Regardless of our approaches to pedagogy and thoughts about how we “should” be teaching, what we do in the classroom is likely to be very different this term.

In many schools, teachers will be required to maintain two metres of distance from students, or even stay in a specified area at the front of the classroom. This limits chances to move around the room, offer one-to-one guidance, strategically place oneself as a behaviour-management device, and give immediate feedback - all of which are part of the daily routines of effective teachers. Suddenly, these tools are being pulled out from under our feet.

Yes, of course, we need to remain at a safe distance from each other. I am not complaining about such measures. Containing the virus must take priority. However, it’s worth thinking about what we can do differently to make this work for us and our students.

A few years ago, I broke three bones in my foot. I was well enough to be in work, and well enough to teach - but moving around the room was frustrating, not to mention painful. I quickly realised that six weeks of teaching from the front lay ahead. I have reflected on what I did during these weeks and the strategies I developed that I will be using in the post-Covid classroom.

How to teach from the front

1. Maintain the dialogue

The craft of questioning and immediate feedback is something that will be of enormous help during these times. There is a video of Siegfried Engelmann teaching maths in 1966, which illustrates this well. 

It’s over 50 years old, so you will need to forgive the quality of the filming - but this is an inspiring example of a teacher delivering a lesson from the front while employing a wonderful, open and positive dialogue with the students.

It’s heartening to watch and can be adapted for many, if not all, subject areas. Not only will it serve to keep your students interested in the subject content, but it will also enhance their oracy skills and highlight areas for development for you.

2. Use the visualiser

If you don’t yet have a visualiser, then discuss this with the person holding the purse strings. We have a visualiser in every classroom and they are the ultimate resource for teaching from the front.

From model answers to live feedback, these can transform the experience for both students and teachers.

Schools will have policies about the acceptability of taking books from students - or whether they need to be “quarantined” first - but if you can get their work under the camera to give live feedback, then yet another barrier to “usual” procedures is removed.

Getting the permission of the student is important; not all of them will be comfortable with such exposure, but, over time, a culture of trust can be developed so that all students feel able to get involved.

3. Model, model, model

Something that has been playing on my mind is the fact that I won’t be able to see the immediate mistakes that are being made if I can’t move around the room and observe students as they work. It is quite normal for me to look over shoulders and catch a student before they derail an entire paragraph with a simple mistake.

To counter this, extended and front-ended modelling can really help. We use “I do it; we do it; you do it” as a structure - and the dialogic element of the “we do it” is absolutely crucial.

Time needs to be spent on this part of the process. As the scaffolding is removed, students’ confidence will flourish - and although we won’t be able to see the mistakes in the first instance, the build-up will hopefully mean that there are far fewer who we need to catch.

Sarah Barker is a teacher of English at Orchard School Bristol. She has been assistant headteacher and head of English previously. She tweets at @mssfax and blogs at roundlearning.org