Digital Teaching and Learning
April 21, 2021
"Student engagement is a product of motivation and active learning. It is a product rather than a sum because it will not occur if either element is missing."
Small Plates
Did you miss any of our Friday Hybrid Learning Strategies webinars?
Here are a few "bite-sized" nuggets from our Friday series and continued district-wide feedback:
Starters to Bring a Group Together
- Puzzle Party
Solve artistic jigsaw puzzles together, from a Teacher shared link. No sign in required for participants. The teacher should vet artistic samples.
- Talk Moves (Printout)
Sentence starters draw students into a class discussion and encourage both academic thinking and social connectedness. (Watch this Edutopia video to see it in action.)
Sides to Boost or Re-engage Student Brains
QuickDraw!
Can a computer recognize your doodling? Give students a brain boost by sharing this site with them during breaks or transitions. No login needed. Just click Let's Draw!
- Window Swap
Use Window Swap in front of students. No login required. Window Swap allows you to peek out someone else's window. This backdrop could work well on a classroom screen while students read or write silently, or it could spark curiosity about another place in the world! Each scene switches about every 15 minutes--or click new scene.
- Class Jobs
Elementary Teacher Shannon O'Connor shares how she assigns jobs to her in person learners to help support her hybrid learners.
- Attendance Coordinator - When they call each virtual student's name, they have to wait so I can say, "Hi", "Good morning," "Good afternoon," etc. to each individual student. This allows me to interact intentionally with the virtual learners.
- Magnificent Muter - They may mute virtual or in person students if there is feedback noise in the background or we hear a loud echo.
- Lobby Greeter - This person lets students into our meeting, ensuring the students are from our class.
- Chat Controller - This person monitors the chat and alerts me to anyone needing assistance.
- Virtual Monitor - This student must be in-person and logs into the Teams meeting. They hold up a sign "Someone has a question" and this signals me that an online student has their hand raised.
Entrees to Sustain Learning
Blended Learning Rotation Model (Secondary Focus): Teach in-person students like they’re online.
Mandy Froelich, from ALP, shares this approach:
Blended Learning Flex Model (Secondary Focus): Planning personalized instruction.
Mandy Froelich, from ALP, shares this approach:
Sweet Treats to Empower Students
Dave Schmittou, from ALP, shares this approach:
Webinar Recordings
If any of these small plates peaked your appetite, you can access recordings of all Spring Hybrid Webinars in their entirety.
The Foundations of Exceptional Virtual Teaching with Ron Clark
Premiere University and Ron Clark have teamed up to offer an asynchronous professional learning course, The Foundations of Exceptional Virtual Teaching. The course has modules on topics including virtual teaching best practices, increasing engagement, setting expectations, communicating with parents, building relationships, and hybrid teaching. Teachers can register to participate in this virtual course coupled with four synchronous meetings (Tuesday afternoons in May), which will provide opportunities to review the strategies presented and reflect on their application in the classroom. Register in Hector. Registration is limited to the first 25 teachers. Teachers will be compensated at the $20/hr rate for up to 8 hours of work beyond the duty day.
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