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It has officially been over a month since we've started distance learning here in Ontario and in all honesty the first month was not easy. Initially I found that everyone - parents, students and teachers - were struggling to figure out their new lives and how to navigate the distance learning world.
But now that we've had time to work through this, I think we are all starting to feel a lot better about it. So here are a few suggestions of activities and things that you can do in your digital classroom to keep students engaged! Disclaimer: these are all things that I've tried in my own distance learning practice and have found to be successful so far & I hope that some of them will work for yours too!
DIGITAL GAMES
I am all about the digital games right now. It is so nice to have something that promotes learning while also providing some fun for the students! I personally am using the Google Classroom platform and really like it because it is familiar to students and most families.
At least once a week, I assign some sort of digital game for them to play. It varies from seasonal vocabulary to verbs or sorting activities. You can click here to see this one!
WEEKLY OVERVIEW
I know that everyone has been given specific instructions on how they should be communicating the workload to families and students, and in saying that I just want to touch on how the weekly model has been working for me this far.
Weekly, I send "home" two templates ; one for parents, and one for students. The template for parents contains an overview of the tasks we will be working on in both English and French. I teach in a French Immersion setting, and know that most families do not speak French. Then for the students, I create a weekly Google Slides so that they can work through the tasks with instructions in French (and the occasional English explanation). I want my students to work through challenges and problem solve as much as they can.
I like to also include a screenshot of Google Classroom in my weekly slides, that way when students are at home working on it they know EXACTLY where to find it and don't have to spend too much time trying to navigate it. There is nothing worse then feeling frustrated when you can't find something, and my goal is to make it as easy as possible for them to be successful.
Click here to get your copy of these Morning Slides for free.
DIGITAL TO DO LIST
I am a person who loves lists, and I realize that this is not for everyone - and that is okay! But I tried this out and it worked for some kids so that was enough to make me want to share it.
Along with their weekly Google Slides, I send my students this "digital" to do list so that they can keep track of everything they need to complete for the week. I figured, they could print it out and have it in front of them, or pull up the digital copy as they work through the tasks.
Click here to get your copy of this Digital To Do List for free!
I hope that some of these tips can help you with your distance learning journey!
SAVE ME FOR LATER!
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