While remote learning has been a significant paradigm shift for many of us, some of the practices that have assisted both my students and myself to actively engage and continue our learning as recommended by my professional learning network has been:
For Students
- Providing students with a simple timetable to guide their learning throughout the week.
- Daily virtual home groups enabling student connection and pastoral care using video conferencing platforms such as Google Meet.
- Each day explicitly going through the work plan and daily expectations so that students can ask questions and seek clarification.
- Students complete each day a Google Form check in to mark attendance and indicate their wellbeing, quality of sleep, energy levels, nutrition intake and identifies how they are feeling about relationships around them. This then exports to a Google Sheet.
- Open hours where students can drop in to a video meeting and ask questions about their learning.
- When students need help outside of the open hours the protocol is they email their teacher and they then schedule a time to help.
- A virtual help desk has been created so that students can talk through technical problems they have found and have the support to remotely fix these.
- Producing a mixture of pre recorded, live lessons and curated resources so that students have variety and connection with teachers, other students and the material they are learning.
- When modelling to students teachers have been using Google Slides, Docs and Jamboard to continue the collaborative habits previously developed.
- Communicate learning material with students through the use of platforms such as Google Classroom or SeeSaw.
- Using the quiz mode of Google Forms to create pre and post assessments that are partially self marking.
- We have been encouraging students to learn more about their passions and intentionally craft their own questions of inquiry.
- When we want students to present to everyone we use Flipgrid and limit the videos to the length of time we want them to present for.
- Intentionally, reminding and sharing learning experiences that develop students digital literacy, citizenship and cybersafety.
- School counsellors have been made more readily available to schedule virtual sessions to support students levels of anxiety, stress and mental health.
For Staff
- Our staff have been encouraged to actively schedule the tasks, lesson material and meetings they are having in their Google Calendars and request they set office hours to protect them from burnout and support their personal lives.
- Staff have been working with myself or other teachers to upskill each other, in one on one or small groups using both physical and virtual meetings.
- A virtual help desk has been created so that teachers can talk through technical problems they have found.
- Staff virtual coffee meeting where we can be open with each other and emotionally support each other.
- Each of the staff have support groups of two to three others that they check in with each week.
- The leadership does a weekly check in with each member of staff.
- Encouraging teachers to be involved with social media discussions, webinars, reading and podcasts to broaden their perspective and engage with conversations about practice.
- A daily email from our leaders giving feedback, encouragement and leadership direction. This also includes a curation of key resources that has been uncovered throughout the day to reduce email traffic for teachers.
For Parents
- Our staff have been encouraged to actively schedule the tasks, lesson material and meetings they are having in their Google Calendars and request they set office hours to protect them from burnout and support their personal lives.
- Staff have been working with myself or other teachers to upskill each other, in one on one or small groups using both physical and virtual meetings.
- A virtual help desk has been created so that teachers can talk through technical problems they have found.
- Staff virtual coffee meeting where we can be open with each other and emotionally support each other.
- Each of the staff have support groups of two to three others that they check in with each week.
- The leadership does a weekly check in with each member of staff.
- Encouraging teachers to be involved with social media discussions, webinars, reading and podcasts to broaden their perspective and engage with conversations about practice.
- A daily email from our leaders giving feedback, encouragement and leadership direction. This also includes a curation of key resources that has been uncovered throughout the day to reduce email traffic for teachers.
For Parents
- Parent communication is continuing to be encouraged through email and phone calls that are redirected during office hours.
- The school has produced video content and support material to help parents navigate the changes.
- School counsellors have been made more readily available to schedule virtual sessions to support parents levels of anxiety, stress and mental health.
- The school has produced video content and support material to help parents navigate the changes.
- School counsellors have been made more readily available to schedule virtual sessions to support parents levels of anxiety, stress and mental health.
I hope these ideas give you courage and hope. We are all on this journey together and we need to support each other. Be kind to yourself and be safe.
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