Student engagement has been the most sought out strategy for all grade levels during online learning. How do we keep students engaged with online learning? Many teachers have discovered a variety of ways and resources to help students stay on task, stay engaged, and participate during lessons. Most students in grades first through eighth grade have had some experiences with technology and online resources. They have been in a classroom and understand classroom routines and procedures. Now, imagine being a kindergarten student with little to no prior knowledge of a classroom or technology. Many kindergarten teachers, myself included, have been trying to find ways to help these students. First, we had to teach our students as well as their parents how to get online and how to access online resources. Next, we had to gradually build our online stamina during lessons. Last, we had to find creative ways to keep them engaged.
As soon as I received my classroom roster, I had to immediately contact the parents and signed them up for ClassDojo. It is the quickest and fastest form of communication for parents and it translates languages. What I love about ClassDojo is that I can post instructions, photos, and videos for the parents. This is a great resource not only for parents to communicate, but for students to use if they are having technical difficulties. I can record step by step instructions on how to login to any app or program I want. I can record directly on ClassDojo and it saves the video on our Class Story and they stay posted all year long. This is a great tool for showing students and parents how to use the Clever app. I gave the students a QR code badge to login instead of typing in their username and password each time. On Clever I linked my zoom meeting to make logging into our zoom meetings easier for students. All they have to do is tap my link. No meeting ID or password to login. I have also linked Starfall and YouTube videos for students to easily access. These resources have helped make logging in so easy that the students are able to do it all by themselves. If we were in class, I could have shown students one-on-one and see what mistakes they are making in real-time and help as needed. Since they are new to online learning and working from home, there is a lot of communication and picture sharing done through ClassDojo.
Kindergarten students are normally in class for 180 minutes per day. Five and six-year-olds have a hard time staying focused for that long. In the first few weeks of in-person instruction, we gradually increased our instructional day. Students are given many breaks and transitions. They start with free play because many students come to school crying, upset, and have had little to no structure at home. We have to build upon this. It was a whole new ball game with online learning. I began the year with only one hour of instruction per day. This was agonizing because the students did not want to sit down that long on Zoom and the home environment can be very distracting. Many students were on cell phones because our iPads had not arrived yet. Each week, I added 20-30 minutes. I added classroom leadership roles; this gives them something to look forward to and stay online during the entire instructional block. I gave them many dance breaks. I needed to build their stamina. Now, we are at 180 minutes per day. They have one 10-minute break and one 20-minute break. They can log off during breaks if they choose to. They are now able to log themselves back in on their own. I give Dojo points for students that actively participate and stay for the entire Zoom meeting. If students are having trouble focusing or coming back from breaks, I stop and do something fun with students or announce some fun activities for the day. I also make it a priority to stick to a consistent schedule daily. I had my own learning curve on how to my students continually engaged.
I learned that with online learning I had to shorten lessons and break them up. I had to give clear step-by-step instructions and come up with a plan if students did not have what they needed. At the start of the year, students received their curriculum materials as well as whiteboards, dry erase markers, crayons, glue, scissors, and notebook paper. Students can choose which materials to use during lessons. This helps students that leave materials at the babysitter's or the other parent's house not feel like they couldn't complete their work. We take many GoNoodle breaks to help students get up and move after prolonged sitting. I also added music breaks during math lessons. There are plenty of music and movement songs geared towards academics. Jack Hartmann is our favorite. He has many songs and chants geared to movement while learning concepts. Another break I give students is directed drawing. We love Art for Kids hub on YouTube. It's a family YouTube channel that was created to help young students learn the art of drawing. The students love these breaks and it gives them something to look forward to. I also do scavenger hunts with the students. They can look for something that starts with a letter, sound, a number, a color, measurement, weight, senses, and personal. The students are given explicit instructions on what the item can and cannot be. The students love it when I say, "On your mark, get set, GO!!" These ideas took time and I had to stop and listen to my students and their needs. I wouldn't have been able to do these kinds of scavenger hunts in the classroom. Students look forward to these hunts.
At the end of the day, I always praise my students for working hard and staying the whole class time. I tell them how sad I am that class is over, but that I will be excited to see them the next day. I make sure that the students know how much I care for them and how excited I am to see them each day. I also remind them that I love to see their classwork and that it makes me happy to see their progress. I have the students hold up their work and I take a picture of them. I post it on ClassDojo for the parents to see. This gives students pride in showing the work they are doing in class. Now, by no means have I mastered engagement in kindergarten! What I have learned, however, is that every day is a new day... students change daily and that I will glean something new each time I spend with them simply by listening to their needs. My students' needs come first, especially during this pandemic. Students need to hear they are loved, cared for, and are important.
Sincerely,
Marcy Mesa
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