Tools for Virtual Instruction
Here are resources for supporting our students during remote/virtual instruction.
I have a lot of ideas and resources for teaching remotely that can't be captured on this page! Get in touch with me so we can talk about ways to keep your students engaged and you sane while teaching virtually! Fill out this form to reach out to me!
Remote Learning Tips and Strategies
Blended Learning Best Practices with Kasey Bell and Catlin Tucker (Oct 20, 2020) Great tips for teaching online! Includes a 49 min podcast that is worth every minute! Some tips from the podcast:
Teachers who are having the most success are teachers who
Embrace "less is more" (concentrate on the 'must do' assignments, reduce by 1/2)
Give their students time together to learn (via jamboards and google slides,)
Have more touchpoints with their students (make time for one on one feedback, weekly student conferences)
Develop a consistent/equitable way for students to get the teachers' attention (Remind app, Google Classroom, Online Chat, etc...)
Use station rotation, one station is teacher led, another station is offline, independent work and a third is small group work, online with peers.
Break video activities into 3 parts-Brainstorm, activate prior knowledge first. Then during the video (6 min or less) have time for students to pause and reflect/answer questions and last, after they watch the video, have students complete a task around the topic of the video , so they take what they learned and do something with it. (3, 2, 1 activity-What are 3 important facts, 2 connections we can make and 1 question we have.)
Use off line learning! Tactile, experiential learning-tinker, build, construct, write on paper, go outside to collect items. Treat learning as if they are making a documentary where they have to show snippets of what you are learning.
Station Rotation in an Era of Social Distancing-Its not just for elementary students. Read this article on how to work with your students in small groups during remote learning.
A Simple Guide to Working and Learning from Home-This 8 minute video was created to help ADHD brains do better when working/learning from home. The tips are great for all educators and students who find themselves trying to 'do school' from home.
This pocket document camera rests over the camera of the laptop/chromebook, essentially blocking the camera from showing a student's home environment during a virtual meeting! The focus of the camera is now on the keyboard area, allowing a student to show their work. Teachers can also use the pocket document camera during a virtual meeting to draw out Math problems, etc...These can be 3D printed or purchased 6 for $39 from iPevo.
Here is a tip from a twitter user-She has her online class of students check in 5 times during a lesson to make sure they are attending! It's especially helpful after a brain break, or when they have work on a different 'tab' than the virtual meeting. They can type in the chat or unmute their mic to say "I am here!" Having these check ins spread out through a lesson keeps student on their toes!
Organize your Most Used Tabs in a Folder
Did you know your bookmarks can be stored in a folder on your bookmark tool bar? Now you not only have more room...you can also open all of the websites that are in the folder at one time. They open in different tabs. So if you use the same websites a lot (online gradebook/attendance, google classroom, google drive, etc...) bookmark them all and store them in a folder to open all at once. This video shows how to add bookmarks and create folders.
For classrooms who are used to reading text books out loud for their students with IEP/504 who are struggling readers, make sure to get students signed up for BookShare! They have over 800K books online including text books and popular novels. Make sure your students have access to their books at home!
Filling in Worksheets/PDF's
If you have PDFs (scanned document/handouts) that your remote students need to fill out and write on, use the Kami Chrome extension for Chrome Books or the mark up tool in the Notes app on iPads.
Applying UDL to Virtual Classrooms
This article states "UDL is not limited to Assistive technology; it also enhances pedagogy and instructional practices used for student with and without disabilities"