Thread by @mrhealthteacher, Things I have seen working in distance learning this week: Putting students [...]

Things I have seen working in distance learning this week:

Putting students in Zoom breakout rooms together and asking them to edit a slide (Group 7 works on slide 7, for example) w/ their names, pronouns and an image that represents something all the people in the group like

For asynchronous work - asking students to share the a song they

and explain what it means to them or what they like about it. Provides students with a different way to connect, and gives teachers more insight into their student's current tastes/influences.

Teachers taking the time to explain how they want students to use the chat, like "The chat is not for saying hey to your buddies, but for answering questions from me. That's why it will be disabled sometimes."

Zoom chat provide a quick way to assess where students are - like:

"How comfortable are you with Zoom?

1 = Beginner
2 = Learning
3 = Pro

I'm enabling chat now. Type in your answer!"

For any "Write a short autobiography/make a slide deck about yourself" type assignments, seeing an example about the teacher really helps, and also builds connections.

Also be clear about who is going to see it, because students have been living through some hard things.

Give physical movement breaks. If you're not doing one all together, like the H.Y.P.E videos from @HHPHorg, put on a visual timer and/or a song so people know when the break is done.

Teachers sharing a photo of themselves in the grade they are teaching and admitting they are a little nervous helps with building connections.

Teachers practicing how to quickly mute everyone is important for avoiding situations where families can be heard arguing or coaching students in the background. They don't always realize that everyone can hear them.

The advice from @MorganJaxon702 is right on

https://twitter.com/morganjaxon702/status/1296073728040636416?s=21 https://twitter.com/morganjaxon702/status/1296073728040636416

https://twitter.com/morganjaxon702/status/1296073728040636416?s=21

When talking to students or families, consider using more common terms like “live,” “on-demand,” and “on your own” instead of “synchronous” and “asynchronous.” (Thanks, @heisereads!)

Great suggestion from @iamlaurasaurus:

https://twitter.com/iamlaurasaurus/status/1296156343208943616?s=21 https://twitter.com/iamlaurasaurus/status/1296156343208943616

https://twitter.com/iamlaurasaurus/status/1296156343208943616?s=21

Even is you’re “not a tech person” you can learn this stuff and get better at it. Listen to @AubreyDiOrio:

https://twitter.com/aubreydiorio/status/1296249916080046080?s=21 https://twitter.com/aubreydiorio/status/1296249916080046080

https://twitter.com/aubreydiorio/status/1296249916080046080?s=21

I’m seeing a lot of teachers sharing their slides in editing mode. The screens on students’ laptops, iPads, and phones are already small - if you’re sharing slides over Zoom or Google Meet, please put them in “present” mode so they see more of them.

Ellie Donovan, the superstar 6th Grade Social Studies Teacher at @SFUnified's Presidio Middle School, graciously made the slides from the team intro activity available.

Editable version here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wEdDSpJBQkGqXZXFffzlqBIRA4tUk88792m2MUE-hao/edit?usp=sharing

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