Creating an Enchanting, Sundry, Virtual Universe for Your Students- Part 1 (180)

As educators we are all finding our way through a dense fog of uncertainty, about how our next school year is going to unfold. Is it going to be a hybrid- both virtual and brick and mortar? Is it going to be all on-line learning? Will parents have a choice which one they feel most comfortable with?

How are teachers going to manage an in-class presence and one in the virtual world? All of us are feeling the drain of drudge- we are trying to plan ahead, but our feet are stuck in the muck. So, we are in a holding pattern.

I for one, do not like circling the airport waiting to land. I am all about the landing. Getting on the tarmac and unloading the passengers. I am in flight a lot- getting my routes locked down and my manifest in order. I knew, even as distance learning took over in the spring, that I needed to start going through my take off procedures early.

I knew I needed to come up with a well-designed plan that would help me create a map of the year that could work virtually or in my classroom with my students.

So, I sat down and wrote out a game plan. A pilot checklist, as it were. Here are the first few steps I realized are essential for both on-line and in person teaching.

1-    Over plan. Yes, we write lesson plans, but now we have to think about how they will play out on-line as well as in the classroom. Leave room for contingency routes. You never know when turbulence will bounce you about.

2-    Get familiar with and comfortable with technology. Things that will get students clicking, playing, and interacting with learning. If the lesson needs to be virtual, games and virtual labs are a necessity. Immersion is engagement.

3-    Productive working environment is a must. For me in my classroom, for my students in my classroom and for both of us at home. Modeling a place to interact and learn on-line is essential to successful practice. I have set up one for myself and I will show it to my students, inspire them to create a home-thinking and home-learning space for themselves.

4-    Conversations, discussion questions, brain breaks, debates- a community based on dialogue, listening skills, observation and trust is key to any classroom. Virtually, these can take place on a myriad of face-to-face programs, but it is important to delve deep with these conversations, create a fun atmosphere where students feel free to share ideas, concerns and have mindful discussions.

5-    Consistency and regularity is so important. That is why we walk around the room, sit down beside our students, and look them in the eye. With new protocols we might not be able to do this. But we need to continue the practice, be frequent travelers and communicate with them daily in the virtual world as well as in person, if we are allowed to.

6-    Motivation is a struggle when students are so far away from us. As educators we feel our magic is stunted by a computer screen. But that is wrong. We can amplify our personalities and really connect with them if we find ways to be different. To use new technology, play music, have meaningful conversations. What’s key is to be yourself. Be genuine and even when technology fails, they will follow you to Hogwarts.

7-    Feedback, as always, is so important. Ask students what works, what does not work. What they prefer, what they dislike. Especially what you can do to help them feel more comfortable learning virtually. Share your struggles and they will help you as much as you help them.

8-    SEL and mindfulness strategies are so important in both virtual and brick and mortar classrooms. Students yearn for connection, to feel like their feelings are justified and for strategies to feel more comfortable and creative. Keep those lessons integrated into the content and keep having meaningful, relatable, current event, purposeful conversations- students want to have these, especially now.

So how do we implement these? That is part 2 in this series- which will post tomorrow.