During the first few weeks back to school, it's so important to build a sense of community and belonging amongst your students. You want them to feel that your classrom is a safe place to learn and share. Through all the team building and classroom building activities that I engage my students in the first few weeks, I think it's equally important to place an emphasis on Growth Mindset. We know that your mindset can change or determine your outcome and success, and that's so very true for our students as well!
Being as though we are an AVID school for many years now, one of the first activities we do at the start of the year is something called the "Successful Student." For this activity, students will brainstorm words that show what it means to be a successful student. I copy the outline of a person onto cardstock and here they decorate the person to look like themselves and fill the poster with words that describe being a successful student.
I incorporated Growth Mindset into this activity by asing them to think of things they feel they're not good at "yet" or things they want to become better at as a studnet this year.
I used a collaboratve learning Kagan strategy called "Jot Thoughts" to help guide and facilitate discussions about growth mindset and what it means to be a successful student. You can see the pictures I've included of this Jot Thoughts strategy as my students engaging in these discussions the first week of school! You can also see the photos of the finished product of the "Successful Students."
This "Successful Student" activity is just one example of a very simple way to use collaborate learning (Kagan- Jot Thoughts), and Growth Mindset to help students engage in positive thinking. It's also a super fun activity, helps them to learn how to work together, and not to mention they look super cute up on the wall!
I'm sure at this point, a year into the pandemic, you have watched a lot of "how-to" videos and learned many many different platforms. I just thought I'd take a minute to share with you how I use the platforms Nearpod, and Great Minds In-Sync(Eureka Math) in my virtual classroom. So this more of how I specifially use the platforms throughout my virtual instruction, and less of a how to get started type of a thing!
Nearpod
Nearpod is a digitial platfrom that allows you to make any of your lessons interactive. You can use any lessons you have already created (ppt, google slides, word, even YouTube vids!) and make them interactive. You can also create lessons through Nearpod. It really increases student engagement, especially through the use of Collaborate boards, or the Draw It board feature (like a digital whiteboard).
I create Collaborate boards across the curriculum. I make them for Socio-Emotional Learning (morning circle discussions). I make them for most componenets of a Eureka Math lesson: Application Problem, Student Debrief, and Exit Tickets. I also create them for ELA to use with our Wonders curriculum for the "Making Connections" questions that are throughout the anthology stories. I also create them with the vocab skills in mind, such as: similes, metaphors, greek roots etc.
Additionally I often create a collaborate board for a digital version of the Kagan strategy, Jot Thoughts. This is a strategy traditionally done in the classroom where kids work in table groups with sticky notes. So instead, this is done with digital sticky notes on the collaborate board. Watch the video below to see a more detailed explanation of this strategy as well as examples of the above mentioned ways I use Nearpod.
Great Minds In-Sync (Eureka Math)
Great Minds is the parent company to Eureka Math. They have created a full digital, interactive version of the Eureka Math Curriculum called "In-Sync." This platform has been a life-saver as they have high quality engaging lesson videos. These encompass the full concept development component of a Eureka math lesson. Also, all student pages: Sprints, problem sets, succeed pages, etc are included as writeable PDFs, which make it really easy to use with google classroom. Watch my video below where I talk more about how I specifically use the different features within the In-Sync site.
If you have ever considered using either of these platforms: Nearpod or In-Sync, but weren't really sure how exactly to implement in your virtual classroom, I hope this helped! Both of these platforms have been a life-saver for online learning and have really helped me boost engagment with my virtual lessons.
In pre-pandemic times, we know the importance of cooperative learning structures and cooperative grouping. We know that that these routines keep students engaged and optimize their learning. We know it is essential to teach kids how to work together to achieve a common goal, and to learn from one another, while building relationships. The question is, how has this been working with online learning? For many of us who are simply struggling to survive this pandemic and new world of online learning, it may be something that has been forgotten, or just plain difficult to achieve.
I believe that now more than ever, it's so important to ensure that we are implementing team building and class building exercises even into our online learning. Children are being isolated from their peers and have minimal social interaction. Not only do we know that collaborative learning structures help students learn more efficiently, it's also essential right now to focus on helping students to have that peer interaction with one another. And as Kagan has taught us so well, cooperative/collaborative learning only takes place once effective team building/building relationships has occurred. The students need to know each other and feel comfortable with each other in order for them to effectively open up and work together.
So that leads us to this important question, HOW can we implement team building exercises through virtual/online learning?? I know that team bulidng and class building has really been a struggle through virtual instruction. I am going to give a few ideas here in this blog, that will hopefully help you out, if you're looking for some new ideas!
Class Building
First you want to start by building relationships with the class as a whole. You want to get to know each of them as much as you want them to know each other. This can be done through something as simple as a morning circle. I teach 5th grade and we start every morning on zoom with our morining circle question. Usually, you will want to start with questions that will be fun and engaging to the kids. I often use the "would you rather" question prompts. The kids LOVE these. Here is one great resource I found that has a very conclusive list of "would you rather" questions for kids:
1) Type the question in the chat, they can send their response to me privately or to everyone. I can further this discussion by asking for students to raise their hand and elaborate or share their responses. I can also use the spinner to call on students at random after they've been given time to respond. Additionally I can call on a student to share and then ask them to call on the next student to share, etc. Once they get a little more comfortable with each other, I'll often throw them into quick random breakout rooms in pairs or groups to discuss the question as well.
2)I often use Nearpod which is an interactive white board site. Here I will send students the link, which will take them to the Nearpod board with the question displayed. They then type their answer on their virtual sticky note and everyone can read everyone elses responses. I read them aloud as they post them, and elevate or highlight any of participular interest, thus sparking further discussion.
These questions help to bring about a positive attitude when starting the day. The students really look forward to them and will start to engage in the dialogue voluntarily after a while. At this point in the year we have all learned so much about each other, things we like or don't like. I often see students referring to something another student likes in the chat. It's really cute. Morning circle questions are fun, simple, and a great way to build your class community and sense of belonging. Below is a video of my students engaging in one using Nearpod.
Team Building
Once you have spent a bit of time building relationships with your class a whole, you can move into team building. You first want to establish norms for the breakout rooms so that students know what is expected. Then you always want to start with fun, non-academic tasks. The purpose of this again is to help students build relationships and get to know each other so that when it comes time to now complete academic tasks as a group, they will feel comfortable talking and sharing with one another.
One GREAT way to do this through virtual instruction is through the use of "virtual escape rooms." You don't need to make them yourself, there are TONS out there already created. I have purchased a few off of Teachers Pay Teachers. The purpose of these activites is that students have to talk and work together in order to complete the tasks in the escape room to move onto the next room. The goal is to be the group who finishes first. The kids absolutely love these- they love anything that's a race right? They really have a lot of fun doing them. Below You can watch a video of my students working to complete an escape room project.
Kagan recommends doing 1 non-academic team building activity once a week just to help students continue to build those relationships. That's not always possible, not even in the classroom. If I can do a non-academic team building activity once every couple weeks I feel pretty good about that. My kids work collaboratively to complete academic tasks on a daily basis through breakout rooms. I have really seen them grow in the way they talk to each other, feel comfortable with each other, etc. I definitely attribute this to the time we spend class building and team building- building relationships with one another.
I hope this helps you get started, or further supports you in building relationships with students!
Many of us who teach the McGraw Hill Wonders curriculum have probably all been in the same boat throughout this online learning journey. How do I keep the students accountable for their own learning? How do I know they are actually thinking about the questions I ask? How do I get them to disuss and share with a partner? These are all the things we do in the classroom to keep the kids engaged and accountable for their learning. The struggle became very difficult when we went to online learning. When you pose a question and ask the kids to type their answer into the chat, it often becomes the same 10 kids right? Even if you're using equity sticks or a random selector tool for names, it's difficult when they have not been able to discuss the ideas with their peers first. Putting kids on the spot like that isn't the best teaching method, but at the same time we want to make sure we are reaching all kids. So what is the solution?
There are just a few things I have done with Wonders to try to bring back in that collaboration piece and student accountability. It's nothing magical that I do, but it has helped to get the kids talking and working more efficiently. They know I am going to call on them randomly after I have given them time to discuss in beakout rooms with peers, so most of them are engaged and working as they know my expectations.
Wonders Platform
The Your Turn Book pages, CRC pages, and digital stories are all available on the Wonders digital platform. You can assign the YourTurn Book Page digitally. Then what I do, is I will share my screen and show them how to type on them and save/submit. For instance, on Day 1 of Wonders instruction for the week, after I teach the vocab lesson, I will assign the vocab practice page. I will then put the kids in breakout rooms with a partner to work together in creating their vocab sentences, while I'm popping in and out to assist and prod them along. When we come back whole group then I use the Kagan random selector tool to have the kids share out what they wrote for each vocab sentence. This is a much better way to go becaause I'm supporting my lower kiddos, EL kiddos, sped kids etc as they have now had the time to work together and talk together, with a partner to create their sentences.
Another option is to retype, or cut and paste, the Your Turn Book questions into a google doc and then assign it on google classroom. I do this often with the reading comprehensions passage questions. This way you can keep track of the assignment in google classroom. In the video here, you can see the kids working to discuss and answer the comp passage questions in the Your Turn Book. Here I assigned the page digitally.
Its also nice to assign the story you're reading so that struggling readers can play the story when they need to reread it to answer questions.
Anthology Discussion questions
Throughout the Teacher's Manual where you have the discussion questions throughout the story, this is where it becomes a struggle. In the classroom, you'd stop, pose the question, have students discuss in table groups then randomly call on students to anwer (also incorporating various kagan strategies for discussion during this time). So in the virtual setting, I type the question into the chat and read it aloud several times. I tell them they all must respond their thoughts into the chat-they can send to everyone or to me privately. This way they're not put on the spot answering outloud without having time to talk to a partner, but it also keeps them accountable for participating. Once we are finished reading the story. I then type up those questions from the TM into a google doc and put the students in breakout rooms with a partner to again discuss and answer the questions. Then once back together whole group I would use the random selector to have them share out, because they've now had the opportunity to think and discuss and type with a partner. Then they can turn in the assignment for credit. Doing this really helps me see which students are with me and paying attention.
Nearpod
I also use the collaborate board in Nearpod to facilitate discussion of the "Making Connections" questions that you see generally at the mid and end of the stories in Wonders. The Making Connections questions at the end of the paired text ties in all 3 stories from the week and brings focus to the essential question. Doing this one on Nearpod can help prepare them for doing a RACES writing on the essential question. It can serve as a prewrite/brainstorm type of discussion.
I hope this gives you a few ideas of how you can incorporate the Wonders workbooks and discussion questions into your virtual lessons, while ensuring that all students are participating and accountable.
If you're familiar with the Sprint Routine in the Eureka Math curriculum, then you know how valuable it is in supporting students' fact fluency. Not to mention, that it's such an upbeat fun activity the kids truly love them. Unfortunately, as with many other things in online learning, it's difficult to do with the same effect and energy.
I work as a seasonal associate for Great Minds (parent company of Eureka Math) over the summers, and had the privilege of learnng how to deliver a sprint routine virtually. I have since adapted and taught it to my kids this year and I truly think its alllllmost as fun as it is in the classroom! So if this is a key piece you've been missing from your Eureka Math lessons, I hope this helps!
The routine as follows:
1. Have the students open their Sprint book to the desired lesson, Sprint A. You will explain to them that they must work down the columns and not skip around. They are only to do the very best they can in the 60 seconds and they are NOT intended to finish the sprint. Make sure they understand the directions for that particular sprint. (I usually display mine either under the doc cam or digitally by sharing my screen to ensure they are all on the right page)
2. Ensure all their cameras are turned on and they are ready. Ask them to hold their pencils in the air until you see everyone has done so. Set the timer for 60 seconds and say "ready, set, go!"
3. When the timer goes off I say "drop your pencil and put your hands in the air!" I'll quickly scan and call out the names of kiddos who hands aren't in the air.
4. Then I'll ask them the draw a line under the last problem they completed and get ready to check their answers. When I go over the directions for how we will check them I say, "If you answered the problem and got it correct, chant 'YES!' and put a check mark next to that problem. If you answered it but got it wrong, then silently circle it. Here's the important part: As I'm calling out the answers, once you get to the one you LAST completed, turn your camera off." Then you want to quickly and engergetically read off the answers. I stop about every 10 or so remind them to turn their camera off once they get past the last problem they've completed. Once all cameras are off, you can stop reading the answers.
5. Next I have them count their total # correct (subtracting any they got wrong ) and send it to me privately in the chat (they can send it private or public whatever they're comfortable with). I watch their responses and then call out the student who answered the most correct and we then decide on a cheer to give that student. (e.g. cheese grater cheer, chili pepper cheer, truck driver cheer, etc.)
6. I toggle back to the view of the sprint and facilitate a discussion analyzing the sprint. I will point out a few patterns and then ask the kids to type into the chat "what patterns do you see?" "What parts were hard or easy?" "Which parts slowed you down?" etc. Then after the dicussion (just a couple of minutes), I give them about 30 seconds more to continue practicing where they left off on the sprint.
7. After that we take a quick movement break. We will to 2 movement skip counting exercises, the first one fast-paced, the second one slow. For instance, the first one you can have the kids skip count by 2's up to 20 and back down while moving their arms quickly like windshield wipers. For the second exercise, skip counting by 3s up to 30 to the movement of slow shoulder rolls (see my video below). The purpose of this is get them moving and also get their brains warmed up with the skip counting.
8. Now the kiddos are ready to complete part B of the sprint. You will tell them that their ONLY goal is to simply get just ONE more correct than they did on side A. Again the goal is not to complete the sprint. Have them turn to side B and again put their pencils in the air. Once you see everyone ready, say "ready, set, go!" and start the timer for 60 seconds. When the timer goes off instuct them to put their pencils down and hands in the air. Then repeat step #4 from above.
9. THIS TIME however, after they calculate their total # correct, they do not send it to you in the chat. This time they will calculate their improvement score from side A to Side B. Meaning how many more correct did they get on side B. Then they send you that # via the chat (either public or private). This time we celebrate the student who had the most improvement and we again choose a cheer for that student. I will sometimes also celebrate if a student completed the sprint, or even sometimes I choose the students with the top 3 improvement scores. The cheers are the best part- the kids love them! (see my previous blog post on cheers).
Below is a video of my students conducting this virtual sprint routine. By NO MEANS is it perfect.. lol.. but hopefully it will give you a good idea of how you can also implement this into your virtual classroom!
I personally feel like the ONE worst aspect of online learning is that the kids are missing the social interaction and collaborative learning structures they so desperately need. As we know, students learn the best when they are working collaboratively in highly structured groups. This has been especially hard for me as a teacher, because I live and breath Kagan cooperative learning structures in my classroom on a daily basis and have truly seen the growth in my students both academically and socially over the years that I have implemented Kagan into my classroom.
So today I'm going to talk about Breakout Rooms on Zoom! It doesn't fully replace in person collaboration of course, but it's a really good option to support our kiddos talk time, during this period of online learning. Let's get started!
How to Train Your Students on Breakout Rooms
Well just like with live in-classroom instruction, you can't just throw kids into groups and expect them to work together successfully. You want start with some fun, non-academic teaam building activites that they can do in their groups to get to know each other. This is important for helping them build relationships with one another so that they will feel comfortable talking and sharing with each other. I would suggest starting small and having them work with pairs for a while before moving into largers groups. Also modeling how to discuss with a partner and providing them with response frames/stems will help them verbalize their thoughts into words.
Next, you want to set clear expections so they know what is expected of them. I display this slide every day before our first breakout room of the day (they need lots of reminders.. lol)
Most importantly, once you send them to their Breakout Rooms, you want to pop in and out of as many rooms as possible and help reinforce those breakout room expectations. Once they know you'll always be popping in to check on them, they are much more likely to do what they are supposed to do! This is also a great way for you to observe your students and evaluate their strenths and weaknesses.
Tips and Tricks!
So now how do you go about setting up these Breakout Rooms??
So once youre logged into your Zoom meeting with your class, you want to click the breakout room button on the bottom of your Zoom toolbar (be sure you have enabled this option in your Zoom settings). Now, you can select to create the groups automatically or manually. If you want them in pairs and you have 28 students, you will select to create 14 groups. If you want them in groups of 4 you would select to make 7 groups.
As it sounds, "automatically" means it will randomly group the students together, whereas "manually" allows you to group them as you'd like. I would suggest selecting manually and creating your groups intentinally and specificially. However, there is often a time and place for the automatic option as well. Once my kids are all logged onto Zoom in the morning, while they are working on iReady, discussing the morning circle topic, or another independent task, I quickly create those breakout rooms manually and then they are set for the day! As kids join or leave the meeting, you can choose to swap or move kids to other rooms, rearranging as you see fit!
Under the "Options" dropdown, when you select the time for the Breakout Room, I would aim to keep it around 5-8 minutes or so, just having them discuss one or just a couple of questions. As mentioned before, always making sure you are popping in and out of the Breakout Rooms to support, and reinforce your rules. You can also adjust the amount of time you want them to have once the timer is up. I usually set mine for 15 seconds so that we don't have to wait for kiddos to be dumped back into the main room. I do however "broadcast" a message warning them how much time they have left.
You can end the breakout rooms at any time as well, you just click the red button that says "close all rooms." You do not have to wait until the timer is up. Likewise when the timer is up for the Breakout Rooms, a notification will pop up asking you if you want to end them or keep them open. So they don't have to automatically end just becasue the time is up. You have control over that. Aditionally, if there are kids who you dont want to put in a breakout room, you just simply don't assign them to a room and they will then remain in the main room with you.
I hold the kids accountable by letting them know I'll use the random selector to have them share out after they've had the time to discuss the question in their breakout rooms. Also, usually whatever they are working on with their partner/group in the breakout room is something they are also typing and submitting to me in some form or another. This ensures that I can monitor they are all working and participating.
If the students have a question while in their Breakout Room, they have the option to click "ask for help." This picture to the left shows you what it looks from from the students view of the Breakout Room.
You will then get a notification that looks like this image below here.
So these are the basics to help you get started setting up Zoom Breakout Rooms with your students. I truly feel that students need this interaction with one another for so many different reasons. They really need the social interaction with each other. Our English Learners as well as ALL learners need to get their "talk time" in throughout the day. Research has also proven that kids learn better when they are working collaboratively with their peers. The Breakout Rooms option in Zoom really does provide us with that missing piece of social interaction and collaboration that these kids are so vitally missing with online instruction! I hope this helps!
I am sure you have heard about Nearpod and seen it on the district website of online learning resources, alongside many others. I know that there are sooo many resources our district has graciously purchased or shared with us to support us in our online learning. So I am going to spend some time just talking about ONE aspect of Nearpod here today.
First off, what is Nearpod? Nearpod helps educators make any lesson interactive whether in the classroom or virtual. The concept is simple. A teacher can create interactive presentations that can contain Quiz's, Polls, Videos, Collaborate Boards, and more.
In this blog, I am only going to be talking about how to use the Nearpod Collaborate Board as a collaborative learning tool. I think the biggest part of online learning that's killng me (and the kids) is that they're missing the student interaction and collaborative learning structures that we use so routinely in the classroom. If you've been through Kagan training and implemented those collaborative learning structures in you classroom before, you know the power behind them and how positively they effect student learning, growth, and confidence.
"Collaborate! is a Nearpod feature that allows you to set up an interactive board for brainstorming, sharing text and images. You add the boards, students simply add their ideas. You can moderate these boards from your Teacher Dashboard, reordering them and sharing them." CLICK HERE to learn more about his feature.
Ways I use the Nearpod Collaborate Board in my 5th Grade Classroom:
1) ELA Wonders Curriculum: I use this feature in many ways throughout the Wonders curriculum. I use it with the Day 1 introduce the concept question that is in the Reading Writing Workshop book. I also use it at the end of the week with the essential question to help them brainstorm ideas before they start their RACES writing. I also use it with the Making Connections questions that are throughout the student stories in their text books (you can see this below).
2) Community Circle Discussion Questions:I also setup Nearpod with our community circle question. We start our day with a community circle question each morning, and most days we do it on Nearpod. I read their posts aloud as they post them. I then ask if anyone wants to share their thoughts outloud. This way, every child is held accountable to responding, but for those super shy introverrted kiddos they're not forced to share out loud if they feel uncomfortable
3)Eureka Math Student Debrief: Often times I pick one of the student debrief questions and have them do it on the Nearpod collaborative board as you can see here. This is from the 5th Grade Eureka Math Module 1 Lesson 14 student debrief. It's really amazing to see all the connections they're making in math. If I didn't provide them this opportunity to share with each other, they'd be missing out on this really powerful component of a Eureka Math lesson.
So if you've been searching for a way to bring that collaboration piece back into your virtual online classroom, I hope this helps!!
During this time of school closures and distance learning, it's hard not to have that face to face communication with students and parents each day. In my last blog I wrote about Zoom and Google Classroom and all the ways that I am using those communication tools. See my blog post here Distance Learning During a Pandemic
I thought I'd share about a couple other tools that I am using to communicate:
ClassTag
This is an app that is similar to ClassDojo. I allows you to post announcements and include attachments, pictures, video, etc. It looks a lot like how a Facebook newsfeed looks. Parents can comment on or like your posts. They can also private message you which looks the same as a text message. You can also set up your parent conference schedule, and MANY MANY other things. You can sign into their website on your computer and/or download the app to use on your phone. I like the app because it sends you a notification anytime a parent comments or messages.
It also has a "library" tab where you can upload links or document or pictures that are important to keep them all in one place. This way parents don't have to go searching for your original post with the link. The nice part about this library tab is that it automatically saves any links you've posted in your announcements to the library. So you don't need to do it twice!
Under the events tab is where you can schedule a variety of events include parent conferences. You can organize parents volunteers, field trips and many other classroom events here.
One of the greatest features is that it translates all text English to Spanish and visa versa. So if a parent leaves a comment or private messages me in Spanish, it translates it to English for me. Likewise when I post or message in English, it will translate to Spanish for the parents who need it. When you first set up the "Directory" you or the parents themselves setup their preferred language. Definitely eliminates the issue of the language barrier! Especially while were on Distance Learning working from home where we don't have quick access to translators.
Flipgrid
Another fun way to communicate with students in addition to Zoom and Google Classroom is an app called Flip Grid. Flipgrid is a website that allows teachers to create "grids" to facilitate video discussions. Each grid is like a message board where teachers can pose questions, called "topics," and their students can post video responses that appear in a tiled grid display. Its super fun to use! Each grid can have multiple topics within it. You can make the topics academic or just fun. I am using flipgrid to support student's socio-emotional wellness and so I am just posting fun topics for them to respond to. Such as "would you rather..." "Tell us a fun fact about yourself"... They like it and the videos have come out really cute. You can create your own topics or chose from a library where tons are already made.
ClassTag and Flipgrid are just a couple of useful and fun ways to communicate with parents and students. Hope you found this useful!
Well 2020 didn't quite start off they we could ever have imagined, but here we are! Distance Learning has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that we've been given the time for self-care, the ability to take care of things at home, and spend time with our families. As well as the fact that we still have jobs and are getting paid whereas many others are not. A curse in that, Distance Learning is HARD. It is not what we as teachers signed up for, but I think we're rockin' it for the most part. This has been a HUGE adjustment for parents, teachers, and kids alike. It is a daily struggle to get ALL kids and parents participating. It also lacks the joy of teaching, seeing the kids make connections, and the daily face to face interaction.
On the bright side, I still get to see their smiling faces on zoom and that helps me feel a little better about not being able to see them live in the classroom each day! I thought I would just blog a little bit about what my Distance Learning classroom looks like!
Google Classroom
In my Google classroom, I post their assignments weekly. I have them grouped by each week of distance learning. Each assignment has it's due date posted next to it. All assignments are posted on Sunday night, and then I make an announcement in Google classroom attaching their 5 day schedule for the week, which explains what exactly they should be completing each day.
This is just a snapshot of the 5 day schedule. This shows the kids exactly what they need to complete each day and the links are embedded. This gets posted Sunday night in Google classroom as well as in my parent app (ClassTag). Then we Zoom on Monday to discuss, go over, and make sure they understand the assignments, answer questions, etc
I also post exercise and mindfulness video links for them to do if they would like. I always ask them to leave a comment and tell us which one they tried out, if they chose to do any. They LOVE Go Noodle in the classroom so many of them are enjoying that they can do it at home!
I have also posted a few step-by-step drawing video links and had them share/post their creations. I think it's important for them to have something fun to do and talk about besides schoolwork. 😊
Zoom
I zoom with the kids two to three times per week. Always on Monday to make sure they understand their assignments and what's due for the week- we go over the daily schedule. Then again on Wednesday to follow up, answer questions, make sure kids are on track completing assignments. Then sometimes again on Friday to again address students who haven't completed work and to remind them things are due, to answer questions, provide help, do something fun, etc. I had assigned the kids a book report project back in February that would have been due Monday 3/30. I gave them an extra couple weeks to complete it and we shared them over zoom this past week. It was cute they were so excited to share them!
Zoom tips and tricks:
-Arrange your settings so that all participants are muted upon entry
-Toggle on the waiting room switch. This makes it so that you have to "admit" each student. This way you are away if anyone suspicious is trying to join.
-Also in the settings toggle on the switch that notifies you with a doorbell sound every time a participant enters or leaves. This helps you keep track of who's coming and going.
-Type a question in the comment at the start of the meeting this way they have something to read and and answer while they're waiting.
-Also if you noticed that the "chat" feature disappeared- it didn't! When you log into zoom you need to go to your "setting" and just scroll down to where you see the chat feature setting and click the toggle switch to on. Kids Learning at Home
I have a large part of my parents and kids messaging, calling, or emailing on a daily basis. And although at times it's exhausting, it is so rewarding to see so many of my families working hard to support their children and make sure they're still learning. I have had many of them express their gratitude to me for my help and support and it truly makes all of this worthwhile. Likewise, I appreciate all their effort and support with their children at home! I asked my parents to send me any pictures of their kiddos doing Distance Learning at home, and here are a few I received 😍💖
This "Successful Student" activity is just one example of a very simple way to use collaborate learning (Kagan- Jot Thoughts), and Growth Mindset to help students engage in positive thinking. It's also a super fun activity, helps them to learn how to work together, and not to mention they look super cute up on the wall!
