It’s been a few busy months of in school teaching with only minor scheduled interruptions (aka breaks). We have also almost made it to the point where school was put to a halt last year. However, we are about to get ice, not that kind we need in August and September during a hurricane, we are getting the kind that stops driving and “normal life” for a week. So here we are with an unintended break again.
We will be teaching at least 2 days online – so we are switching gears. The majority of the teachers in our district are teaching face-to-face while having their quarantined students asynchronous online. There are a few of us who have face-to-face and asynchronous virtual along with quarantined students asynchronous online. For our district asynchronous is a must because we cannot guarantee that every household has access to more than one device (not one-to-one); which means households with more than one student means sharing of screen time. We also live in an area that doesn’t have reception (trees) and may not have adequate phone/DSL/cable lines (rural and trees). So how do we keep learning during these short interruptions that we try to think of as adjustments…
1. Remember that I have never taught in a pandemic before. Is what we are doing really wrong or do it just need an adjustment to fit.
2. Remember that my students have never learned in a pandemic before. When I was a student, I didn’t learn in a pandemic either (just the 80s and 90s). I have to remember that sometimes behaviors and outbursts are more than just for the attention of peers (both good and bad).
3. Use the saying “plan with the goal in mind” – I ask certain questions to focus my lesson planning. Looking towards the end helps us to set goals and create timelines, that even have wiggle-room built in.
4. What do I need my students to know? I know we all have a scope and sequence to what needs to be taught. Is there wiggle-room? Are there parts that need more focus time (based on student-need or even basic or building block type information). As a math teacher I would say that facts and vocabulary fall into this category. Science and social studies would definitely involve vocabulary. Reading and English reading strategies and vocabulary.
5. Do I have an end date for a certain topic? Let’s be real – state testing is always an end goal – we never want to be finishing up the last topic the week before testing, but we want to make sure that we have adequately taught everything as well; since students are forced to be tested one day out of the year for all of their learning.
6. What was covered adequately last year? We’ve got to think pre-pandemic and mid-post-pandemic. We need to adjust for learning that just wasn’t given adequate “soaking in” time. I think that is one reason I feel so strongly about subject-based vocabulary. If students aren’t hearing and using the vocabulary daily, they won’t have as deep understanding. I think knowing vocabulary by rote leads to better application of the materials.
7. Quality over quantity! Sometimes lessons that are broke into 5 minute sections are more effective than a 45 minute online lesson. I love screencastify, I use it to make 5-minute videos for my virtual, in-person, and quarantining students. I have a free account and I am limited to 5-minutes, but I have found that five minutes is perfect. I have had to make lessons that involve more than one video, but it breaks down nicely into steps. I’ve used screen-cast-o-matic for videos as well. Both sites offer paid subscriptions with more options, but the free version is working well for me. If we had to be virtual for a more extended time, I will definitely do a paid subscription.
8. Review and Introduce – I think sometimes we forget that review days are important to the application of material. In the same way, having a day to introduce a subject/topic, is important as well. I like to think of it as a day for things to rattle around in their brains – let that subconscious soak it in. Sites like kahoot, quizlet, and quizizz make review and introduction days more interesting.
So, for my “adjustment” this week (interruption due to icy weather), I am going to focus on vocabulary and integrating our crazy weather into their assignment. I’m thinking my technology/multimedia kids might need to take a picture of some of their ice or other outside weather or icicles and learn to edit pictures for perspective. I think I’ll use a short quiz to assess their understanding of the vocabulary.
Teaching Re-Imagined 