by Jolanta Maria Nitoslawska-Romer, M.Ed.
International Director of Academic Affairs, BE+Live
Enough already! Enough of kids staring at a screen from nine to one p.m., or even more, class after class, listening to teachers who have the best intentions of helping kids learn.
But it’s not working, is it? I keep hearing about frustrated teachers trying their best to keep their students online and participating! I keep hearing about teachers who prepare classes, and then half the kids don’t show up, or supposedly are there, but with cameras off. And the teachers worry. They worry that they can’t motivate kids. They fear that their students are not learning.
But the main issue is that, despite the teachers’ best intentions, keeping students in front of a screen for 4-5 or even more hours is totally anti-pedagogical. Kids need to move! Kids need to play! Kids need to interact with one another, even to learn. And this is not happening with all this screen time.
You may say that parents are paying tuition fees and feel that they need to get their money’s worth, so teachers need to “teach” for a full day, just as they would on a normal school day. Private schools in Mexico need to help parents understand that they are not paying for these private school teachers to “teach,” but rather, they are paying for a program, a system, and an effective approach to student learning, in this case, the learning of English, or of any other subject matter.
Parents are paying for a modern, 21st-century effective approach to learning a language. Therefore, it is the school’s and the teacher’s job to provide this for them and explain to parents that it is not right or even effective to keep students in front of a screen, listening to a teacher for hours on end. It’s the school’s job to explain to parents how the school’s English Language program will ensure that the children will learn English and for this to happen, it is not necessary, and can even be detrimental, to have the children in front of a screen for hours. Yes, focus on comprehensible input, but that input does not have to be of the teacher talking, it can be asking the students to watch a video clip, or to listen to a story on their own time. Technology does solve things.
Children learn by doing, at whatever age, and of course, the “doing” looks different at different levels. Nonetheless, the principle remains the same. Children need to be engaged by doing, not by listening to the teacher, so the first rule would be to give them something to do. In order to do that, the teacher needs to make her expectations explicit. What exactly do you need to do? What do you need to know? What do you need to understand and be able to explain? And what evidence of learning will you be giving me to prove that you have mastered this concept, this understanding, or this skill?
Having and sharing clear learning goals, along with a checklist or a rubric, is the first step. This enables students, and if they are younger, their tutors or parents, to know what is expected. This should not take long. Five to ten minutes or explaining what needs to be done, supported perhaps by a keynote presentation or a word doc or even your own asynchronous video, and off they go to do: to write, read, or organize themselves. This does not mean that the teacher cannot continue to help them, but it does not have to be a 40-minute class for all. The teacher can be available at certain times. You set up office hours where anyone from your class can pop in for help. You can meet with them in small previously set up groups for 20-30 minutes. Support your students by helping those who need it and allowing those who thrive on challenges to speed-on ahead. Technology can maximize differentiation via smaller groups and shorter sessions.
Recapping: clear learning goals, clear expectations, rubrics, and due dates, short whole-class mini-lessons, and regular online office hours. Yes, it sounds simple enough, yet there is another extremely important aspect that must be addressed. Without the social and emotional component factored in, students will find it difficult to engage and learn, so think about establishing a social presence. Tell stories about yourself and encourage your students to also tell stories about themselves, create community, and show empathy. Academic achievement in itself is not the only goal.
Here are some more lessons learned from online learning: use technology intentionally. We often allow the tools to drive the lesson instead of focusing on the learning objectives. Make sure that the tech tool you use helps students to reach those learning goals. Use the power of external resources: you don’t have to do it all yourself. Suppose you want your students to write a personal narrative. In that case, you can ask them to watch a YouTube video, or read about it, or look at their Learning Log; you can even make your own asynchronous video about it. Set realistic tasks in line with digital age realities. Don’t waste their time trying to “teach” them how to do it in a synchronous class, have them learn about it by themselves, work with them in small groups and provide the feedback they need to grow and improve. Thanks to technology, your feedback formats can be more diverse and more personal. Be a coach!
Finally, as you think about the community, be sure to involve the parents. They are also overwhelmed. Some have lost their jobs; others have to work from home with their kids connecting to their classes at the same time. There are so many different situations. Talk to them, share your strategies, tell them that being connected all the time does not guarantee learning. Explain how assigning work and projects, and providing asynchronous resources on your LMS, helps their children to become independent learners. We all have a leadership role to play during this crisis; assume it!
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INSPIRED BY
https://www.edutopia.org/article/6-strategies-successful-distance-learning
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