How is a Hybrid Model of Pre-Recorded and Live Zoom Classes Successful for Homeschooling with Support?

We would like to give a very excited welcome back our teacher Ms. Jaia for our 2024-2025 school year. 

Ms. Jaia feels it is important to share with you why our hybrid model is successful for not only our families but also our teachers. 

Why do I like teaching in our hybrid system?

Pre-recording lessons allows me the freedom to focus more fully on the content that I am teaching, without the distraction of Zoom glitches, letting students into class,  or being sure my audio is unmuted. I am also able to create more lively lessons that are not bound by the confines of sitting and looking at a screen. I am outdoors, I am including movement, creating art, and showing relevant images. I can show the close ups of an experiment without having to worry about if the class can see what I am doing through the computer screen.   

When creating video content, I am still teaching to the group of children that I have in a class. I am thinking about their likes and dislikes, bringing certain images alive for certain students, and developing lesson plans that help support and engage the class at hand. I create videos in response to what students are struggling with.  The balance of having live Zoom classes allows the Zooms to then focus on that connection piece. It allows interaction between the students, and for me to gauge how the class is interacting with the lesson content. It allows us to recall the lessons and have lively discussions. There is more ease, because I know most of the curriculum material is already given, and we are deepening it together through these live Zoom sessions. 

Listen to the podcast interview with Ms. Jaia and our Founders to learn more about what makes our school so special! Listen HERE.

Jaia has been a class teacher since 2011, both in brick and mortar schools and at Seasons of Seven, and is a Waldorf Alumna herself! As a lifelong lover of learning, Jaia appreciates the fact that she can be immersed in the wonders of the Waldorf curriculum along with her students as they learn through the grades. She loves her students deeply, and enjoys seeing each of them develop their strengths as they grow into full human beings. Jaia grew up in the jungles of Hawaii, and began her own educational journey as a homeschooler before attending a Waldorf school for the upper grades. Jaia loves being able to revel in the green beauty of the Pacific Northwest’s woods, rivers, and coastline, and is excited to have more freedom to explore while still teaching students! She is thrilled to return to Seasons of Seven.

Jaia received her Waldorf Teaching Certificate from Micha-el Institute, after completing a MEd in Elementary Education at Portland State and a BA in International Affairs with a minor in theater at Lewis and Clark College.