When teaching online, instructions need to be explicit and clear. Using routines will help students know what to expect. You can also use a HyperDoc to help communicate expectations and share resources all in one convenient place. Here are some templates that might work for you. Include a video of yourself explaining instructions (but keep it under 6 minutes!). Use Flipgrid or a Google Doc as a platform where students can ask questions and get answers. You could link this into your Bitmoji classroom or pin it in the stream on Google Classroom, too.
In the classroom we are used to having a variety of discussions. You can do that online, too! For example, you can...
Ask a question on Google Classroom for a written discussion thread. (You can use a multiple-choice question in Google Classroom, too, but then it could be more of a poll than an actual right/wrong question.)
Create a Q&A Google Slides to have students ask or answer questions. (And you can have students add their comments to keep the conversation going! This automatically raises the DOK level of the task when students have to respond to one another.)
Create a Flipgrid thread and have students create a video of themselves responding. Their response could be spoken, a vignette, or use Legos or Dolls to reenact the main idea.
Use breakout groups in a Google Meet or Zoom for small group discussions. (Note: We do have breakout rooms for most teachers. However, if you don't have the breakout feature and using the extensions has proven to be tricky, feel free to create Google Meet codes prior to class and give each small group that code to use as they need. You may even use this template to help.)
You can create questions for students to respond to our you could have the students create questions using question stems. (Note: It's a good idea to vet the questions prior to use so that they are at a challenging level and spur discussion beyond a yes/no answer.)
If you're interested in tracking student participation, you could use a spider web like you might in class (students could do that task for you!) or you might even ask students to take a screenshot of their work so that you know who you need to encourage and who has completed the work.
Harry Wong said, "The person who does the work is the only one who learns." So how can we engage students in learning online? We can still use the four language domains as a framework--reading, writing, speaking, and listening. That might mean students are reading aloud or silently to get information or they may read along with a video or recording. When asked to write, students may type their response or they may handwrite their response and take a picture of it to post to the classroom. You may even ask students to do sketch notes. For speaking, students may share out what they wrote or sketched or you may use something like Flipgrid or Voice Thread to do video discussion threads, asking students to create a brief outline before they deliver their thoughts aloud. You might choose to use breakout groups to ensure all students participate, too. You can assign students different roles to help keep them accountable, too. Throughout that sharing piece, students should be listening to their peers and their teacher. We are still using the standard to guide instruction, but the scaffolding may look different. Here are some more tips from Edutopia to help you further engage your learners.
The goal is to "use [assessments] in an intentional manner to drive instruction" so we need to build formative assessment into our instruction. You can use...
Pear Deck -- level up your Google Slides with interactive questions and formative assessments from Pear Deck.
Insert Learning -- insert questions, discussions, and insight directly into any website with Insert Learning.
Nearpod -- find interactive lessons, videos, and formative assessments you can use from Nearpod.
EdPuzzle -- insert questions into videos to ensure students are paying attention and getting those key concepts.
Google Forms -- use them as entrance tickets or exit tickets or anything else!
Quizziz -- create live quizzes and polls to gauge student understanding.
Formative -- upload your own content or use pre-made formative assessments to see if students are achieving the standard.
Edulastic -- look for gaps in student learning with the standards-based analytics Edulastic provides.
Kahoot -- gamify your classroom as you pit your students against one another in a friendly competition.
and many more! Ask around and see what your colleagues are using or pick one of these and use it to assess student learning and inform your instruction. Most will allow you to give immediate feedback to your students, too, an important part of the learning process.
Modifying instruction online looks a little different, but you can still use assessment in instruction to help you know when to speed up or slow down instruction. From there, we can still group students to support differentiation and different grouping methods. The most effective way to do this is with a HyperDoc. List the members of each group and their meeting link. Be sure to give detailed instructions to each group, especially if they are different for each group. You might try to disguise differentiated instructions by telling students they will be working in different stations. Rotate the Name/Color of each group but keep modifying the instructions to suit the needs of your different groups.