Middle School teachers decided to try a new format for a virtual zoom party just before December break.
The day before a break is always a joyful moment to celebrate how much our young scholars have accomplished since the school year started. Now that some students are returning to the building, they are adapting these ideas for wherever students are learning.
The event opened up with a birthday shout-out accompanied by the Birthday-student’s favorite song, “Diamonds,” by Rihana. As students transitioned into class they un-muted their mics and cheered. Some even broke it down and danced in their chairs.
Just like the Lower School Friday Finale, teachers created awards for grade 8 scholars. They delivered not just serious awards for progress and achievement, but some zingers that alluded not just to teachers’ sense of humor, but to the remote learning context, for example: “Breakout Room MVP,” and “Best Zoom Look.”
One serious award was the “Biggest Distance Learning Glow-up” award. It was given to the student who made the most progress overall.
For those who do not spend as much time on zoom as our students, a “Glow-up” is the combination of jazz-hands and sign-language applause that students do onscreen to encourage each other while they’re on mute. It makes the screen look sparkly with all the moving fingers, so it’s called a glow-up.
At Conservatory Lab we know that learning works best when teachers and students build strong relationships. Teachers built a trivia game on Kahoot, a platform that people can use to do polls, quizzes, and temperature checks during remote learning. Teachers inputted interesting factoids like places they’ve visited, or least popular opinions. Students guessed by using the mobile app, and the grade that got the most votes for the right answer in the poll gained a point. No matter whether grade 7 or 8 took the prize, everyone was a winner!