Episode Topic: Welcome back to iTalks for Episode 2. Today we’ll hear from our learners that are navigating this new COVID-19 landscape in education as pioneers. They share how change has forced us to reexamine our lessons, our learning spaces, and our collaboration with each other. Let's listen in.

Change can be Scary

Our society has had to navigate big changes throughout history. In the early 1900s society was moving from an agrarian society into the industrial age. The Wizard of Oz by Frank L Baum was actually the author's reaction to this change. Baum understood that the attitudes and values of the agrarian society was about to change, and he was against it. He created the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and lion to represent the virtues of the agrarian society. In Baum's industrial world, the Scarecrow lost his brain, the Tin Man lost his heart, and the lion lost his courage. A lot of teachers listening may take on the role of these characters. Some may not have the courage to continue anymore with this new age of technology. Some may feel like they don't have the knowledge to thrive. Some feel weary and don't have the heart for education because COVID has changed so much.

It's overwhelming for all of us. It can be daunting to know we become responsible for not only utilizing the tech and integrating it into instruction, but also troubleshooting the tech and fix the issues. Change can be scary, but as George Couros, author of The Innovator’s Mindset says, “When we embrace new opportunities, even when they seem like obstacles, we can create something much better than what currently exists. It can seem easier to stay with a ‘known bad’ than take a chance on the possibility of a ‘great’ new opportunity. Fear can make us reluctant, but it doesn’t have to defeat us” (225)

Strategy: Plan Digital Lessons that Easily Transition to Face-to-Face Instruction

One thing teachers are facing is the scramble to move from face-to-face to virtual instruction while continuing to maintain the instructional momentum. Kimberly Whitehead, a teacher at AIT, shares an example of how she created a lesson that works for face-to-face and virtual instruction.

Kimberly Whitehead (AIT): One of my favorite things to do for students is making Hyperdocs. It sounds like this complicated task, but all you have to do is open a Google Doc and find the links that you need and put it all in one place. Everything for the lesson lives in that one document: links, directions, practice, learning, and application. Having students work through the entire learning cycle in one location has been helpful for her class because students are able to start, see where they are. They get the initial interaction with the content, then move into a guided application and independent practice of the instruction. The teacher has put in all the work up front which frees her up to help individual students during class.

One of the key pieces that Kimberly spoke about was her planning. She's thinking ahead for a time when one of her students or if she has to be quarantined. She says she puts in the work on the front end so students can work at their own pace while she is free to provide one-on-one and small group time. Instead of planning a face-to-face lesson and having to scramble to make it virtual, Kimberly planned for a digitally accessible lesson. It's easier to take a digital lesson and make it face-to-face than it is to go from face-to-face to digital. It's important for us to realize that all of us are digital teachers.

Strategy: Build Opportunities for Student Ownership

As teachers start to shift their focus, many may feel they don't have time for it. If you're doing all the work in the classroom, consider this: "What decisions are you making for your students that they could be making for themselves?" (See Empower by Spencer & Juliani) We need to build in opportunities for students to take ownership of their learning. Kimberly Whitehead shares her perspective about the importance of self-sufficient learners.

Kimberly Whitehead (AIT): We need to make our students self-sufficient. I try to ensure my students are self-sufficient in the classroom because it transfers into their work ethic into the work place. I don't give my students the answers all the time and they get so frustrated, but that's when they learn the most. When you start seeing those lightbulbs go off, it's so rewarding as a teacher because we want those intrinsic rewards. From how I assign my lessons to how I interact with my students, I help them become self-sufficient. If we were to go out of school, students know exactly what the expectations, standards, and procedures are because it's the same in class.

Providing little opportunities for students to be more sufficient along the way will help them as they learn and grow. It's not something that happens overnight. But, by helping students become more self-sufficient, you are setting them up for success during asynchronous instruction.

Reexamining our Lessons

When we talk about synchronous and asynchronous learning, it's important to remember that synchronous learning is in the same place, at the same time. For example, when you host a Google Meet with students, it is synchronous learning. Asynchronous learning is when your students work independently. We didn't hear these terms in K-12 education often until COVID-19 forced us to go virtual, but now they've become buzzwords. In higher education, synchronous and asynchronous is used commonly because of online classes. K-12 is a little behind on the verbiage because we've always been synchronous; the flexibility wasn't built into our system. Asynchronous and synchronous are not necessarily digital terms. The terminology of those words relates to the way the learning is happening (i.e. Whole group has been the synchronous time, while guided and independent tasks can be seen as the more asynchronous instruction). This is something we have been doing; we just haven't put these labels on it.

Olivia Wallace, an 8th grade Algebra teacher at McCants Middle, talks about how she moves her students though an asynchronous approach with recorded instruction so they're ready to come back without missing instruction. Let's hear what Olivia has to say.

Olivia Wallace (MMS): One thing I've used with students who are quarantined is to record lessons daily so they can keep up with the instructional pace. When they come back, they are ready to go with the next assignment.

Some tools you can use for synchronous or asynchronous learning are Google Meet and Jamboard. Let's hear from Brianna Rae, an Anderson 5 Virtual Academy teacher, about how she uses these tools for synchronous and asynchronous learning.

Brianna Rae (A5VA): One of the main tools I use to help my students that reach out for help is I create a Google Meet with them and do a Jamboard. I share my screen with them and I show them step-by-step while explaining it. I record the every Google Meet, even if it's just with two students and post it into Google Classroom. Every single student who might have the same question can now get help with it. Another thing I like doing is recording videos of myself on Jamboard using Screencastify, so I can push it out to students if I'm noticing that all of the students in a common subject are struggling with the same topic.

She mentions not only does she pull small groups, but she also reposts it for students to use it when they need it. One tool shifts from synchronous learning to asynchronous based on the needs of students. Think back to our conversation from Episode 1 about student needs and learning goals. What strategies can I use to get my students to that end goal. Flipped classrooms is a more common strategy now. We're taking the instruction that we would normally do in a synchronous environment and making it asynchronous. The student is responsible for the learning outside of school and then coming back and applying it collaboratively with their peers.

Reexamine our Learning Spaces

All of this is pushing us to reexamine our learning spaces. Learning does not have to happen in the four walls of the classroom; it can happen anywhere. Think back to when you took students outside, to different spaces for a different learning experience. Google Meet has been a tool that helps teachers access different learning spaces in this new COVID environment. Kris Turner at T.L. Hanna uses learning spaces very well. Let's hear from her.

Kristina Turner (TLH): Quarantined students joined the class via Google Meet. I thought it would be really awkward, but it really wasn't.

It shows our students that learning doesn't have to take place within the four walls of the classroom. They can be at home and still participate in the learning experience. There are strategies the teacher can use during direct instruction to minimize distraction and maintain confidentiality. Tiffany Osborne, the associate principal at Glenview Middle School, explains how this works.

Tiffany Osborne (GMS): We use Google Meet to live stream class to student who are at home for various reasons. One strategy we use is we make sure the teacher laptop is facing the teacher and Dell panel and not the rest of the classroom. This helps with management and confidentiality, so the students at home only see the teacher.

Reexamine our Collaboration with Each Other

Tiffany talks about how we can bring students into the classroom who aren't already there, but the big question is, "How do we keep students collaborative when some are at home and others are at school?" The collaborative skills are essential in education. When students are home we find that distance learning leads to isolation. It's our responsibility to reshape the working from home environment. We move to all this asynchronous learning, but we can't forego all of the collaboration that we have during our face-to-face lessons. When students aren't collaborating with their classmates, they miss out on new perspectives, ideas, and approaches to solving problems. They also miss the opportunity to develop critical soft skills like communication, problem-solving, and critical/creative thinking. Collaboration in the classroom can still exist when students are at home through Google Meet's newest feature: Breakout Rooms. Let's hear from a few teachers who have used this feature.

Kelly Williamson (4th Grade, VES): I tried breakout rooms while most of the students were working independently on an assignment in Google Classroom. I added the early finishers to a separate breakout room from the ones that were still working. It was amazing. I posted a virtual math escape room challenge that was really tough. I was able to meet with the early finishers as they worked on it. Students talked through their thinking and could take turns presenting their screen, so they could discuss all the parts that they were working on. When time was up, I just closed the groups and moved on. It was easy and so much fun to be able to interact with a small group from home.

Christine Boswell (ELA, SWAA): I had two students on quarantine, but we were working on group projects when they went out. We used Google Meet Breakout Rooms to include two students who were joining from home. It's working great!

Google Meet Breakout Rooms can be a great resource to include students in collaborative environments and continue with the small group instruction that you already do so well! Another teacher using Google Breakout Rooms well is Kris Turner, an English teacher at the T.L. Hanna. Let's hear about her idea to use it in a face-to-face environment.

Kris Turner (TLH): If you're in a big area, you can use breakout rooms at school. I ordered mics and gaming headphones so we can do this in the classroom. It puts the kids in groups so we can do group work while at school (while still remaining socially distanced). I can also put them in groups when we have to go virtual using breakout rooms.

Breakout rooms doesn't have to be a tool to use just in eLearning or remote situations. It can be used collaboratively to connect students. Teachers can also utilize different learning spaces around the school to prevent the audio feedback from students being in the same Google Meet in the same room. Teachers can be in each meeting to see what students are doing. If you ever want to use a tool during eLearning, it's a good idea to practice while students are face-to-face. When the Google Meet puts students into Breakout Rooms, teachers have the autonomy to move students around by clicking the student's name and dragging it to the appropriate group. Your DIS can help be an extra person to help with Google Meet Breakout Rooms. Breakout rooms can also be used to designate different work spaces for a variety of learning styles. You can have a teacher help room, open group room, quiet group room, and a quiet room. The resource is posted below.

Jody O'Neill, a teacher at McCants, is using another collaboration feature right inside of Google Meet.

Jody O'Neill (MMS): During eLearning, many of my students joined the Google Meet and actively participated using the chat box.

She uses the chat feature for students to collaborate and have dialogue as a backchannel chat. This can also be a space where students can get their questions answered by the teacher or other peers. Host controls give teachers the autonomy to turn the chat feature off and on when students are ready for it.

Google Docs, Slides, and Drawings are also Google tools that are created for collaboration just by sharing the document. Jamboard is another collaborative resource from Google. It allows for a whiteboard to be projected to students, but teachers can also give students editor rights. One teacher, Kayla Smith a fifth grade teacher at Varennes, presented open-ended math questions on a Jamboard for students to respond using sticky notes. She created dialogue and academic discourse during the live sessions with students.

A Final Thought. . .

As we close Navigating Uncharted Waters, we would like to leave you with one final thought from Kimberly Whitehead.

Kimberly Whitehead (AIT): I start with, I need grace. Sometimes technology doesn't want to cooperate; sometimes the lesson we put together doesn't achieve the goal, so the very first thing that I have told my kids is, "This is something we've never done before and we need to give each other grace." Grace has been the very first thing that we have wanted and needed to give to each other.