classes

What a term! Responding to pandemic restrictions, Inkling Writing Studios ran online classes for the first time ever. With 40 students enrolled in eight weekly classes, it was an enormous challenge – which I am hugely proud to say we pulled off. To all the writers: I am so impressed by your spectacular efforts – your can-do attitude and fantastic energy meant we were able to continue to learn in productive, happy learning spaces. It was heartening to watch how well you encouraged and inspired each other to write.

We wrote loads of poems-dragon poems, window poems, art poems, winter poems and picture poems. We also wrote lots of stories, which parents patiently uploaded for me to read. I learnt many lessons about teaching creative writing online. Here are a few of them.

Children are very adaptable

Yes, there are some limitations to not being able to read a child’s works as they are writing. But this isn’t an insurmountable problem. One way we overcame this was by reading work out loud. Children are very adaptable, and it was astonishing how fast their confidence grew, particularly as they shared their writing with others.

Worksheets are wonderful

Without the kind of real-time interactivity of a face-to-face classroom, I knew I had to redesign my classes to suit the new digital environment. For me, this meant rewriting all activities as structured worksheets. I found that, rather than inhibiting creativity, it actually enabled it – the added clarity created scaffolding for children to take bigger leaps with their imagination.

The new worksheet system was particularly helpful for younger and/or struggling writers. So much so, I plan to use them in face-to-face classes too!

Apart, together

Since the phrase “social distancing” entered the common lexicon earlier this year, people have been calling for it to be changed. The term implies that we can only be ‘social’ if we are physically together – which is of course not true. In fact, rather than be distant, we should be socially intimate during this time when our collective health demands we be physically apart. This means more phone calls, more face-time through Skype calls, more remote checking in.

I discovered that the social interaction available in a regular online class was valued by the children, especially during the lockdown phase. It was a space where they could talk together about their experiences. We were still able to play quizzes, tell jokes and have fun online.

Term 2 was a different kind of writing adventure and we have all grown because of it. Inkling Writing Studio now has lots of experience with teaching both online and studio classes – and we will be continuing both as we move into Term 3.

To book a Term 3 class, head to this page. If you have any questions, get in contact with Inkling director Alison Gorman.