I teach the Medical Office Management program in a high school belonging to a six district compact of schools. In this program, students learn medical terminology, insurance processing, patient scheduling, and medical coding in addition to office skills such as human resources, payroll, and other office management topics to effectively operate in a medical office or healthcare facility in an administrative capacity.
Throughout the online learning experience, many amazing things happened. I was fortunate enough to have the support of educational publishers to make the transition to online learning more fluid. This allowed the students to have a better transition to 100% online learning. Students were also able to continue with those assignments that had already been oriented to online learning, since the classes had blended integration, so familiarity also helped with that change. For those students who faced challenges in making that transition, supports such as technical support and alternative assessments were available. This helped give students time to ease into the transition, and many developed a deeper understanding and knowledge of technical applications through the online learning experience; they learned by doing!
Google Classroom: https://edu.google.com/products/classroom/?modal_active=none A great app for connecting with students and effectively distributing work to students.
Google Meet: https://apps.google.com/meet/ This app helped so much during our online learning! I was able to check in and stay connected with my students
Kahoot!: https://kahoot.com/ This is a great summative assessment tool and the students really enjoy the competitive flair.
Ted Talks: https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization These short videos with densely packed keep our students up-to-date with real-world connections and a positive message
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ A great resource for videos relevant to topical discussions
Keep open lines of communication with students, parents, and administration. If everyone is on the same page, there will be less confusion
Stick to classroom routine and rules.
Document everything you do. This will offer a paper trail when others have questions.
Check for student understanding throughout the lesson. This is a universal task, and one that cannot be stated enough.
Return student assignments in a timely manner. Feedback is a crucial component to understanding.
Stakeholders are just that: they have a stake in what we do. The community is responding to our actions and the product (students) we put into the job market. Working with them is a crucial and integral part of our program to understand how our students would best benefit from stakeholder input. Our students and the organization that helps to define the program will take pride in working with the community through vital statistics readings, which allow students to put in to practice the skills they have learned. By integrating the practical skills learned in the classroom and lab into the community through CTSO activities, we are creating a bridge to the next level of internship/externship for students in order to prepare them for the next steps of employment in the field and/or post-secondary education.