Embedded Files
Sarah Ross
Bay of Islands International Academy
Target group: Year 6,7 & 8 students
PROJECT SUMMARY
PROJECT SUMMARY
This project begins in a place that will be familiar to many teachers - the hunch that students will feel isolated from their peers when working from home for periods of time. The idea of creating opportunities for learners to initiate and hold their online, synchronous, communications is what drove this experiment, and Sarah describes the process she went through with her students to achieve this. The use of a variety of methods and technologies to create what Sarah aimed to do is key here - the variety of approaches reflect what we know is important here and aligns with our understanding of Universal Design for Learning. Not all of the barriers have been addressed within this project timeframe, but the early exploration of approaches provides an excellent foundation for ongoing engagement and discovery. Enabling the students to choose groupings, to have fun, and have autonomy to grow and manage their space worked particularly well. Sarah’s final slide linking her practice with theory is particularly helpful in framing a rationale for her work and defining where she will go next.
MY PROBLEM
MY PROBLEM
I’m concerned about the lack of engagement with learning when at home and loss of engagement with peers. Middle school age students need social connection when away from school. Students are isolated when at home. Students are not motivated to join teacher led Zoom meetings. Students are missing collaborative learning opportunities.
MY HUNCH
MY HUNCH
Having students engage with buddies online and having collaborative learning conversations will help students to stay connected with peers and increase their engagement in learning. This will benefit students at home and also students in the classroom.
Hunch for Hybrid 1.webmInitial Hunch Video
Video Sarah R 8_11_2022 3_10_22 PM.mp4Progress Report #1
Video Sarah R 9_1_2022 7_50_40 AM.mp4Progress Report #2
Video Sarah R 10_27_2022 1_56_21 PM.mp4Progress Report #3
WHAT I DID
WHAT I DID
I created learning groups where students chose buddies who they collaborated with as a group.When one of their members was away, others in the group emailed the absent members each morning while we were doing the roll in class as a first contact of the day. We established a framework for this email to check in on wellbeing and to find out how best to work together for the day.
I set up a Gather workspace with private rooms for each group of students . I practised tasks in the classroom to get the students used to interacting through this medium. Documents and resources that we used regularly were permanently available in the room (incl. maths pathways plan, maps of the world, news and weather channels.)
I set up activities on the Gather site which were taught in class to familiarise students with the use, function and expectations of using this site.
FINAL PRESENTATION
FINAL PRESENTATION
Don’t forget about me - Google Slides.webmPage updated
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