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If you recall, we devoted an entire page in Learning Coach Corner to flexibility because it is one of the nicest benefits of learning at home. We also indicated it is important to balance flexibility with productivity. Read below for more on this topic and how to balance flexibility and monitoring.
If you recall, we devoted an entire page in Learning Coach Corner to flexibility because it is one of the nicest benefits of learning at home. We also indicated it is important to balance flexibility with productivity. Read below for more on this topic and how to balance flexibility and monitoring.
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How to Balance Flexibility and Progress Monitoring.mp3We understand that each student learns at a slightly different pace. Despite our emphasis on engagement, performance, and consistent monitoring, our students still have flexibility regarding the time of day they complete their assignments and the pace at which they complete their assignments. For example:
Students have the opportunity to work up to two weeks ahead if they do better when they work at a faster pace.
A small buffer is usually built into our schedules. It provides little extra time to learn a skill. The buffer also provides sufficient time to recover from an occasional absence.
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Structure and expectations do not negate flexibility.
In fact, they go hand-in-hand.
If you have a late sleeper or your child performs best after a morning run, build the daily routine and accountability measures around that. Just be clear that UVA students are still responsible for their school work in balance with the flexibility that comes with learning at home. Hold your child accountable because...
The goal is to prevent avoidable delays that cause a student to fall significantly behind (i.e., more than two weeks behind)* the Canvas Calendar.
Avoidable delays usually occur when the student has not been monitored closely or frequently enough.
*We encourage our students to stay on pace within two or three days of the Canvas Calendar. Three days of assignments are easily recovered with a few extended days during the week in combination with a weekend day. It is possible but challenging to recover more than three days of assignments because new assignments are added to the Canvas Calendar every school day. The recovery process can be very overwhelming when the student is more than three days behind.
Experienced students will tell you that one of the most devastating challenges of being a UVA student is "falling behind" and not knowing how to recover.
Experienced students will tell you that one of the most devastating challenges of being a UVA student is "falling behind" and not knowing how to recover.
Click the down arrows below to explore this phenomenon further.
Click the down arrows below to explore this phenomenon further.
Explore the "I've Fallen Behind" Phenomenon
Explore the "I've Fallen Behind" Phenomenon
Ask any student who has found themselves several weeks behind. They frequently feel devastated and helpless.
Sadly, these situations can happen very quickly just by taking your eye off the ball for a couple of days. Before you realize it, a child can be significantly behind in multiple courses. Those situations are very challenging. They can be managed, but they are also avoidable; which is why so much emphasis is being placed on daily planning, time management, and monitoring.
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Oftentimes our students do not really understand how they fell so far behind -- ("I was only a couple of lessons behind the other day."). They are children after all. Keeping up on their own can be tough. And when you consider that new assignments appear week-after-week, a backlog of assignments from previous weeks can seem very overwhelming to a young person. Most of the time they just cannot figure out how to catch up.
This is why some of the most important contributions that you can make as your child's Learning Coach are to:
Know what needs to be done that day and that week.
Develop a plan (with your child when possible) for your child to achieve his or her daily and weekly goals.
Monitor what is being done during the day.
Check what was done during the day; every day
Set new expectations based on results.
How To Avoid the "I've Fallen Behind" Phenomenon
How To Avoid the "I've Fallen Behind" Phenomenon
As you might understand at this point, asking your child, "Did you do your school work today?" is not a very effective way to assess the progress of an at-home learner. The responsibility of managing the clock as well as verifying whether your child is actually applying him or herself (before an assessment is taken) is shifted from a classroom teacher to the home environment. This is where you -- our UVA team member in the home setting -- play one of your biggest roles.
If you are able to monitor daily and purposefully as recommended, your child will benefit greatly from your oversight. And if you work closely with your child's teachers as soon as you observe something concerning, we can devise an action plan very quickly so that you and your child are experiencing smooth sailing once again.
Now, we understand that you might not be at home with your at-home learner when the student is actually learning. Perhaps you work outside of the home or have responsibilities that prevent you from being close by to check in while schoolwork is being done. (There are ways to check remotely. Ask about them.) The daily monitoring responsibility remains, even if it occurs during the evening. Make arrangements for your child to have the support of a Learning Coach who can perform these responsibilities daily.
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