Three emails.
The first one from a student:
"Hello. I hope you and your family are safe. I understand during these times you guys are figuring out how to get students to learn when we are on quarantine. My 5th grade sister has zoom classes every weekday and I only have two zoom meetings at the most every week. I understand that she has only one teacher but I should be able to have a meeting with all my teachers. (I only have two teachers who have zoom meetings). I'm worried I will not be prepared for high school staring in the fall. I've asked other kids in other schools and they are having regular zoom meetings from all their teachers. Thank you."
The second from a parent:
"I have not received an email regarding being issued a device through the school. I did fill out the inquiry survey and specified that I need another device in our home. I have four student in the school district all doing distance-learning. We only have one computer for all of them to share. An additional device would be of great help to our family at this time."
The third from our district.
This one was a list of students from around the district still awaiting a device and perhaps even internet access. This list have almost 100 students from my site on it! While that is only 10% of our students, it is still far too many.
How do we teach in an environment like this? Students who just want to learn and be prepared, homes with limited devices that have to be shared and students who have NO access. These seem to be insurmountable, opposing issues!
Maybe the better question is:
How CAN we teach?
What CAN we do to make sure every student is challenged?
What CAN we do to ensure students with limited access still have access to curriculum?
What CAN we do to support students who are not yet accessing our classes?
As educators, we've never really been the people who make excuses. We find ways to SUPPORT students, to reach out and forge RELATIONSHIPS with them and still hold HIGH EXPECTATIONS.
We CAN continue to do that now!
I attended a training last week on distance learning that gave some great tips for distance learning, that allow for differentiation in this environment.
Here are some of the best practices mentioned:
1. Set expectations and goals for the week and send these out to students AND parents on Sunday afternoon (most often requested by parents). Consider using:
an infographic to let help students understand how work relates to time or topic
a video, no more than 5 minutes, to explain learning for the week
Use screen-casting software to record your voice and share info on your screen as a video.
Create a "game-board" to show students how to get to the end of the week.
Use a tic-tac-toe board where the middle square has a required task and student can chose what other two tasks they'd like to do to get a "line" by the end of the week. (check out #choiceboard on Twitter)
2. Remember, two things: "Variety is the spice of life" and "Less is more".
Offer students variety in how to respond to the learning for the week (think Flipgrid, discussions, video blogs, artistic representations, any non-linguistic representation) and make sure there are options that do no require a device (think email #2). This example comes from Deirdre O'Conner https://twitter.com/historywithmsoc edited from a post by Amanda Sandoval https://twitter.com/historysandoval
Learning at home takes longer than school! Pick one key target for the week, and have students access that target through 3-4 different tasks to ensure deep learning.
3. Have flexible due dates.
We are here to educate ALL students. If the topics we teach are important enough for students to know, we should want ALL students to learn them. If a student gets a device next week or the first week of May, they should still be able to learn these essentials we have determined to teach during quarter 4. Will they learn them all? Maybe not. But are we okay leaving kids behind because they have access issues that they cannot prevent? I hope not.
4. Find out what students are thinking. Consider using surveys to find out:
How long are the tasks taking? Is the objective clear? What kind of help do you need? What do you enjoy? What makes time go faster in this distance learning environment? (academic)
How are you doing? Do you need to talk to someone? Are you worried about anything? What are you thankful for? (social-emotional)
5. If it's not working, change it!
We are learning too. If what we are doing is not working, if students are not engaging, if learning is not what we want it to be, if students are asking for something different, NOW is the time. We may be doing this distance learning thing for a while. Now is the best time to figure out how to make this work!
________
I received one other email that worried me.
This one was from a teacher.
"On most days, I'm on the phone [helping] parents and students...
I have not even started grading...
I am working over 12-14 hours a day..."
This new environment is tough! It is difficult for us and for parents. It requires skills we have not honed, communication styles we have not become comfortable with (Zoom, Google meets, Microsoft teams, Google voice) and strategies for motivating that we have not needed in the past.
Perhaps we need "best practices" for ourselves, too. Here's a few ideas to start:
Give yourself grace. We are learning. Everyone needs grace when they are learning!
Set a schedule. Work the hours that work best for your family, and know when you are "off".
Stick to your schedule. Put the device away, the phone down, the notifications to "off" when you are "not working"
Do something you love every day. Bake, garden, sew, run, enjoy the sun! Home is your refuge normally. Make sure you find ways to keep it feeling like that, not like your place of work, or the place you are forced to inhabit!
Connect with others regularly. If you haven't had a zoom happy hour with your best-ies, you really should find a way to do that this week. Sharing recipes of what's in the Solo cup is required, adult beverages optional.
Share and steal. This is the time to share what we are doing with others and steal from those who've done it already. Check out Twitter, Facebook groups and even Pinterest for great ideas for distance learning. I've found some interesting ideas using #choiceboards and #distancelearning on Twitter.
Don't forget to exercise! Staying fit helps our mental and emotional health as well as our physical health. Not sure what to do? Just take a walk!
Ask for help when you need it! There are many supports around for educators. If you can't find what you need, ask your admin, your department lead, or your favorite colleague.
Take care of yourself because your students need you!
They need you healthy.
They need you positive.
They need your consistency.
They need your encouragement.
They need you to believe in them.
Be well.
Kim
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