Tips for Online Learning

Help your student set up his or her personal space for online learning. Try to minimize distractions by keeping things like the tv, phone, and toys out of sight. If working in the bedroom, make the bed to reduce the temptation to sleep or lounge during class.

Designate a place to keep and organize school supplies and materials near the work area.

Encourage your student to personalize the space with a picture or favorite school supplies.

Help your student create a plan to charge technology for learning on a daily basis.

Post a daily learning schedule with class times and meeting links.

Create a Canvas Observer account and sign up to receive notifications through SMS text and email.

Look at videos and resources shared by the teacher in Canvas during the first week of school and you may find more information about how the teacher has arranged Canvas content. Click here for additional tips for Canvas Parent Observers.

Download the Canvas Parent App on your phone.

Check Home Access Center for official grades and averages.

Encourage your student to raise his/her hand in the Google Meet and ask the teacher for help or to post questions about the lesson in the Google Meet comments.

Encourage your student to re-read the question or directions out loud. Sometimes hearing something out loud improves understanding.

Encourage your student to review any links or videos in Canvas that may review the content or expectation.

Create a list of the steps your student can try before coming to you for assistance.

Teach your student how to message the teacher in Canvas with questions about the lesson or assignments. Students can also leave questions for the teacher when they view assignment grades in Canvas.

Schedule a consistent bedtime so your student can get a good night's sleep on school nights. Charge the device at night so it is ready for the next day too!

Set an alarm to allow your student time to wake up, get dressed, brush hair and teeth, and eat breakfast before the school day begins.

Encourage your student to login (or be ready to login) to his/her class 5 minutes before the scheduled start time. Have materials like pencils and notebooks ready to go. Time before class can be used to review assignments for teacher feedback.

After the lesson, remind your student to write down any important information or lingering questions. Tidy the work area before taking a break or getting ready for the next lesson.

Check with the teacher about the amount of support he/she would like you to provide. Sometimes the teacher wants to see what the student can do by him/herself. Other times, the teacher may want you to help your student learn how to find the answer. Try not to give the answer to your student.

Encourage your student to tell you more about the activity - it helps many students to talk through their own thinking to determine the answer.

Message the teacher and schedule a time for your student to receive assistance from the teacher.

Create a daily schedule to hang in the learning area. Include the names of subjects, meeting and work times, and Google Meet links. Younger children may benefit from the schedule including pictures for each subject.

Utilize timers and/or alarms on devices. Many homes have multiple devices with timers and even very young learners can ask Siri or Alexa to set a reminder to join a Google Meet at 9:00.

Plan for breaks in the schedule to provide students an opportunity to move, wiggle, snack, and look away from the screen. Encourage younger students to play outside or play with toys during longer breaks.

Watch this video for additional strategies to help structure the school day at home.

Encourage your student to use breaks between classes and assignments to go outside, move around, get a snack, or play with a toy.

Reserve TV and video game screen time privileges for after the school day.

Contact the teacher through email, Canvas messages, or voicemail if you need assistance understanding class or activity expectations.

Teachers try to respond to assignment-related questions from parents and students within the regular school day. They will respond to other questions within one workday.

Acknowledge your student's feelings, but maintain your own composure. Empathize by reflecting the emotion that you recognize. Allow them to correct you if the identified emotion is not accurate.

Sometimes behaviors cover up confusion and other feelings. Encourage your student to voice his/her concerns. Practice with your student what to do if he/she needs help with school work or another problem.

Take breaks that engage the 5 senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Examples: "I Spy", music, lotion on hands, snack, play dough, etc.

Click here for additional resources and videos from our Crisis Intervention & Prevention Team.

Help your student create a checklist list activities and check off each activity as it is completed. Let your student determine what checklist looks like and how he/she can "check off" items. Example: Use a sticky note for each item that can be crumbled and tossed like a basketball into the trash.

Encourage and guide your student to set a reasonable goal to complete in a given time. Use a timer to check progress. Some students may need to work for short time blocks (ie: 3-5 minutes). Other students may be able to work for longer time blocks (ie: 10-20 minutes).

Provide headphones for your student if he/she seems to be easily distracted with surroundings.

Schedule breaks between activities to stretch, wiggle, and look away from the screen.

Identify a short preferred activity the student can do after completing each assignment (ie: play with the dog, check the mail, check his/her phone for messages). It may be helpful to "chunk" long assignments into several smaller parts.

Provide opportunities for your student to choose the order of his/her assignments and choose which assignment is completed first.

Watch for your student to be on task or complete an assignment and celebrate moments of success with your student.

Communicate your expectation to follow the schedule and complete all daily schoolwork before watching TV, playing video games, or participating in other preferred activities.

Watch this video for additional strategies to support completing schoolwork at home.

Try to rejoin the meeting. Check the meeting link in Canvas.

If you are unable to rejoin, continue with Canvas learning activities and review the Google Meet recording at a later time.

Click for Google Meet Self-Help Resources.

Contact the teacher to notify him/her of the concern.

Complete any assignments or activities that can be accessed. Click here for a direct link to Canvas.

Attempt to login at a later time to complete activities before 11:59 pm.

Click for Canvas Self-Help Resources.

If problems with Canvas persist, request technical support.