Back to School...Explore These Apps for Pivoting Back to Remote Learning

How We Go Back to School...Pivoting Back to Remote Learning

Each day there's more news, opinions, and worries about reopening schools, and educators, parents, and students know that one way or another, school starts in the fall.

Many children experience anxiety about returning to school under normal conditions; however, with the uncertainty and health risks of Covid-19, the anxiety levels are higher and shared among students, parents, and educators. Parents juggling working from home and facilitating their student's schooling have had the opportunity to understand and show empathy for teachers. "I love my twins, but I don't want to be their teacher; I'm their mom. I just bless their teachers for spending all day with them Monday through Friday and having the patience to deal with their nonstop questions and teach them what they need to learn," Shelly said. 

What are some of the things learned from the emergency shut-downs this past spring and the turn to remote learning?

Three major lessons from taking the traditional face-to-face instruction online included equity issues, data concerns, and accessibility for all students. Not all students had access to reliable laptops and WiFi even though many schools rushed to provide laptops and Chromebooks to families and some internet service companies provided internet to low-income families. There were issues with logging into programs, Zoom became a phenomenon, and security became a major issue. It was also a lesson with the lack of accessibility with document readers, audio, and other technological issues. Not only that, but students with learning disabilities also couldn't access or use virtual learning platforms.

With this in mind, how can you, as a teacher, begin to close the gap, build connections, and provide access to the learning your students need? Explore these ideas and apps to get ready for going back to school.

First, if you do begin a face-to-face program, make sure to teach lessons with the online format you'll use should schools close down again for remote learning or for hybrid programs. This provides students with opportunities to log in, complete assignments, and understand how they're receiving feedback and grades. It also helps to teach students media literacy, digital-media, evaluating resources, and online safety.

We know that students benefit socially and emotionally from the opportunity to see teachers and peers in live settings; however, it face-to-face is not available, try hosting a live, synchronous class through a program like Zoom.

If you're starting school with remote learning, make sure to include some ice breakers and relationship building exercises. Make your lessons fun. One way to help students navigate virtual learning is to make a BINGO card with simple tasks; once the student completes all the tasks, have them post a picture of themselves. Some of the tasks might be signing on and sending an email, completing an assignment, visiting a museum, etc., any activities that help them feel engaged. 

Another communication and relationship builder is a classroom newsletter. Use the newsletter to spotlight students' work, future lesson units, and information that the parents might need to facilitate their child's educational experience. The key message is to assure your families that communication, routines, and systems are in place to help educate their children.

Try to provide your students with a voice to share what their experiences with Covid-19 have been. Younger students can draw pictures to illustrate what life has been like or answer sentence prompts with a happy face or sad face, while older students can respond to journal prompts. This gives students a way to share their feelings and experiences with self-isolation. Whole class or small group discussions can lead to writing prompts that use reasoning and writing with more complex ideas and structure. Students need to have these conversations, but the conversation about Covid-19 is not a "one and done" lesson; it should be revisited and additional learning brought to the discussion. 

Make time to explore the apps and tools available to create fun and engaging lessons, whether you're teaching face-to-face or online. 

For example, Wizer allows you to create a "digital worksheet" that allows you to add video, audio, and images to interactive worksheets, and you can use it to differentiate assignments for individual students.

Similar apps through Google include HyperDocs.

For video lessons, try Edpuzzle to track student engagement and comprehension.

Similar interactive video apps: PlayPosit and Vizia allow you to integrate quizzes, polls, and other calls to action.

Look at Nearpod as an instructional platform for building presentations with formative assessments, quizzes, and games. This is a great platform for collaborative learning.\

Do you want to make review games? Try Quizizz for flashcards, quizzes, and games.

Students love Kahoot for reviewing content.

Similar apps: Socrative, Quizalize, Gimkit, Flippity.

IXL is an adaptive program (free and premium) that allows teachers to assign standards in core subjects. 

Additional apps to explore: Flipgrid, Flipgrid GridPals, Epic, Screencastify

Plan your classroom and lesson ideas now so you'll have a foundation to build your teaching practice when the doors open for the 2020/2021 school year...whether the doors are on the traditional schoolhouse or the online platform.

Until next time...

Lisa