Last week I taught a marathon. Sitting at my desk, I ran like the wind through four intensive days in which I taught a whole semester course.
In my last post, I wrote about my dilemmas about dividing the students into groups to allow more intimate and significant learning. I was concerned that although I had offered three different time slots each day to cater to the needs of students with work and parenting responsibilities, the groups were very uneven. I had 23 students signed up for the morning sessions, eight for the afternoon and eight for the evening. After days of deliberation, I decided to encourage movement between the groups, but to accept the situation and move forward.
The course was a literacy course titled: ‘Reading and Writing in Grades One and Two’ and the students came from three different programs. I had students who were already kindergarten teachers studying an additional year to be teachers in the lower classes, and third and fourth-year students studying to be elementary teachers.
Despite the craziness of the days, teaching each lesson three times in one day, and planning and posting all the a-synchronous tasks which supplemented each day of synchronous teaching, it was a stimulating and successful week. I got to know some inspiring, committed and hard-working pre-service teachers, eager to participate and learn.
I want to share some of the elements of the course which made it successful in my mind, and the minds of the students, judging by their reflections, personal comments and feedback questionnaires.
What did I do in the course which motivated the students and enhanced the learning?
1. Restricting Zoom time – I couldn’t see myself teaching 9:00-14:00 every day, as suggested by the Faculty. Acknowledging that three hours is still a long time to sit in front of the screen, my decision to divide the hours into three hours of synchronous learning and an additional a-synchronous individual work unit every day, proved successful. Also, I allowed students to move between groups if necessary. For example, if a student from the morning group had a medical appointment on one of the days, she joined the afternoon or evening course on that day. That flexibility led to a 100% attendance rate for all of the four days of the course.
2. Due dates – My decision to recommend that students work through the individual work unit every day after the lesson, but not require it, proved to be significant for many students. The majority of the students did the work, or most of it following the lesson and in preparation for the next day, but those working or busy parenting in school holiday time didn’t feel pressured and didn’t detract from their involvement in the course. Giving a distant submission date for the tasks reduced stress, and allowed a positive and relaxed atmosphere in the lessons, despite the intensity of the program.
3. Low-stakes assessment tasks – I presented the individual work in doable chunks, including many low-stakes assessment tasks. The work was a mixture of theoretical readings and questions, alongside practical exercises connected to the practice teaching (or teaching) of the students. I presented the tasks visually on a picture of a game board, inviting the students to move forward from start to finish, stopping at various points on the board. I used Thinglink to create the units, and the design aroused interest and involvement.
4. Sharing daily reflections – Every day, towards the end of the lesson, I asked each student to write a brief personal reflection following the class. They wrote a new understanding they had generated, thoughts that had accompanied their learning, questions emerging from the session, comments, feedback and ideas. The students posted their reflections in an open forum on the course Moodle. I encouraged them to spend time reading the responses of others to learn from the ways in which they were connecting to the content of the course. Many of the reflections focused on the content of the lessons and the students’ developing understanding, but many chose to discuss their learning, their emotional responses to what was happening in the course, their learning experiences in small group work, or their thoughts on the digital tools I used in my teaching. Stopping daily to think back over the learning experience proved valuable in the generation of new knowledge in the course. I carefully read all the comments every day, and while I did not respond, I made changes in the lessons and reacted to what the students wrote.
5. Game-based learning – Incorporating games into the lessons attracted interest, active engagement and enhanced motivation. Some of the games were suitable for classroom teaching, and we played them at an adult level to become familiar with the format and experience the power of the game. I also used Quizizz quizzes to revise material taught and to make the students aware of the concepts they were not yet sure about. In addition to the exciting live class competition in the Zoom lesson, I put the same quiz into the a-synchronous unit in the ‘homework mode’. I encouraged the students to play as many times as they like until they were happy with their grade. Quizizz is an excellent tool for revision and informal assessment.
6. Short group discussions in break-out rooms – These discussions broke up the lesson and allowed the students to be active, and talk about the topics in question with peers. This was particularly fruitful as the students study in different programs, and they each brought their knowledge, experience and opinions to the conversation.
7. Extended inquiry in small groups – Over two days, the students explored an authorised method for teaching reading and writing in grade one. The students had access to all of the workbooks and the teachers’ guides connected to the program, along with access to the online teachers’ centre and digital games, tasks and teaching materials. I hope to blog about this activity soon. For many of the students, this was the first time that they had been given extended time to critically engage with teaching materials in this way. The guiding questions, together with the heterogeneity of the groups, produced powerful learning. Many of the students reported that the activity gave them a feeling of empowerment and that they now feel confident that they can approach any program for teaching reading and writing that will be chosen by their future schools. In these times of social distancing, the students appreciated extended work in the break-out rooms. There was time to chat, get to know the other students and to feel some reminder of face-to-face learning.
8. Nearpod – An additional element I wish to mention was my use of Nearpod in the synchronous lessons. I won’t elaborate here because the enormous contribution of the tool in making my lectures interactive, is worthy of a separate post.
9. Storytime – As I usually read a picture book in my face-to-face literacy courses and professional development courses, I decided to do it in this course too, despite the distance. I carefully chose the books and modelled how picture books are an integral part of creating a learning community in the classroom. Many students remarked that they looked forward to that part of the lesson and that they understood the potential and the importance of sharing stories through read-aloud. Others commented on how they found the readings calming.
After four full-on days of meeting with the students, at home, in pyjamas, wrapped in blankets, drinking tea and eating cornflakes, I can say that I got to know them as a group and as individuals. Through their Zoom cameras, they let me into their homes and their hearts and left me feeling invigorated, committed, and ready for more.
