The click of a mouse is much different from the stroke of a brush.

But the goal remains the same.

Despite having to instruct students both virtually and in-house at the Tamaqua Area Middle School, art teacher Kim Woodward has made it possible to instill traditional art principles, while also incorporating the new era of the industry.

“It taught me to be highly adaptable. I didn’t think I could be that adaptable,” Woodward said. “But kudos to all virtual and in-house teachers, because everyone in their classroom is doing the absolute best for every student here. Our first concern is keeping everyone safe, while teaching everyone kindness and to be polite during these difficult times - and then getting across the message of education.”

During each class period, Woodward has students in her classroom, while also being challenged with teaching students logged in on Zoom online from home. Her students learned to effectively use a computer program called Sketchpad to create art during the pandemic.

“People don’t understand how you can do art on a Chromebook,” said Woodward. “That’s the biggest question that I get - how can you even teach this year without paint brushes? There’s a lot more versatility on a Chromebook than you think.

“It’ll never replace the real mixing of art, because we all like to get messy, especially middle school students. But it was a great way to stay connected, especially with those students who are virtual, as well as in-house.”

Many TAMS students recently learned about Vincent van Gogh and were challenged with creating similar pieces using Sketchpad.

“I did ‘The Starry Night,’?” said eighth-grade student Kendra Forster. “It took like five class periods and I had to do about two hours of work outside of class, so at least six hours. The individual brush strokes take a while.”

Forster never thought she’d be creating artwork on a computer this year.

“I never expected it. COVID, it seems like it doesn’t affect much, but it does. It makes art go from on paper to on a computer and digital.”

Of course, there was a learning curve for everyone. But the feedback from Tamaqua students was positive after reflecting on this unique learning experience.

“I actually didn’t like it that much; it was kind of boring. All you did was click on this or that,” said Andrea Betz, eighth grade. “But Ms. Woodward gave us so many other options and expanded the variety on Sketchpad. It was so much nicer when she stepped in, helped us, and told us what to do.

“There are a lot of tools and utilities that you can use on Sketchpad. It’s a very good tool for kids our age. It’s very easy to use.”

There was an appeal for most students and it didn’t seem to matter how much art experience someone had,

“I’m not very good at art in the first place, but it was more of a relief because I’m better with technology,” said seventh-grader Grant Johns. “It definitely piqued my interest because I’m better with it than with paint brushes.”