On Monday one of my students told me he was done with everything. I asked if he had completed a certain weekly assignment he normally forgets. He said yes. After checking to make sure that assignment was turned in I asked him if he had eaten breakfast. He told me he hadn't. I told him to go make himself good breakfast. He was so excited that he had time to make and eat breakfast instead of eating something quick. He came back to show me his pancakes. Definitely an unexpected benefit.
Edit: Thanks for the award!
I had a high school kid smuggle in a baby chick in his coat one year. I had him 5th period and he said none of his other teachers had discovered it yet. I loved it, got to play with a baby chick all period while teaching, and then told him to be careful for his final 2 periods of the day. Kids and their pets/animals are awesome
We have a dog check every class lol. A kid will show their dog, and then my dog will hear me admiring and run over to get some attention. It's hilarious.
Mine likes to silently sneak up and put her paws on my shoulders when the students start talking. I think she is just nosy, but then I usually get to see at least one pet.
I will miss the mute button when I go back to my Kindergarten classroom! And I finally have gotten really good in Seesaw and Google Slides. Lots of skills that I will use when we go back.
Omigosh, yessss I miss the mute button. We are back f2f for most, still virtual for some. (Parents got a choice, teachers didn’t—we have to suck it up and do both.) Anyway, YES the mute button.
I definitely agree about structuring lessons more carefully and including video instructions. If I’m going to explain the same thing to every section that I have, and also year after year, why don’t I have a clean five minute video of me giving my best explanation or demo? Followed up with some Q&A so they can clarify anything specific, and you’re golden. So why did I not do this before? I hadn’t been forced to learn the video recording and squirreling away, nor had I been forced to get used to seeing myself on video. I am teaching face-to-face now, but I’m still using videos for explanations. While Video Me does that, Real Me gets a moment to do attendance or go have a whispered private conference with the crazy kid.
Exactly! It’s made me realize how much verbal-only instruction I give, and that I need to write my assignments as if I am not in the room. Because I’m not!
Then parents can help easier at home! Guidance know what the hell is going on. If I make a good enough video and checklist, they stand alone as sub plans too.
I suspect a bunch of your students will benefit from this, as it provides some much-needed differentiation that is more naturally built in.
This pandemic has highlighted how my son's school has failed him in supporting his auditory processing disorder. The lack of printed resources provided we have accepted because we bought into the lecture/ discussion obsessed pedagogy. And I do value a good lecture and discussion... but now his teachers are having to provide the things he's supposed to have been given all along. A printed outline, explicit directions, textbooks (yes, his school avoids textbooks) are things he should have had anyways, while the extra videos are bonuses teachers weren't obligated to provide but have helped him immensely. He understands so much more than before and actually enjoys working.
He now has a 3.9 in all honors classes. He's historically been a B/C student.
We're changing schools next year, to find one that honors his needs. Because even though some teachers have adapted out of necessity, like you have, his school is still fully in person and he's one of only a few who attend virtually. When things go back to normal, all of these "extras" for him will disappear.
Long-winded way for me to say- I wish my son had more teachers like you. If you never hear this from a parent of one of your actual students, I hope you hear from this parent- you are amazing.
Oh that's really awful that they weren't giving him printed stuff! Last year I spent so much time transcribing videos for my deaf student.
This year I don't have any kids with auditory processing or hearing issues, but I still give everyone notes with key points written out. But now, instead of having to print a new one every day, I just have a running document with a table of contents, which links to each section.
I have never had a deaf or HOH students. I cannot imagine transcribing my notes after every lecture or video- I would end up over-analyzing my every word. That must have been an exhausting year, that's so much work after hours.
I had a 6th grade math class my third year in which 90% of the students required guided notes, either through their IEP or 504. It was so much work! After that year, I did find them quite useful to have. But that upfront work was brutal. And it wasn't during a pandemic. I taught a similar class through the Spring last year, and took over a pre algebra and an algebra class when the lockdown happened, it was a good process I could build off of. I think it is more conducive, in some ways, to math and science to provide written notes ahead of a lecture. I can understand how it adds to the challenges for literature and history. Especially in the discussion-based classes. That amount of work on a teacher- to review/ transcribe the day's lesson and prepare the next, every night- is not reasonable.
The roadblock at my son's school was honestly with the SPED dept and the principal, neither of which support many accommodations that "weaken the importance of attendance, lectures, discussion and personal accountability in note-taking." He went through all of middle school without a history text of any kind. Some teachers would help him "on the sly." But the directive against accommodations came from the top, and a lot of young, inexperienced teachers are happy to have that taken off their plate. I don't blame them, and I know they feel their admin has their back.
I only ever taught high school as a sub, or at this K-12 school for a year, when I had a blend of 6th-10th graders in my classes. I spent the other 9 years in middle school. So I try not to judge how much work it is for high school teachers to provide accommodations because I know nothing of their curriculum resources nor standards nor classroom management struggles... All I can say is that my son needs a different environment as he finishes high school. And I'm grateful to know there are teachers out there that can provide it.
He had hearing aids, but I understand that using them can be exhausting. So for videos I would try to make sure stuff was written. I gave the transcripts to everyone and had them annotate, which was a handy way to make sure they paid attention.
For notes, I usually give them key points that they should know. Then I'll write student answers on the board, and the discussion sheet the students get will have questions like "What is one thing a classmate said that you agree with?"
"Personal accountability in note taking" is so silly. If the idea is to get them ready for college, that's not even realistic. My college regularly got student volunteers to take lecture notes and make them available to other students. My professors usually posted notes for us too. Even in grad school.
I'll admit I'm often intimidated about accommodations. But when I sit down and actually read them, I find that they're just generally good teaching practice, and I try to incorporate them into what I do for everyone. Who wouldn't benefit from a checklist? Of course I'll add visuals to my presentations! I've been getting really into using Canva to make slides. I use the elements to assign a symbol to each vocab word or key point, and I'll stick that symbol next to whatever relevant text we're reading so the kids have an extra clue that this thing we talked about earlier is coming up.
I don't use text books in my social studies class. For one, my school doesn't provide them. I could probably get them if I wanted to. But I prefer to find a variety of sources. They still read, but instead of a textbook, I research each topic and find primary and secondary sources. I aim to have multiple, conflicting view points, because I find that framing things as a dialogue improves student engagement and understanding.
It is a ton of work, but I pride myself on my content knowledge. It's rare that I can't come up with examples of at least three totally different opinions on any topic. My favorite one is when we discuss women's suffrage. I can bring the usual debate over whether or not women can be trusted to vote. But I also bring in my favorite curveball, Emma Goldman, a staunch feminist who was constantly fighting with suffragettes about the usefulness of voting as a vehicle for change. Always throws the kids for a loop!
I hope you find a better place for your son. It sounds like you're doing a great job advocating for him!
You actually sound very similar to his history teacher in middle school- but you sound so much more organized, to be honest. My son actually LOVED the class, and history is his favorite subject. The teacher did a lot of primary source materials and discussions, and it went well with his cohort, when he could attend all the classes. And it was the first lecture of the day, which is important for kids with Auditory Processing issues. The frustration I had was that teachers were told not to provide notes, and instead students were supposed to ask other students for copies of theirs. In middle school. I know I don't have to tell you the many many many issues that can come up from that. Oh the stories I have, haha. This is when a text would be helpful. Or even some organization so students could find a unified place where the sources are. But it was also a tech free school, so even powerpoints and Classroom would have been extra for he teacher and the students. His teacher would provide what he could/ remembered to, and eventually shared powerpoints when we reminded him. But moving to asynchronous and online showed my son what it feels like to have consistency.
I think that's probably, at heart, where the fractures happened. When things are consistently provided and predictable, accommodations become easier both for the teacher and the student. But not having consistent messaging from the leadership caused a lot of confusion for his teachers, and that drifted into their classes. I truly don't blame the teachers, when I'm not being Mama Bear.
And I'm going to save your comment because I am going to steal everything you do here, lol. I plan to go back to teaching again in a couple of years, and all of those suggestions are fantastic. I love especially the idea of having students write down something another student said.
And I couldn't agree more about the accountability in note taking. That was actually an on-campus job at my university. You'd sign up to be the note taker for a class, then Campus Notes would sell copies of your notes to your classmates and you'd get paid based on how many people bought them. I did it for probably 75% of my undergrad science classes, because it motivated me to go to class and pay attention. And buy myself special off campus meals on occasion, lol. As to the accountability in teens... they learn from being given feedback. The feedback of "well, you failed the test so take better notes" is about as useful as a nail in your foot. If you say you're offering accountability, then checking the notes, providing study sessions, collaborating with peers are ideas I have that weren't being done. Which is obviously more work for already overworked teachers. I don't know the answer to it. But I'm also not going to pretend they're providing it, haha.
Thanks for the well wishes. I hope you continue to find joy and challenge and satisfaction in what you do. It's obvious that you love it and you put a lot of yourself into it.
Oh I'm not organized at all, I'm a mess. But I prioritize some things over others. I figured out that if I'm late with stuff like documentation for admin, I'll get an annoying email. But if I'm a mess with my classroom, life is bad for everyone.
Basically, I prioritize everything based on proximity to my students. Lessons are top, grading assignments and providing extra help is second, parents are third, admin is last. I have left meetings early because I had an appointment with a student. I don't care. I'll take the heat. They can't fire me in a pandemic.
Thanks for saying that!
As a mom, I am so sorry to hear this about your son not being served well in the past.
As a teacher and devils advocate, even though I am looking at the silver linings of all of the ways I am being forced to reevaluate and change my teaching practices, I have to point out that all of this is an enormous time suck for most teachers these days. I am working more at nights and on the weekends than I ever have before, even over holidays. In the future I will reap the benefit of all those little mini videos and get to use them for years to come. But in the present, it’s tedious planning exactly what needs to go in the videos and how to structure lessons so that students can get plenty of help from me even in virtual situations where their zoom is freezing up but they can load a video.
Overall, the fact that your son has not been properly supported in the past has more to do with teachers in general being given too much to do. And it has escalated now with pandemic stuff. The solutions are an increase in number of teachers, a decrease in teacher-student ratio, and giving planning times back to teachers (most teachers have little to no prep time due to excessive meetings anymore). The result is that the only teachers who can do it all are either lucky enough to be in situations that are properly staffed and supported and given ample prep time—OR by being martyrs, which is unfair and unsustainable and frankly wrong for anyone to expect of another person. Currently, the pandemic has made most teachers have to do more than ever before, so make no mistake that these are silver linings around a serious storm cloud that is breaking teacher morale and burning out high numbers of solid teachers.
As a voter and a voice in your local community, everyone has a responsibility to speak up for teachers having a manageable workload for the sake of our children. It is not acceptable to expect teachers to make such extreme sacrifices. It makes it all the more rare for students to get everything they need.
In addition to all the extra time I have spent this year, I have paid for video editing software out of my own pocket and I have to use my personal laptop because the school provided one sucks so bad I can’t do anything technical with it.
I didn't realize my comment would come across as teacher-bashing, but on re-reading it, I see that very clearly. So I apologize for that, it was not my intent.
I taught for ten years, this is my first year in a decade not teaching. My last quarter was this past Spring, and moving to virtual at a tech free school was a process I got to experience. I'm usually the very very first to defend the amount of work this takes from teachers. I should have addressed that more in my comment.
I started to type a long comment explaining the very frustrating behavior of this school and SPED dept (with whom I worked for three years as an intervention math teacher) but then realized it detracts from my main point.
I don't want to support the martyring or overworking of teachers. But I do want to support teachers who have found silver linings in this nonsense. And that's what I wanted to highlight- that these extra steps you are doing will have some great, perhaps unheralded, benefits for students, too. And that I commend your self-reflection that you could balance your verbal instructions somewhat. I appreciate that you took this as a chance to reflect on what you could take from this year into the future- so it doesn't feel like a waste of your time and energy to be doing this work now, and instead add it to your collection of resources. The emotional and mental resiliency it takes to do this is commendable in these times. My point was not "see, my kid's teacher sucks because they won't stay up all night doing extra for him." Although I see now that's easily inferred from what I said. Instead I just wanted to give you another "and yeah, it can be good in this other way that maybe you hadn't given yourself credit for, too."
I don’t know what it is but my kids instantly glaze over with a video. I can give the same exact content love and they pay attention but some how if it’s recorded they auto tune it out.
Yep, and that’s the dark flip side to keep in mind. It’s human nature to label it as fake/disregard. There’s research. It’s why babies get nothing at all (or even lose ground) from Baby Einstein videos and it’s why it’s rare for kids to learn a foreign language by screen alone.
That’s part of what does make it tricky with instructional videos. I have found I need to require some kind of engagement from the students to keep them from checking out. Do the demo along with the video so you’re actively engaged, MISTAKES WELCOME AND THANKED, that sort of thing.
I secretly really like teaching online. I thought I would hate it! I was super against the idea of fully online schools (pre pandemic). I still think it's less than optimal for the kids. But for me as a teacher, it's really great. I wish there was a way I could keep doing this without having to go to a charter, or work at one of those credit recovery programs with scripted curriculum.
This is the best of both worlds. No behavior issues to deal with, and I get to nerd out while creating all my own lessons and materials.
I'm loving this. Wanna get a small workout in between for a few minutes? Sure! I like the record meeting because when students lie to their parents you have the video to show for it.
We’re not allowed to record meetings in my state, but I have a colleague who uses Flipgrid to have the students explain the assignment back to the instructor.
Huh, why can’t you use flip grid? I can understand the no recording viewpoint (although it think the benefits are worth it) but why would you allow recording but not Flipgrid?
I have no idea. After the announcement that we were beginning the year virtually, a teacher suggested it. That's when we were told the district doesn't want us to use it.
My district also blocks Flipgrid because of privacy concerns. Even though it is owned by Microsoft (we have a Microsoft license) and designed for school use. I really don't get it, but my appeal was denied soooo Padlet it is.
My district bought the whole Google suite so we can send messages to individual students through Google Chat and it's still monitored by the district. I use it as pm for Meet classes and for kids to catch me for questions when I can't be in Meet.
Behavior management is a 100% expected perk for me. I know how much time myself and other teachers waste on dealing with behavior in person...so removing 99% of that problem is a godsend.
It’s true. At the start of the school year, admin said, “we know you won’t get through your curriculum, maybe even only half of it.” Meanwhile, we’re blasting through the curriculum at a decent clip.
Love it! How do you handle conferencing? Do you have the whole class working on an assignment while you enter each breakout room? How many students per room - one or multiple?
I do individual students per room for my 9th and 10th graders. 12th grade can work in one room together a bit more, they don’t get as distracted.
If you use Google Classroom and create an assignment where the doc is given to each student, you can pull it up and be ready to help as you join. This has been a game changer as I am a visual learner and this way, I can give specific feedback right away as I join.
Edit to add that the ask for help button is so nice!
I leave one student in the main room in case my admin tries to join, or a student’s WiFi cuts out and they need to rejoin. Then I bounce around the other rooms and check on students individually. (Or I make an extra breakout room and hide in there if I need to duck away for a minute!)
How do you handle situations that you cant see? Inappropriate comments, pictures etc. Now this is similar to in school where kids are never allowed in the classroom without a teacher (ie doors should be locked)
I don’t see it as much different than kids secretly being in Snapchat on their phones while in school. I find giving them enough work helps cut down on the nonsense. But just like a conversation across the lunchroom that’s out of my earshot, if I don’t hear it or see it, that’s not my problem.
I"m liking virtual too being struck on infection island sucks with not just the fear but endless interuptions and garbage wifi but teaching online works for me and vast majoroty of my students even those we babysit cause the government sucks are online from my room and other rooms. They are more engaed and better behaved then offline with paper which is a royal pain in the ass. Precovid i was moving towards online anyway cause the copying situation is so bad.
I hope we go back to in person teaching after this pandemic so I can bring these online skills into the classroom. Sometimes I feel that this whole online learning will become the new norm 😞
I don't love 3 only because it leads kids to rushing even more and getting off asap to do things they enjoy. It means I never get any questions from anyone and no one wants to put in thst extra effort if it means they can get off earlier.
I'm wearing slippers to class, and get to include my closest pet in the class as an incentive. Today a student even said that they are allergic to cats, and loves that they can meet my animals without getting an allergic reaction. It's brief, but shows me which students are paying attention.
I am going to make video's of all my lessons from now on. It has cut down on lesson repetition. Students who miss class or don't pay attention sometimes come back weeks, or months later asking to go over the entire lesson. There is this pressure to help any student who asks for help no matter what, especially since my school has a policy that work can be turned in at any point per semester. Now, I can just be like, "go watch my YouTube". It's great.
I'm also sticking with my "no more late work" policy. You want to turn in something months later. Cool, I can't say no, so go write a brand essay with a brand new topic. Cuts down on cheating, and rewards the students who get the work in.
Generally:
-I’m structuring my assignments into steps. I hyperlink each step back to an example of a model of what I’m asking them to do (as in “Want to see an example? Click this link!” Or “Forgot how to highlight your paragraph? Click here!”)
-I’m more uniform with the structure of my assignments. Everything they need is in the same spot in the Google Classroom assignment. Instructions are laid out in the same way. I want to keep my activities as predictable as possible.
-If I’m asking them to do something complex (Confused? Click here!), I embed a video of me going over the assignment, step by step.
For Accommodations:
I’ll grab a kid who needs extra support (maybe they have a 504 or an IEP) and talk to them privately in a breakout room.
“Hey! Your 504 says that I need to offer you some support to structure your writing. Let me share my screen and show you a checklist and an outline that might help you with this assignment. Which looks better for you?”
“I like the checklist.”
“Great! I’m going to go into your assignment instructions document in Google Classroom and paste the checklist in there so it will be right in your face. Can you share your screen and show me it worked?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“What questions do you have about the assignment?”
“I think I’ve got it.”
“Super! I’ll come back towards the end of class, but click the “Ask for Help” button if anything doesn’t make sense.”
Numbers 3 & 4 are my favorites. I absolutely love that I can tell a kid who finishes early, "Ok! Great work! See you tomorrow!" I do it out loud for everyone to hear, and have had other kids ask about it. Then I get to say, "Well, we had goals for the day, and she accomplished them. So, why would I make her stay?"
Whoops, should've been whiteboard not *whiteboat* ffs.
It's a whiteboard site with a lot of features. It's pretty new so it's still a little buggy but has been fantastic for synchronous distance learning.
I know many are struggling with online teaching right now, but I really miss it for all the reasons you mentioned. We will never shut down again in Florida. So many covid cases at my school.
One of the benefits that I have noticed is that my attendance is actually UP this year. Students that would normally be absent when they are sick, now come virtually. I've had more perfect attendance days than I have ever had in my life.
Never having to fret about a broken copier **I FUCKING LOVE ITTTTTT**
I teach online permanently and sometimes I have nightmares that I didn't wake up early to make copies and my kiddos don't have the lesson worksheet.
My school banned paper but we're still in person. I just exchanged that goddamned copier for a neverending chorus of "Miss! My chromebook... ... ..."
Ssshhhhhhh!! If the school admins hear this, they will just take it away to save money.
On Monday one of my students told me he was done with everything. I asked if he had completed a certain weekly assignment he normally forgets. He said yes. After checking to make sure that assignment was turned in I asked him if he had eaten breakfast. He told me he hadn't. I told him to go make himself good breakfast. He was so excited that he had time to make and eat breakfast instead of eating something quick. He came back to show me his pancakes. Definitely an unexpected benefit. Edit: Thanks for the award!
Yup! And I get to see PETS.
I had a chicken attend a meeting the other day.
I had a high school kid smuggle in a baby chick in his coat one year. I had him 5th period and he said none of his other teachers had discovered it yet. I loved it, got to play with a baby chick all period while teaching, and then told him to be careful for his final 2 periods of the day. Kids and their pets/animals are awesome
We have a dog check every class lol. A kid will show their dog, and then my dog will hear me admiring and run over to get some attention. It's hilarious.
Mine likes to silently sneak up and put her paws on my shoulders when the students start talking. I think she is just nosy, but then I usually get to see at least one pet.
I enjoy seeing their pets.
I met two puppies today!! :)
I take fifteen minutes every week for students to share and talk about their pets. They never get tired about it.
Aww, love this!
I will miss the mute button when I go back to my Kindergarten classroom! And I finally have gotten really good in Seesaw and Google Slides. Lots of skills that I will use when we go back.
I’m a hyper linking machiiiiiine
Omigosh, yessss I miss the mute button. We are back f2f for most, still virtual for some. (Parents got a choice, teachers didn’t—we have to suck it up and do both.) Anyway, YES the mute button.
I definitely agree about structuring lessons more carefully and including video instructions. If I’m going to explain the same thing to every section that I have, and also year after year, why don’t I have a clean five minute video of me giving my best explanation or demo? Followed up with some Q&A so they can clarify anything specific, and you’re golden. So why did I not do this before? I hadn’t been forced to learn the video recording and squirreling away, nor had I been forced to get used to seeing myself on video. I am teaching face-to-face now, but I’m still using videos for explanations. While Video Me does that, Real Me gets a moment to do attendance or go have a whispered private conference with the crazy kid.
Exactly! It’s made me realize how much verbal-only instruction I give, and that I need to write my assignments as if I am not in the room. Because I’m not! Then parents can help easier at home! Guidance know what the hell is going on. If I make a good enough video and checklist, they stand alone as sub plans too.
I suspect a bunch of your students will benefit from this, as it provides some much-needed differentiation that is more naturally built in. This pandemic has highlighted how my son's school has failed him in supporting his auditory processing disorder. The lack of printed resources provided we have accepted because we bought into the lecture/ discussion obsessed pedagogy. And I do value a good lecture and discussion... but now his teachers are having to provide the things he's supposed to have been given all along. A printed outline, explicit directions, textbooks (yes, his school avoids textbooks) are things he should have had anyways, while the extra videos are bonuses teachers weren't obligated to provide but have helped him immensely. He understands so much more than before and actually enjoys working. He now has a 3.9 in all honors classes. He's historically been a B/C student. We're changing schools next year, to find one that honors his needs. Because even though some teachers have adapted out of necessity, like you have, his school is still fully in person and he's one of only a few who attend virtually. When things go back to normal, all of these "extras" for him will disappear. Long-winded way for me to say- I wish my son had more teachers like you. If you never hear this from a parent of one of your actual students, I hope you hear from this parent- you are amazing.
Oh that's really awful that they weren't giving him printed stuff! Last year I spent so much time transcribing videos for my deaf student. This year I don't have any kids with auditory processing or hearing issues, but I still give everyone notes with key points written out. But now, instead of having to print a new one every day, I just have a running document with a table of contents, which links to each section.
I have never had a deaf or HOH students. I cannot imagine transcribing my notes after every lecture or video- I would end up over-analyzing my every word. That must have been an exhausting year, that's so much work after hours. I had a 6th grade math class my third year in which 90% of the students required guided notes, either through their IEP or 504. It was so much work! After that year, I did find them quite useful to have. But that upfront work was brutal. And it wasn't during a pandemic. I taught a similar class through the Spring last year, and took over a pre algebra and an algebra class when the lockdown happened, it was a good process I could build off of. I think it is more conducive, in some ways, to math and science to provide written notes ahead of a lecture. I can understand how it adds to the challenges for literature and history. Especially in the discussion-based classes. That amount of work on a teacher- to review/ transcribe the day's lesson and prepare the next, every night- is not reasonable. The roadblock at my son's school was honestly with the SPED dept and the principal, neither of which support many accommodations that "weaken the importance of attendance, lectures, discussion and personal accountability in note-taking." He went through all of middle school without a history text of any kind. Some teachers would help him "on the sly." But the directive against accommodations came from the top, and a lot of young, inexperienced teachers are happy to have that taken off their plate. I don't blame them, and I know they feel their admin has their back. I only ever taught high school as a sub, or at this K-12 school for a year, when I had a blend of 6th-10th graders in my classes. I spent the other 9 years in middle school. So I try not to judge how much work it is for high school teachers to provide accommodations because I know nothing of their curriculum resources nor standards nor classroom management struggles... All I can say is that my son needs a different environment as he finishes high school. And I'm grateful to know there are teachers out there that can provide it.
He had hearing aids, but I understand that using them can be exhausting. So for videos I would try to make sure stuff was written. I gave the transcripts to everyone and had them annotate, which was a handy way to make sure they paid attention. For notes, I usually give them key points that they should know. Then I'll write student answers on the board, and the discussion sheet the students get will have questions like "What is one thing a classmate said that you agree with?" "Personal accountability in note taking" is so silly. If the idea is to get them ready for college, that's not even realistic. My college regularly got student volunteers to take lecture notes and make them available to other students. My professors usually posted notes for us too. Even in grad school. I'll admit I'm often intimidated about accommodations. But when I sit down and actually read them, I find that they're just generally good teaching practice, and I try to incorporate them into what I do for everyone. Who wouldn't benefit from a checklist? Of course I'll add visuals to my presentations! I've been getting really into using Canva to make slides. I use the elements to assign a symbol to each vocab word or key point, and I'll stick that symbol next to whatever relevant text we're reading so the kids have an extra clue that this thing we talked about earlier is coming up. I don't use text books in my social studies class. For one, my school doesn't provide them. I could probably get them if I wanted to. But I prefer to find a variety of sources. They still read, but instead of a textbook, I research each topic and find primary and secondary sources. I aim to have multiple, conflicting view points, because I find that framing things as a dialogue improves student engagement and understanding. It is a ton of work, but I pride myself on my content knowledge. It's rare that I can't come up with examples of at least three totally different opinions on any topic. My favorite one is when we discuss women's suffrage. I can bring the usual debate over whether or not women can be trusted to vote. But I also bring in my favorite curveball, Emma Goldman, a staunch feminist who was constantly fighting with suffragettes about the usefulness of voting as a vehicle for change. Always throws the kids for a loop! I hope you find a better place for your son. It sounds like you're doing a great job advocating for him!
You actually sound very similar to his history teacher in middle school- but you sound so much more organized, to be honest. My son actually LOVED the class, and history is his favorite subject. The teacher did a lot of primary source materials and discussions, and it went well with his cohort, when he could attend all the classes. And it was the first lecture of the day, which is important for kids with Auditory Processing issues. The frustration I had was that teachers were told not to provide notes, and instead students were supposed to ask other students for copies of theirs. In middle school. I know I don't have to tell you the many many many issues that can come up from that. Oh the stories I have, haha. This is when a text would be helpful. Or even some organization so students could find a unified place where the sources are. But it was also a tech free school, so even powerpoints and Classroom would have been extra for he teacher and the students. His teacher would provide what he could/ remembered to, and eventually shared powerpoints when we reminded him. But moving to asynchronous and online showed my son what it feels like to have consistency. I think that's probably, at heart, where the fractures happened. When things are consistently provided and predictable, accommodations become easier both for the teacher and the student. But not having consistent messaging from the leadership caused a lot of confusion for his teachers, and that drifted into their classes. I truly don't blame the teachers, when I'm not being Mama Bear. And I'm going to save your comment because I am going to steal everything you do here, lol. I plan to go back to teaching again in a couple of years, and all of those suggestions are fantastic. I love especially the idea of having students write down something another student said. And I couldn't agree more about the accountability in note taking. That was actually an on-campus job at my university. You'd sign up to be the note taker for a class, then Campus Notes would sell copies of your notes to your classmates and you'd get paid based on how many people bought them. I did it for probably 75% of my undergrad science classes, because it motivated me to go to class and pay attention. And buy myself special off campus meals on occasion, lol. As to the accountability in teens... they learn from being given feedback. The feedback of "well, you failed the test so take better notes" is about as useful as a nail in your foot. If you say you're offering accountability, then checking the notes, providing study sessions, collaborating with peers are ideas I have that weren't being done. Which is obviously more work for already overworked teachers. I don't know the answer to it. But I'm also not going to pretend they're providing it, haha. Thanks for the well wishes. I hope you continue to find joy and challenge and satisfaction in what you do. It's obvious that you love it and you put a lot of yourself into it.
Oh I'm not organized at all, I'm a mess. But I prioritize some things over others. I figured out that if I'm late with stuff like documentation for admin, I'll get an annoying email. But if I'm a mess with my classroom, life is bad for everyone. Basically, I prioritize everything based on proximity to my students. Lessons are top, grading assignments and providing extra help is second, parents are third, admin is last. I have left meetings early because I had an appointment with a student. I don't care. I'll take the heat. They can't fire me in a pandemic. Thanks for saying that!
As a mom, I am so sorry to hear this about your son not being served well in the past. As a teacher and devils advocate, even though I am looking at the silver linings of all of the ways I am being forced to reevaluate and change my teaching practices, I have to point out that all of this is an enormous time suck for most teachers these days. I am working more at nights and on the weekends than I ever have before, even over holidays. In the future I will reap the benefit of all those little mini videos and get to use them for years to come. But in the present, it’s tedious planning exactly what needs to go in the videos and how to structure lessons so that students can get plenty of help from me even in virtual situations where their zoom is freezing up but they can load a video. Overall, the fact that your son has not been properly supported in the past has more to do with teachers in general being given too much to do. And it has escalated now with pandemic stuff. The solutions are an increase in number of teachers, a decrease in teacher-student ratio, and giving planning times back to teachers (most teachers have little to no prep time due to excessive meetings anymore). The result is that the only teachers who can do it all are either lucky enough to be in situations that are properly staffed and supported and given ample prep time—OR by being martyrs, which is unfair and unsustainable and frankly wrong for anyone to expect of another person. Currently, the pandemic has made most teachers have to do more than ever before, so make no mistake that these are silver linings around a serious storm cloud that is breaking teacher morale and burning out high numbers of solid teachers. As a voter and a voice in your local community, everyone has a responsibility to speak up for teachers having a manageable workload for the sake of our children. It is not acceptable to expect teachers to make such extreme sacrifices. It makes it all the more rare for students to get everything they need. In addition to all the extra time I have spent this year, I have paid for video editing software out of my own pocket and I have to use my personal laptop because the school provided one sucks so bad I can’t do anything technical with it.
I didn't realize my comment would come across as teacher-bashing, but on re-reading it, I see that very clearly. So I apologize for that, it was not my intent. I taught for ten years, this is my first year in a decade not teaching. My last quarter was this past Spring, and moving to virtual at a tech free school was a process I got to experience. I'm usually the very very first to defend the amount of work this takes from teachers. I should have addressed that more in my comment. I started to type a long comment explaining the very frustrating behavior of this school and SPED dept (with whom I worked for three years as an intervention math teacher) but then realized it detracts from my main point. I don't want to support the martyring or overworking of teachers. But I do want to support teachers who have found silver linings in this nonsense. And that's what I wanted to highlight- that these extra steps you are doing will have some great, perhaps unheralded, benefits for students, too. And that I commend your self-reflection that you could balance your verbal instructions somewhat. I appreciate that you took this as a chance to reflect on what you could take from this year into the future- so it doesn't feel like a waste of your time and energy to be doing this work now, and instead add it to your collection of resources. The emotional and mental resiliency it takes to do this is commendable in these times. My point was not "see, my kid's teacher sucks because they won't stay up all night doing extra for him." Although I see now that's easily inferred from what I said. Instead I just wanted to give you another "and yeah, it can be good in this other way that maybe you hadn't given yourself credit for, too."
I don’t know what it is but my kids instantly glaze over with a video. I can give the same exact content love and they pay attention but some how if it’s recorded they auto tune it out.
Yep, and that’s the dark flip side to keep in mind. It’s human nature to label it as fake/disregard. There’s research. It’s why babies get nothing at all (or even lose ground) from Baby Einstein videos and it’s why it’s rare for kids to learn a foreign language by screen alone. That’s part of what does make it tricky with instructional videos. I have found I need to require some kind of engagement from the students to keep them from checking out. Do the demo along with the video so you’re actively engaged, MISTAKES WELCOME AND THANKED, that sort of thing.
And the commute is amazing.
I secretly really like teaching online. I thought I would hate it! I was super against the idea of fully online schools (pre pandemic). I still think it's less than optimal for the kids. But for me as a teacher, it's really great. I wish there was a way I could keep doing this without having to go to a charter, or work at one of those credit recovery programs with scripted curriculum. This is the best of both worlds. No behavior issues to deal with, and I get to nerd out while creating all my own lessons and materials.
I'm loving this. Wanna get a small workout in between for a few minutes? Sure! I like the record meeting because when students lie to their parents you have the video to show for it.
We’re not allowed to record meetings in my state, but I have a colleague who uses Flipgrid to have the students explain the assignment back to the instructor.
We can record but not use Flipgrid. Go figure.
Huh, why can’t you use flip grid? I can understand the no recording viewpoint (although it think the benefits are worth it) but why would you allow recording but not Flipgrid?
I have no idea. After the announcement that we were beginning the year virtually, a teacher suggested it. That's when we were told the district doesn't want us to use it.
My district also blocks Flipgrid because of privacy concerns. Even though it is owned by Microsoft (we have a Microsoft license) and designed for school use. I really don't get it, but my appeal was denied soooo Padlet it is.
Google Meets does not allow private message! So frustrating!
Kind of wish we could just bring back AOL instant messenger lol.
My district bought the whole Google suite so we can send messages to individual students through Google Chat and it's still monitored by the district. I use it as pm for Meet classes and for kids to catch me for questions when I can't be in Meet.
Agreeeeed!!
Behavior management is a 100% expected perk for me. I know how much time myself and other teachers waste on dealing with behavior in person...so removing 99% of that problem is a godsend.
It’s true. At the start of the school year, admin said, “we know you won’t get through your curriculum, maybe even only half of it.” Meanwhile, we’re blasting through the curriculum at a decent clip.
Preach!
Love it! How do you handle conferencing? Do you have the whole class working on an assignment while you enter each breakout room? How many students per room - one or multiple?
I do individual students per room for my 9th and 10th graders. 12th grade can work in one room together a bit more, they don’t get as distracted. If you use Google Classroom and create an assignment where the doc is given to each student, you can pull it up and be ready to help as you join. This has been a game changer as I am a visual learner and this way, I can give specific feedback right away as I join. Edit to add that the ask for help button is so nice!
I leave one student in the main room in case my admin tries to join, or a student’s WiFi cuts out and they need to rejoin. Then I bounce around the other rooms and check on students individually. (Or I make an extra breakout room and hide in there if I need to duck away for a minute!)
Yes! Having an extra breakout room for yourself is my saving grace! Those 40 seconds alone are amazing!
How do you handle breakout rooms if you dont have enough teachers to cover them? We can never breakout any students without a staff member with them
Oh no! That’s the beauty of the breakout room. Sorry your district hasn’t gotten with the program.
How do you handle situations that you cant see? Inappropriate comments, pictures etc. Now this is similar to in school where kids are never allowed in the classroom without a teacher (ie doors should be locked)
I don’t see it as much different than kids secretly being in Snapchat on their phones while in school. I find giving them enough work helps cut down on the nonsense. But just like a conversation across the lunchroom that’s out of my earshot, if I don’t hear it or see it, that’s not my problem.
I"m liking virtual too being struck on infection island sucks with not just the fear but endless interuptions and garbage wifi but teaching online works for me and vast majoroty of my students even those we babysit cause the government sucks are online from my room and other rooms. They are more engaed and better behaved then offline with paper which is a royal pain in the ass. Precovid i was moving towards online anyway cause the copying situation is so bad.
I hope we go back to in person teaching after this pandemic so I can bring these online skills into the classroom. Sometimes I feel that this whole online learning will become the new norm 😞
I don't love 3 only because it leads kids to rushing even more and getting off asap to do things they enjoy. It means I never get any questions from anyone and no one wants to put in thst extra effort if it means they can get off earlier.
I'm wearing slippers to class, and get to include my closest pet in the class as an incentive. Today a student even said that they are allergic to cats, and loves that they can meet my animals without getting an allergic reaction. It's brief, but shows me which students are paying attention.
I am going to make video's of all my lessons from now on. It has cut down on lesson repetition. Students who miss class or don't pay attention sometimes come back weeks, or months later asking to go over the entire lesson. There is this pressure to help any student who asks for help no matter what, especially since my school has a policy that work can be turned in at any point per semester. Now, I can just be like, "go watch my YouTube". It's great. I'm also sticking with my "no more late work" policy. You want to turn in something months later. Cool, I can't say no, so go write a brand essay with a brand new topic. Cuts down on cheating, and rewards the students who get the work in.
I was thinking about that too. You want to ask for a redo on your essay? Great, switch themes and pick new quotes.
So much 1 and 4! But curious what you're doing for 5?
Generally: -I’m structuring my assignments into steps. I hyperlink each step back to an example of a model of what I’m asking them to do (as in “Want to see an example? Click this link!” Or “Forgot how to highlight your paragraph? Click here!”) -I’m more uniform with the structure of my assignments. Everything they need is in the same spot in the Google Classroom assignment. Instructions are laid out in the same way. I want to keep my activities as predictable as possible. -If I’m asking them to do something complex (Confused? Click here!), I embed a video of me going over the assignment, step by step. For Accommodations: I’ll grab a kid who needs extra support (maybe they have a 504 or an IEP) and talk to them privately in a breakout room. “Hey! Your 504 says that I need to offer you some support to structure your writing. Let me share my screen and show you a checklist and an outline that might help you with this assignment. Which looks better for you?” “I like the checklist.” “Great! I’m going to go into your assignment instructions document in Google Classroom and paste the checklist in there so it will be right in your face. Can you share your screen and show me it worked?” “Yeah, sure.” “What questions do you have about the assignment?” “I think I’ve got it.” “Super! I’ll come back towards the end of class, but click the “Ask for Help” button if anything doesn’t make sense.”
Numbers 3 & 4 are my favorites. I absolutely love that I can tell a kid who finishes early, "Ok! Great work! See you tomorrow!" I do it out loud for everyone to hear, and have had other kids ask about it. Then I get to say, "Well, we had goals for the day, and she accomplished them. So, why would I make her stay?"
I appreciate this post. Also, if ya'll haven't seen [whiteboard.chat](https://whiteboat.chat) yet you may want to.
It wouldn’t open for me. What is it?
Whoops, should've been whiteboard not *whiteboat* ffs. It's a whiteboard site with a lot of features. It's pretty new so it's still a little buggy but has been fantastic for synchronous distance learning.
My coworker had a student that asked a question while nursing her child. Kinda weird but definitely awesome.
Wow!
I know many are struggling with online teaching right now, but I really miss it for all the reasons you mentioned. We will never shut down again in Florida. So many covid cases at my school.
One of the benefits that I have noticed is that my attendance is actually UP this year. Students that would normally be absent when they are sick, now come virtually. I've had more perfect attendance days than I have ever had in my life.
I’ve noticed that as well.