I don’t know about you, but I feel like the world is turning upside down. I am waiting for the zombie apocalypse to take place any day now. You go to the store to buy some toilet paper only to find out it is gone. You show up to work one day only to be told to stay home and start teaching online. It doesn’t matter if it is a natural disaster, a pandemic, or other circumstances that has brought you to the need to teach virtually for an extended amount of time. This post is here to help you get started.
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Now that the word “pandemic” has been made official, many schools are closed or preparing to close. As a teacher, you have been asked to carry on and continue to teach meaningful lessons via online resources. The problem is, you have never been trained.
No worries. You are a smart, creative, and resourceful teacher so you got this. You can create meaningful and engaging lessons even through distance learning.
Get free online resources to help you get started planning your online teaching here.
Now I know it would be easy to tell students to practice vocabulary from a premade list and log it so you know how much time they spent on this. However, you still have curriculum to get through and students to get ready to promote to the next level. You need to prepare students for the Seal of Biliteracy exam and get students into interpreting programs. In other words, there is still work to be done.
I know people have been sharing resources on how to get through this and I wanted to put together various ideas and tricks here to get you through the school closures.
Before we get to the list of resources it is important to understand the need for communication in the language classroom. Students need to practice communication skills and we need to try our best to give them that opportunity. So my list will start with how to provide virtual face to face communication.
Zoom Video Conferencing
Zoom is an online video conferencing service that allows you and your students to have face to face time virtually. You can chat up to 45 minutes for free. You can use this online resource to evaluate your students and allow them to communicate with each other. You just set up the time and share the code. This is not for whole-class instruction but can be a great tool for interpersonal communication.
Screencastify
Screencastify is an app that will allow you to record yourself and your screen. If you are preparing a vocabulary lesson or a culture lesson, this can save your life. This resource allows you to record and it automatically saves to your Google Drive and will create a Youtube link. If you don’t have a premium account, you are only allowed to make a specific amount of videos a month (maybe 20???). It only costs $25 for the year so I think it is worth it. I use it daily in my classroom.
Flipgrid
If you have never used Flipgrid and your school closes, now is the time to try it. It is a great way to make at home education a tad easier. Flipgrid allows students to record and other students (and you) to view it. Students can respond to each other’s videos if you set that up as an option.
Google Meet
It used to be that you could video call in Google Hangouts but that has been replaced. Now for videos, you need to use Google Meet. If you have never used it, here is a video to get you started. It is captioned.
Like the other video options above, Google Meet is a way to get face to face communication with students. You can use it as a way to conduct office hours to answer any student questions or to quickly assess the signing and forward progress of students.
Learning Management Systems
Most schools have an LMS. My district uses School Loop and Google Classroom. The LMS is a great place to store notes, lectures, link videos, assign work, and collect the work digitally. I find Google Classroom to be user-friendly and accessible by all. If students use their phones, there is even an app. Students can complete work digitally and turn it in. This makes it easy for you to collect and grade. For me, I know I can even import the grades from Google Classroom into my grade book.
Don’t overlook what your school district’s LMS can do in the time of a school closure.
Online Gaming and Flashcards
Quizlet, Gimkit, Quizziz, and Kahoot are staples in our classrooms. Right now (March 2020) Kahoot is offering free premium accounts to closed schools. These are great tools for review before an exam. Pair these online gaming tools with Zoom or Google Meet, share your code, and allow students to compete just like they are in the classroom. After all, they will probably have a bit of cabin fever and missing socialization.
Quizlet can give students time to practice vocabulary. Kahoot is a great format for culture and grammar practice and review.
Quizziz works a lot like Quizlet. It can be used as a way to test students or practice vocabulary. You can search to see what is already created or create your own.
Edpuzzle
Edpuzzle is one of my all-time favorite tools for assessing student’s interpretive skills. I am always a bit choppy with starting the video, but I always figure it out. So if you are like me, give yourself some time to learn how to use this.
I believe as of March 2020, Edpuzzle is extending its free use terms. Check for premade videos other teachers have created or create your own. The perk to this is students can’t read the captions on videos or fast forward through them. WIN!
I hope some of these tools help you better serve your student population and create some meaningful at-home lessons for students. Look for more tips and help by subscribing to this blog and joining our conversations in the Creative ASL Teaching Facebook group. Tweet about how you are using Creative ASL products @creativeASL. I would love to see them in action.
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