Are you like me and already thinking about next fall? We have had several meetings as a school district regarding plans for this fall. Several ideas have been proposed, parents have been surveyed, teachers have shared some concerns, and we have established a few scenarios for this unique 2020-2021 school year. The most likely scenario for us is a combination, a hybrid if you will, of distance learning and classroom learning. We are considering an A day / B day schedule. A day students would attend school Monday and Wednesday with distance learning the remaining days, and B day students would attend Tuesday and Thursday with distance learning the remaining days. This is the most likely option for us. What this all boils down to is that teachers are going to need to adapt their instructional practices once again to meet the needs of learners… and this is why I am considering the Flipped Classroom model - AND the direct opposite of the Flipped Classroom model - for this fall.
Read moreHow to Prepare for the Next School Year - Even with all of the Unknowns!
How can we plan for next year when there are so many unknowns? What will this next school year look like? How will students attend school, how much will be virtual, and what type of in class learning will really take place? These questions have been spinning in my head over the past few weeks. The answers are just not there, yet. I know some districts are planning a combination of online/virtual learning offset with some in class learning days. Some districts are planning an A/B schedule where students will learn online one day, and attend the next day to keep numbers low and keep distance between students. Some have no plans, and may not make them until the weeks prior to school starting.
So, how do we plan ahead? What can we do now, or over the summer, to be better prepared for a new and completely unique school year? By focusing on what we do know.
Read moreVirtual End-of-Year Activities and Ideas
Who knows what the end of the school year will bring. This year, some schools may end up going back to the classroom to finish the school year, and that would be awesome. However, for many, this school year is going to be completed from the safety of our students’ homes.
As teachers, we are great at adapting, reimagining, and coming up with clever ways to engage students without getting to work with them in our classrooms. As we approach the end of the school year, one in which many teachers will teach virtually for over a quarter of the school year, many of us will say goodbye to our students virtually as well.
Read moreArgument Writing through Distance Learning - the Why and How.
his has been one of the most interesting, surprising, and downright challenging spring seasons I have ever experienced. My students are home learning online while I try to teach them from my own home. My own children are home, learning from their teachers who are also at home. Never in my life did I think I would write those two sentences (or use the word home so darn much) but here we are. We officially start distance learning on Monday, so I have been working on a distance learning unit for my students. Though we are a 1:1 school, I will need to plan for a few students who will have limited internet access during this time. We have decided to continue learning digitally, and provide packets (mailed home) as well. With all of this in mind, I am moving forward with my digital argumentative writing unit with several of my groups.
Read moreEngaging Students in an Online Lesson
Engaging students in the online world can look very different than engagement in the traditional brick and mortar classroom. When I first started teaching online, I found myself falling back to that basic direct instruction lesson because I wasn’t as familiar with what needed to be done to engage students digitally in the lesson. I also found that the number of distractions our students are facing while trying to learn remotely is far greater than those they deal with inside of the school building. So, I have had to revamp my bag of teaching tools, so to speak. Here are some quick tips to get students engaged as you deliver your lessons digitally and remotely.
Read moreSteps to Designing an E-Learning or Online Unit
I have had the opportunity to teach online for a few years now. Through this time, I have learned some tips and tricks for creating a full e-learning / distance learning / online unit for students. (Can we talk about all of the names being tossed around? Sheesh!) I want to take a moment to share the steps I take to create online learning opportunities for my students. These 10 steps will walk you through the entire process!
Read moreGetting Started with E Learning. Quick Tips and Free Resources for Remote Learning.
Many of us are being told that we need to prepare, quickly, for remote teaching and learning. For some of us, that means we need to prepare to teach online to our students over the next few weeks. These are districts with 1:1 access, and assurances that most students have access to the internet at home. Other districts are asking teachers to prepare for remote learning. Teachers in this situation are trying to find printable materials they can quickly send home with students to complete over their time away from school. These districts may not have 1:1 technology access for students, or students in the district have less access to the internet in their homes. In either situation, teachers have found themselves scrambling to prepare - I know I have! Here are some quick tips for either situation - plus a ton of freebies - to get you started with this process.
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