Early Successes with Remote Teaching

Graeme Liddon

I just had a successful experience as a form tutor chatting to my middle school tutees. I asked them to say (or write down in the chat) one thing they were enjoying about the new online learning system and one thing that was a challenge or a concern for them. It produced a lot of positive statements, for example, about independent learning, time management and being more comfortable. Areas of concern, for which we discussed possible solutions, included the need for more explanation from teachers at times, what to do if you do not understand something and too much workload. We agreed that we are all learning here and must try to communicate with each other as we go along.

Annie Finch-Johnson

I have found that using Zoom has allowed for 1-1/group chats depending on ability and the chance to target specific questioning much more easily and develop the knowledge of students quicker as they do not feel as self conscious in front of the class :)

Dan Rodriguez-Clark

Using the Breakout Rooms in Zoom has been an awesome discovery for live sessions. I use them for quick think pair share activities, where I ask the whole class a question, then break them into pairs automatically assigned by the Breakout Room feature. I then immediately press close rooms which gives students 60 seconds to discuss between them. Then they all come back to the main room, and I choose random students to share what they discussed with the class. This has allowed me to keep 'lectures' more interactive and similar to my classroom teaching, and gives students a chance to discuss their ideas.

Laura Del Aguila

Padlet is a great tool for gathering immediate responses from students for all types of tasks. I recently used it for my French lesson within a Zoom session. I asked students to write their answers to an exercise on Padlet and I could make comments on Zoom as they wrote - they could also read each other's answers in 'real time'. Although there are certain limitations, such as how many "padlets" you can create, I think this tool is an easy and quick way to check for understanding. There are some options which are particularly useful for teaching foreign languages, for instance, having students record a voice note in the target language and check their pronunciation. I definitely recommend trying it!

Cecilia Ramirez

P6s reading from their music booklets and performing polyrhythms with the use of a free app (Carlos Granthon's-he just shared that with us today). S4 compositions (some samples. Ongoing). Nightmare with the many different softwares the kids have at home but working v well.

If you have any successes to share, feel free to add them in the comments below, or email Dan and he will update this post to include them.