Memoir Classes Zooming Along, Part One: A Student’s Point of View

Todays guest blogger, Michael Graff, and their dog Lana.

Back in march I wrote a blog post explaining why online memoir-writing classes wouldn’t work for me. Five months later, I’m leading three classes a week via Zoom.

What happened? I learned to accept help from writers who were offering to help make it work.

Sharon kindly volunteered to lead the Wednesday “Me, Myself & I” class virtually, and a writer in each of the other three classes stepped up to handle Zoom details while I teach from home. Today’s guest blogger, Michael Graff, is one of those generous souls. He hosts and moderates Zoom for the weekly class I lead for Village Chicago, and his encouraging words early on helped build my confidence. Here he is with his take on Zoom:

by Michael Graff

For several years I’ve taken classes at Northwestern’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, or “OLLI.” One class I participate in is a political discussion group. This spring, just after our semester’s first class, word came out that all OLLI programs were indefinitely cancelled.

It made sense. The entire world was shutting down. All the activities I participated in and places I frequently visited were closed. I was profoundly disappointed.

My wife and I had just begun adjusting our lives to social distancing when I received my first invitation for a Zoom chat. I’d never heard of Zoom before, but my wife had. She’d attended a class through the vehicle.

Suddenly, I was using Zoom a lot. I met with friends, family, and my condominium association on Zoom. A friend from my OLLI class texted to ask if I wanted to join a weekly Zoom chat with other class members. I did, and at that meeting someone raised a question: Why doesn’t Northwestern temporarily reestablish class via Zoom?

The initial response was that it would never work. Undaunted, our groups moderators scheduled a practice session to give it a try. The idea spread throughout OLLI, and within a couple of weeks many of the Northwestern OLLI classes were up and running on Zoom.

At about that time, I learned that The Village Chicago suspended all classes. Our upcoming series of memoir classes would not meet. I suggested to Beth that we hold a Zoom reunion with our group. Beth was skeptical. Then I contacted classmate Hugh Brodkey, and between the three of us we proposed trying a Zoom gathering to see if enough people had an interest. After that, Beth and The Village decided to re-establish our memoir class on Zoom. So far we’ve completed two six-week sessions since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, when my Socially Distant Olli class neared its end, one of my group’s moderators asked class members to express our feelings about online learning and how Zoom had affected us. I emailed my assessment of Zoom:

Dear………

I’m impressed how well our class adapted to Zoom. In fact people are more cooperative and more respectful in tone to one another because we’re all making sure that each of us can be heard. On the other hand, I miss some of the animated discussion and occasional bickering that bubbles up, but there are certainly fewer fist fights.

However, the day I led our group in a discussion about prison reform, I felt awkward addressing my laptop instead of live people. Several times I lost my place and train of thought. I knew that I’d have done a better job live, but I’m learning and I’ll do better next time.

Zoom makes it easy to come to class, but I miss my routine of riding my bike or taking the bus to Northwestern’s downtown campus, running an errand, stopping to have lunch before class, or simply stopping at OLLI’s cafe to pick up coffee or a snack.

But I’m a social person, so most of all, I miss the time before and after class when we all visit with each other.

This past semester, we lost one of our dear classmates. She was a lot older than I am, but often she sat near me and we’d talk before class began. Her obituary revealed she’d lied to me about her age last fall when she told me it was her 90th birthday.

She was 95!

This woman was such an animated person, I’d have believed her if she’d claimed she was eighty five or younger. I appreciated her sharp wit, the deep depth of her intelligence, and her lifetime of experiences. I’m grateful to have had that chance personally to know her. Had I only known this woman through the lens of Zoom I wouldn’t have had that opportunity. It would have been my loss.

Zoom, along with other venues, has brought a lot of us back together again, but it’s not perfect nor is it the complete package. I’m glad we’re continuing our group on Zoom. I look forward to the day when we can meet again in person, but I appreciate having what we have.

Back to me: stay tuned for Part Two next week, when I describe Zoom from a Blind Teacher’s Point of View.