In a classroom we have worked hard for a long time on enhancing opportunities (for ourselves and for our students) in order to do this better. Group work, #thinkingclassroom, collaborative activities.. Be patient with ourselves and with others in these uncharted territories. 2/?
But even as we allow ourselves space to breathe, we cannot forget to be responsive to where students are at. Virtually this is definitely a challenge - like tying our hands behind our backs - we are unable to access the abundance of information we normally can. 3/?
More so than ever - pushing through content should be the furthest from our concerns. As we move, we would benefit from checking in with students in as many ways as possible. Beware of the danger of "the first hand up", because it may not be representative of the rest. 4/?
Listening can be hard virtually (it's already hard enough in reality), but we will need to rebuild a comfortable environment so that students have some way of being heard, and being able to speak. This takes time, patience, and lean on your existing relationships with Ss. 5/?
Please be encouraged and empowered to try things, but try them with your students. Co-construction is so important in these spaces, since we cannot build community alone. 6/?
In these emergency distance learning situations, we are no longer in information-rich environments, and so I am finding myself spending a lot more time (and I think rightly so) on the eliciting aspect of assessment: checking in with students in as many ways as possible. 7/?.
Some may need you to check in with them not only academically (where they are in their understanding), but also emotionally. There's privilege to even being in a mental/physical/emotional space where you can, or want to, engage in "school." 8/?.
So catch yourself (as I have caught myself) when you are too far down the rabbit hole of refining virtual decorations like smoother editing & cool apps...That our central problem in teaching has not changed. 9/10
And the central problem (in my opinion) being: how we can better understand where students are at & how we can support them move their learning forward. 10/10.
