Top Teachers: Nominate a teacher who has stepped up during COVID-19
When Pulteney Grammar students started learning from home, Olivia Chapple stepped up to the challenge – now she’s been nominated in our Top Teacher campaign. Nominate a teacher here
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When Pulteney Grammar School students started learning remotely instead of in the classroom, teacher Olivia Chapple was determined they wouldn’t miss out on individual attention.
Where normally she would set aside time in a recess or lunch break to talk through a draft essay with a student, she communicated in an equivalent way using video-based platform Flipgrid.
“So they were hearing my voice and seeing my face and I wasn’t just sending them back a few notes on a bit of paper,” she said.
“I also built extension websites so if a student finished quickly they could stay engaged.”
Ms Chapple, who teaches English and German, was nominated by readers in the Top Teacher campaign being run by The Advertiser to celebrate those who have gone the extra mile during the coronavirus pandemic.
One parent said: “Both my children have had her for different subjects and both found her support and ability to give them confidence unbelievably helpful.”
As well as preparing lessons delivered online, Ms Chapple created a hub for each subject with extra resources. She worked so hard, she actually fell ill.
Ms Chapple views learning a language as a hobby, so included quizzes, fun stuff and current affairs articles such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel being an accomplished scientist who has lent on her experience in the coronavirus crisis.
Ms Chapple expects one of the positives to come out of the crisis will be most teachers now having the skills to permanently offer online resources as a complement to classroom teaching.
“It has brought people into building things that they’ve found can be a really innovative tool,” she said.
“It will become part of our practice rather than a novelty.”