Are you ready for a power outage in the classroom? In today’s digital age, it’s natural to feel anxious when the lights go out, and the projector turns off, leaving you and your students in the dark.
But what if I told you that power outages don’t have to mean the end of your lessons? That’s right, even without PowerPoints and YouTube, teachers have been delivering effective lessons for centuries.
Don’t panic and keep teaching; we’ve got you covered with these two ways to prepare for power outages:
Be prepared: The Teacher Emergency Kit
Are you familiar with survivalism? Survivalists proactively prepare for disasters. With that in mind, they have a survival kit that would help them survive the first hours of a disaster. As a teacher, you should also prepare your survival kit, a box you’d open in the event of a power outage. You don’t really need a box, but you need to ensure that you have sufficient resources in stock ready for the day your school has to run without electricity.
What are these resources?
From Books to Whiteboards: Create a Diverse Resource Kit
While you still have the luxury to order resources online, complete your stock of notebooks and pencils because all distribution lines will likely be cut in the event of a power outage.
Make sure to also stock on whiteboards and markers; they are great for assessing your students, drilling, and brainstorming, regardless of the subject.
Rediscover Old Treasures: Outdated Posters and Textbooks
Go to your resource room, and make an inventory of what is there. What you have ignored over the last couple of years, because it was outdated, will come back to the classroom. Yes, I am talking about all these dusty vintage posters about fractions, figurative language, French irregular verbs, and the state of matter. These are great visuals that were once the stars of the show. Give them a clean, and add them to your Teacher Survival Kit.
Just like the posters, if you look long enough, you might find old textbooks for your subject. If you once thought they were old-fashioned, they might turn into a gold mine for learning material and practice. Get them out, make sure you have a book for two students, and put them inside your survival kit.
Printing and Planning ahead: Making a Paper Backup of your Lessons
Whether you have textbooks or not, print some handouts for extra practice, revision, or support. Better to have more than not enough.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel; your lesson plans are ready on your drive, print them, and have a folder with a paper copy of all your lessons. You will certainly not be able to teach them the way you were planning to, but if the power outage is complete and long-lasting, you’ll know which direction to take.
Teaching Without Technology: Make it Fun and Engaging
Without electricity, our beautiful PowerPoint is useless, and the interactive whiteboard and projector are worthless. Without electricity, no Internet connection, no Google, no Teacher Pay Teachers, and no TES, forget about Kahoot and YouTube, and forget about your shared drive and all the lesson materials you have carved over your many years of practice. Do not worry, teachers don’t have to return to Victorian-style teaching without electricity, but it takes a bit of thinking and planning.
Engaging Students in an “Unplugged” Classroom
Students are on their phones 20/7 (I assume they sleep at least 4 hours). We need to show them that life carries on without technology. For that, you must ensure that what you do in class is engaging.
If the power cut is temporary, use that time to revisit skills and concepts. You could do that with a hands-on project (depending on your subject, you would need some material, so think ahead), prepare a debate with your students, and encourage groups to use drama to demonstrate what they have learned. If the weather permits it, why not do it outside?
If your topic is related to nature and geography, a scavenger hunt will occupy many lessons.
The Power of your School Librarian
It would be a great time to connect with your librarian. They are often forgotten, but they play an essential role in education; they know what is in the library and how to use their resources to teach or complement a lesson. Talk to them, and plan together; you might plan for more than a survival lesson.
Takeaways
Power outages could lead to chaos in society, but schools should be a safe environment where learning happens, so you must be prepared for them. Remember that failing to plan is planning to fail. Visit your resource room and inventory what you have; gather books, posters, and old textbooks; create a folder with master copies of your lesson plans. Make the most of the opportunity to teach without electricity to engage your students in fun and interactive activities like debate, group work, and scavenging hunts. The most important is to be prepared to adapt to different scenarios. And remember to communicate with parents to let them know your school is a step ahead. Follow these steps, and a power outage could have little, if not zero, consequence.
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