English classes experience the word of the day

"What does the word 'concurrent' mean?" This was the warm-up question in a Teacher Town English class on their first hybrid / distance learning day, in which both teaching models are wrapped up in one cozy bundle. 

Not a single student seemed to know what it meant. In fact, one asked, "Is this a new word made up for COVID times?" But they appeared eager to learn, one major highlight of the event.

Between 2 and 10 students per class arrived with smiles beneath their masks. About the same number of students attended class from home. While Allie O'Malley flexed her webcam, students called "testing" from opposite ends of ends of the concurrent classroom. For the most part, there were a lot of thumbs up when it came to audio-visual effects. 

"It was a huge relief," she said. O'Malley was right to worry. It's a tremendous undertaking to meet the needs of both groups at once. One teacher, two classes, one period? The dictionary definition reads 'existing, happening, or done at the same time.' Since the school board didn't approve time machines in the tech kits they recently supplied, this is going to be long four months for a lot of teachers. 

"I'm trying to focus on the definition in the context of math: two or more lines meeting at one point." O'Malley continued. "Plus the prefix--con. It means together. Can we just learn together?" 

That's the hope! Kids turned on their cameras in greater numbers. The two groups talked back and forth. Both groups played a few rounds of Quizlet live...yes, in unison. Then they waved good-bye to each other for the change of class. That's a vocabulary lesson that's going to take hold.

"Tomorrow, maybe we'll explore the word 'depleted.' I mean, it was fun, but now I'm exhausted."