A lot of people jumping on to the 'live teaching' (through video conferenccing) is better bandwagon. Just because it looks most like school feels like, it doesn't necessarily equate that its the correct methodology.

I absolutely agree that some form of connection, preferably through video, is a great way of maintaining social bonds within groups of children. This is not in dispute. This can be done in a pastoral setting, perhaps as morning/afternoon 'tutor' times

Where I see little value is 'live' teaching. When teaching a class, the verbal and non verbal cues that I receive are the key part of that interaction. On video calls... meh, not so much. It's a skill to keep a whole class engaged when they are a couple of feet away from you

Its a completely different ball game doing it when they're connected remotely. Also, if anyone has ever been in a conference call, theyll surely pay testament to a number of things. 1. It's easy to look engaged but your mind be somewhere completely different.

2. Connection problems are still rife. We are not yet at a stage where everyone has 100% reliable connections for video calling. 3. Its easy to lose track.. a connection difficulty or a distraction in the house, and you could completely miss something (often quite pivotal)

You're also duplicating effort. In a school with large subject teams/year groups - multiple teachers could be teaching the same content. How is that a valuable use of their time? The most important role a teacher plays in the classroom is giving feedback.

I would far rather teachers spend their time producing high quality resources, sharing the workload, and thinking about how these resources could be reused in the future. There is life beyond Covid-19.

I get that its a marketing coup to be a school thats offering 'live lessons' but are you genuinely of the belief that its a better option than the structure that I've outlined above? If you are - fine - we don't have to agree. But if you are still planning/refining your strategy

Remember, live lessons are not a panacea.