To Prioritize When Teaching Virtually [S1 E23]
Virtual teaching is WAAAAYYY different from when we endured that world in the emergency of school closures in the spring of 2020. As we are experimenting with new ideas on our human students (Amanda) or jut viciously planning and sketching out plans for an impending school year (Marie).
Organizing and Prioritizing Your Virtual Classroom
Decide on your ONE PLACE.
One of the biggest struggles we had in the spring was the abrupt launch into virtual teaching: there was no time to set up, decide, or structure our online classrooms. Whether you’re facing a full-remote or hybrid model in your current teaching situation, it is abundantly clear that setting up ONE central location for instruction is critical. Here are some ideas:
Use your LMS…intentionally
Whether it be Canvas, Schoology, or even Google Classroom, an LMS can easily serve as your central hub, but take some time to think through how you want it laid out. Can you organize your topics week by week? Can you provide a clear, organized system for how to receive instruction and assignments? Creating a system, teaching it to students, and sticking with it is going to make this year much more organized and manageable than in the spring.
Build a Class Website
If you want your students to go to a lot of places (you’re using ALL the edtech tools and loving it!), consider building a Google Site. If you’d like to see Amanda’s head over to her Instagram highlights for a tour and to see the setup. It has allowed her to give students one spot to check every day, but lots of places to go after that.
Create an FAQ Section
For years, Amanda has kept an FAQ QR code bulliten board up in her room, and Marie said, “Um, why not have that in the virtual classroom, too?” DUH! Building out an FAQ section to your LMS or class website will save you email headaches in the future. Get an email from a parent or student asking a question that you’ve answered a million times already? Just respond with a link to the FAQs! Make sure that you publish your FAQs in a way that you can keep live-updating them; this year is bound to create new questions that will be asked over and over again.
3. Create a Meet the Teacher Section
Building relationships will look very different from a virtual or hybrid learning space than it did when we were all together. This year more than ever, making an extra effort to create a space where students and parents can get to know you, learn a bit about your life, and connect with you is so important. After Marie does her meet the teacher introduction, the students write her an email response using proper email etiquette, and similarly, after Amanda’s meet the teacher day, students write her a formal letter. This back and forth exchange puts value on relationships from the start and we truly believe that will be the core of maintaining a successful classroom all school year long. Take a behind the scenes tour of Amanda’s website here!
A screenshot of Amanda’s classroom website
BONUS TIP: SCHEDULE TO THE HOUR!
No bells ringing, no formal structure to the day, and thousands of distractions can make the virtual teaching life a real struggle. Here’s one way to think about getting yourself mentally prepared: schedule your day to the hour. It might sound like it’s a bit much, but trust us, making these decisions about your time and how you’re going to spend it have been super helpful in the long run.
While you’re here, be sure to check out Marie’s reflections on Distance Learning from the spring, and see how this aligns with shifting plans for the school year.