EDMONTON -- Jeremy Clevette, who teaches at Eastview Middle School in Red Deer, tries to put a little magic into his online teaching using a green screen to project images on.
“When I read Harry Potter, I have my wand, call myself Professor Clevette and make myself disappear,” he says. “I make it seem like it’s a history class.”
Clevette, who has turned his kitchen into a classroom with the help of a big piece of green fabric, says he asks his students what they want to see behind him for when he instructs.
He has used everything from Sponge Bob’s Bikini Bottom to maps from Lord of the Rings.
“It’s totally fun for me. I love putting myself in front of weird backgrounds,” Clevette says.
Clevette also does a version of a newscast where he has reached out to people for a segment he calls “quarantalks.” So far he’s had guests ranging from local business people, to politicians and celebrities including TV and radio personality George Stroumboulopoulos.
“The responses were great, really no one said, ‘No.’ Everyone replied with a ‘yes’ and said, ‘No problem,’” says Clevette.
Clevette says other teachers at the school have applauded the time and effort he has put into his online teaching, but he credits his students for the success of the green screen classes.
“Half the stuff I do the kids showed me,” he says. “They know it better than I do. That’s my best resource, reaching out to a kid and say, ‘Show me how to do this.’”
Clevette, who asks his students to share pictures and stories with him for his segments, says the virtual and interactive classes helps connect everyone at a time when they physically can’t be together.
“(The) curriculum is there, curriculum you have to do, but it’s relationships that are first.”
