What a crazy time we are living in right now! Today on A Spoonful of Teaching, I'll be talking about how I’m connecting with students and hopefully give you some tips to stay calm while remote teaching! Let’s jump right in!
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| My Google Classroom page |
The #1 way I am connecting with my students from home is through Google Classroom. Google Classroom is something we used when we were in session, but not often. It’s also great because we can communicate even though we aren’t together! If you didn’t set up a Google Classroom while school was in session, no worries- you still can! It’s very easy to set up. All your students will do is type in a code to enter your “classroom.” It’s that simple! The simplicity of Google Classroom is one of the many reasons why I love it so much. Another reason I love it is because you can schedule your posts. It’s a lifesaver! Every day, my posts are live at 8:00 a.m. Each post has the same layout-- I call it our “to-do list.” It starts with answering my Digital Whiteboard Message. If you’ve been reading my blog, you might remember I talked about daily whiteboard messages in my “Top 5 Ways to Build Classroom Community” post. Our whiteboard messages were something I was starting to miss! So, I decided I could do the same thing digitally! Using Google Slides, I created a “whiteboard” for us to answer on. It’s working very well and it gets students to participate! I also love Google Classroom because students can communicate to myself and their classmates through comments! I changed the settings in my classroom so students could only comment on posts. It’s so cute to see what they message each other. I also like that they can reply to me directly with any questions about the assignment, or to just say hi! I cannot say enough great things about Google Classroom! If you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking it out.
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| Our digital whiteboard message from Wednesday. |
Google in general is so great because they offer many services in one place. My school set up the ability for students to utilize Gmail & Google Hangouts! It’s another awesome way for my kids to communicate with me and their friends. If you’re not familiar with Google Hangouts, it’s basically an instant messaging platform. Now, this is something I did not show my kids while school was still in session. Thankfully, our tech lady at my school showed us this awesome Google Chrome extension called Screencastify. It is a LIFESAVER! Screencastify allows you to take a recording of your screen. It also allows you to do a voiceover at the same time! It’s perfect for showing students how to do something on the computer. This is how I showed my students how to get into their Gmail, compose an email, and access Google Hangouts. It was the easiest thing ever. Highly recommend checking out Screencastify!!
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| This site has been so helpful to team fourth grade! |
If you’re a teacher, you might’ve noticed all the free-trials of online resources that are happening right now! Personally, I say utilize resources that are easy for students to use especially if you’ve never introduced it before. While I do not currently teach reading, I absolutely love Epic! It’s a site for students to read a large selection of books online, or have the books read to them. They even have cool educational videos. When we were in session, my students would beg to get onto Epic. Normally for students to access the service from home they would have to pay a monthly fee. However, students can now get access from home for free through June! Again, it’s very easy and it even allows you to track what they’ve read and for how many minutes. Another resource my teaching partner and I are loving is edPuzzle. Seriously if you are a teacher and haven’t checked out this resource, please do! It’s a site for interactive video lessons. You can search for any topic and can even search from popular channels such as Kahn Academy, National Geographic, and TED talks. As students watch the video, the video will pause and require them to answer a question. *note that not all of them have this feature, but most do* Also, you can upload your own videos and add questions wherever you’d like. It’s an AMAZING resource! Taylor and I have used it frequently and the kids seem to love it. Teachers are able to track their progress on the video and see the percentage of questions they got correct. One of my favorite parts is that you can prevent students from skipping through the video to get to the questions.
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| Today's assignment was an edPuzzle reviewing long division. The video pauses when a question needs to be answered. |
The assignments posted on my Google Classroom are mostly the online resources from our math curriculum. However, I like to try to post different things daily (such as edPuzzle, Reflex, answering a Google Forms, and Prodigy). While we have the same “to-do list” format, I try to make their tasks different each day. This way, it entices students to log on to see what’s in-store for that day! I usually require an actual “lesson” to complete and a game to play afterwards. However, I do not have 100% participation. This is expected and it’s okay. It’s hard to get all students, or even most, to log on! For one, not everyone has the resources. This could mean internet connection, a capable device (a phone is not super compatible with most resources), or even parental guidance (especially with some families still working). Second, this is a weird time right now. Kids are out of routine. Sure, at first it seems like a break (to students), but as time goes on they will log on. Maybe not to complete the entire assignment, but just to post a comment and say hi. I saw a quote on Instagram a few days back about how maybe this is time for students to connect more with their families and to learn life skills that aren’t taught in school. Maybe not, but it was a different perspective that put my mind at ease a bit. I’m not going to lie, I’ve been having a hard time with remote learning (just ask my mom or Joey). I miss my kids. Like, really miss them. They are literally 16 of my best friends. I also miss routine. I don’t do well with a ton of free time because I just freak myself out (thanks, anxiety !!). If you are like me, please find peace in all of this. There’s no point in getting worked up about how many kids are logging on or who completed what assignment. That’s just the way it’s going to be! Who knows, some kids might be learning via paper/pencil or teaching their siblings something new. I’ve learned from experience that there’s no sense in stressing over it! Think ~growth mindset.~
As I conclude my second week of remote learning, I’ve found that changing my mindset has helped cope with the stress of school. If you are in the midst of remote learning or just starting, stay calm and confident. We’re teachers-- we work miracles all the time! Good luck and stay safe! If you have an awesome resource you or your school is using, please reach out! I love to look into new curriculum supplements! Thanks for reading!
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