The work set is not 'busy' work. It is an adaptation of the learning I had already planned for the classroom. Which means we are using this time to build onto the foundations of knowledge already in place. My learner's feedback in Term 2 about our distance learning program post lockdown, was listened to and has been implemented, however the work output disparity between times is very noticeable. I realised my motivating strategies just weren't working so I decided to get creative and painted a picture with the numbers.
Often a challenge we face is that if we can't see something, we don't really connect to it. Many times in situations where a big message is being shared orally, heads nod but the message isn't always internalised and acted upon. This is why I painted a clear picture using the data I had. At no point was this a negative message but rather an honest one shared as 'What I See..'. I knew by looking at Teacher Dashboard a lot more work had been completed but this hadn't been shared or filed correctly so it wasn't counted in this data.
After sharing the slide above I simply said 'Have you made time to keep your learning going?'. I didn't want anyone to answer this, just to think about it. I then shared two further slides to remind my learners what distance learning is and what they need to do to become a successful distance learner. The point of this message wasn't to focus on the amount of DLOs created or blog posts published (as not all work is published), but rather on the fact the work needed to be done so that we can continue to move forward in our learning.
This morning I shared this picture and as a class we celebrated our ongoing success as a class who know how to 'keep their learning going'!
When I swapped from presenting to being on camera I noticed lots of smiles in each grid on my screen. This strategy worked because I know my learners and I have an established rapport with these students both in the classroom and in our online environment. In return my learners know me, and know my expectations for their learning regardless of the physical place we are learning in.
A timely message and one the students obviously responded well to. It has been nice to see our students buying into the google meets as they have other ways of 'seeing' their friends, so for most it is about connecting with their teacher, and their learning.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree Kiri. I think our message of 'keeping our learning going' is another key factor in this, as apart from connecting with us and their learning, our students also understand the purpose behind their distance learning programs.
DeleteWhat an impressive outline of a successful strategy, based on your knowledge of your learners and effective teaching practice. From what you have achieved, how would you help a colleague who emailed you and said something like, "I have only seen 25% of my learners since lockdown began!"? Could they replicate this?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback Dorothy. I would give the advice I've seen many of my colleagues following. Be friendly and kind in your emails, send personal emails to those who are not engaging rather than relying on generic ones, try contacting the parents and make the learning options accessible and exciting. I personally keep my messages simple and succinct, and try hard not to overload emails to my students with too much information. We give the message at our school that our main goal with distance learning is to 'keep our learning going' which is a really positive way of helping our tamariki connect.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if the strategy I used with the numbers would work for anyone who had only seen 25% of their learners online. I had good buy-in at our online meets with my Y 7/8 class, so the thinking behind this was to encourage a bigger uptake with the the actual set work. I did see that a few people who hadn't been engaging with our class meets must have been prompted by their friends as the day after I had work from several students I hadn't seen. However the reality is like many of us, I still have 30% of my learners who I haven't seen so far despite trying all of the ideas I have shared above.