Teacher enjoying the ups & downs of online learning
There are some days Mike Falco wishes he was a spectator rather than a teacher. “If I had retired sooner,” he told me, “I could have listened to someone else teaching my class.”
The wish surfaced a few weeks ago after Mr. Falco suddenly became an on-line teacher. His students use computers, iPads or cell phones to participate in his class. “Sometimes, we laugh uproariously,” the teacher admits. That’s why he’d like to be a viewer rather than the person leading the show.
For the last 20 years, Mike Falco has been teaching English to adults who speak another language. He literally works day and night. He teaches in Newburgh during the traditional school day and he works for Rockland BOCES in the evening. His students get six hours of class work and three hours of tutoring. Like younger students, they have been affected by the COVID-19 restrictions.
“On-line instruction is not remotely the same,” their teacher comments. “It’s not the same dynamic as when you’re in the classroom.”
That’s understandable. But why is it funny? Mr. Falco has no trouble answering that question.
“I laugh hardy at least once during each distance learning class,” he admits. “It really is the best medicine. For example, I ask my English language learners to take turns reading aloud. We expect to hear an adult start to read, but all of a sudden someone’s baby starts in with baby talk. I get laughing out loud and the whole class begins laughing. We can hear each other in our Skype sessions. We can also hear what may be going on with family members who are close by. Almost everybody is home these days. My adult students who have children of their own often find that the children don’t want to share their mom or dad.”
There are also times when Mr. Falco asks questions and, instead of answers, he hears the instructor of someone’s homebound children.
“I don’t mind hearing another instructor,” Mr. Falco says, “but what does earth science or history have to do with my noun and pronoun grammar lessons!”
Having had experience in theater, Mr. Falco may have an advantage over his colleagues who are new to distant instruction. But he admits that he’s winging it and couldn’t get by without the help of a technical person. There are times when his class is at the mercy of the Internet.
He looks forward to returning to the classroom. But until that happens, he and his students will keep on laughing.
