Reality takes a Front Seat #32

 Being Specific, Talking Slowly and Precisely

Flattening the curve. A term we hear every day on the news. Learning curve. Something educators are repeating, like autopilot responses, in every email response we are sending.

Parents are frustrated- mostly due to confusion and incomplete directions. Students are anxious, they often get lost in the multi-platform, various ways to turn in assignments- the submission quagmire.

As a parent, today in fact, I screamed at the top of my lungs. A week of work turned in by my ten-year old, on the district platform, now has to be entered on a different platform. I kind of lost it.

A crying ten-year old, didn’t help keep my mindfulness in check either. The response from the teacher- ‘I sent an email a week ago, the first of the four I sent.” Really? Do you know how many emails parents are getting? Teachers are getting.

I simply replied. “Thank you for all you do.” I know she is a fellow educator and she is flattening the curve too. Finding her groove in the learning curve. But it got me thinking. 

Has this happened to any of the parents of my students? Was I not clear at some point, and they chose to say, “Thank you for all you do,” instead of venting at me?

Reality Check #1- Emails get lost. Send out clear, precise, very specific directions at the beginning of every week. Link it to the module or lesson as a must do before they begin anything else. 

A post and a podcast. Some parents and students need verbal instructions, while others prefer text.

Not only will this minimize emails to you and questions for you- it will more importantly, ease parental anxiety and student frustration.

The Rules Have Changed, But the Game Remains the Same

Relentless routines grind down the peaks. It is no one’s job to create a peak- it’s a hassle and time-consuming, to say the least. But we can build our determination.

We can help our students find their fortitude and tenacity. But, if we do not design lessons (yes even on-line) that engage them, this dedication will wane quickly. We as educators need to look for moments of substance and impact in everyday life.

Distance learning needs games, not just practices. We are no longer present, looking them in the eye, for 45 minutes a day. Even if we are chatting in an on-line group, we still have very little control, over what they are doing.

Let’s face it, behavior management has shifted from teacher to parent and with a house full of kids, it is difficult to maintain. I personally, have a quick 15-minute chat and a 15-minute conference each week as a class. That’s all.

Then I set up some assignments for them to do independently. And a blog/discussion where they can interact and bounce ideas off of one another, without me.

It’s not easy to erase the chalk line between habit (what they look for) and the unanticipated (what we hope they see). Familiarity and notability are at odds.

We need to break this consistently and prevent student expectation and boredom. In other words, stir things up a little. Ask an absurd question, let them have some fun discussing how to answer it.

Our lessons need to be recognizable and comfortable to a certain degree, especially for differentiation purposes, but they also need to have some wonder.

Reality Check #2– On-line lessons often run off of modules or a sequenced list. Unfortunately, this is a recognizable, familiar format and should be left as the scaffold.

But, without pulling in too many unknowns- too many outside places to submit things, we should keep things interesting. But compelling and stimulating need not be some totally new format.

Add a funny comic for them to interpret, or piece of art to creatively write about- within the same platform. Don’t add more components- just more layers.

Break the Script

Let’s face it, the ‘moments’ we were having as a class, in person, are on hold. The magic and light shows, our pyrotechnic hooks and introductions, seem unattainable currently. In a way they are. The performance art, every educator utilizes, seems unnecessary, but is it?

The idea is easy, the execution is hard. They can click on millions of links at any time. There ARE far more flamboyant, humorous and entertaining videos and games available to them- than us.

Reality Check #3- We are not the most cool or engaging thing on the Internet. Or in their learning world.

But, we can up our game. The venue might be set, but the stakes can be raised. The sensory appeal can be attractive enough, that we get them away from their devices for a while. We can avoid the soul sucking voice of reasonableness.

Italo Calvino- “Seek and learn to recognize who and what in the midst of the inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space.”

I see this as an opportunity to use the space, the distance between us as a tool. Use it as a pause button. This can give students time to figure things out, without us bombarding them with stimulus and questions.

We need to use the routine, the scaffolding of our on-line platform- but the problems we present to them can remove them from it. Flip the script. Have them create a lesson and share it with the class in a blog/discussion.

Let them find new websites and games that will help other students.

Break the script by simply giving students a topic- a single vague question and then tie it to the unit. Make sure they understand the parameters and then set them free.

You will be amazed at the level of complexity and thoroughness they will show.

There is an ‘I'm’ in Imperfection

Distance learning has taught me one thing. My classroom is run like a loose confederacy.

I rely on the commitment of my students. It is my job to create a place, albeit a virtual one, where my students don’t just understand something, but that they feel something.

I need to deliver a jolt. There is a certain freshness and sport, about this whole new learning platform. There is a novelty of first times in our lives. It helps when we make sure to bring this into our lessons. It creates a sense of curiosity.

Reality Check #4- There is beauty in imperfection. There is humility in vulnerability that leads us to more connections with parents and students. Be honest, deliberate and understanding.

Listen, read an email, then read it again. Respond not react. Take the time to be imperfect because if you focus on being perfect, you will miss opportunities to problem solve, with parents and students. We are better together.

Soak up the Bumps

You can’t schedule a realization. Or prompt a student discovery. You can, however, leave clues for them to follow and hopefully at the end of the maze, something clicked into place.

Reality Check #5- Students are not Lego bricks and sometimes, they just don’t connect with the content.

So how can we make sure, that they trip over the truth? We need to make sure that every student is figuring things out- yet, we absolutely do not want to make things too challenging- this is a time for simplicity.

Then with those students who need some enrichment- we can design for some obstacles. It is an oddity, a juxtaposition for me, to have modules they need to follow. It feels too structured. It takes away some of my creativity. BUT it is necessary.

Consistency is absolute. What lies within the assignments, the layers within are where the creativity lies? Where choice can be presented.

We are presenting a pile of Lego bricks- but we need to allow them choice of size, shape and color- the architecture is personal, the tools are universal.

Let's not let the Wish be the Father of the Thought

What we are doing as educators currently, with distance learning is- TRUTH- forcing us into a screen. An entity students have long ago accepted as a tool for fun and adventure.

So, we can make our lessons remarkable or forgettable- we have to choose because, we already have a barrier, the computer itself and all its glorious options.

Delighting your students is unattainable, unless you provide the basics. There is a constant face-off between time and attention. Every quibble relocates their attention and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.

Reality Check #6- It is hard to keep students from adopting a siege mentality.

We need multi-trackers- promotion(keep them excited and surprised)and prevention(removing heft but keeping value). Bright spots are necessary.

Students are living in an emotional cul-de-sac. It feels like they are trapped and in a sense they are. We have a risk- one that leans towards in-action. How can we combat this?

1-Create a local analogy- a similar problem, something we all have in common, quarantine, distancing, anxiety. In other words, a granular problem for them to solve.

2-Create a regional analogy- another problem to compare it to, (activity specific). In other words, a conceptual problem they need to solve.

3-Ladder up the lessons- On the lower rungs give them a view of the situation, to find similarities. Then the higher rungs, offer more and more options of how to answer questions- give them reasons to go outside in their yard, play a board game, play their instrument or dance around to their favorite song- and ask them to make connections to the content.

As the week goes on, and the content solidifies, we can get more and more abstract. They can ascend the ladder until they have understanding. If they don’t. Offer some binoculars (review podcast, outside websites and articles) for them to be able to see the view from every angle.

Some students will get there early, some will take every rung. It doesn’t matter, as long as they keep climbing because they are curious what they will find.

Reality Check #7- Not everyone has a ladder. Not everyone wants to climb a ladder. We have to present our lesson at ground level as well as throughout the ascension.

1- The platform is there for a reason. To make things as clear and simple as possible.
2- Too much information is not what students need. They need simple, but also open-ended enough for them to put their own stamp on it.
3-  The layers are what matter- the components are universal the layers are personal.
4-  You can’t avoid confusion. You can’t prevent misunderstanding. No matter how clear you think you are (text and verbal in a podcast) there will always be someone who needs help. Be patient.
5- Students don’t need pyrotechnics they need moments of reveal and a stream of consistency. You are not their only teacher.
6-  Parents need one email, if that, a week. Keep it simple and direct. They are bombarded, under siege at every direction. Put yourself in their shoes.
7-  It should never be about the grade. Always about the growth. Growth comes from curiosity- its that simple.
8- Let them communicate with one another- social interaction is virtual and we need to let them just talk, as we do in our brick and mortar classrooms.


Now...take a deep breath....the learning curve is flattening, the contagion curve will take more time. 

Find your favorite song- the one that makes you energized, reflective and passionate.

For me it's "Across the Universe" by The Beatles. If you haven't listened to it in a while- you should. It will give you a new perspective.