My week began today with Office Hours – a Teams meeting in which students could ‘join’ and there they would find me, ready to chat and discuss all things Design and then some! In between scooping out a batch of oatmeal cookies and supervising a game of Chess, a student stopped in. I decided to use the opportunity to pick her brain about how things were going with continuing school online.
Here are 5 things we discussed that could help you in making the decision around balancing a synchronous -vs- asynchronous schedule:
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…teachers really overdid it in the first week with what seemed like a mega dump of homework instead of actual ‘school’.
Our first week in, we were tasked with posting assignments online. We did not meet online with our students but were asked to use our online platforms to assign work. While we had a collaborative document that all teachers populated with their tasks, this didn’t seem to help students from feeling like they were being dumped a load of ‘homework’. My student sang the praises of her teachers who are “really getting it now” and can easily see the changes that have occurred over the six weeks we have been online.
…it is really nice to see the teacher and hear their voices – even if we are not going to turn our cameras on!
This is likely going to be one of the few times that the students see us inside our natural habitats! Embrace it! Let them see your kids zoom across the screen, your collections, your artwork, your book stack. Maybe move the things you don’t want them to see (!) but it is really nice for the kids to see your face and hear your voice – even if you think both look/sound weird on camera!
…the kids are talking about who records their lessons as short 10 minute chunks and publishes these prior to scheduled online time, as part of the assignment
This is a big plus from her peer group who love that they can listen to and rewind this instructional stuff in their own time. We are more than makers of assignments. We help our students figure out what they haven’t considered yet. We expose them to new ideas. We help them connect rather than simply collect the dots. One way to do this is to prepare a short video that kids can watch in their own time and come to you with further questions. If you operate with Chrome, Screencastify is a great option for recording these types of videos.
Having flexibility is important to me. I like to be able to create my own schedule especially as I figure out when the best times are for me to get my work done.
One-size rarely fits anyone well – and the same goes for school schedules. My student’s current plan is to work really hard on Monday and Tuesday on given assignments, seek feedback and add to her work on Wednesday and Thursday by asking questions during online meetings, and cruise into the weekend on Friday. She’s figured out she needs to get more done during the day rather than stay up at night working. She knows she needs to make time while there’s daylight to get outside. She values time with her friends who are still all not in her timezone. I was really impressed with her ability to advocate for herself and to remain flexible – knowing that this may need to change based on any number of circumstances.
A fixed meeting time can be a good thing. Its even better when the teacher doesn’t keep you there for the whole time. The best is when they give you time to work on whatever they assigned.
This student has asked me if she should wait for Office Hours/Design Meetings to ask her questions, or if she should email me, because “I know you’re really busy too”. Having a fixed time releases some of that anxiety for students who don’t want to bother you or don’t want to ask questions in front of their friends. I ran mixed grade office hours last week and that was really fun to be discussing graphic design, photography, and game design with a small group of kids from three different grade levels. Don’t feel the pressure to keep the meeting going for the full hour though. I find setting an agenda helps and posting this to the class before the lesson so they can come prepared. If you do want them to ask or answer questions, prep them for this. Give them cues to look for in your lesson as a way in for them to contribute.
I go back again to Seth Godin’s post about The Conversation. I was in a Teams meeting the other day when input was being sought from faculty around online learning successes and overcoming obstacles. We started with “Amy”, then “Andy”….and 34 contributors later…”Sonya”. It was really hard to stay focused. And the tech wasn’t great. And most people didn’t turn their cameras on. As we met we were also filling in a shared document. What I was solid about when I came out of that call, was that I was:
- going to shorten my synchronous class meetings
- give access to EVERYTHING I wanted to discuss in a syncronous meeting to the participants BEFORE the meeting
- explore ways to get students talking in breakout groups
As it stands for us, we are following our typical 8 Day school schedule. At the end of the week, we look ahead to our allocated class times and we choose two of them: one is going to be office hours, and one a synchronous class (recorded for those who can not attend). This gives our kids a mix of face-to-face time and independent work time with the option of teacher help.
As a mom and a teacher, I am finding that pre-pandemic, I did an excellent job of using my prep blocks at school to prep for school. Now, my prep blocks are taken up with playing chase, walking to the mailboxes, baking muffins, prepping snacks, lunch, and dinner, doing laundry, building lego, and navigating all the G1 activities on SeeSaw for my daughter. Anything else is left for well after my kids are in bed.
To continue with the same pace of regular school is not sustainable in this environment. It makes me wonder if it ever really WAS sustainable sans-pandemic? My biggest hope is that we use this as an opportunity to rethink the way we “do school”. If we return “business as usual” when all restrictions are lifted, we have wasted an opportunity for ourselves and our kids. I am looking to see which schools rise up from this as true innovators and creators when all is said and done.
Will it be your school? Will you be leading the charge for change?
sonya terborg 