This is a modification on the Station Rotation Model above that allows teachers to work with students both in the classroom and those working virtually. One station is teacher-led, and the other station is an online station. The goal is to allow teachers to work with one group while allowing the other group to control the pace at which they progress through the online station.

Concurrent Classroom Structures

Welcome Tasks

Beginning every class with a welcome task is critical. This eliminates wasted minutes at the start of the lesson when teachers welcome the online students into the virtual classroom, handle administrative tasks, and troubleshoot technology hiccups. Below are some ideas for welcome tasks (10-15 minutes):

• Bell Ringer - Retrieval practice, Review activities, Spiral review

• Spark Activity - Encourage inquiry, Pique interest in a topic, Present a creative writing prompt

• Goal Setting - Set an academic, personal, or behavioral goal for the week; Reflect on the actions/behaviors needed to reach that goal

• Feedback Form - Ask students to provide feedback: What’s working? What are they struggling with? What questions or suggestions do they have?

• Connect and Reflect - Encourage students to make connections between the curriculum and their lives, Challenge students to orient new learning in a larger context

• Self-Assessment Activity - Ask students to evaluate a piece of work, Provide a simple rubric to guide self-assessment, Support self-evaluation scores with short written reflection

• Formative Assessment - Use a writing prompt or quiz to collect quick informal data to evaluate what students understand from the previous day’s lesson

Once the welcome task is complete, the teacher pulls the in-class and online students together to provide a preview of the lesson. This is the moment in the lesson when all students will be simultaneously watching and listening to the teacher. If that feels like too much to juggle, teachers can pre-record the lesson preview and make it available for students online to watch.

Present-Pause-Discuss Framework for Instruction

The bulk of the lesson is dedicated to the flip flop or two-station rotation. The goal is to allow the teacher to focus on one group–in class or online–at a time. The teacher can use the teacher-led station for various tasks, including differentiated instruction, real-time feedback, interactive modeling sessions, or guided practice and application. Record video directions for each station to reduce questions and confusion. To ensure all students (online or in-person) get equitable access and help from the teacher, use one consistent method for students to ask for help as they work (e.g., GoGuardian chat, Google Classroom/Seesaw messages, ClassroomQ, etc.). Similarly, the teacher can use the online station for a variety of activities, including practice with adaptive software, video lessons, online research and exploration, collaboration on shared tasks using the Google Suite, or online discussions about texts, topics, and issues using FlipGrid or the discussion functionality in their LMS.

Consider working with the online group first. When you finish working with the online group, you can release them to work on the other station task asynchronously. This allows the online students to control the time, place, and pace of their progress through that second station. It also frees the teacher from feeling like they need to “monitor” the online students while working with the group in class. Instead, they can focus their energy on the students in the classroom. I suggest that teachers record a short video or screencast reviewing the directions for the second station to reduce questions and confusion as students work through that second station on their own. Have “may do” activities ready for students who pace more quickly through their work.

Teachers in a concurrent classroom can have in-class groups, online groups, or a mix of in-class and online students in groups. Given the current restrictions on movement in classrooms, grouping students online in video conferencing rooms may be the easiest way to foster collaboration for all students, even those who are in the physical classroom. If teachers are going to create groups composed of students in class and online, it is critical to incorporate offline learning activities into the lesson to give students a “break from the screen.”

Exit Tickets

End your lessons with an exit ticket activity. Teachers can create a simple Google Form to collect quick formative assessment data and create an avenue for students to ask questions or request help. Exit tickets are a quick and sustainable strategy for encouraging students to reflect on their learning and provide feedback about the learning experience.

Sources:

• https://catlintucker.com/2020/11/flip-flop-design-for-concurrent-classroom/

• https://catlintucker.com/2020/10/basics-lesson-planning-concurrent-classroom/