Teaching Remotely: 5 Teacher Basics

Summer Vacation is nearly over for most teachers. They have taken a few weeks to rest, clean closets, and repaint the shutters. But as August rolls around, especially during this pandemic, school prep is sure to be underway soon. (And it just doesn't seem right for me to be retired and on a permanent vacation!) So, I am sharing a few tips for setting up a successful remote learning classroom.

1. Determine Expectations: Usually, I would tell a new teacher to close her eyes and imagine the classroom of her dreams. Look at the walls, the teacher space, and what the students are expected to do. Fast-forward to 2020. Most teachers have never experienced a successful, fully remote classroom, so the scaffolding here is missing. You can't build on a missing foundation. So, let's just envision what you already know. First, you want learning to occur, so you need full engagement. Students need to arrive promptly, interact respectfully, and work passionately. Lessons need to draw students to the classroom, adapt to individual learning needs, and encourage correction and revision. Within all of this, your children need to know when and how to submit work, where to look for help, and confidence in your availability. To make this happen virtually, you will need seamless communication with students and care-givers. All you need to do now is adapt these to a digital format which requires the right tools.
2. Choose Resources Carefully: If you used paper and pencil for any management tasks, those need to be replaced. I encourage teachers to choose a few tools rather than a truckload. It is so much easier for students to revisit familiar apps and dive deeper into their functions as the year progresses. Too many too fast can be disastrous. Here are app favorites that are easy for teachers to learn and intuitive to most students. But, don't choose all of them. Explore and pick just one from each category to start. Learn it and build on its features.

Task	Tools/Options	Why?
Communication	Bloomz* ClassTag Class Dojo Remind Google Classroom*	Send progress reports,  weekly announcements, brag boards, text messaging, discussion groups, conference scheduling..
Learning Management	Google Classroom*  Edmodo SeeSaw Schoology Moodle Hapara	Work and resources should be organized in one consistent location with due dates, expectations, and feedback options in place. Nothing works without this one!
Digital Toolbox for Lesson Adaptation	Bookwidgets* Classflow Edpuzzle* Pear Deck* or Nearpod Google Apps (Slides*, Forms*, Sheets, Drawings) Formative Screencastify*	Create interactive assignments with scaffolding and automatic feedback. Spending time here will pay off long term. Worksheets don’t teach. Remote learning requires lesson adaptation to be successful. Start here. If you just want to add interactive boxes to a worksheet try Kami.
Adaptive Digital Content	Brainpop* PBS Learning Media Khan Academy Newsela and DogoNews Flocabulary Spelling City/Writing City NoRedInk CommonLit Edulastic Freckle Quill* Studies Weekly* Prodigy Scootpad MobyMax ReadTheory Raz Kids Xtramath	These tools are packed with ready-made activities and resources that can add variety to your classroom without significant teacher preparation. Some lessons adapt based on individual student success and can be used for differentiation and remediation as well. Reporting features vary and some require paid subscriptions.Check with your district to see what is available to you.
Collaboration/Discussion	Flipgrid* Padlet Google Meets Zoom Blogger or Kidblog Google Groups*	Facilitate verbal interaction with synchronous and asynchronous discussions or share projects for student evaluation.  Assign video responses, build discussion threads, and encourage student interaction.
Quiz Games for Remote Learning	Gimkit* Kahoot! Quizlet Live Quizizz	Import questions, collect data, review material, assign live or as homework… Check out these fun games.

*My favorites!

3. Start Strong: Plan to work 20 hours a day for the first 2 weeks. Clear your schedule, get child care, and sit at your computer all day long. It will pay off! You want the students to  know that you are there and watching everything. If you have Hapara or Chrome Monitoring, then open it on a second computer. The goal is to catch every student within minutes of logging onto their computer. Send a short message saying, "Welcome to our workspace, Sarah!" Make sure that they know you are actively available and watching them. When something is turned in, comment immediately and send back work for editing frequently during the first weeks. Show that you have high expectations and will not accept less just because you are working at a distance. I tried to grade and respond within 15 minutes. Then, if someone doesn't show up, contact parents. At the end of the day, I sent a note saying, "I was so glad to see Jimmy working today. He is off to a great start!" or "I missed Jimmy today. Is there anything that I can do to help you?" The next day, these students were actively engaged. It just took monitoring and frequent communication during the first weeks.

4. Build Community: I started a live drawing for Texas Roadhouse Gift Certificates, posted student projects into a shared post on Google Classroom, and wore silly glasses for a Google Meet. Try posting a weekly question through Flipgrid, Wonders, or Padlet that allows students to get to know their peers and you. You can also check out the new virtual classrooms that will help to add personality to your class and respond with bitmojis and audio comments often. You can get to know each other, but you will need to be creative!

Aren't these more fun than the stock Google Headers and worksheets?

5. Be Prepared for Failure:  Your students need to see you mess up and try again. Let them know that you are human, too. No matter how many times you practice, your first remote classroom will be full of pitfalls. Logins won't work, bandwidth will lag, assignments will be deleted accidentally, and you will forget to post some of the needed materials. Remember your first year of teaching!. The learning curve for digital instruction is just as steep. Keep pedaling up the hill. You will make it.