The Balance is now available on Spotify!
It has been six weeks since California ordered residents to shelter in place. I have not left my home for anything other than the occasional trip to the grocery store. Some weeks are good and fly by in a blur of productivity, while other weeks are hard, emotionally draining, and feel like they last forever.
As I face another week at home, I wanted to share some of the advice I have been giving the teacher I work with remotely. I am coaching teachers all over the globe as they adjust to the realities of teaching online. Even though each country is handling this pandemic differently, the advice I give educators about how to engage students online is relatively universal.
In this second mini-episode of The Balance, I share three more tips for teachers who are teaching remotely. I talk about the importance of balancing online and offline learning tasks in this moment of distance learning. Just because we are communicating with students online does not mean every learning task needs to be an online task. I encourage teachers to focus on building a community online as opposed to merely disseminating and collecting work. Right now, students are craving connection, and they need opportunities to make meaning with their peers. Finally, I emphasize the importance of providing feedback using different types of media beyond text comments. Feedback is one of the most powerful tools teachers have in their tool belts for facilitating learning and encouraging students to engage in distance learning.
If you are interested in exploring how you can incorporate offline learning into your online class, I wrote a blog titled “Offline Choice Boards: How Are You Integrating Offline Learning into Your Online Class?“.
I also wrote a blog titled “3 Strategies for Personalizing Feedback Online” for anyone interested in using video conferencing, audio comments, or video to provide more personalized feedback online.
If you have tips related to teaching online–a favorite strategy, technology tool, or activity, please take a moment and post a comment. If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it with other educators who might enjoy it.
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