All posts tagged: distance learning

Teaching Grammar Online

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Nothing like being sheltered in place to force one to try new online tools! In my classroom, the technology and online tools I use are Google Classroom, Kahoot, Quizlet, and Padlet. So far in the past two weeks I have used Flipgrid and Quill.org (both new to me). Before moving online, I was very aware of how much time students spent in front of a screen. My middle school students travel to seven different classes a day, and if each of those classes had 20-30 minutes on their Chromebook, that would be 140-210 minutes of screen time just in the school day. That doesn’t factor in their cell phone use or homework later in the evening that might require a computer. Our school’s history, math, and science textbooks have now all gone digital. So I was old-school, having students bring novels and paper to school. (Yes, students could read an ebook or follow along in an audiobook when we had independent reading time, and all essays were typed, but I really thought about how much …

First Week of Distance Learning

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Last week was supposed to be students’ first week with the novel The Pearl, finishing the novella this week. But last week was the first week with distance learning, and there was no way I was going to be able to teach the class novel remotely, even if I did get access to the book. So my teaching partner and I planned to have students create a video of their favorite independent reading book they read this year and upload it to Flipgrid. (You can find the assignment here if you’d like to try it.) Since last week and this week assignments are optional, I had about half of my students make videos and submit. It was so good to see their faces and talk about their favorite books. My teacher heart was happy. (You can see my original plan in pencil and my new plan in pen.) There were a lot of ups and downs last week, and next week we go to “distance learning for all,” which means assignments count, it’s not optional. …

More Distance Learning Teaching Ideas

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We are back in school this week. Distance learning style. This is a whole new ball game for so many of us and all I can do is hang on for the ride. Since I don’t know how long this on-line learning will last, I am taking it a week at a time. Right now, this online model is supposed to end April 28th, so that is as long as I can think ahead. If I figure students will spend about 30 minutes on English work daily, then what sort of assignments can I create that gives both my students and myself breathing room? Assignments where they are still learning and I am able to check in on their progress and answer questions? I thought of project-based assignments rather than daily-type assignments. The learning that students are doing is enrichment (optional, not required), so you will notice that there are different standards presented and different ideas. Also, because it is enrichment, there is no scoring rubric, but I will be giving feedback to students who …

Distance Learning

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To be honest, this whole COVID-19 thing has happened so fast that I am still reeling from the almost hourly new information coming in. Last Thursday evening, our district made the decision to close for a week and then keep schools closed through Spring Break. Around 10:30 that night, our governor said all schools were going to be closed through the end of the month. That left me with one day to see students and say a tentative goodbye. I felt all kinds of emotions that day—sadness, anger, frustration, and worry. And I am sure my students felt the same. We went to the school library and loaded up on books; I sent an email to parents for them to stay up on their independent reading, giving links to our school’s audiobooks and ebooks. So now I wait. I wait to see what happens next. I wait to see if things improve. I wait for what may come. With this down time, I am homeschooling my own children, (who are in 1st and 3rd grade), …