At the beginning of the school year, members of the middle school leadership team at the Lyndon Town School (LTS) in Lyndonville, Vermont, were doing what they do every week: reflecting and planning.

Unlike most schools in Vermont during the current pandemic, from day one they were working with students in person five days each week. And even though they had almost all of their students in school, something was missing.

Although teachers were focusing on building relationships in their classrooms, how would they build community as a middle school? In the past, a key strategy had been to gather everybody together in the cafeteria once a month for a Town Meeting. Obviously that was off the table during pandemic schooling.

Or was it?

Getting creative about Town Meeting

Like many other schools in Vermont, the Town Meeting at LTS had multiple purposes, including:

• Build community across grade levels
• Serve as a forum for announcements
• Provide an authentic audience for student presentations
• Invite students to help plan and facilitate an event
• Inject some fun and laughter

Once the leadership team thought through these purposes together, they realized two things. First, Town Meeting was an awesome tradition that they needed now more than ever. Second, perhaps they could capture enough of this magic using a different format to make it worth it.

They resolved to do what Vermont educators have done so much of this year, by necessity: they put students first and, one way or another, made it work.

After kicking around some ideas, the outlines of a plan began to emerge. Each homeroom (advisory group) would join virtual town meetings via Zoom. The new schedule allowed only 30 minutes (compared to nearly an hour in past years), so they shortened the announcement section considerably. But they would do it every single week rather than once a month.

As the group considered this new format, they began to see some potential benefits. For one thing, more frequent  meetings may lead to a stronger community building routine overall. For another, the new format might allow more student leadership than in the past. When the whole middle school gathered, it was often tough for students to effectively address everybody due to shyness, microphone awkwardness, etc. And the announcement portion of proceedings often took up a lot of time.

The new format could potentially solve some of these problems. The team designed it to be tightly structured and easy to engage with in terms of planning, facilitation, and participation.

De-centralized planning

A key priority for the leadership team was to avoid overwhelming colleagues with another planning task. Time for collaborative planning amongst teachers was at a premium.

They created a structure that would allow homerooms to “plug and play” on a rotating basis:

• Each week belonged to a different grade level
• Meetings followed a predictable flow with three distinct roles – host; quotes, celebrations, and announcements; and activity facilitator
• Each homeroom would sign up for a role on the week that their grade level was in charge

The leadership team wrote up the plan and shared it with colleagues via email. Homerooms signed up for roles, filled out the corresponding part of the slide template, and they were off and running.

So far, so good

The new Town Meeting format seems to be working pretty well. Some people even like it better than the old format. Like many things during the pandemic, it requires adaptability and a commitment to making the best of the situation. As one student noted, “I don’t really like having to do it online but we kinda have to.”

Mollie Falk, guidance counselor extraordinaire, summed up the requisite attitude this way:

Recognize that it will be far from perfect, but for kids (and adults) craving connection, it doesn’t have to be. Embrace mistakes, laugh at yourself, go with the flow.

A few particular lessons have emerged.

Focus on fun

When asked what they enjoy most about virtual town meetings, students were pretty clear that the activity portion is the star of the show. So far this year we have seen quiz competitions, an estimation math challenge, Scattergories, and an on the spot haiku contest.

The most straightforward format for interactive portions such as greetings and activities is for most of the action to take place within the homerooms themselves. As one teacher put it, “Something that works well, is to give a task or activity for each advisory to complete, then they share out with the whole group via chat or one at a time.”

For some students, this allows them to feel more connected. Several students echoed this comment: “I love being able to work with my homeroom to try and win at games.”

Teachers agree that the smaller groupings draw some students in more than the larger gatherings of the past. “Being in separate spaces make it easier to compete in competitions and get full participation. It’s easier to see if someone is not participating, since each group is smaller.”

Keep it fresh

The “plug and play” structure serves its function well. On a busy week, if necessary, each of the three homerooms at a grade level can plan separately for their role and the meeting can come together fairly seamlessly.

But some weeks demand a little something special. For Halloween, for example, music teacher Johanna Fournier designed a themed Town Meeting. Allied Arts teachers introduced themselves with Halloween themed facts about themselves.

In another example, each homeroom had developed banners and advertisements during their advisory time. It was a fantastic project and Town Meeting served as the perfect venue to showcase the ads. They tended to be both meaningful and hilarious, well deserving of the authentic audience that virtual town meetings can provide.

This advisory ad for Tammi Parker’s 8th grade advisory, otherwise known as “The Robparkarians,” was a hit.

Get your tech squared away

Most teachers are running the Zoom on projectors or Smartboards so that everybody can easily see. In some cases teachers will have two computers going, especially if they are playing the hosting role.

There are a couple of homerooms that have bandwidth issues, which can be frustrating. As one student put it, “The wifi is really hard because sometimes it lags a lot so you can’t hear but you just have to be calm about it and don’t get all mad and upset.” Indeed.

The technology integration specialist helped teachers with initial set-up. A few weeks in, she conducted a survey to understand ongoing technology problems. She is troubleshooting the issues one by one, and the school is upgrading wifi, so hopefully these issues will be ironed out soon.

Share the love

Since these virtual town meetings are shorter in duration, more frequent, and less of a production than in the past, they feel a bit lower stakes. Students can participate from the comfort of their homeroom. This draws in more students and draws out more creativity.

As Mollie put it, “Town Meeting is fun, different and creative each week as a result of rotating who is hosting. There are lots of fun ideas and now we all can share them with each other, rather than it being hosted by the same individuals each week as it once was.”

Hopefully this new format can continue to strengthen community both within and across homerooms/advisories. And once restrictions are lifted, perhaps there will be some aspects of this new format that can inform the next generation of face to face Town Meetings. But until then, LTS middle school will continue to make the best of the situation.

How can you build community across classrooms and grade levels in your school?

How do you blend a time-honored tradition and an unprecedented moment of social, civil and personal upheaval? Carefully. Very carefully. So, in order to make lemonade from 2020’s truckload of lemons, currently broken down in the fast lane of our lives, let’s look at 5 keys to a successful virtual parent night.

1.Provide choice — for both educators and families

Model what you offer learners and provide choice for families.

Choice can look like different platforms, or different times.

Choice can look like some families not showing up to an event but reading all the handouts diligently and asking questions in your Slack channel. (Hey! Choice can look like a Slack channel instead of a Facebook group!) Not everyone is going to have the spoons right now to attend attentively, but as y’all are diligently using The Scott Thompson 17 Methods Of Family Communication bingo cards to stay in touch with everyone, we know you’ll catch up with those families another time.

And what’s the best way to offer and act on those choices?

2. All hail the feedback loop

Ask ahead of time what your families need, act on the data, then close the loop with exit tickets.

It can in fact, be just that simple.

Methods on offer: Google Forms sent to family emails, paper forms sent with students or via US Mail.

Sample pre-survey questions could range from most convenient times to preferred video-conferencing (and non-video-conferencing) platforms. Questions on individual student progress, and questions on school policy. Much of this is exactly the same as the pre-surveying you’ve been doing with more traditional parent nights.

And then after parent night, sending out a survey can not just tell you how well you pulled it off, it can also tell you what additional topics families wish you’d covered, or where there’s still some confusion.

Best of all, it’s a way to invite families to continue the parent night conversation with you. Everybody loves being asked for their opinion!

3. Prep as much as you can in advance

Time flies when you’re having trouble finding the “mute” button.

A one-hour virtual parent night will whip by. Time will do wild loop-de-loops; you will struggle to fit everyone’s questions in. Y’all know this. So, take the opportunity to prep as much of the information you want to give families in advance. It will give them time to pre-read, if they’re pre-readers. It will give the people who can’t make it access to the information as well, and it will save your together time as a community for genuine interactions.

Here is a fabulous example from Newark School, in West Burke VT:

Look at all the information in Newark’s agenda! Links to tutorials and parents guides, schedules and remote plans, and — be still our beating hearts — a Code of Conduct.

(That’s not a joke; Codes of Conduct are incredibly helpful documents, never more so than as we all began spending so much of our lives shouting at each other through lighted, moving panes of glass.)

So in addition to providing this information to families for pre-digest, the document also lives on as an amazing quicklinks resource, after the event! We’d copy that agenda to our Drives in a heartbeat.

Now, we know what you’re thinking: that looks like a *ton* of work, and it is. So. Who do you know who might be interested in writing or recording some tutorials, or tech guides for families?

We’ll give you a moment there…

….rhymes with “shmudents”…

That’s right: students.

Bear with us but: what might it look like to ask your students to write up a Zoom Code of Conduct for their family community?

4. Make it accessible

Embrace accessibility. As we are now all highly dependent on these beautiful beautiful screens for a further couple of months, we’re all becoming much more aware of the accessibility needs related to technology. If you’re going to have a spoken presentation, find out your options for including an ASL interpreter or even getting real-time, CART captioning services.

Include in your pre-event survey any needs for translators. Translation services exist in your community and online both.

Other aspects of accessibility may be less obvious.

But for instance, avoid scheduling your virtual parent night on a high holy day (there are a bunch coming up). Yes, we’re talking about Hannukkah. But we’re also talking about Diwali, Solstice, and Veer Samvat.

Consider re-labeling your virtual parent night as “virtual family night”, as not all students live with their parents. Families take many forms.

Another aspect of accessibility involves choosing the method of virtual delivery for parent night. Platforms or tools that require very modern software or hardware, or lots of bandwidth can unintentionally exclude families who don’t have access to all those things. Offer a phone line option, and record your presentations or conversations for sharing with families who aren’t in attendance (standard consent rules apply for digital recording.)

Phew! That all sounds like a lot, right?

It is, and it’s worth it to make sure all your students and their families feel welcome and can actually access your well-planned and successful virtual parent night.

And again we ask: do you have any students who might be interested in helping plan virtual parent night? Any students passionate about community activism, or disability rights, who might love to research these topics and their implementations?

Sure you do!

And as a bonus, they’d love to get school credit for it. Go off. Turn it into a whole unit, tying to history and public policy, and funding-based math and school boards.

Proficiencies? Transferable skills? WHY NOT BOTH, Y’ALL. Why. Not. Both.

5. Most of all, make it manageable.

Your virtual parent night is going to be amazing. So whatever else you do, y’all, make it work for you and your team or staff. Parent nights are about families, but they’re also about you.

Look, everyone in a classroom, near a classroom, or managing a classroom is about on the ragged edge of having had the smooth rock enough already. Everything’s on fire, everything hurts.

The solitary fact of you pulling off a virtual parent night — whatever that looks like? Is enough.

Hats off to you. You’re doing a great job.

Hybrid and remote teaching environments require us to tap into everything we know about designing engaging and targeted learning opportunities. At the same time, the contexts are often unfamiliar. So what we need is a blended and hybrid teaching toolkit.

When looking to design a successful remote or hybrid learning experience, consider thinking about what shifts you’re going to make by starting with educator proficiencies. Proficiencies help you build your own skillsets.

Educator proficiencies for remote & hybrid teaching practices

Here’s what they all look like as a rubric:

This set of proficiencies was drawn from resources in The Distance Learning Playbook: K-12 and Aurora Institute’s National Standards for Quality Online Courses.

Now, let’s unpack these ideas a little further.

I invest time to build and maintain relationships with my students.

One way is to invite students to collaborate in building norms and agreements. And just as importantly, revisiting and readjusting these based on lived experiences.

When we take time to learn about students’ interests and connect these to our curricular design, we build trust in our learning community. Take a look at Bill Ferriter’s Differentiation Learning Profile as a way to gather information from your students. Next, pull from this Imagining School Survey to develop your own questions. And finally, be sure to share the results you’ve culled and the steps you’ve taken with your students. That closes the loop. Students need to know their feedback impacts your practice. They need to see it in action.

Best Practices for Videoconferencing with Students and 14 Socially Distanced Advisory Activities provide you with a ton of ways to create trust in your hybrid community of learners.

I establish clear learning expectations and ensure my students and their families know what success looks like.

One way to provide clarity is to record video lessons for learners to view and revisit. Craft them to provide clear directions, suggested paths, and pacing guides. Consider Using Learning Targets with Students to with goal-setting. Then check out Strategies for Fostering a Productive Distance Learning Experience from the folks at Getting Smart. They advocate:

“Ways to create comprehensive schedules for students; do not rely on families to piece together emails and calendars from multiple sources. And if something changes, make sure that families can easily identify the most up-to-date information.”

How to do this? One middle-level team at Randolph Union Middle School used integrated curriculum to clarify learning expectations. The whole team leaned in on designing a unit that tied curriculum to one compelling theme: clean drinking water.

I design instruction that includes demonstrating examples of what students will learn. 

Learners need to know exactly what success looks like. Using screencasting tools to walk through what makes good artifacts is critical. Design for peer-to-peer collaboration and reciprocal teaching by Improving Student Collaboration in Remote and Hybrid Learning. Use Collaborative Tools like Google Docs & Slides, Jamboard, and Padlet.

Wear both your coach and facilitator hats and give students feedback that includes concrete ways to improve. Also, students need plenty of time for practice and retakes. At Edmunds Middle School, in Burlington Vermont, Sarah Wright rethought assessment and created a self-paced Spanish class. Her students could re-take exams as many times as possible. They worked towards proficiency as it’s defined in the real world: the ability to communicate.

And finally, consider ways for Designing Breakout Rooms for Maximum Engagement using protocols as well as these 6 Ways to Help Students Create the Best Breakout Rooms.

I select digital tools and resources that are developmentally appropriate with minimal adult assistance and have accessibility features.

A plethora of educational technology tools exist. And many actually facilitate teaching and learning. Why not stash Technology Tools Recommendations for Remote environments  in your hybrid teaching toolkit? Additionally, rich content resources are available through these Open Educational Resources:

• ISTE’s Open Educational Resources
• Pre-K-12 OER in Practice

I use methods of measuring the impact of my teaching to understand each students’ progress and achievement 

Technology tools like Peardeck, Nearpod, Edpuzzle, self-graded quizzes in Google Forms, and Mentimeter engage learners in providing feedback loops to inform next steps. Formative assessment is key to this feedback cycle. Check out this post to guide you in Where are we with formative assessment  for remote learning? Then consider visiting 75 Digital Tools for Formative Assessment from the NWEA to explore ways to invite your learners to provide valuable information. Extend your feedback loop into video watching by looking at How to Use Edpuzzle for Remote Learning and then go deeper into exploring with this Choiceboard for Digital Tools for Active Learning and Formative Assessment in Remote Environments

I provide feedback students use to become their own teachers so they are assessment capable learners

Teachers provide feedback about process, self-regulatory feedback and includes success criteria. Start by reviewing this Create a Feedback Rich Environment hyperdoc.

• Taking Stock of Grading and Reporting
• Using Seesaw with Google Classroom for PLPs
• Portfolio Development – evidence, growth, reflection

I intentionally amplify student agency by building in choice of subject, path, and pace 

How might you design and plan for engaging and relevant learning opportunities for your students in these trying times? Consider 6 Student-Centered Projects for the First Week of School. These two hyperdocs  Coherent Unit Design &Meaningful, Relevant, & Significant Learning  can lead you through ways to plan. Or you might want ot increase your capacity to offer choice by reviewing this hyperdoc on Pace & Path Choice with Playlists. Want to know more about student interest projects to increase student ownership and agency? Check out The Power of PIPs in a Pandemic.

I design opportunities for students to learn from and with community.

Remote and hybrid learning can leave us feeling isolated from our local communities. Yet, the constraints of virtual engagement also provide opportunities to connect virtually in new ways. Consider the following resources to help you connect your learners with a wider audience of caring and eager adults:

• The Power of Virtual Field Trips
• How to throw culminating events online
• What do public exhibitions of learning look like during a pandemic?
• Engage All Families in Remote Learning
• Rethinking Family Engagement During School Closures

Want to dive deeper?

• • Best practices for zoom and home learning
    • Reshaping “taking attendance”
    • Best practices for video conferencing with students
    • New Strategies in Special Education as Kids Learn From Home
  • Engaging morning meetings via zoom
    • Advisory and morning meeting activities
    • 20 Virtual Morning Meeting Games
    • Bringing the Benefits of Elementary School Morning Meetings Online
  • Relationships and checking in
    • 7 Ways to Maintain Relationships During Your School Closure
    • How to Choose Words That Motivate Students During Online Learning
    • Connecting with Students
    • 8 Strategies for Building Belonging With Students and Families Virtually
  • Virtual student-student collaboration and relationships
    • Helping Students Feel Connected to Each Other
    •  Using Google Jamboard for student collaboration (with free templates)

Those of us holding virtual synchronous meetings with our learners recognize the need to build in opportunities to collaborate. Just like in our face-to-face classrooms, we value small group interactions. And that leads us to ask: how best to facilitate effective small group work in our distance and hybrid instruction? Just as collaborative small group sessions work best when we provide clear routines, structures, and role expectations, the same principles apply to online spaces. Let’s look at six ways we can set up maximum engagement and learning in Zoom Breakout Rooms.

1. Invite students into spaces based on their readiness level and work preference

How do you invite students to choose which group to join? As you think about yourself as a learner, what makes you feel welcome? What catches your eye and pulls you in? To be clear, let’s move beyond joining a space where all your friends are. Instead, what are some ways you can help students think about where they are as learners on a particular day? And how much learning are they capable of right now, given everything else going on? In a way, we can compare this to digital flexible seating.

One of the ways to create engaging breakout rooms is to collect that self-assessment data from learners. Throw up a quick poll, or a compelling graphic. And when we say “poll”, know that even something as simple as Jam or Not A Jam? provides you with a good idea of who’s bringing the energy, and who needs a little space.

In this first example, educator Mollie Safran (@safsocialstudy) put up a graphic that asked students to choose a breakout room based on how much explicit support they wanted from the instructors.

Was thinking about how we could use blackboards “choose your breakout room” feature to meet different learner’s needs and this is what I came up with. Different levels of support or collaboration in different rooms! pic.twitter.com/ljt5efM2yz

— Mollie Saf (@safsocialstudy) August 10, 2020

And then in this next example, Shannon Surell (@Ms_Surell) created a graphic that asks students to choose a breakout room based on their energy level. Because it’s important that students choose their speed.

Tried my very own breakout rooms today during independent math work time and I LOVE IT! It was so easy to help the kids who needed additional guidance. I was actually surprised at how many students prefer "The Quiet Room"! Can't wait to try them again! #d15learns #breakoutrooms pic.twitter.com/oKdQlqJ6ge

— Shannon Surell (@ShannonSurell) September 9, 2020

2. Clarify roles expectations

Jessica DeMink-Carthew assigns specific roles to her students when sending them off into breakout channels in Microsoft Teams. Why? Because providing the best just-in-time support for students in breakout rooms helps them know they’re in the right place. Jessica anchors the class through running each session using a set of Google Slides. She does this by including the names of each person assigned to each group so students know in advance with whom they’ll be working that day. She creates clear roles to include a Recorder, whose role it is to take notes so she has an easy way, without interrupting the workflow to check in on each group’s progress.

Here’s a  short walkthrough of her process:

3. Use protocols

Troy Hicks describes multiple ways to facilitate breakout room work using protocols based on the size of the group and length of time together in this post:  Designing breakout rooms for maximum engagement.

His main goal is to create structures that “smooth out the roadblocks and provide space for others to lead via break out room structures.” If you want to learn more about using protocols with students, check out this book Protocols in the Classroom 

4. Provide collaborative graphic organizers

Consider creating clear tasks in the break out room by inviting collaboration in graphic organizer work. Matt Miller (@DitchThatTxtbk) shares 25 Free Google Drawings Graphic Organizers to help students work together and organize their thoughts. “Paper versions of graphic organizers can do a nice job of that. But by making them digital in Google Apps, they instantly become customizable. Multiple people can collaborate on them in real time.” As a result, you can save yourself loads of time by getting an editable copy of one of these templates and assigning it to small groups in breakout rooms.

5. Provide choice and structured activities through stations rotations

Stations Rotations provide a facilitated means to foster communication and collaboration among students in breakout rooms. And so this structure allows us to differentiate that learning as well. Caitlin Tucker describes the process in Station Rotation in an Era of Social Distancing. And Jordy Tollefson and Marilyn McCalister share their detailed approach to Virtual Stations Rotations in this Google Slide Deck. Check out their group norms, sample schedules, and meeting structures.

6. Scaffold teamwork

Start with low stakes projects. Help students understand the elements of effective teaming as an entry point for project work. Provide an inviting way to practice by getting to know each other.

Carla Bevins describes how she creates a first team project where she asks small teams to learn about Tuckman’s Stages of Group Formation. And, to share the results of their own conflict management and leadership self assessments before they launch into a small group project.

My colleague Audrey Homan, in her post on Best Practices for Videoconferencing with students writes we want to design spaces where

“Every student wants to take part in the conversation. That every student appreciates every other student, and appreciates this works is currently very difficult, but that these remote learning spaces can offer a place to be centered as a learner, and valued as a person.”

Providing supported facilitation in breakout rooms is one sure step toward that goal.

Want to learn more?

Check out Katie Martin’s 5 Ways That Teachers are Using Breakout Rooms to Create More Learner-centered Experiences in Distance Learning.

And Eric Sheninger’s advice for Remote Learning Collaboration Strategies:

Strategies to Foster Discourse and Collaboration in Remote Learning Environments https://t.co/zGF4f5uzWE #Edchat #FutureReady #COVIDedu #covid19EDU #distancelearning #808educate pic.twitter.com/XwFfsumWpq

— Eric Sheninger (@E_Sheninger) August 16, 2020

Which of these routines or strategies might you employ to center your learners in breakout spaces?

Because being “present” is very different from simply being here.

Everyone reading this blog has very clearly moved on from beginning each day by simply reading out a list of names and putting a big old checkmark next to each one. Everyone.

Those horror stories we’ve heard, about students being marked absent simply because they turned their webcam off, those aren’t you; you would never.

But maybe you’re looking for ways to mix things up a little, keep it fresh. You’re in luck! Here’s four ways to re-take taking attendance.

1. Judge My Jam

Especially in middle school, music makes the world go round. Your students, no matter how quiet or angsty or vocal, have opinions about music. Throw a harness on that energy and get your attendance taken while also a) bringing your students explicitly into a conversation together, and b) picking up some fly new tunes yourself. (Is “fly” still a good thing? This is an old asking.)

Calgary educator Erin Quinn takes attendance each day with “Jam or Not a Jam?” As students enter the classroom, she has a song queued up and playing, and students use Google Classroom to respond whether they like it (“Jam!”) or not (“Not a Jam!”). It’s simple and brilliant and everyone please go follow Ms. Quinn on twitter @luckybydesign.

I blended your Jam or not a Jam and @LakersHughes welcome screen to use for my classes. I'm looking forward to using this tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/J9g1z0uCsJ

— Chris Flores (@mrcoachflores) September 10, 2020

Of course from there, California middle school educator Chris Flores remixed the jam idea (yesss) for “Bump It or Dump It?”, soliciting additional student feedback in the chat function, as well as setting chat norms (“feel free to have a conversation there as well”). We love seeing educators build and mix and stretch and create online spaces where it’s clear they’ve thought about how to welcome students in and make a space where they can be their whole true selves. Go follow Coach Flores on twitter as well.

2. Use a Google Form to check on your students’ health & wellness …quietly.

“Maybe one would be nice…”

Y’all know that Burlington VT-based educator Laura Botte is a superstar (video). But among the many amazing things she’s done, Morning Check-In with Google Forms has to be close to the top.

Way back in 2014, Laura set up a Google Form for taking attendance that specifically asked about their wellbeing. Not whether they’d finished their homework, but how they were feeling each day, and what was foremost in their minds that morning. But most of all, the Google Form asks if any student could use a one-on-one check-in with their teacher.

WE LOVE THIS.

Why? Because a Google Form set up in this manner removes any stigma a student might feel about asking for help. It’s a sub rosa way for students to open the door to a responsible and loving adult who genuinely cares about who they are as a human being and wants to make sure they have all the resources they could need to be fully engaged learners for the day. And using technology in this specific way makes sure even the shyest student has a quiet way to connect with that adult. Laura Botte, theydies and gentlethem. Laura. Botte.

3. A Real World Poll

No, not one where you get to decide who stays in the house and who has to go. Instead, consider the Jam or Not a Jam? example above, but make it current events.

WE KNOW. Trust us: we KNOW.

And yet: your students are not living in a vacuum. They know too. They’re seeing the exact same current events you are, and we are guessing they have a lot of questions.

Let’s talk about those questions.

Polling tools are standard on the Zoom and Microsoft Teams platforms, and hit us up if you have questions on how to get them up and running. Otherwise, you can bring in an outside polling tool such as Mentimeter, throw together a quick Google Form, or just have students respond to a current events poll in the chat.

Don’t feel constrained by the conventional shape of a poll, either. Here’s a simple visual one from instagram:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Wilton Cake Decorating (@wiltoncakes)

Yes, that’s a very narrow and possibly less compelling version of current events, but now you have a lovely template to make your own from.

And it really just comes down to using this attendance time to get to know your students better. The better you know them as learners in your community and theirs, the better you can help remove roadblocks to them being deeply engaged learners.

4. PLP? Yeah You Know Your Students

As we’re all aware, your students’ personal learning plans, their PLPs, are living, breathing documents that they have open throughout the day, the better to pen journal entries, upload quick photos, or take notes for future plans. Or… they could be.

Students at the Fayston School, in Fayston VT, have crafted some amazing personal reflections in their PLPs.

Now, asking students to craft a full journal entry right as they come through the door might be a little much. But what about:

• What’s one word you’d use to describe where you are with your project right now?
• Where would you like to see your project go today?
• What are you most focused on today?
• What do you see as the biggest challenge for moving forward with your project?

It sets up a routine of bringing each student’s personal learning plan or project into the day from the beginning. After that, where they go can be entirely up to them.

It’s okay to just be here right now, but it’s better to be present.

In other words: why are you taking attendance? Is it to know how your students are actually doing, or is it just to tick a box?

…now kick it up a level to your building team: how do they know who’s in the room?

How do they count which educators show up, and which are absent? How do they make the most of your one precious life? And how do they create a space where you’re more than simply present?

After all, you’re a learner too.

In some way, shape or form, we are all going to be using videoconferencing with students in the near future, to some extent. And while many of us have experience with this situation, as the situation around us continues to evolve, we feel like it’s helpful to think about basic understandings. Namely:

• What do you want your students to take away from video-based interactions?
• And what are your goals for these conversations?

Inviting vs. compelling

We’re seeing a lot of discussion of how to get students to keep their cameras on. So much discussion.

And yes, absolutely: being able to see your students’ faces is vital to gauge how engaged they are with the session. Whether they could use clarification, what could use a change-up, and even just taking basic attendance.

But look at the framing of this goal: “How can I get my students to keep their cameras on”. The goal contains an element of compulsion. Students *must* turn their cameras on, or the sun will boil into the sea and plunge us all into a hundred years of darkness.

https://twitter.com/wokeSTEMteacher/status/1302638965669933057

What if, instead, we held the goal of

“How can I create an online session where students want to be fully present?”

You’re all already doing that in your classrooms. You’re creating vibrant, welcoming spaces to hear student voice, a space where student choice matters and has real consequences. And you’re dedicated to knowing your students as people in order to connect with them as learners.

I'm not requiring cameras.

Yesterday I took a minute to explain to my students how weird it is to teach to a bunch of static boxes & that I didn't really sign up for this either. Instantly, about half of them turned on their cameras.

Give your students a chance to be human too.

— Rob Elliott (@robelliottcit) September 3, 2020

So let’s just take that to our Zoom rooms.

Empathy rocks!

When was the last time you, as an educator or as a homeschooling parent, took an online class? (Yes, webinars count.) How did the instructor or presenter treat you? What did you take away from your role as the student?

Slipping back into the student role on a regular basis not only powers up your professional skills (and your non-professional ones; shout-out to everyone making time for hobby classes!) it also grounds you in remembering what it’s like to be a student.

That grounding, that bone-deep empathy borne of being a student in front of a monitor, can provide eye-opening lessons.

Or jaw-dropping ones.

A Case Study

Dawn Kasal Finley, a bomber high school educator, recently recounted her experience taking an online course. Spoiler: she was not treated awesomely.

https://twitter.com/kasal_finley/status/1292494200265744392

Among the many issues she identifies in this twitter thread:

1. The instructor mandated student cameras stay on — even while students were eating;
2. The instructor commented on the background visible on Finley’s Zoom;
3. Students were randomly forgetting to mute — which happens — and the instructor didn’t manage Zoom’s amazing “Mute All” feature;
4. Non-participatory lectures dragged on past 20 minutes;
5. As a student, Finley wasn’t sure what the goal of each class session was.

Now, we well know that you, educator, would do none of these things to your students.

But these lessons learned all return us to the fundamental guiding practice of respecting students as people as well as learners. Holy cats.

What does it look like to create a safe space inside a videoconferencing session?

Again, we start with empathy.

Every time we enter a videoconferencing space, we’re bringing a host of identities with us. We’re a whirlwind of race, ethnicity, economic status, language fluency, disabilities, and obligations. We are complicated.

Some of us worked a second job last night so we didn’t have time to tidy up the cupboard visible behind us, even though that’s the only chair in the house that doesn’t throw our back out.

Some of us have audio-processing disorders that make us frown or squint at the screen to make out face details. That’s so we can understand the conversation fully.

And frankly, some of us woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and can’t find our slippers, coffee, or the dog. We may not have arrived at class in the best of moods.

So what are the conditions that we can create as educators, so that all the students named in those situations feel welcome? Feel wanted. And feel compelled to participate.

Clear guidelines for the win

BOOM.

How about this instead? pic.twitter.com/lYCAvUoydP

— Katie Devaney (@KMD1106) September 6, 2020

These reframed rules are the best practices for videoconferencing with students. And with colleagues, and families.

If you’re cold, or hungry, or you have to pee, or you need to stretch / bounce / growl / shimmy for a moment, go for it.

If you need to blur your background, go for it.

And if you need to take a moment, that’s one thing 2020 has by the bucketload. Go for it.

Back to those goals we mentioned

With all this in mind, perhaps answering the question about our goals for videoconferencing with students becomes easier.

What do you want your students to take away from video-based interactions?

We want students to feel welcome in the online space. To feel like their contributions are valuable and necessary, and infinitely more important than what they’re wearing or where they’re looking.

What are your goals for these conversations?

That every student wants to take part in the conversation. That every student appreciates every other student, and appreciates that this world is currently very difficult, but that these remote learning spaces can offer a place to be centered as a learner, and valued as a person.

Students are people. Educators are people, and we’re all doing our best.

This morning, we’re seeing conversations specifically around the idea that Muslim girls could be wrestling with turning on their cameras during Zoom because they’re adjusting to having to wear a hijab inside their homes. This is a valuable thing to think about, as long as it’s followed by the caveat: whatever each individual girl decides on this topic is absolutely the best thing for her.

If a student gets overwhelmed by the amount of time spent in a videoconference and turns their camera off to reset their attention, or get a drink of water, or use the restroom, that is them deciding on the best thing for themselves.

When you see students as people, you are doing your best.

When you give yourself grace, and when you try different ways of creating community and extending care to students and colleagues and families? You are doing your best.

And we’re so glad you’re here.

I can't remember the last meeting I have been to where I have only had one window open on my computer. students gonna multi task. it's my job to engage them enough to keep their attention. if yawl multi task please email me the good memes at class end.

— William D. Lopez (@lopez_wd) August 23, 2020

We’re all terrified, anxious, and… back at it in schools! So, as we return, let’s look at this big list of socially distanced advisory activities. Some work for being in-person, some work for being virtual, some work for both.

But let’s face facts: at this point we’re all here to build community and chew gum, and most of us are all out of gum…

ADVISORY IS A GO.

1.Fizz Buzz

Fizz Buzz is a counting game where “fizz” is assigned to a certain number and its multiples. “Buzz” is assigned to another number and its multiples.

2. Counting Up

As a group, the idea is to count to ten without two people talking at the same time. If that happens you return to the beginning. Accuracy counts, and speed is bonus points.

3. Kindness Bingo

Help students remember and celebrate their acts of kindness. Grab a copy of the sample bingo card (cunningly disguised as a Google Slide) and get to calling! Works for in-person (how exciting to yell “BINGO!” at full volume) or virtual (practice your hand-raising in Zoom) advisories.

4. Pecha Kucha

A quick way for folks to share about themselves and learn about others. Works in person or virtual. Once again, grab this Google Slideshow, make a copy for yourself and go to town.

5. Riddles

We’ll be honest: the vast majority of these 25 riddles are terrible. Legit groaners. But when has there ever been a better time to bond over truly terrible jokes? Please, point to that portion of history that’s not now.

Right?

Well played, Reader’s Digest. Well played.

6. Heads or Tails

Have students indicate their choice: Heads or tails. Hands on head? Or hands on hips? Flip a coin. If you are correct you stay in the game. If you are wrong, you are outie mcnoutie.

7. Words of Affirmation

No big mystery here: each morning each student and your own amazing self shares a word of affirmation. A word that describes where you want to take that day. Speak them out loud to one another, maybe with a little explanation, but that bit shouldn’t be required. Someone could be taking notes and producing a beautiful beautiful wordle or word cloud everyone can refer to throughout the day. Virtual? In-person? YES.

8. Thunderclap!

While in a big SOCIALLY DISTANCED circle pick someone to start with a single clap and choose if the clap goes left or right. The idea is to clap immediately after the person in front of you. Try a few times and see how long it takes to go around the circle. When done really quickly the clap will sound like thunder.

Variation: The groups stands so they are in some sort of SOCIALLY DISTANCED circle. They can pass the clap with clapping once, reverse the clap by clapping twice, or share the clap by pointing.

This variation sometimes goes by the name “Pass the Clap”, and if that’s a choice you’re going to make for a middle school classroom, best of luck to you.

9. Rainstorm!

Make the sound of a rainstorm with your body. Look, we were a little skeptical at first too, but check it out. With a group, you can do it with a combination of rhythmic clapping, stamping, shushing, whistling and finger-snapping. Amazing!

10. Energizers & Icebreakers

Here we go: 

40-Second Blah Blah Blah! Yes, really. Each person gets forty seconds to just say whatever is on their minds. Free-write stream-of-consciousness in a judgment-free zone. The only rule? You can’t stop talking once you start, until the forty seconds are up.

Whose …. Is It Anyway? Whose shoes? And whose pet? Pick a subject and everyone shows their own implementation of the noun. We’ll be honest: this one needs some careful handling, in terms of both equity and trauma. Be careful not to choose a topic that could make your students feel exposed in terms of socioeconomic need or privilege, and also a topic where you’re less likely to exacerbate existing trauma. For instance, if you’re asking whose pet is this and a student just lost theirs.

Walkabout: Get up and go for a walk. Sounds simple, but is super effective.

11. Two Truths & A Lie

Does what it says on the tin. Each student comes up with three statements about himself. One should be completely made up, but plausible (more or less), and the other two should be true. Students take turns sharing their three statements and having others guess which statement is the truth and which are the lies.

12. Community Poem

Create a poem together. Pick a topic and have a student start the poem with a few words or a sentence. The next student needs to continue the poem by adding their sentence so it still makes sense, and so on.

13. Collaborative Crossword Puzzle

Virtual: Queue up a crossword puzzle on your screen. Your students can now — using only the comment function of your videoconferencing platform — share their answers (ex. “13 down is ‘Amazon'”). See how far you can all get in five minutes.

In-person: Mark up some pieces of butcher paper in a canonical crossword format. Entirely blank squares. Lay them down on the floor (commandeer the gym, cafeteria, or outside spaces as necessary). Ask students for a word. (“Right! Let’s start with 1 down. Five letters. Who’s got me?”) Now, either you’ve got students with giant marker pens writing the letters on your butcher paper, or you’ve got students with a stack of scratch paper, taping the letters onto the butcher paper so y’all can revise on the fly.

As each word gets tacked down, move your way as a group through the crostic, contributing words as you go. Hey, blend this activity with the Words of Affirmation, above. Build an affirmation crostic.

Once the crossword’s filled in — or as you go, you do you, kittens — ask the group to come up with a definition for each word. Talk about it. Work through it.

And still feel the satisfaction of completing a crossword together.

14. Tunegroove

Begin each day with a song in your hearts and over tiny speakers on your desk or playing in the Zoom room. Throw a dance party, cameras optional. And don’t restrict this one to the Morning Meeting, feel free to bust it out any time during the day when y’all need a little energy boost.

And of course have students suggest songs. You might find the FCC guidelines for radio airplay helpful here: no mention of genitalia, genitalia activities, excretion or excretion activities. That covers quite a bit, but y’all can talk about what energy you want to bring into your class with these songs and make up additional inclusive and kind ground rules.

To get you started, we’ve pulled together this quick Spotify playlist of songs you can pull from for morning meeting, advisory, or whenever you need a little boost. And yes, it includes Hamilton. But also yodeling, because that’s gonna be amazing to sing along to as well.

Reach out if you need us; we’re all in this together.

Who could have predicted were we are today? Many aspects of education have been challenging the past few month. Most notably being distant from your students. They give you energy, bring you joy… and also provide lots and lots and lots of feedback.

Teachers, we see you out there designing remote learning with your whole hearts. We see you digging deeper into your toolboxes than ever before. The learning curve has been steep, but you have made sure to keep your priorities in order. Safety. Health. Relationships But, how do you know what’s working?

It’s formative assessment time.

Why formative assessment right now?

Now that school and home have crossed the streams, remote learning — or as it should be more properly known, “emergency distance learning” is really highlighting the equity issues that have always existed in our systems. So we ask:

• Who has support?
• Who has access?
• Resources? Safety?

If we consider bringing summative grading into the picture now we might be rewarding privilege and not learning.

“Do you know where you are?”

One of our favorite questions for starting to take stock of a situation. Let’s take a moment to see where you might fall on this learning progression on formative assessment.

Putting it into perspective

Charlotte Central School learning coach Allan Miller recently framed the challenging situation like this:

Is it possible to successfully combine:

• High Engagement
• Proficiency Based Learning / Targets
• Formative Assessment
• Personalization (choice and feedback)
• Remote Learning
• Social Emotional Learning
• Focus on Relationships
  • Student to Teacher
  • Teacher to Student
  • Student to Student
  • Teacher to Parent/Guardian

That… seems like a lot. Because it is. However, if you took away the remote learning situation, these have always been our goals. We have some prior knowledge to lean on before jumping into formative assessment for remote learning.

What would it look like if we were doing it well?

Borrowing again from Allan Miller:

“By June 2020 I will be able to design and implement remote learning instruction that:

• Is aligned with my chosen academic learning targets and provides authentic opportunities for improving core skills (academic and transferable)
• Is highly engaging for students – meaning they choose to engage not just out of compliance
• Provides formative data that I can use to modify and personalize my instruction through timely feedback
• Allows students to interact with each other in authentic and engaging manner 
• Allows for choice, personalization and differentiation – in a sustainable way for a teacher with a life.  
• Provides a safe, supporting environment for all students”

Right. And that leaves us exactly… where now?

It’s okay to not have all the answers. It’s just important to have the conversation. If you need some tools and strategies we have you covered.

At the end of the day you want to know what’s working for your students. And how to keep them engaged.

So… where are you now with formative assessment for remote learning?

Educators? We need to talk personal boundaries for remote learning.

Every day, you used to dress and pack a bag for school. You walked out the door and into a classroom, where you spent eight hours with dynamic, interesting, and beloved students, made space to listen and laugh with co-workers and administrators, and waved to families as they arrived to close out your day. And all of those steps are now blurred. Right now, we are struggling to make a distinction between home and work.

It’s an understatement to say this change in working conditions can feel overwhelming.

While it is lovely not to have to commute, and never to have to change out of comfy pants, the shift to remote teaching and learning is fraught with challenges. And one of the biggest is how to make this type of work sustainable for teachers.

In this situation, you could work for hours and hours with no breaks, forgetting about your own needs. And from what we hear, many of you are doing that! And that is not healthy or sustainable.

So: we need to set up some boundaries.

Brene Brown’s work focuses on boundaries, and she often addresses them as what is and is not okay. She says,

“Generosity cannot exist with out boundaries. Nothing is sustainable without boundaries.”

Whoa. Let that one sink in.

Nothing is sustainable without boundaries.

Teaching is already hard enough work. And now, teachers are at risk of burning out more than ever before. The conditions are *beyond* challenging. Connect with every student while simultaneously caring for your own family and monitoring this global pandemic? Sure, and let me just tackle world peace while I’m at it.

Enter: boundaries. As in:

a protected space and time

• what is okay for you,
• what is not okay for you
• and what you require others to respect about your life.

It is important that we all set boundaries with a focus on staying self and healthy. So, how do we do that?

Some recommended boundaries

Let’s dig in:

1. Designate work hours

And that includes office hours, and the hours you will be working each day.

First, think about what hours you are going to commit to work, while considering how many hours you worked before, and what your school or district is asking.

In the before-time, many teachers worked at schools somewhere between 7:45am to 3:30pm, sometimes staying later for meetings or work. But this might not work as well for you right now with your family at home. Teachers might get up early to do their planning, and then change the work hours based on this.

For me, I can do a lot before everyone in my house wakes up and I need to check in with them. I’m an early bird.

But you might designate some evening hours for planning or touching base with your colleagues or students via email. Own your night owl self!  Decide what your “work hours” will be — when you will be responsive and available — and then decide when you will shut your computer for the night. Yeah, I said it. When. You. Will close your computer… for the night.

2. Design support systems

Okay that sounds hard, but we all need to figure out what is going to work for us to take care of ourselves during this time, with a full-on daily commitment to our own health as educators.

This looks different for everyone, but a few ideas are:

Get outside

Being outside is linked to so many good health outcomes for us physically and mentally. Even a short walk brings benefits.

Meditate

The science is clear here too. Meditation reduces stress, improves memory, mental health, and focus.  I use the Calm app for this each day, and honestly, it has made my life and this moment a lot better. There are also lots of focused sets of meditation based on what you are working with that day. There are other great apps for this too, like Headspace, and 10 Percent Happier. Find one that works for you.

Set reminders to take breaks and move

If you are anything like me, you sit down to work, and look up hours later, dehydrated and disheveled and a little unsteady. I found an app for my phone  that cues me to take a standing break every 30 minutes: Stand up! The Work Break Timer. I find it very helpful.

Also: short sessions of yoga interspersed throughout the day are lovely. The downward dog app is free for teachers and students and is my go-to for movement. You can pick the duration, the music, and what you want to work on.

Family meals

Right now, connecting with family is super important. And dinner is a good time to do that if you can. Make it screen-free and settle in. Share some highlights from each of your days. Live alone? Invite a family member or friend to dine with you over Zoom.

Check in with friends

Since everyone is homebound, this is more important than ever. There is so much strain on everyone’s mental health, especially those who are older and might live alone. Who can you call instead of text?

Play a game

I know! It can be easy to think WHO HAS TIME FOR GAMES? This is a pandemic, people! But this is the very time to find moments of humor and levity. Just last night, my daughters and I played the online drawing game Drawful 2. It was so fun! We were all in stitches within minutes — and that was certainly the first time I laughed that whole day. My daughters and I have also lately been playing Heads Up using my phone, which is quick and fun and can turn whole BIG moods around.

Read

I am *trying* to make more time for this. Right now I find my eyes closing quickly when I try to read. Right now, I am drawn to stories that take me to far away places and need to work on giving myself more time to enjoy them.

3. Simplify your life when possible

Everything is complicated right now! Even trips to the grocery store. So what can you simplify? Is it more open ended assignments or choice menus for your students, so you don’t have to collect completed work each day? Is it simpler meals?  What can be pared down? This is no time to be taking on complex, arduous tasks that are avoidable in any way.

4. Let go of pressure

Cut yourself some slack. Social media will have you believing that many people are using this time to homestead and cook perfect loaves of sourdough from scratch every six hours. And sure, maybe some people are, but you my friend, you don’t have to, if sourdough feels overwhelming. See where we’re going with this? Doing home projects or working our or creating incredible art, or writing the next big novel — all lovely. None mandatory. Just seeing all of this is exhausting. There is no pressure on you to anything but what gets you through. Let go of other people’s ways of handling this moment. There is no one right way to do this. Do what works for you, and let go of pressure to produce, create, or “better yourself”. You are enough right now. You? Are frankly amazing right now.

Maintain those boundaries like a well-tended garden.

Once you have these boundaries in place, they take tending and care. There are always resources, people, and tasks that require your attention, and they are present and persistent 24/7. But the work is in recognizing this, and saying to yourself, “Not now. I will get to this, but not now. Now I need a break.”

And you might have to say no a bit.

Saying no to that extra task or meeting. Or saying what you have created is good enough. Or frozen pizza for dinner is good enough. It is all okay. You might have to communicate to your kids or spouse that this time is your time for yourself. As in, no, I am not open to negotiating whose turn it is on the iPad. I am reading.

Week to week, your personal boundaries for remote learning might change.

They might need tuning. And they might need to change based on your work load and living conditions, and that is okay.

Thinking of you all #vted. How are you setting personal boundaries for remote learning? What is one of your boundaries to help you with this moment? I’d love to hear.

Other articles on personal boundaries for remote learning:

• Teachers How Can Take Care of Our Mental Health Right Now
• Social Emotional Support in the Age of Distance Learning 
• Setting Healthy Boundaries with Distance Learning (podcast)

What happens when your work and home ecospheres become one and the same? For many of us this is part of the new normal.

As we are responding to a global pandemic, the need to redefine space, roles and schedules has presented itself. Educators are amongst the many feeling disrupted and experiencing the growing pains that accompany forging new routines. Personally, I’ve tried to keep these two aspects of my live separate and now, that is not longer a possibility. No doubt many of you have seen my daughter making faces over my shoulder when in virtual meetings.

Regardless of your situation at home this is hard.

Whether you are parenting and working simultaneously, dealing with social isolation, worrying about your health or any of a million other scenarios — this is new territory. And it will take time to find the right balance.

So how do we respond?

I’m reminded of the movie Ghostbusters (hello 1984!). Throughout the whole movie, the Ghostbusters were cautioned never to cross the streams from their proton packs. But in the end? Crossing the streams turned out to be… not so bad. In fact, it kind of fixed everything.

Stay with me on this.

Setting new routines

What’s the new normal? We know that school will not physically reconvene for the rest of the year. Distance learning is now the norm. Schools are presented with the challenge (or opportunity, depending on how you look at it) to reinvent new structures for learning. Recreating what we know as school at home just doesn’t seem to feel right. With new guidance coming almost daily how can we feel comfortable with our new normal?

I’m still working on this one but I have a few things to share as the dust settles:

1. Get out of your pajamas. And not just a nice shirt with pajama bottoms for those virtual meetings.
2. Create time for physical activity or being outdoors. Sunshine and movement is a must.
3. Set boundaries. Twelve hour work days are not healthy! (Maybe no more than 3 cups of coffee, too).
4. Find joy and excitement in something. Be creative and inquisitive.
5. Don’t forget to have fun. It’s okay to laugh and be silly in faculty meetings. Even play a game.
6. Embrace your two worlds merging. My animals frequent meetings too, FYI
7. Be vulnerable and ask for help when you need it! Hard but necessary.
8. Continue with empathy and kindness. You may never know who needs it.

Be human and embrace your supports

It’s okay to be human and let down your shield. Which aspects of these two worlds coming together can we embrace? After the first few times my daughter put in an appearance on my Zoom, folks began to ask me when she would next appear. She changes conversations for the better. It’s a boundary I’ve taken down and it allows me to be my full human self and bring my best to the work.

Educationally speaking, resources have been coming across social media, in emails, and just about every other possible delivery method. Many have been examples of online tools, equity focused, and connected to supporting learning. Many have been making sure people are fed, needs are met, and resources for support . The lesson here: take advantage of what you need. The popular sports phrase “it’s okay not to be okay” seems to apply here to. If you are struggling help is available. And that includes nuking your inbox and not even finishing this blogpost if you don’t want. Do the thing that helps you be okay.

Owning the discomfort

I fully admit I was paralyzed the first few days at home after Governor Scott announced he was closing our schools. I mean, I knew it was coming but at the same time… it just snuck in there. Time to regroup!

First, I didn’t have the right workspace set up.

Now that colleagues would be seeing my home it made me think. What about that pile of dishes over my shoulder? Or the stack of overdue library books? The casually discarded toys? Or the general disarray that changes from day to day in my house? All fixable. I simply turned my kitchen table around. Now there’s even a nice picture in the background. And it’s helped me much more so that I thought it would.

It doesn’t even have to be your space

Videoconferencing tool Zoom has a feature where you can swap out the background of your call for one of your choosing. You don’t have to share any part of your house with co-workers. You can convince everyone you teach from Hogwarts. Or the moon.

my zoom background game remains undefeated pic.twitter.com/2t3dicl1Ke

— caitie delaney (@caitiedelaney) April 4, 2020

So privacy can remain yours. (And a sidenote: the Zoom background feature is much more than a cute moment. It can help people who need their living situations to remain confidential — for whatever reason — do just that.) Again: do the thing that makes you feel the best.

Second, as mentioned above, sometimes my family just shows up.

The cat has a Jedi sense of when meetings are happening. My dog, Maple, likes to bark every time the mute button is off. It’s just part the deal. And I’ve let go of worrying about those aspects. It helps. Everyone’s doing their best, everyone’s adding to the chaos.

What have we all learned from this?

It’s all still a bit new but I have definitely learned a few things about myself. Forging new routines has taken a solid two weeks to feel like it has mitigated my anxiety. But… things are starting feel “normal” (if you can believe that). Yet it took some pushing and difficult learning to get there. In the bigger picture, I wonder what we can all take away from this experience? How can this period of upheaval inform our growth as educators and people?

In the interest of full transparency with the home/work overlap, let me share our newest backyard learning: maple syrup.

Since we were home, we decided to learn how to make maple syrup. It was our own take on a genius hour/passion project to help distract from the world. We borrowed taps and buckets from our neighbor. Looked up how to identify sugar maples. Tapped 10 trees. We started every morning, coffee in hand, collecting sap buckets. Who knew that 10 trees could produce so much sap? It was a welcome addition to our new reality and routine.

The last word

I found this calming. Hope you do too!

So you’re moving to remote learning. There’s a lot to prepare for, and before anything else, relationships to maintain, strengthen and nurture.

One important aspect to consider is how you can adapt the schedule of the learning day to provide structure and reduce anxiety during this period.

Consistent schedules help.

With so much in the air, it’s incredibly helpful to lay out the times you’ll be definitely doing certain things. While building remote learning, create a class schedule, including “live” online times, independent work time, and breaks.

Here’s how.

https://twitter.com/commlearncenter/status/1238563264847642626

Focus on connections and relationships by holding online advisory/morning meetings

Here is a structure developed with some teachers from the Two Rivers Supervisory Union for maintaining normalcy and community.

Morning meetings (30 minutes each morning at a set time)

1. Share and review norms, then check-in as a group.  Some possible prompts:

• What’s your weather?
• If you were an animal, what would you be?
• Tell a six-word story about yourself
• Rose, thorn, bud
• What emoji represents how you are feeling today?

2. Outline a schedule for the day. Share the learning and assignments for the day.

• Consider an outdoor learning task.
• REMEMBER to have realistic expectations: academics are a way to create a sense of normalcy and continuity, be reasonable about what you and your students can achieve. Focus on building skills or reviewing key content, not on introducing new learning.
• Don’t forget about non-core classes: assign PE, Art, or Music activities that kids can do on their own.

https://twitter.com/StudioJJK/status/1238577437363052544

Here are some reasonable expectations that you might modify for your students:

• Elementary students: 60 minutes of academic time a day, 20 minutes a day of:
  • literacy
  •  math
  • integrated arts (PE, Art, Music, World Language)
• Middle school students: 120 minutes of academic time a day, 30 minutes a day of
  • literacy or humanities
  •  math
  • science/social studies
  • integrated arts (PE, Art, Music, World Language)
• High school students: 180 minutes of academic time a day
  • 45 minutes per core subject area

3. Highlight an aspect of a transferable skill to focus on for the day or the week. TRSU teachers will be focusing on self-direction.

4. Encourage students to sign up for “office hours” or 1:1 connections with a teacher. A GoogleDoc or online form can help facilitate this process.

5. Finally, don’t forget to have some fun together.

Celebrating the small things will help you and your students with mental health, and distract from anxiety.

Here are some ideas for fostering the relational glue that is laughing and feeling good together:

• Readalouds!  Read a chapter aloud to your students.
• Mindful moments (try the breathing exercise above together)
• Jokes and riddles
• Morning announcements
• Meme of the day
• Assign a Flipgrid dance-off inspired by the teachers at Edmund’s Middle School

Above all, be gentle and let students who don’t want to engage this way also be okay. This. Is. A. Lot.

https://twitter.com/innovativeEd/status/1238470730230239234

End the day well with a closing check-in

TRSU teachers are planning a 30 minute (or less) check-in at the end of the afternoon.

1. Share outs: how did today go?
2. Reflections on transferable skill focus
3. Follow up on challenges from earlier in the day (meme of the day/dance-off/etc.)
4. Sign off in a positive way

It is a bonafide challenge staying connected while practicing social distancing!  Let us know how you are fostering community from afar. And don’t be afraid to ask us for help, we are here for you.