Teaching in a Hybrid Environment

Leah Brewer

May 19, 2021

In the midst of the widespread administration of COVID-19 vaccines and California’s record-low COVID test positivity rates, many areas of the state are starting to transition back to close-to-normal conditions. Within this community, Santa Catalina School has transitioned from distance learning to a hybrid learning environment in which some students attend their classes in person, while others attend via Zoom. 

Over the past year, teachers have found ways to adapt their classroom teaching techniques to the online realm. However, some students may be wondering now, “How are teachers going to teach students attending online and in-person at the same time?” 

Some teachers have all students logging onto Zoom; although most students are in the classroom, everyone is required to log on to the online meeting, making it easier for teachers to teach to all students instead of switching back and forth between working with online and in-person students. Other teachers project the Zoom meeting onto their whiteboards. This form of hybrid teaching ensures that every student is able to hear and see the same thing while also saving in-person students the trouble of logging onto Zoom. In a few classes, all students attend in-person, so teachers can write notes on the board without worrying about whether or not online students can see. 

Adjusting to hybrid learning has felt strange for students and teachers alike as the transition back to normal school continues. Many teachers are still learning and changing the way they teach in this hybrid classroom to find the optimal method for them. Hopefully, school will be back to normal by fall.