{"id":93,"date":"2022-01-10T18:22:15","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T23:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/?p=93"},"modified":"2022-01-10T18:22:15","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T23:22:15","slug":"online-learning-whats-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/2022\/01\/10\/online-learning-whats-working\/","title":{"rendered":"Online Learning – What’s Working?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week in Ontario, we settled back in to a few weeks of teaching into the abyss;\u00a0 speaking to a sea of black squares and unacknowledged jokes as we \u201cpivot\u201d once again to online learning. While I spent the days leading up to the end of the holidays dreading the possibility, as usual once I got into the swing of things, the reality was far less painful than what I had built it up to be in my head. Students turn their cameras on for me in the mornings to say hello, and a few of my jokes have been acknowledged. Call it what you will, but I will continue to call this a win. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Reflecting on the first week back, here\u2019s what\u2019s been working\u00a0 for me so far:<\/span>
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\n<\/span>1) <\/span>Starting every class with a check-in<\/b>. So far we\u2019ve varied how this check-in happens in my class. Using Jamboard to write down our worries as a class anonymously, using the Mood Meter and a quick Zoom poll to do a self check in, writing 2 emotions to describe how we\u2019re feeling in the moment in the chat, circling which sloth best describes how we are feeling in a Google Peardeck. <\/span>
\n<\/span>I\u2019m finding this a good way to start the day \u2013 talking about how we\u2019re feeling, and acknowledging that all our emotions are valid and recognizing how we are feeling is important. Writing down and talking about our worries hopefully also helps our students lift this weight a little and allow them to focus on other things. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>2) <\/span>Music. <\/b>Whether starting off a class, or bringing everyone back after a zoom break \u2013 a little music goes a long way. Our current schedule means that I\u2019m teaching a month-long fairly intensive grade 12 physics course right now \u2013 which means I see the same faces all day long. Obviously there are a lot of breaks involved, and I\u2019m trying my best to distance us from screens. Having music playing when we re-convene has been well received \u2013 it fills that space with a little joy as students trickle back into the zoom room from their break. I had students fill out a sheet to help me get to know them better at the beginning of the course, and one of the questions asked about their favourite music \u2013 which makes it easy to please at least one of them each day!<\/span>
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\n<\/span>3) <\/span>Giving students opportunities to collaborate with each other. <\/b>Pairing Google Jamboard with the breakout room feature in Zoom has been awesome for this. Whether we are analyzing the physics of the latest movie trailer, or brainstorming strategies to solve an open-ended physics problem, using a Jamboard allows me to see what each group is drawing or writing, and I can always pop in to their breakout rooms to listen in on their chats. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>4) <\/span>Meeting students where they are<\/b>. Some students are struggling right now \u2013 there\u2019s no way around it. I\u2019m lucky enough to be teaching a class of grade 12s, who from my experience are often more equipped to deal with learning online than younger students. However, that doesn\u2019t exempt them from the weight of the world right now. I want them to feel like they have a voice in their learning, to know that they are cared about, and to feel that they are enough, and that doing the best they can right now is acknowledged and recognized. <\/span>
\n<\/span>\u2013 If a student shows up late, I greet them warmly, and thank them for being there, or tell them it\u2019s nice to see them. Technology issues, something going on at home with the family, slept in because we\u2019re ALL tired right now? Who knows why they were late, but they are there now, and that\u2019s what\u2019s important. <\/span>
\n<\/span>\u2013 If a student doesn\u2019t want to turn their camera on, I have zero issue with that \u2013 and my students know this. There are so many other ways to engage without having a video on your face all class. Being honest with them about what it\u2019s like to try to teach in an engaging way to an online class is usually enough to get a decent level of engagement. I told them at the beginning that I don\u2019t care if their cameras are on, but teaching to a sea of black boxes can be really tough. It\u2019s hard to gauge if anyone is understanding, or looks confused, or to be honest is even listening at all when I can\u2019t see them. So I told them to give me a thumbs up if I ask if everything makes sense, or throw a question in the chat box if something I said didn\u2019t quite make sense. My class has been great with this, and I think pretty empathetic towards me as a teacher. Most of them turn their cameras on at least during our morning check in and chat, and they all engage through reactions and the chat box consistently. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>5) <\/span>Finding opportunities to check in with students individually. <\/b>There\u2019s lots of time in the day with one class \u2013 which means lots of time for independent work and larger scale projects, and one-on-one meetings with students. I have time set aside every day for students to check in with me if they need to! <\/span>
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\n<\/span>6) <\/span>Showing a visual schedule with the plan for the day. <\/b>This is probably more applicable for the situation I\u2019m in, where students have a full day of one course \u2013 but I know they appreciate knowing what the day will look like, when they\u2019ll get breaks, and when they get a chance to step away from their screens. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>7) T<\/strong><\/span>aking advantage of useful tech. <\/b>
\n<\/span>\u2013 Jamboard<\/a> for collaborative brainstorming and discussion<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u2013 Peardeck<\/a> to make lessons more interactive and engaging <\/span>
\n<\/span>\u2013 Parlay<\/a> as a Platform for online discussions about a video or topic<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u2013 Quizizz<\/a> is great for immediate student feedback (it\u2019s great in class, or can be assigned individually so students can do it on their own time.)<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u2013 Edpuzzle<\/a> \u2013 showing a video through Zoom isn\u2019t always a good use of our time. Assigning it to students (and adding in questions throughout to keep students engaged and listening actively) still lets me know who has watched it and is understanding content, and the students seem to be a fan of this website.
\n<\/span>\u2013 Flipgrid<\/a> \u2013 giving students an opportunity to record a short video explaining their thinking when solving a problem been so helpful when assessing their understanding \u2013 especially in an online setting!<\/p>\n

8) Focusing on one or two larger tasks a day, instead of several smaller tasks.
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\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

9) <\/span>Showing myself compassion and grace. <\/b>Even though we are in the third school year of a pandemic, I still need to remind myself daily that I\u2019m only human, and what I\u2019m doing is good enough. Focusing on fun over curriculum, laughter over grades, and community over assessments is helping to guide me through this phase of online learning \u2013 and I think that\u2019s okay. Letting go of the things that we can\u2019t control, and instead making the best of the things we can, is really all we can do. So let\u2019s spend more time in 2022 showing ourselves the same love, grace, and compassion as we do our students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week in Ontario, we settled back in to a few weeks of teaching into the abyss;\u00a0 speaking to a sea of black squares and unacknowledged jokes as we \u201cpivot\u201d once again to online learning. While I spent the days leading up to the end of the holidays dreading the possibility, as usual once I … Continue reading “Online Learning – What’s Working?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-face-2-face-sessions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/350"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93\/revisions\/96"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/monicarand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}