Is there anything you plan to change for the second half of the school year in order to better prepare yourself and the students to better address the curriculum? Will you be making any changes with regard to teaching strategies and delivery systems? Will your proposed changes create a more successful second half of the year? And finally, are you concerned about the possibility of remote instruction continuing into the next school year, 2021-2022? If that happens, do you think that you, personally, will be better prepared to have a more successful year?
I am personally prepared to be home until further notice. I learned not to get my hopes up about going back to school rather just get comfortable with being at home. My team and I actually just had a pick up for textbooks and supplies for the marking period so that the students can do some offline work and reading. Having a textbook in their hands will be a big game changer for a lot of the students. Going forward we are trying to allow the students to be more independent and do some of the work offline to give them a break from the constant online lectures. I have also been looking into different ways to keeping the learning fun and incorporating games and activities whenever possible.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I find it difficult to plan for next week, let alone the second semester. I truly take it one day at time right now. Each day, when I leave school, I am sure to leave with everything I need to teach the next day or two from home. I need to be able to pivot to all remote teaching immediately if needed. In terms of my curriculum, I am resolved to the fact that I will not be able to cover the same amount of material I have in the past. In addition, I find the virtual/ hybrid teaching model makes it difficult to increase depth of understanding as students are still reluctant to increase their level of participation as the year goes on. When we were fully in person, the student engagement at this point in the school year was much higher. Currently, I do try to provide "brain breaks" and SEL activities as well as opportunities for students to work independently off camera. I have used Quizlet and Kahoot for fun competitive skill practice in a game setting but these tools lose their novelty if used too frequently and they don't always work well with every topic or skill. I will continue to explore different strategies and ways of mixing up lesson delivery to keep my students engaged as we move towards the second half of the year with so much uncertainty. - Kathleen
ReplyDeleteI think the only way I can prepare if we go back to all remote is going with the flow and making the best out of every situation. I am not sure what I can change because I am just going to be the student teacher. However, I know of a lot of resources that can be implemented into the remote instruction setting. I'm hoping that we don't go back fully online, but I do understand the reasoning. I just hope I will be effective and the students will be responsive to my lessons. I am trying to work closely with my cooperating teacher and see how she is approaching every situation.
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