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Essential Questions
Essential Questions
• How can we co-construct expectations with our students for daily interactions (both face-to-face and online)?
• How can we co-construct expectations with our students for daily interactions (both face-to-face and online)?
• What does classroom management look like in an online/hybrid environment?
• What does classroom management look like in an online/hybrid environment?
Key Ideas
Key Ideas
• Co-construct expectations WITH students
• Co-construct expectations WITH students
• Be intentional in how your engage students when you come together online
• Be intentional in how your engage students when you come together online
• Don't make assumptions (go slow to go fast)
• Don't make assumptions (go slow to go fast)
“Being proactive, not reactive, is key to good classroom management (whether face-to-face or online), and unstated norms in the virtual classroom will evolve... for better or for worse.” - John Hattie (The Distance Learning Playbook)
“Being proactive, not reactive, is key to good classroom management (whether face-to-face or online), and unstated norms in the virtual classroom will evolve... for better or for worse.” - John Hattie (The Distance Learning Playbook)
Activate Your Thinking
Activate Your Thinking
Classroom management isn't easy at the best of times. While watching the following video (and having a few laughs), start to think about the successes and the challenges that you've had (or anticipate having) when it comes to your students engaging in the norms, routines, and expectations that you want to see play out when you come together in a hybrid/online learning environment.
Reflecting on Past Experience...
Reflecting on Past Experience...
Think back to your previous experience in the classroom...
"What routines, norms, and expectations did you establish in your physical classroom in the past that worked well for you and how did you build them?"
"How might you build these in a hybrid learning environment?"
Share your thinking in this collaborative Google Slide Deck and be sure to take some time to read and comment on what others have shared.
*If helpful, check out this video on how to add comments in Slides*
Acquire Some Ideas
Acquire Some Ideas
Just like in your face-to-face classroom, it is important to co-construct expectations WITH your students. We cannot assume that students know how to behave, interact, and treat others in an online classroom (especially given their limited experience in this area). We also need to go beyond just telling students our expectations and hoping they follow them. When we authentically co-construct expectations WITH students they have a greater sense of agency and commitment to you and their peers and it helps to develop a clear plan to make your online classroom a positive, fun, productive, and enjoyable place for everyone.
“A major learning many experienced in the rapid conversion to distance learning in 2020 is that the norms of the classroom were forgotten.” - John Hattie (The Distance Learning Playbook)
“A major learning many experienced in the rapid conversion to distance learning in 2020 is that the norms of the classroom were forgotten.” - John Hattie (The Distance Learning Playbook)
Co-constructing Expectations
Co-constructing Expectations
This short video is a great introduction to co-constructing expectations WITH your students. As you watch the video, start to think about what might be some of the expectations you'd like to see in your hybrid classroom.
What norms and behaviours would you like to see from your students?
What norms and behaviours might you expect your students want to see from you?
Setting and Using Criteria
Setting and Using Criteria
Check out this except from the book Setting and Using Criteria by Anne Davies with a nice four-step overview on how to co-construct criteria WITH students.
Let's Get Practical
Let's Get Practical
Check out each drop-down below with considerations on HOW you might go about co-constructing criteria with your students when you are not in-person together and WHAT your co-constructed criteria might look like in an online classroom. Be sure to read through some BEST PRACTICES to consider when structuring and running an online class.
HOW you might go about it
HOW you might go about it
Below are some ideas on HOW you could have your students engage in co-constructing online classroom expectations with you:
Ask each student to share 3-5 expectations (remember... less is more) that they think we should have in our online classroom to ensure it's a fun, productive, and positive place to come together and learn.
Be sure to contribute your own ideas and thoughts as the teacher.
Categorize and review the common expectations for final feedback in a class discussion.
Potential tools you could use:
A shared Google Slide Deck (each student gets their own slide or small groups work on a slide together) - template you can use HERE
Use breakout rooms in Zoom (have 3-4 students come up with their top 3 criteria and have one person share out when back in the main room) - OVERVIEW VIDEO on how to use breakout rooms
WHAT it might look like
WHAT it might look like
CLICK HERE for some potential co-constructed expectations in a hybrid classroom.
Keep in mind:
A fewer number, rather than more, works better (the recommendation is ~3-5)
Be sure to co-construct them WITH students
State them positively (beware of expectations that begin with "NO" because they do not tell students what they should do, only what they should not do)
ex. Instead of "Don't interrupt", you might use "Show attentive listening and raise your hand when you want to share".
Make sure they are specific in nature (student-friendly, actionable language)
ex. Instead of "Be appropriate", you might use "Use kind, positive, and appropriate language when using the chat or microphone".
Post it (once developed, be sure to post online or in the background behind you)
Teach and rehearse (revisit often and model what they look like for your students)
Individual follow-up (if you have any students struggling to follow expectations, be sure to follow-up outside your scheduled time with your whole class)
“I used to have a list of rules for things kids should not do. Like I had ‘Do not talk when I am talking’ and ‘Do not change seats without permission’. When I went virtual, I took the opportunity to change these. Now we co-construct expectations as a class and they include 'Follow the person who is speaking with your eyes', 'Post respectful reactions to ideas in the chat' and 'Treat members of the class with the care they deserve'. These are so much better and they let students know what we expect, as a learning community, of each other.” - Fred Bishop (Middle School Teacher)
“I used to have a list of rules for things kids should not do. Like I had ‘Do not talk when I am talking’ and ‘Do not change seats without permission’. When I went virtual, I took the opportunity to change these. Now we co-construct expectations as a class and they include 'Follow the person who is speaking with your eyes', 'Post respectful reactions to ideas in the chat' and 'Treat members of the class with the care they deserve'. These are so much better and they let students know what we expect, as a learning community, of each other.” - Fred Bishop (Middle School Teacher)
Some Best Practices When Online Together
Some Best Practices When Online Together
Designing and running an online class brings many unique challenges and opportunities. There is lots of great research to lean on when it comes to running an online class and/or meeting. Here are some best practices for you to consider:
Less time is better. Long periods online are tough for us all - look to keep your sessions to 30 mins or less.
Smaller groups where possible. Meeting with smaller groups of students over shorter intervals can increase engagement and provide students with more opportunities to interact and contribute (ex. instead of 30 students in an hour-long Zoom, consider groups of 7-8 for 15 min each).
Greet students by name. One advantage to being online is you can see students' names right below their image. Learning to pronounce each student's name and using it when saying hello when they enter the online classroom can go a long way in making them feel connected.
Post an agenda at the beginning of the class meeting. Having a short, succinct, and visible agenda will help students understand the learning ahead and what will be expected of them during your time together.
Design the session to be interactive. Take time to promote questions, comments, and reactions. When using Zoom make use of the polling feature, ask students to share in the chat, ask various students to share using the microphone or screen sharing feature, make use of the whiteboard to annotate a document together, etc...
Use breakout rooms and assign students a task to come back and report on. This is a great way to create smaller groups if you are bringing your entire classroom together for an online meeting.
Don't assume your students understand how to use the technology. Be sure to go slow and take time to support your students in learning how to use various applications (ex. teach students how to use all the features in Zoom and give them a chance to practice, consider running a mini tech-boot-camp to kick off the year, and/or have your students complete a scavenger hunt to discover and learn to use a certain web tool).
Start the class on time and use every minute wisely. This means that there are tasks students can complete while you engage in routine tasks such as taking attendance and that you have a series of sponge activities ready when lessons run short. Students notice when time is wasted. And when there is “free time,” they believe that their learning is not an urgent consideration of their teachers.
Be sure to revisit your co-constructed expectations often. Be sure to review and reflect with your students on an ongoing basis (classroom expectations is not a "one-and-done" task).
And most importantly... ask yourself, what are students being asked to DO during your online time together? We know that learning is social. If students are being asked to attend only to listen to the teacher and be assigned work, they are not likely to be engaged in their learning.
Apply Your Learning
Apply Your Learning
After reflecting on the ideas and considerations above, share your thinking in the following collaborative padlet on...
"What will be your approach to establishing clear expectations and norms for your learners?"
*Be sure to take some time to read what others have shared and use the "add a comment" feature to make connections, ask questions, and/or provide some further suggestions.
Key Ideas Recap
Key Ideas Recap
• Co-construct expectations WITH students
• Co-construct expectations WITH students
• Be intentional in how your engage students when you come together online
• Be intentional in how your engage students when you come together online
• Don't make assumptions (go slow to go fast)
• Don't make assumptions (go slow to go fast)
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