I led our family class of six young teens (twelve to fourteen years old) online last week. It was a great success. We have been meeting together since most of them were very young, so the relationships are strong. People were delighted to simply see each other’s faces. The online format made it possible for some to be present who hadn’t been in class recently due to illness or work schedules.
A class member with a Zoom account helped people get situated with the technology fifteen minutes before our formal start. We shortened our normal two-and-a-half-hour class to two hours. We used the following format:
6:00: We shared things that are good, mediocre, and/or crappy [awful] in our lives (we’ve used this form of check-in for months as we’ve gathered over dinner—the group is attached to it).
6:30: We played an online game together (we asked people in advance to think of games that might work).
6:45: Parents and young people did special time (offline) while allies discharged in break-out groups.
7:15: Young people and allies came back together online for more games while parents had mini-sessions on the phone. (Example of a game: someone offers a truly disgusting gift with great love, and the recipient has to refuse the gift with heartfelt thanks. Another game: someone puts an object so close to the computer screen that it can’t be identified then gradually moves it back until somebody accurately calls out what it is.)
7:45: Parents came back online. We broke into parent/young person/ally three-way sessions in break-out rooms. We had one minute each of self-appreciation, and in closing everybody shared a highlight of the evening. (We’ve usually included a ten- or fifteen-minute class with a topic and longer mini-sessions toward the end of the evening, but we decided that that was too much for this online experiment.)
The following is feedback about the class:
Young person: I liked doing the introductions and special time and the game with the allies and young people together (while the parents did sessions together). I liked everything, and that is one thing.
Parent: I liked getting to play and laugh in the group and connect in a session with another parent via videoconference. What a contradiction [to distress] to be reminded about the value of play and that it can happen anywhere at any time! Being together on our phones is super easy and fun to make happen!
Another parent: My young person was in such a good mood after family class tonight—close, connected, delighted to show off [display, flaunt] chanting the Torah, excited about things she is looking forward to, and happy to share “good thoughts” from the day at bedtime. We agreed that getting together online is not as good as being physically together but that, given these scary and isolating times, meeting in a Zoom class was an important contradiction for us!