Image from Pixabay Last spring, educators received some feedback from parents: navigating distance learning was too complicated. Way too complicated. So complicated that many parents declared their families “done with distance learning” months before the school year ended. Now it’s July, and the national argument raging over whether to open public schools (which is actually silly – school is opening no matter what; the question is whether schools will provide face-to-face, hybrid, or distance instruction) is drowning out any productive conversations we might be having. Like, for example, how to respond to the aforementioned feedback. Next fall, when my 6th through 12th grade students come to school (and yes, logging in to an online class is still going to school), I want them to know exactly what to do. I want them to be able to come to school without having to stop and ask a parent, sibling, or tutor for directions. I want them to show up, eager to be back with their peers
If you're a teacher like me, you're already going a little bonkers from kid withdrawal. How can we nurture that connection - that spark - that makes learning and teaching so compelling and rewarding - when we're only communicating within the abstract realm of digital - or analog - correspondence? Here are a few of the prompts my colleagues and I are posting to connect with our Crews at Open World Learning Community (OWL). Reading my kids' responses has been my CPR, my Comedy Central, and my calming breath. To all my colleagues out there, be strong, be brave, and be there for your kids, in silliness and in sweetness. Share a Link : Post a link to a website, online game, or video stream that you’ve been visiting while you’re at home & say why you like it. 20 Questions : Think of an animal, plant, food, household object, job, well-known person, or famous place. Post a discussion reply saying, "I'm thinking of a..." and then say the category. F
I was recently captivated by A lice Keeler’s #notalkWC – No Talk to Whole Class approach . This teaching method employs individual, partner, and small group lesson designs that students can complete without a teacher’s whole-class instruction. I originally discovered this approach out of sheer necessity in 2012, when working with a bright, creative, lively, and oppositional group of high school students. Although this class was motivated to learn and had positive interactions with me as individuals, any whole-class instruction efforts I initiated quickly imploded. Large-group instruction triggered many of the students in this class to act out, and their disruptions were so severe that they completely derailed lessons that had worked for every other class I’d taught before. So I shifted my approach. When students arrived in class, I greeted them individually, provided learning materials, and gave one-on-one instructions for how to get started on the lesson. During the whole cla
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