Remote or distance learning requires a little extra effort to create a sense of us. It also offers new opportunities. Essentially, when you boil it all down, I follow the same routine that I follow in the classroom. It is the same ingredients with a slightly different bake. Connect. Teach. Check Understanding. Assess. ReTeach. Cards on the table – “Successive Relearning,” still provides the biggest bang for a teachers buck.
Students arriving late or rushed to class:
Google Classroom App on devices. Schedule notice / reminder of the pending lesson ahead with minimal headlines. We Google Meet to register and start every lesson. Students access the Meet. Type their name and the device they are working on – L for laptop, T tablet or P Phone. The main reason – do they have access to a keyboard for the lesson?
Connect: We check in. Welcome Slide is displayed (notes and reminders). We seek student feedback. We reflect on the learning, we confirm students know what to do, how to access resources and learning assets. We have also fulfilled a good dose of trouble shooting – digital natives my arse.
Teach: We are teaching new material. Reduced content. Frequently consolidated.
We have just moved onto connecting mini working groups and asynchronous learning. Learners are working together asynchronously, summarising the various scenes of the two plays. Students then submit their own assignment document. ie they have make a copy.
We are also looking at way to enjoy digital video content together. I am not saying it is better however it helps build a sense of us.
Students are already watching video content with fellow students via Zoom screen shares. Two other options to explore*: Watch2Gether and SyncTube. Create a room, share the URL and “friends can join.” Search or paste in a specific YouTube link. Chat enabled. Playlists…
To be clear, I am supporting or using this approach as a teacher. I would need to look into it further. However, I do think it would be a fun and more social way for students to learn together*
Lastly, one of my colleagues shared a neat hack for showing videoes in Google Docs.
Copy and paste a Google Slides video.
INSERT:DRAWING:NEW – whilst in draw as text that tells the student to double click the image, as it appears as an image in the Doc.
Assess: Ever session requires that the students register their “work.” Once a week or 4-5 lessons, I expect a submission via the platform – a document, a photo. #noemail and #noshare.
Reteach: Every lesson we go over the previous learning.