⭐⭐This year has probably been the most interesting year of teaching. With all its normal challenges, I encountered for the first time as a teacher, remote learning. I have to admit, that I really did enjoy remote learning. This is not to say that I did not miss the actual classroom, because I did. It was hard to go through each day of school without seeing student faces and interacting with them. Even though I could use Zoom, Teams or Google Meet during remote learning, it just was not the same. There is something about being present with the students, without barriers, that adds a very positive and important dimension to education that is definitely absent in remote learning. It was also hard not to see my colleagues every day and chat with them about whatever was unfolding at our school. I think we often take for granted their daily support; remote learning awakened me to how vital that support is to my success as a teacher.
So with that being said, on with what I have learned. Fortunately, my sister is also a teacher. She teaches 6, 7 and 8 grade math. Being at home and sharing and assisting her as she struggled with how to teach math through remote learning, allowed us to discuss the growth and obstacles of our students as well as our own personal growth. Since Ryan Read and I moved to a blended classroom about three years ago, our students were ready for remote learning. They had already learned how to access all of the work that we provided, since they were already accessing information in the classroom, so in general, computer navigation was not an obstacle. Our students provided us input through various mediums on how much they appreciated the preparation and organizational structure during remote learning. However, for some of these students, remote learning was still difficult. Relying on ONLY computers for video-led instruction was different and confusing. Students were being challenged to make a change in their own learning styles in order to be successful online learners. This was easy for some and traumatic for others. But overall, it was a great opportunity for student growth in the areas of confidence-building, problem solving, self-direction, time management and self-motivation. Student frustration is often rooted in change; students who relied on the physical presence of teachers for breaking apart directions and assistance, and who had not learned to rely on themselves for learning, struggled the most. These students are addicted to teacher-led learning and were not adequately ready or prepared for remote learning. They lacked confidence in their own abilities to interpret and complete work--they wanted a teacher present to affirm that they were on the right track or to clarify directions. This experience with students online became a form of "checks and balances" on how well I did as a teacher in guiding my students in taking responsibility for their own learning in the classroom before remote learning began. It gauged how often I enabled a few of my students to rely on me in understanding directions and in the overall learning process. Too often we as teachers, "rescue" our students rather than taking the time to build up confidence in their own creative juices that would guide them forward, creating a form of independence from the teacher in interpreting and completing work. We often fail to give them that 'nudge' that they need to self-explore. I clearly saw during remote learning the students who I had "disabled" due to my rescue attempts in the classroom. Instead of following the guidelines I set for working with students, I sometimes gave in to those who struggled and just told them what to do. These short-cuts to learning failed to enable a few of my students to be competent online computer learners.Another major growth area was the realization that students are NOT competent on computers despite what our society wants to believe. Let's make this very clear. Students are good at what they know about computers. Largely students are good at games; most are clueless when it comes to understanding the operations of a computer and how software functions, and this could clearly be seen during remote learning. Game playing does not mean that students do well navigating around a computer using various apps that require various directions and various skill levels. What we often see them do well while playing games seems to get lost when they transition into the educational arena. But I digress here. As I watched my sister try to figure out how to teach during remote learning, I watched her struggles as well. She started with Khan Academy since she was familiar with the app and its math curriculum. She provided written instructions to her students on how to log into Khan Academy using their school email accounts, as well as which lessons they were to complete. Her classes were now ready to go. To her frustration, students failed to read all of the directions. Many of her students did not use their school email accounts (which meant she wasn't sure who was who), and what made matters worse, is that some did not even know that they had to log in. They completed their lessons without ever logging in so no grades were recorded and sent to her. These students could not understand why she had not received their grades. So much for reading directions OR understanding computers.
What we both discovered during remote learning was in the area of directions. Providing directions for online remote learning is not the same as providing directions in the classroom. After all, teachers are not able to go around the room checking to make sure everyone is understanding or in the right location. So, how do you provide online directions that will guide students through a lesson whether that be accessing an app, logging into an account, listening to a video or completing the lesson? Great question. I have come to the conclusion that each teacher must use trial and error to figure out how each of their students best learn online. In online learning, teachers need to watch closely on two levels: troubleshooting computer usage and misunderstandings within a lesson. For most teachers, troubleshooting computers through distance learning is a new phenomena. This computer troubleshooting required teachers to pay attention to where students were struggling while trying to navigate around a computer or within an app. Some students needed as much help here as they did with problem solving lessons. My sister discovered that her students needed a lot of help with logging into Khan Academy and accessing assigned work. As a teacher, she was not ready to do this since she was basically learning as she went along. However, the more issues that rose in relation to computer usage, the better my sister got at assisting students with these issues. I think for many teachers, solving student computer problems was not in their teaching vision.
My sister also found that students had trouble with accessing Google Classroom and the materials assigned. To solve this problem, she provided more than written instruction; she assigned teacher-led videos that showed students how to log in, how to copy worksheets, complete worksheets, attach worksheets and turn in their assignments. It seems to me that when we are talking about work online, less written instruction is better and more video instruction with visual aids is best. But what is even more important is that videos be short. At home, like in the classroom, there are distractions. But more important, students need short videos to help them take breaks in order to absorb material learned. If we observe children who watch long videos such as Shrek or Frosty the Snowman, we notice that they do not just watch them once. They watch them over and over again. Each time they watch these videos, they pick up more information because during these videos, their minds wander. Long videos do not keep students engaged 100% of the time. My sister and I shortened videos.Thus, if we had lesson instructions that would take about 10 to 15 minutes, we created numerous videos to cover the lesson. We believed that students would be more engaged with the videos if they were short and provided break points in the lessons that would allow students to accomplish a task and then take a break if needed. Another important element about the videos is that at any point in time, if they could not remember how to do a specific task, they could return to the videos for clarification or be referred back to review them.
As I watched my sister struggle with communicating instructions to her students, I noticed that she began to realize the strengths and weaknesses of her own teaching. Remote learning confronted her with change. So, like all very effective teachers, she made some changes in her instruction. My sister's in class instruction has always been to group students by their math abilities, allowing her to provide each group of students with the math instruction that will help them move on and be successful at the next math level. She continued to do this in remote learning, but the biggest changes in her was the expectations she placed on her students to read directions and actually listen to the videos. She used Google Classroom as the platform to provide work for her students, so she shared with them videos that showed them how to open up a document, answer a worksheet online, the math skills to learn, how to make a copy of a worksheet, how to complete practice Google Side sheets and attach their work into Google Classroom. When her students did not follow directions and tried to share their worksheets, she insisted that they go back and watch the video so they would learn how to turn them in correctly through Google Classroom. As frustrating as it was for her to watch students not read directions or watch the videos, she slowly began to see that her students were starting to grow. Her insistence brought about growth in her students. Instead of caving in and setting up a Zoom or Meet session to rescue those who did not want to watch the videos, she demanded that her students take ownership of their learning by actually watching the video instructions. When they would send her an email or a comment on how to attach a document, she would send them the video link to watch. Gradually they learned how to make copies, attach their work and turn in the work through Google Classroom. I have to admit, she was pretty excited about the growth in her students. She learned that not all learning might be in the area of math, but also in their abilities to improve their problem solving and analytical skills through the use of a computer. But the biggest growth I saw in my sister as a teacher was the realization that learning how to use a computer became an important element in their learning math. It also became a vehicle for her to create some interactive lessons that were fun and engaging for her students. If it were not for remote learning, my sister would have never learned to appreciate the opportunities that using a computer can do to enhance student math skills. She is already planning on how to incorporate many of her new found skills into her curriculum for next year.
As I watched my sister struggle with remote learning, I realized that all of us teachers were undergoing a traumatic event as well. Moving from the classroom where student contact was between 8 and 4, to moving into the virtual world of remote learning opened the door up to 24/7 contact with parents and students. Though my sister's school demanded that they have "office hours" for parents and students, what my sister discovered is that her "office hours" did not align well with parents or students. Remote learning brought about non-stop teaching hours for teachers. I realized that my students expected 24/7 access to their teachers especially if they were having difficulties. In my Web Design class, students were challenged at writing advanced HTML and CSS coding without a teacher present. I have to admit, they did really well in remote learning; they followed the teacher-led instructional videos well. I saw my students begin to work out the "bugs" on their own, which was exciting to see and it made them excited about their accomplishments. However, I was receiving emails throughout the evening hours. 24/7 access was quite demanding on teachers. The time element was one aspect of remote learning that was not recognized until we were head strong into it.
Another area of growth and change was in how we as teachers presented our curriculum. I think many teachers found this very stressful. For many, they were unprepared to go online with their curriculum. I know my sister was not prepared for remote learning, even though her school decided to do remote learning for snow days. The problem here was that no one provided the tools teachers or students needed through workshops or computer classes to get lessons set up for remote learning or for students to log into various app accounts to be used on remote learning days. I know that I too struggled at finding apps for Web Design for Chromebooks, which largely do not exist. I was able to find "Editey", but it was a new app for students to learn. I provided tutorials on using Editey, but since I had did not have a Chromebook, I was unsure "if" or how it would function. A few of them tired to used it, but generally, many students in my class were left out of the learning process for Web Design, which was a major error on the part of our school. Our school gave out Chromebooks, but they are not tools that work for all classes, especially our technology classes. During remote learning, teachers who were not prepared, were left trying to find ways to present their curriculum to their students. I think "Zoom" became a household word during the pandemic. At the start of remote learning, I watched my sister try to figure out what apps to use for her classes. She started off with Khan Academy, believing that having her students work in this app would be beneficial. Choosing this app allowed her the time she needed to set up her Google Classrooms and create the videos and interactive worksheets in Google Slides that covered the skills in each lesson. This was not a "kind" period of her growth. It monopolized most of her time. It came with a lot of pain and struggle, especially since her school administrators failed to provide opportunities for teachers and students to prepare for this type of learning in the fall. Her openness to learning during this stressful time says a lot of about her as a teacher.
One of the biggest things I have learned is that students need fun, interactive activities to learn the concepts of a lesson. I grew up with worksheets, more worksheets, movies, some computer input and quizzes and test. I remember thinking, "Not another worksheet!" Engaging activities was not the primary focus of any lesson. Education was about learning and repetitions (but not in a fun way). I wanted variety in my learning, but in general, did not get it. During remote learning, as a teacher, I began to rethink how I wanted to present material to my classes. I started thinking in terms of puzzles and interactive worksheets--providing variety. I spent a lot of time creating templates in Google Slides that I could use as well as exploring Microsoft Office Forms. Matter of fact, I liked Microsoft Office Forms so much better than Google Forms that I am making the transition to Microsoft. Remote Learning also gave me an opportunity to explore other apps in Microsoft Office 365 online, such as Sway. I found that Sway provides a great opportunity for students to create stories on key concepts that they have learned in a lesson. I began exploring PearDeck (which I will use next year) as an interactive tool. I created a review Google Slide worksheet for Accounting as a review by adding PearDeck into the slide presentation. I also created a test using Google Slides as an assessment over their Chapter 11 learning in Accounting. As busy as I was during remote learning, I started thinking outside the box on how to present interactive work for students. I am also looking at Flipperty and I have added Mote as a Chrome Extension so I can give verbal comments to students using Google Slides and Google Classroom. I think I did pretty well, and my partner in crime, Ryan Read, keeps pushing me to think more creatively. The push is to bring the outside work into the classroom to help students connect with other students and other professionals. Great idea. But I am also recognizing a danger. Once we discover interactive worksheets and create them or borrow templates from others, it is very easy to get caught in the same old trap. Keeping activities fresh for our students is a great way to keep them engaged and interested in learning. Too much of a good thing soon becomes the uninterested and un-engaging thing. So variety is my goal, but that takes creativity. Remote learning is challenging me to widen my perspective and my scope for learning. It is also challenging me to expand project ideas and project sharing.
The last aspect of remote learning that brought about a world of growth was in the area of problem solving. Like in my Web Design class and my Excel class, I had to search for alternatives and learn new apps in order to keep my classes moving forward. The frustrating end was that their were no equivalent apps to use in these areas. For example, in my Excel class, our focus is preparation for the MOS certification test which they take at the end of the semester. During the class they learn how to use a variety of tools so they are prepared for the business world. However, some students were stuck using the free version of Microsoft Office 365 online, which does not provide all of the tools needed. My class had already been accustomed to using Microsoft on a PC for their exercises so when they got online, they were confused and found it difficult to navigate in the app. We also had the problem with sharing work for our Intro to Computer class through Office 365 online. Because our students have different emails than teachers, work we shared with them was not operable. They could not make copies or download, which cut out a lot of the hands on activities in Word and Excel. These obstacles were very frustrating because they were out of our control. Our Tech personnel were too busy trying to get hotspots and Chromebooks ready for students who needed them that they were not able to follow through on what we needed. On the other side, how was my sister doing? It was most interesting to watch the growth in my sister (watching others grow is much easier than watching yourself grow). She went from trying to learn how to use all of her new apps into the next stage of her growth. She had to help students problem solve the issues they were facing on their computers at home. At first, every time a student had a problem she was requesting help from me. But it didn't take her long to learn how to problem solve these issues herself. However, it was not without struggle and frustration. She also had to figure out how to assist students who were not understanding the lessons. With these students, she actual risked using Google Meet to speak with students one-on-one so she could clarify instruction for them.
I also am very appreciative of the fact that I have a partner in my department that keeps me honest and moving forward in my technology development. It is not always easy to make changes and adjust to new ways of teaching. I am very fortunate that I have Ryan Read and Tammy Pierson working alongside me. We are also asking ourselves if what we are doing is the best practices for our students. Ryan has a tremendous wealth of knowledge in the area of software and apps. He is one of the few teachers that I know that stays on top of the latest technologies. He keeps me on my toes and is always challenging me to think "big" and "better". However, I do have to admit that on occasion, I do surprise him with something that he does not know (on rare occasions). Remote learning has given me an opportunity to rethink ways in which I present curriculum, and I think I am getting better at providing a wealth of knowledge for my students. Our goal in our Business & Technology Department is to challenge our students to think like entrepreneurs, even though they may not own their own business in the future. Our global world needs future leaders, and entrepreneurs are the foundational leaders in our country. Remote learning has challenged me to rethink how the future might look for our students and ask serious questions about how we are preparing them for this global, unpredictable world (such as remote learning).
The last growth area was the outreach by teachers during remote learning. Teachers who were ahead of the game, were generous and provide many tools and apps for teachers who were struggling. This outreach was a much needed growth area for the teaching community. Teachers who had a lot of experience were willing to assists others AND teachers were open to their wisdom. Until remote learning introduces itself into our school districts, the desire to learn or incorporate new technologies into the classroom was left up to the intent of the teachers. It was awesome to see teachers crossing over districts and helping each other explore new possibilities. I know that many teachers reacted negatively to remote learning; that is understandable. However, from my point of view, I think these negative reactions have more to do with being comfortable with our teaching methodologies than anything else. Like the students, teachers have also become complacent in how we teach students. Remote learning rocked the boats for most of us teachers, boats which needed rocking. When I see how far my sister has come in remote learning, I know her boat did not just get rocked, it was capsized. Coming out of the water has opened her eyes to much needed changes in her teaching, and she is preparing and thinking about better ways to instruct her students. On a side note, my sister is a great teacher. Remote learning has just made her that much better.
So, if you think remote learning was a mistake, I beg to differ. I have seen so many "painful" changes in teachers during this time period. Remote learning has opened the door to so many possibilities. Like most human beings, I understand and fear change at times. However, I also am able to recognize my own call to improve as a teacher. It is not easy to change, especially when we are forced to do so. But embracing change, deciphering through the changes we need to make, and avoiding complacency in our instructional methodologies is something all teachers and school districts need to embrace for the sake of our children. Our children must be ready for their future. They must be self-motivated, self-instructed and self-directed in order to have meaningful and successful careers. This pandemic took all of us by surprise. It has challenged us to become better teachers and it has challenged us to reach out and help each other learn and grow. It has challenged us to rethink our teaching methodologies and evaluate how effective our teaching is for students. Are our students taking ownership of their own learning? I think remote learning has challenged students to be better learners and more responsible for their education. In that regard, maybe this pandemic has been a blessing in disguise.
In closing, I am providing some books that offer some great ideas for remote learning and practical use of various apps. I highly encourage all teachers during the summer, to buy or borrow at least one of these books to work on self-improvement for the sake of ourselves and the children we guide. All of these resources are available through Amazon. I am also providing a link to my Wakelet (https://wakelet.com/@CathieMurphy639) that allow you access to some of the templates I have created as well as links to other sites (the QR code is below the book listing). These templates can be used; just make a copy.
- Control Alt Achieve by Eric Curts
- The Microsoft Infused Classroom by Holly Clark & Tanya Avrith
- Tech Like a Pirate by Matt Miller
- Don't Ditch that Tech by Matt Miller, Nate Ridgway & Angelmia Ridgway
- Empower by John Spencer & A.J. Juliani
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