Educators have been scrambling to provide educational opportunities for students during school closures. Many districts have asked educators to continue to give students classwork and learning activities, both to help maintain a sense of normalcy in this time of uncertainty, and also to prevent learning gaps that may negatively affect academic success in subsequent grade levels. Synchronous video meetings have been scheduled. Worksheets designed by textbook companies have been photocopied onto paper or scanned into digital learning management systems. Reading logs have been sent home to track independent reading, as has been done as daily homework for the entire school year up until this point. Classwork has shifted to work for the home.

Can Classwork Work as Home Work?

I applaud these districts and educators for their commitment to student learning. And I truly believe they have students’ best interests at heart. Classroom teachers are putting in a great deal of effort to convert their instruction to a distance format. But many are discovering that their hard work does not seem to be paying off. Students fail to attend scheduled video meetings, they misunderstand worksheets or do not turn them in at all, and reading logs are ignored or forged. Understandably, this can be quite disheartening to an educator who has spent considerable time preparing learning experiences for their students.

Herein lies the problem – educators are attempting to replicate the classroom environment. But a classroom does not fit into a home. The spaces are not one and the same. Instructional strategies that may be effective face to face do not necessarily transfer to a virtual learning format. We are attempting to fit a square peg into a round hole. We need to think differently. The bottom of this blogposts provides “rethink” suggestions to make distance learning more effective.

It is natural and can seem most simple to build upon our instructional norms when designing for a distance learning format. But we often forget the always actions we do in the classroom, the protocols that have been so ingrained in our daily routines that we downplay their effectiveness. Educators constantly make eye contact with students and watch facial expressions to guide conversations. And these students are already present in the classroom, they do not need to join from a computer at home to engage in the learning. This is nearly impossible to replicate on a video call. As students complete worksheets in a classroom, an educator is available to provide real time support – whether it be clarification of vocabulary, proximity that helps a student refocus, or a reminder of where to locate resources for support in completing an activity. Educators engage in conversations about the books students are reading independently, they suggest other texts the students may enjoy.

Rethink Learning for Success at a Distance

Before: Synchronous video calls – Students have been thrown into a different learning environment without warning. Families did not have a chance to design their schedules around school video calls. Some students may not have instant access to a device of their own and/or reliable internet. Others may have entered the work world to support family finances, or are taking care of siblings. Young children may have parents that are working from home on a video meeting during the scheduled class conversation.

The Rethink: Multiple Options – Scheduling conflicts are a reality. Rather than meeting at the same time each day, offer options. Alternate morning and afternoon times for students to join in. This will increase the likelihood that students will be able to attend. Furthermore, it may result in a smaller number of students per call. The less individuals in a video meeting, the better able the host and participants can pick up on non-verbal cues.

Before: Work from Textbooks – In a classroom setting, students have access to assistance from an educator. At home, a grade level worksheet may be inaccessible to students who struggle with language, vocabulary acquisition, lack of prior knowledge, and/or learning disabilities.

The Rethink: Open-Ended Tasks – Particularly in a time of uncertainty, accessibility to content is key. Rather than handing students a worksheet, opt for learning activities that have multiple entry points and more than one answer. Open-ended tasks are naturally differentiated. Be sure to lead students to multimedia representations of content including non-tech means of learning. Provide various options for students to express learning also.

Before: Reading Logs – I have seen countless educators use reading logs to track students’ independent reading. Now, students may not have access to a library of books or ebooks of interest. The stress the adults in the household are facing due to financial difficulties and/or relational challenges at home may make students hesitant to add another thing to their parents’ plate by asking them to sign a reading log.

The Rethink: Leverage Interests – Students may not have access to books, but perhaps they can research a hobby or sports figure who interests them. Reading on the internet is still reading, and a relevant topic is likely to engage students to continue learning past the due date of a reading log. Rather than asking students to record the number of pages in a book or take a standardized assessment about a novel, provide options in methods of demonstrating learning. Perhaps some students will enjoy creating a video or Tik Tok about their reading. Others may prefer to make a sketch-note, create booksnaps from screenshots of the most poignant points learned in their internet research, rewrite a short story from a different perspective, or draw a comic for a sequel to a novel.

Rethink and Shift

Educators are no longer in control of a classroom space, and students may feel out of control shrouded by uncertainty as to the future. It is within this landscape that empowering our educators and students is more important than ever before. School as we know it has shifted. If we do not shift our approach to meet the altered environment, educators and students alike will face frustration, forcing a method that no longer works in our new context. Avoid the hamster wheel of inefficient practices and iterate…one small shift at a time.