Where are we now?
The fall is looming with trepidation on what all levels of schooling is going to look like. With students being taught remotely from March to the end of the year, there is real anxiety for all. Bringing students back into a learning community should be at the forefront of every educator’s to do list. If you’d like to learn more after reading this post, tune into my NJWA zoom professional development session on August 20th at 12pm.
We will all need to reexamine our expectations of where we think students should be and focus on where they are now. Community building activities such as ice-breakers or team building exercises are fundamental. If you want to engage a students’ minds, they first must feel safe and have a sense of belonging. Just as you cannot think straight when you are hungry, you cannot learn if you feel unsafe. Even with safety measures in place, students may be concerned. Fortunately, there are some simple things we can do to make the transition easier for everyone to whatever format you are running.
Wellness Check-ins
If you are working with a blended or hybrid model, beginning class with a consistent routine can ease students’ anxiety as they will know what to expect every time they see you in person. Wellness check-ins can be straightforward open-ended questions posed to the whole class, a journal prompt to focus students on their mindset, or can be a fun activity such as using emoji magnets and having students place their emotional state in columns on the board. If remote, Google Forms or a daily attendance question is the way to go to obtain a glimpse into your students’ emotional well-being.
In Move This World’s Toolkit for Planning for Re Entry, beginning the new year with a discussion that allows students to process the pandemic could be as uncomplicated as asking these candid questions:
How did it feel being away from school?
Were there things you enjoyed?
Were there things that concerned you greatly?
What was the best thing you did during your time away?
What was the hardest thing you did during your time away?
How do you feel about the time you spent with the people in your life?
How do you feel about returning to school?
Allowing students to share (and you as well) builds rapport and trust, critical components for education, especially during a pandemic.
Engagement Strategies
If we are fortunate enough to have in person instruction, that time should be reserved for discussion and collaboration. Building and sustaining community allows learning to flourish organically. Students should practice applying concepts during class with their peers and teachers can provide guidance and feedback to support skill development. Gallery walks, socratic seminars, and affinity mapping are simple ways to get students focused. The School Reform Initiative, a non-profit organization committed to educational equity, has a comprehensive list of strategies based on the type of discussion you’d like to have.
If we are remote, engaging students can seem challenging but platforms like padlet, back channel chat, and wakelet have you covered. Whatever engagement strategies you choose, consistency matters most. Don’t try ten different platforms as it will stress out you and your students trying to keep track of usernames and passwords and learning how to navigate that specific format.
Whether synchronous or asynchronous, we need to provide frequent opportunities for reflection and feedback to identity needs as students adapt to a new environment.
Voice and Choice
With Covid, many students (and adults) feel powerless over an uncertain future. Giving students agency over how they learn the content is one way to quell that sense of loss. One popular option is choice boards. Choice boards offer different options for students to demonstrate their understanding of course material. They can be used to introduce a concept, apply an idea, or assess a specific skill.
Depending on the age of your student, you can be as creative as you’d like. You could make the board a bingo game where students have to complete five different activities that meet the same course objective or a restaurant menu format with appetizers (introduction to a skill), entree (the meat of the lesson/skill, pardon the pun!) and dessert (a formative or summative assessment of the concept or skill). Though this may seem elementary in nature, students tend to enjoy the freedom of selecting options that fit their learning style.
In closing
Where we are now is not a normal place to be but putting students first and content second, as uncomfortable as that may sound, is the best way to insure a successful term.
If you would like more ideas on how to begin your school year, please join me on August 20th at 12pm for the first edition of the NJWA Zoom professional development series where I will be presenting how to build rapport with students in a remote environment.
This blog post was originally posted on the New Jersey Writing Alliance website 8/05/2020.
Kristie Opaleski is the past president of NJWA, an English teacher, and certified SEL specialist. She presents and blogs on SEL topics (TED Talk). Visit www.kristieopaleski.com for more information.