Roomies & Zoomies in Sixth Grade

By Head of Community Engagement Gordon Mathis

Four teachers, four cohorts, four colors - the sixth grade teachers and students are poised for success this year.  While teachers use Google Classroom as the “one-stop shop” for active engagement with students, on-campus students (“roomies”) and continuous learning students (“Zoomies”) are connected to Zoom with their school-issued laptops to participate in classroom activities.

In science, veteran teacher Marsha Berger has refined a classic experiment that students can perform both at home and in class. Students immerse an egg in one of several liquids, vinegar, corn syrup, salt water, to observe the results. Through osmosis, the egg will increase or decrease in volume; the students measure the changes in volume, make hypotheses about the cause of the changes, and incorporate bar graphs to help analyze the data. 

In mathematics Joanna Baxter, in her first year at Galloway, plans for the students to write their favorite recipe, which can easily be accomplished both at home and at school. Then, they will scale the ratios of ingredients to create equivalent recipes for more people. The students use tables to help with the computation. Next, the students will merge their individual recipes into a document for the entire class, creating a class recipe book. 

New to teaching but a graduate of The Galloway School, John-Francis Villines (‘14) teaches social studies. He broadcasts on a webcam to students at home, and in turn, they appear via Zoom on the Apple TV in his classroom and can ask questions by talking to him from the screen.

In her third year at Galloway, language arts teacher Anna Catherine Fort sends all students the class notes before the class begins. The notes always start with an agenda, so the students, both at home and in class, know the pace of the class and the goals they will accomplish by the end of class. Ms. Fort’s goal is for every student to feel engaged and included in the life of the class; she makes sure all students are on the same playing field. During class discussions, students in class walk up to the camera and speak directly into the microphone so the students at home can hear their classmates’ comments. So far in the school year, the students have reviewed the writing process, practiced reading strategies, and participated in peer editing - Ms. Fort scrupulously pairs a “Roomie” with a “Zoomie” in the peer editing initiatives, so everyone feels included.