Teaching virtually is completely different than teaching in the classroom. The virtual environment seems dark, quiet, and somewhat distracting, which encourages students to drift off task (drifted off task while writing this article to look at things to buy for my dogs). I had been struggling for about month trying to get students more engaged by turning on cameras, unmuting microphones, and raising their virtual hand. However, these attempts worked with some students, but not all. Teachers have to find a way to actively engage students in learning to ensure concepts are learned and skills are mastered. Active engagement looks like scholars completing assignments, submitting those assignments, and responding, in written format, to questions in the chat box. Active engagement sounds like robust dialogue occurring between the teacher and students, and between students, themselves. So how do we get this active engagement in the virtual environment? Three strategies that will actively engage scholars in their learning are providing timely feedback, a weekly participation grade, and communication with parents/families.
Providing Timely FeedbackProviding students with timely feedback keeps them informed of their progress in class. For example, when students know they will receive a grade for work they submit, most students want to know the grade they received on their submitted work immediately. I have not mastered giving students immediate feedback on all assignments; however, I usually provide feedback within a week’s time, if not sooner. The sooner a teacher can get feedback students the better. Informing students of missing or incomplete assignments encourages them to ask clarifying questions about the assignment and then eventually completing the missing or incomplete assignment. Most often, when assignments are not submitted or incomplete, it is because scholars did not understand part of that assignment. I encourage teachers to have bi-weekly dialogue sessions with your scholars about their progress in your classes because these sessions will improve successful student outcomes. Timely feedback also shows students areas on which they need to work and areas they can celebrate successes. This strategy keeps students informed about their learning progress, and soon teaches them how to organize their time and study habits.
A Weekly Participation GradeAfter weeks of silence, when asking questions to my classes, I realized that i have to find a way to encourage students to answer questions and participate in class discussions, more. I came up with the idea of rewarding students points each time they participated in class. Since I am a Class Dojo Mentor and Ambassador and I usually use it in the physical classroom, and now I am also using it virtually. I figured, I can do the same things virtually as I did in the physical classroom, except collect assignments on paper; everything, now, is digital (The trees are thankful). When students get 20 or more points, they receive 20 participation points each week; if students do not get 20 points then they receive how ever many points out of 20 points. For example, if a student only received 15 points, then that student will receive 15 out of 20 points. Parents/families are, also, connected to Class Dojo, so they, too can view these points and encourage their scholars to participate more. With this new participation system, I am hearing more students’ voices (because they all want 20 out of 20 points), even students I do not normally hear from during class discussions. I am still trying to encourage a few more students, but I think they will soon come around.
Communication with Parents/Families As mentioned above, I keep parents/families connected to the classroom through Class Dojo. But during the first marking period, I was not consistently communicating with parents/families on the progress of their scholars; however, for the second marking period, I have focused my efforts on communicating with families on a weekly or bi-weekly basis; more than two weeks will not pass without parents/families receiving some form of communication about the progress of their scholar. Many parents, so far, have communicated their appreciation for receiving information about their scholars progress in class. Keep parents/families informed of their scholars’ progress because, in the long run, teachers need the support of parents/families to ensure successful academic outcomes for scholars.
In conclusion, this virtual teaching experience is helping me to increase my repertoire tool bag. I am learning new ways to engage my scholars and increase successful outcomes. Since implementing the above classroom strategies, I am receiving more assignments on time, check-in communications from parents, and hearing more comments and questions from scholars throughout the week; I don’t feel like I am in the Black Hole anymore.