There are three primary ways students can be asked to write in an online classroom. They can use the chat function in whatever meeting platform you use, they can write pencil to paper wherever they are sitting–what we call Everybody Writes–or they can write in a ‘linked sheet‘–a google doc, say–that they toggle over to; this…
The Cognitive Psychologist Daniel Willingham had a useful Op-Ed in the LA Times last week in which he discussed the ways that online learning is cognitively strange (my phrase; blame me if you don’t like it)–that is, it asks us to interact socially in ways we aren’t used to and haven’t evolved for and that are…
Online learning is brand new- for teachers and for students. That means figuring out and communicating consistent expectations for how things are work. The more transparent we can be the better. That’s why we love this video produced by teachers at Kea’au Elementary School in Keaau, Hawaii. It’s fun and playful but it makes it really clear…
Recently I shared an online lesson template that Darryl Williams developed for schools. The idea was to build a model for what “typical” online lessons looked like and that included a balance of activities to ensure student engagement and focus and a variety of modes of interaction. We’ve since updated and simplified it slightly for clarity….
It’s a choice between bad and bad for schools: Do they go hybrid/in-person and risk spreading sickness, or do they go online only and ensure devastating educational losses that will almost assuredly be deeply inequitable? For those choosing the latter, I want to offer two tiny observations about how this Fall will be different from last…