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finished the first couple of days of #teaching kiddos online and here are some things I can share: a thread
make cameras optional. seriously. some kids have serious anxiety about being seen in their home space. for some their room at home might be the only place they feel like themselves. don't rob them of this.
and yes I know that 'but what if their homes are terrible environments' etc. how do you know that they are unless you've taught the student before? don't presume to know what your students' lives are like unless you've known the kid before now.
we are guests in their homes. respect that. give them some choice in whether or not they want to be seen. I'm letting kids pick whether they are on camera or have a profile picture. every week we'll have a different theme for our profile pic to keep things fun,
but also for me to get to know more aspects of the kids' personalities since I can't read the room as easily as I can when we are face to face. #buildingcommunityonline
wanna cut down on disruptive behavior? there's two good ways to do it. those of y'all using Zoom: enable the waiting room and disable private chat between students. squash it before it starts.
also establish online class expectations and review them with students. if they know upfront what you're expecting from them, then a lot of that behavior won't happen as long as you're reinforcing and modeling it. at least that's how I operate anyway.
I have a timekeeper each class to help me not go over our allotted synchronous time. I use http://wheelofnames.com to set this up. I put in my class rosters per class and every class a different kid gets to tell me "hey Fergie, WE'RE DONE"
they like getting to tell me what to do
they like getting to tell me what to do
I'm also using http://Mentimeter.com to use daily check-in questions to gauge how the group is doing and to learn more about them. last wk I asked them "what food do you eat that others think is gross" and the answers were interesting.
they're anonymous so no shame, no teasing
they're anonymous so no shame, no teasing
for our daily agenda, I'm using http://daysoftheyear.com to pick a "day" --tomorrow is Thrift Shop Day. Friday was Creamsicle Day. we talked about what Creamsicles were and if anyone had eaten one. tomorrow we'll talk about if anyone is a connoisseur of thrift shops.
I used #BreakoutRooms to have the kids talk about types of notes they could take--we focused on study skills in #APBio--and then we discussed in large group. each grp had a reporter who shared out w/the big group. so assign roles in breakouts so all kids participate.
those are just a few things I did and learned in the first few days of #TeachingOnline. perhaps they might help someone.
