Have a fun, get-to-know-you virtual meeting with your new students. Choose a fun theme (PJs, beach day, bring a stuff animal friend, etc.) and have an informal, conversational meeting. Be sure each student has the chance to share something about themselves!
Plan to "meet" students and parents virtually via Meet or Zoom and share some slides focused on your classroom expectations for the year. Discuss how virtual instruction will be handled, communication platforms for parents, schedules, etc.
Use ThingLink to create a virtual tour of your classroom for students and their families. Check out these examples for some ideas on getting started:
Explore the accessibility features of any setting, platform, or program you use. Offering both online and offline options for work completion is always a good idea so that students can access the content in ways that are most comfortable and familiar to them. Also check out my Student Support page for even more ways to increase accessibility via technology.
Choice is a great way to increase student engagement and add differentiation to any lesson. Try offering Must Do vs. May Do activities for students. To increase choice virtually, consider using Choice Boards and Hyperdocs with your students. Hello Teacher Lady and Shake Up Learning also have some great free templates to use as well.
Social interaction and collaboration are vital when students are feeling isolated during virtual learning. All of the GSuite/Google Tools are wonderful for embedding collaboration thanks to their built-in sharing features!
When transitioning to a remote learning setting, teachers should have regular and predictable opportunities for families and students to connect with them. Set up virtual class meetings, communicate clearly and frequently, share photos and videos with students and families (and vice versa) on your favorite platform (Facebook, Remind, Seesaw, Class Dojo, etc.)
Specific, timely feedback is always critical to the learning process, but possibly even more so during remote learning when students may feel more disconnected from their teacher and peers. Consider giving feedback through comments in Google platforms, through video with Screencastify, or even through audio using programs like Mote or Kaizena. Online "games" (such as Quizizz, Kahoot, Quizlet, Google Forms, etc.) can also help give very timely feedback.
Online learning provides so much flexibility! You're no longer limited to just one class period, a 20 minute reading block, or a certain time of day! Without flexibility, students can easily feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Try planning learning sequences over several days so that students can move at their own pace.
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) should be at the forefront of remote learning. Incorporating SEL is never more important than during a crisis as students might be feeling anxious. Check in regularly with them and their families. Check out these SEL resources for even more ideas! Click here to learn 5 Tips for Supporting Students Socially and Emotionally During Distance Learning. Click here for a virtual Calm Down Wheel.
Time in a traditional face-to-face setting doesn't transfer directly to a virtual setting. When planning your lessons, focus on the most important objectives first and ensure students have plenty of time to complete them.
Being organized can help to reduce everyone's stress during times of virtual learning and it can also increase time on task as well. Try using topics in Google Classroom or organizing all of your materials on a Google Site for easy reference. For individual assignments, Hyperdocs do an amazing job of keeping all the necessary resources, links, and materials in one place.
Engagement translates almost directly to student participation during virtual learning. There are no shortage of tech tools out there that can greatly increase the engagement level of your students. Don't feel like you need to be an "expert" on a tech tool to use it. Allow your students to play, explore, and learn the tool together!
Live lessons with Zoom or Meet are rarely an effective use of time and they eliminate the best feature of online learning - the flexibility. The primary benefits of meeting virtually are for connections and checking in, so save your live meetings for those purposes. Instead, to support student learning, try recording your lesson using a program like Loom or Screencastify and then posting the video for students to review. Then try scheduling a live meeting as a follow-up/Q&A session to the content covered in the video lesson. (Hyperdocs also allow you to be more of a facilitator than a knowledge-giver.)
Offline learning is still important even in a virtual setting. Too much time in front of a screen can quickly lead to burn out. Try giving students blended learning activities: have them complete an offline task/project, but then use a tech tool (such as FlipGrid or Seesaw) to reflect on or explain their work.
Be clear & consistent! Create classroom expectations together and then consistently review, model and practice them. Use ONE platform for a digital hub where students and parents know where to go to access or submit all work. Choose a specific time when work will be posted each day and stick to it (you can schedule assignments in both Google Classroom and Seesaw). Be available at a consistent time each day and make families aware of your working hours and your policy on communication (ex: I will answer all emails, calls, text within 24 hours).
Host daily meetings (morning meeting) and record it for students to watch who could not join live. Play fun virtual educational games or activities like Quizizz or a Digital Breakout, live scavenger hunts around the house, host celebrations, provide live read alouds with discussions, etc. Create special moments and experiences together with virtual field trips. Check out this link for even more community building ideas!
Each sound on this site plays for a brief moment and can help add some fun and excitement to your virtual classroom meetings.
Each student will have an assigned number. If their number is visible, they still need to complete that particular skill. If their number is covered by a sticker, they have completed the skill.
You can differentiate the level of mastery needed to get a star. For example, some students may be able to earn a sticker for a lower percentage.
You can use these to further motivate your students with whole-class or individual incentives. For example, when all (or a %) of students have completed a skill practice set, you can offer a reward for the class, such as playing Quizalize or Quizizz to review in a high engaging way.
Assign each student a number - If you are concerned about students seeing each others’ progress, you can use this for your information and send each student their numbers separately.
You can post these as a Material in Google Classroom or an Announcement in Seesaw.
Click here to learn how to make a copy for yourself or click the image at left to read more detailed information about the process.
Below are some options for sharing YouTube videos safely and without distractions:
Google Slides
Use the Insert menu to embed a video into a Google Slides presentation and share those slides with students.