Distance learning leaves teachers less connected to students and students less connected to teachers. Ideally, then, the way we approach online learning would address that challenge by not only making our students feel more connected but by making them feel connected to us specifically by the work we do together. That is, we would send the…
Even if something is valuable the dosage matters. Too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing. In the end, nothing worthwhile survives excess. I’ve always felt this keenly about synchronous remote interactions–conference calls back in the day and now zoom calls. I can’t speak for anyone else but I start to fade…
In our work supporting remote teaching, we’ve been using the term Dissolve the Screen to describe one of the key tools we see successful teachers using. To “dissolve the screen” is to heighten students’ awareness of the back-and-forth exchange that still exists between their teacher and themselves so they feel it more strongly. To connect this…
Watched a few synchronous online lessons today and was struck by how lacking in purposefulness the first few minutes were in several of them. Teachers seemed agenda-less. There was no clear starting point. Or there was a clear starting point but only after 6 or 7 minutes of idle chatter. There was insufficient clarity about what…
As you can tell from reading this blog, our team has been furiously watching footage of online instruction. We’ve been inspired by the enthusiasm and humility of teachers as they take on sudden new challenges in the name of remote instruction. Last week we watched several teachers doing Retrieval Practice as part of their online lessons. …