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Rethinking your lessons space

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Chunking: Learning Technique for Better Memory

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A 2 minute video that talks to chunking in a classroom

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Flipping content in classes means that your students have more time for critical thinking and discussion in real-time face-to-face. Creating your own content as well (and teaching the students that skill in addition) really helps engagement with the material to be taught. Loom is free for teachers (just sign up).

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Free screen recorder for Mac and PC | Loom

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Best free online screen recording tool with advanced video editing and video storage trusted by over 21 million people and easy sharing from Loom.com.

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An excellent free tool in the 1:1 classroom to help students collaborate both synchronously and asynchronously.

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flipgrid "what is flipgrid" "flipgrid for teachers" "remote learning" "empower student voice" "online learning" "education technology" microsoft "flipgrid tu...

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Flipgrid is Microsoft's video discussion platform for educators, learners, and families! Engage and empower every voice in your classroom or at home by recor...

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Harvard Project Zero Visible Thinking Routines

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Harvard Project Zero Visible Thinking Routines

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Great for discussion boards and student engagement

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A landing page for all online learning resources

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Resources and Strategies for Schools Dealing with Coronavirus-Related Closures

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A spreadsheet of all that is free (at the moment) in the EDU world to help navigate the rapidly changing world of shifting to online learning!

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Shanghai American School Distance Learning Plan

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Shanghai American School Distance Learning Plan

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March 2020

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...from Alison Yang

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Governments in different countries in Asia Pacific have ordered schools to be closed (or to have extended holidays, depending on how you look at it) due to the coronavirus outbreak. Schools quickly have to put their online learning plans together to support students and families. If teachers have not integrated technology as part of their teaching routine, this can be challenging. In my previous experience and observation, students, teachers, and parents all hated online learning as it generated more work for all stakeholders.

Thai government has not ordered schools to be closed yet, but many international schools in town seem to anticipate school closures to be happening soon. Learning from our previous experience, in order to better support teachers, students and families, our Secondary School Academic Team (SSAT) recognizes the importance to provide online teaching and learning guidance and recommend tools that teachers and students are already familiar with. This is probably not the best time to introduce and experiment new web-based tools or apps.

I want to make the guidance as simple as possible for everyone, so I came up with the acronym, OREO, exactly as the cookies that kids love to eat. They are standing for:

O bjectives: Online learning should never be the case that teachers give students a lot of busy work to do. Identify clear learning objectives and learning outcomes can assure the quality of online learning. Just like what we will do in the classroom, students need to be prompted and encouraged to clarify and understand the learning outcomes before engaging with their learning.

R esponsibility: To ensure effective and productive online learning experience, responsibility is shared by all stakeholders. Teachers need to update the learning materials and tasks regularly and communicate clear instructions to be followed. It is helpful for students to create a daily online learning schedule. For younger students, they will benefit from getting guidance from their guardians and practice their time-management skills.

E xpectations: Asynchronous learning is provided and students are expected to participate and engage with online learning. They are expected to complete tasks and assignments with their highest level of effort. By the same token, teachers are also expected to provide their 'office hours' and let students know when they are available online to answer questions or clarify instructions. It is highly recommended that teachers set up a system, such as using Padlet or Flipgrid, for students to ask questions. We want to avoid answering endless emails from students. Another tip is to set up the task with specified length and requirements so that students can anticipate how long it will take them to complete the task. Instead of saying responding to the prompt orally, we can make it to a 2-minute response.

rganization: Organizing and sequencing online learning helps to keep students on track and also help teachers collect formative learning evidences. We want to avoid sending students to visit multiple external links and they end up feeling confused or lost. All learning materials and tasks should be sequenced. I highly recommend using Formative, a web-based tool, to structure and record online learning. After setting up the lesson via the Formative website, teachers can generate a link and post this link in their learning platforms, such as ManageBac or Google Classroom. Last but not least, students and parents are reminded of organizing a dedicated learning space for encouraging productivity.

To avoid the increasing cognitive load, I put together a list of tools that our teachers and students can benefit from. These tools have been used by some of our teachers so that there is a sense of familiarity. This idea of providing a curated list of tools is inspired by @klbeasley. She has created a wonderful list of tools and web-based apps to support her school and a wider community. I am building upon her idea and generating the list that works for my school. I know some of the websites are not accessible in China, e.g. Padlet. There is always an alternative. For example, Trello can do similar things as Padlet offers. Thank you, for my Twitter PLN, for suggesting many ideas and tools. This is a very difficult time and it's truly a community effort to do our best so that we can continue to make an impact on student learning.

Note: a more elaborated OREO information for parents organized by Nadine Bailey (@intlNadine) can be found here.

This poster can be downloaded as PDF file by simply clicking on the image below. ​​

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αℓιѕση уαηg IB Educator, Learner, Workshop Leader, Conference Presenter, Educational Graphic Designer, Content Creator, Solopreneur Favorite Resources Project Zero’s Thinking Routine Toolbox Making Care Common Adaptive School Resources Shifting Schools Resources Facing History & Our Histories

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A letter to teachers teaching online for the first time

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A letter to teachers teaching online for the first time

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Reshan Richards (Explain Everything) and Stephen Valentine

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Dear Teachers,

Last week, the two of us had a conversation about school leaders who would be leading and making decisions related to the spread of COVID-19. That conversation turned into a set of guidelines that we published first with Global Online Academy and later with EdSurge.

We have tried to be clear about our intent to share our thinking, since some schools have very different priorities than the ones we have been projecting. To be clear, some school leaders serve children who depend on their institutions for safety, food and other basic human needs. Those children and their needs should always be the priorities of the schools that serve them-not some online version of education.

We are continuing to share, therefore, because we are also observing schools preparing or acting upon school closure plans for one reason or another. And once those plans are in place, teachers are often being asked to perform their responsibilities in a new way. We're thinking about those teachers (about you) who are beginning, or are mid-flight in, some new journey. We're not debating the merits of that journey for now-just acknowledging and looking to support the people who will be teaching online if their schools decide to go that route.

Simply put, if you're asked to teach online, we encourage you to find ways to be present for your students. Your presence is all that many of them have ever needed, and this does not change if you are teaching from your living room or local library.

When you teach online for the first time, the first thing you'll miss is the chatter of your physical classroom. Or maybe the hushed breath, ever so subtle, when you enter the class and change the dynamics, the air pressure even. No, you'll miss most the quicksilver comedy, the way words twist into grins and spill out as jokes. You probably wouldn't think that you would miss the smell or the slouches or the occasional snuck-in naps...

But you will.

You'll miss looking at all of your students at once, the sound of them laughing all at once, the way it feels when understanding cracks open and a yawn becomes an "ah" becomes an "aha."

So when you're asked to teach online-against your will, as many of us may soon be-we would first say: hold on to all of that subtle input, the stuff that helps you know a class is alive and thriving. Then, from the first time you send an email to the class or enter an online forum with a class, look for it. Listen for it. Acknowledge it. Enjoy it.

In the first online course we designed and taught together, one of us had never taught in a strictly online environment before, and the other had only designed asynchronous online learning experiences (i.e., self-paced experiences with very little instructor engagement).

As we started to plan our teaching, we fell into old habits. We organized and sequenced our materials. Then we created phases of learning that would build on top of each other and ultimately create what we hoped was a coherent experience, an experience that would raise the understanding and skill level of everybody involved, including the teachers.

Once we understood the what (the curriculum), we started to think about the how (the connection). This is where things got interesting, and quickly. We were not ever going to be in the same room with our students. We had not ever met most of them. They were relying on us.

And we were expected to deliver instruction. Whatever that means.

"To deliver instruction" is an awful phrase when you're teaching face-to-face. It can be even more nefarious when you're teaching online because the online world is built to hold and move information. You can share reams of text and bucket loads of data. You can record lectures. And more lectures. You can stack links on links on links, embedding hypertexts in between.

At first, when you're beginning to teach online, please don't do all of these things. Please resist the easy affordances of the online world. Instead, try to connect.

The job of an online teacher is the job of an offline teacher is the job of a teacher. Connect to people and help them to feel connected to you and to the dimension of the world you are leading them to experience. Connect your students to one another in a way that enables them not only to learn content from one another, but also to catch life experiences from one another-to shape one another in the way that only peers can. It's that simple ... and it's that complex.

We're getting a little lost, on purpose, so let's think back to your original, in-person class (you know, the one in Room 13 or Lab B) and what you'll miss about it.

If you were walking into that classroom and you suddenly had lost your voice, but you had to stay, you would figure out ways to connect with the people in front of you, right? And if you were walking into that classroom and you suddenly lost your ability to see what is in front of you, you would find ways to connect with the students in the room. Online teaching is similar to those scenarios in that you lose certain attributes that you may normally take for granted. But you have to be in the room and you have to continue.

Figuring out your first few go-to moves can help. Maybe you'll use a video conference, a digital whiteboard, a collaborative document peppered with comments, or email in order to connect. Great teachers of the past have used chalkboard and chalk, water and wine, or circular tables and folding chairs: elemental resources that prove that it doesn't really matter what you use to teach, so long as you understand how you're trying to connect (or at the very least, that you're trying to connect).

Having that deep motivation will help you with what typically comes next: frustration. Things won't work the way you want them to. You'll find yourself Googling "how do I ...?" or emailing a colleague and asking for help. If you start to feel a sense of frustration, though, take heart: that's how you know you're teaching online. That's how you know that you haven't lost the desire to teach-and learn-in the first place.

We don't want to minimize the challenge. But we also want to acknowledge that thinking about tools, bells and whistles is less important than acknowledging that, once you start, wherever you start, you'll build capacity just like you have, and had to, in a face-to-face classroom. At first, the tools you choose will be all that you think about. You'll only see them as you bump up against their limitations.

Soon, though, you'll only see your students. Their personalities will return. Some formerly silent or quiet students may share their voices. Some formerly disengaged students may jump out as leaders.

You'll find new things to do-things you couldn't do offline. Students will show you their learning in ways they wouldn't or couldn't offline. Students will take risks in their learning that they would never take if they were in a physical room with one another. You'll be able to assess in new ways, ways that may help you provide better feedback.

We know we're saying these things as if there aren't dozens of steps embedded in each of them. But we think that if you're willing to ask questions along the way, if you're willing to Google and search things and watch videos and educate yourself as you're going, you'll pick up the thread of your former teaching.

When you are in a physical classroom and you are teaching history or math, part of the action stems from the history and the math, and part of the action (okay, most of the action) stems from the socializing, the communication, and what kids are picking up from each other and from you-which has nothing to do with your subject. (Sorry if you didn't know that!)

The same holds true for online environments. By being in these spaces with students and asserting your unique voice as a teacher, you are actually doing the work, even if you are not presenting it perfectly.

What's more, when you are back offline, when you walk into your old brick-and-mortar classroom, one last surprise awaits. You might keep some of what you found in the online wilderness. You might use collaborative documents in new ways. You might find new ways to access student voice ... or allow students to show their thinking in ways that they-and you-never could have imagined.

- SV & RR

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A Letter to Educators Teaching Online for the First Time - EdSurge News

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Dear Teachers, Last week, the two of us had a conversation about school leaders who would be leading and making decisions related to the spread of COVID-19. That conversation turned into a set of guidelines that we published first with Global Online Academy and later with EdSurge.

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Great stuff from her Webinars

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Sharing resources for online teaching during the Covid-19 Pandemic

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Global Online Academy's Advice for Face-to-Face

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Global Online Academy's Advice for Face-to-Face

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Tips for conducting the synchronous part of your day!

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Tips for Online Face-to-Face discussions

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Wakelet curation of all the online tools

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Wakelet curation of all the online tools

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Thanks, Jason Reagin!

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This is a collection of applications that are offering FREE premium or unlimited access during school closure due to COVID19...

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Possible online school schedule idea, with thanks to Zoom

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Possible online school schedule idea, with thanks to Zoom

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A useful visual if you are trying to help students leverage their normal school day!

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Try this one out if you need a discussion platform.

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Parlay is an AI-powered instructional platform that helps teachers facilitate meaningful, measurable, and inclusive class discussions. Join over a million teachers and students. Start using Parlay for free in your class today.

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If students don't have access - then online learning is nearly impossible. Suggestions here!

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Students without home access to high-quality broadband connectivity are at a disadvantage, unable to realize the full power of digital learning. Only 3% of teachers in high-poverty level schools said that their students had the digital tools necessary to complete homework assignments, compared to 52 percent of teachers in more affluent schools-a discrepancy labeled as the "homework gap."

To address this key challenge, CoSN launched the Digital Equity Action Agenda initiative. This effort recognizes the school districts that are building meaningful community partnerships and creating tools to help district leaders get started in achieving digital equity.

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Titled "Supporting Students & Families in Out-of-School Learning," CoSN has updated its Digital Equity Toolkit. The new version spotlights ways in which schools and districts have successfully addressed digital equity challenges and identifies community engagement opportunities around digital access and inclusion. The toolkit is a practical guide for educational leaders looking...

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International Standards in Technology Education (ISTE) 

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International Standards in Technology Education (ISTE) 

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10 strategies for shifting instruction online

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Computer Science & Computational Thinking

Advanced Robotics Demystified in 4 Steps

By building and programming robots, kids of all ages can learn about computer science, mechatronics, coding, literacy, physical science, mathematics, healthy competitiveness, teamwork and perseverance, but in order to get there, instruction must be deliberate and rigorous. Follow these four steps to get your students on track.

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We help educators around the world use technology to solve tough problems.