Returning to the Classroom

Remote class holdovers and considerations for post-pandemic EFL classroom management

by Lowell Sanborn

As we (hopefully) return to physical classrooms in the coming months there are some practices in the remote classroom that may contribute to success. Some previously well-intended methods may be deemed overly idealistic (e.g. flipped classrooms, course long assignments) but some logistical procedures have proved to be both time-efficient and student-friendly.  Below is a list of items to consider keeping in your physical classrooms.

Use an online LMS

Reinforcing your infrastructure was a vital component in the successful transition to remote classrooms. Having a place to find coursework, assignments, and track students' progress was essential in 2020. Those academic institutions with logistically feasible landing spots for students easily transitioned to the online classroom. Students and bandwidth struggled to keep up with the traffic required by fully digital classrooms, but after the dust settled in early 2020 those institutions with functional Learning Management Systems (LMS) delivered content and assignments to students in an organized fashion.

LMS like Google Classroom, Canvas, and Moodle to name a few are going to continue to fill the need for an online repository for classwork. Whether viral disease forces us online again, acute illness or commitment keeps students out of class for a time, or students wish to review activities, the LMS of your choice will assist in making sure no one misses out on class material.

Likewise, keeping digital, paperless records of your class material should become standard operating procedure.

Go Paperless

For years the printer has been a backlog of unnecessary frustration.  The amount of paperwork that will likely be discarded in future classrooms and the inability for students to locate a worksheet necessitates the need to forego wasteful paper copies of worksheets. Depending on the availability of hardware in your particular classroom, activities may be more accessible and logistically feasible for students. It is time to adopt a paperless classroom, either with more presented materials that students can work with or digital copies of worksheets, students will be more functional with digital coursework.

Don't repeat procedures too often

Students reacted negatively to repetitive tasks after around 3-4 instances. Though it would seem good practice to repeat task procedures like using Flipgrid or co-producing taskwork, students seemed to tire of the repetition. Continue to create valid testing procedures by familiarizing evaluation processes in classwork, but not too often or in too great a quantity.

Record instructions

One insight that was genuinely refreshing was the increased efficiency of recorded instruction. It was always hoped that students would jot down notes, actively address any missed guidance, or refer to written instructions in the live classroom. This was not the case online for obvious reasons. The answer was to introduce recorded instruction that students could access as necessary on their own time. In class, teachers may benefit from a simple mic and chrome extension like Screencastify in order to deliver instructions once and allow students to access them as needed after your class time expires. Much has been said about the need to reduce teacher talk time, but in reality it seems much of the verbal and written instructions were less effective than once thought. At best short instructions and hands-on assistance provided menial support. At worst, those guidelines were disregarded or students who regarded them more fully were pressed to reiterate.

Ease off the group work

Group work was long seen as a communicative activity that assisted in the negotiation of meaning in ESOL classrooms. In the remote classroom, the attention was focused on individuals that grasped the content more immediately than others. Students in the remote classroom identified the most proficient individual and leaned on them for help. In some cases, students took on more of a workload than their partners in group work. Students consistently identified group work in breakout rooms as less helpful than expected. The same goes for the nomadic teacher hoping to address issues in group activities. Increasing the amount of individual accountability and lessening the burden of outspoken or more proficient group members may facilitate more productive task completion. 

Assist students in making digital connections

Students suffered from feeling isolated, as did we all. In future offline courses, teachers may facilitate a more enjoyable and productive classroom by sharing emails, or popular chat services for students within individual classes. Students want to connect with each other. Given their increased desire for an online presence and their familiarity with digital communication platforms, teachers may create a more student-friendly classroom by asking students to optionally share contact information. To avoid students forming exclusive groups, it may be best to ask everyone to give you the teacher their contact information, as well as make that available to others with the students' consent.