Leveling Up: Simply put, it means to improve your current station in a way that feels like a powerful shift. And, it starts with a change in thought, a shift in mindset, followed by brave action.
Cindy Yantis Blog: Here is What it Means to Level Up.
TL:DR
This is not a post for blaming or shaming families and students during this pandemic. This is a blog post that might provide ideas, insights and avenues to build and engage in positive relationships with students and families. All while recognizing that each of us is in need of help and support during this season.
Shifting back to (or continuing in) distance learning during the 2020-21 school year provided opportunities to continue to look at how we can build relationships with students, with only seeing them on a computer screen.
Instead of focusing on what student’s are not doing, taking time to dig deeper and ask others what is working can be the first brave step of trying something new to support our students in this new way of doing school.
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At Ellis, we had the opportunity to remain hybrid until Thanksgiving and are now finishing week two of full distance learning. During the first week December 2020 in each of our team meetings we had time to brainstorm what is working to engage students to come to our live check in sessions or to continue to seek help, support and advice throughout the day. Everyone also took time during our weekly staff check-in to answer the following question:
Asking for a friend? What is one way you have gotten students to attend your virtual class.
Ellis Middle School Staff Check In Question
The response came in, and a lot of them. After reviewing the data we came up with three different categories of engagement strategies during distance learning: Relationships, Gentle Reminders, and Learning Supports.
In the Area of Relationships a few of the 20 plus ideas included:
- Playing games like “among us” during Advisory
- Daily trivia
- Ice Breaker Games (for ideas check out: Cult of Pedagogy: Ice Breakers that Rock)
- Meme/Gif competitions.
- Letting them ‘see’ your virutal classroom (i.e. home office)
- Offering cooking demos
- Pet days.
- Dress Up days.
Gentle Reminders in the form of:
- Email/Portal Reminders
- Calendar Invites (including parents).
- Parent connections/support
- Parent/student tutorial hours/support for online platforms.
- Calls from the school secretary as check in’s
- Links to everything in one spot.
- YouTube Videos for family support in English and Spanish
- Reminders in our newsletters.
And Learning Support Suggestions looked like:
- Giving mini-lessons to supplement notes.
- Connecting learning in classes to other classes.
- Show and tell days.
- Additional homework help.
- Staying on the call after the 30 minutes and offering virtual study hall/study sessions.
- Using Nearpod and incluing games and more interactive elements.
- Continuing to provide structure and consistently while sharing new information.
After all of these were collected we shared back with the staff and kept it in our COVID-Communication One-Note Notebook for reference.
We also have been curating resources in our Friday Focus some of these that have helped include:
- 3 Mistakes Made During Distance Teaching
- Shift to Online Discussions: Powerful but Different-AVID
- Using Playlists to Differentiate Instruction
- How to Support Active Learning During a Pandemic
- Blended Learning: Building a Playlist-Dr. Catlin Tucker
During our weekly team meetings we are able to discuss students who are having challenges but we also continue our Good News Calls this balance of what is working, with what is not, gives us time and space to reflect on our practices, and continue to expect the best in this online environment.
So with that, what is working in your online classroom, or virtual schools? And how are you sharing it with us so we can continue to learn and grow?
Jessica
Principal in Balance: Learning to Lead in Work and Life 