Unboxing Education

  Supporting students in a virtual environment goes by many names. Coaching mentoring or shepherding are all programs that have been instituted to provide the virtual student with that one key person within the virtual program that can offer them support and guidance. I often liken the mentor, as it is called in my program, to a guidance counselor as it is a person that can see a student's whole schedule and has regular contact with the student and the parents to communicate important information about the virtual program and to answer any questions that the student has. The mentor also communicates with the teachers when a student has an issue such as an extended illness that might impact their ability to work in their classes. Without a mentor, a student can get lost or overlooked in a program. Teachers may know a student is struggling in their class but may not realize that they're not working in any classes or may miss key information about that student's personal life....

  As the number of K-12 students taking online classes increases, the need for research to identify best practices specific to the online classroom becomes greater. Michigan and Florida, along with other states, require most students to take an online course in order to graduate. Moreover, students are electing to enroll in virtual schools for all of their classes, whether those schools be in their district or in a charter school, public or private. The chances are that a teacher entering the field today will, at some point, have the opportunity or obligation to teach in an online setting. The value of a great teacher is established and makes the need for best practices more urgent.  For teachers already teaching online, it quickly becomes apparent that while a few classroom strategies transfer to the virtual classroom, many do not. The available literature on the topic of teaching online centers around either higher education settings or blended learning models. Some new rese...

  Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of any work-from-home job is how to not be working. It becomes too easy to have one foot in the office at all times. I learned the lesson of unplugging in the most unlikely of circumstances, teaching online during the COVID-19 pandemic.  In the fall of 2020, I saw my virtual student enrollment soar from a pre-pandemic level of 90 students to 300+ enrollments. I was also trying to support my coworkers and just generally navigate living, and parenting, during unprecedented times.  Prior to the pandemic, I prided myself on my quick response times and my inbox-zero mentality. I worked on and off most of the day and usually late into the night. While busy seasons sometimes got my schedule off kilter, the catch as catch can method worked most of the time.  However, by the end of September 2020, it became clear that inbox zero would be a distant memory. I also rarely got all submitted assignments graded. I remember days when I would s...

 Check out my guest post over at the DLC Blog: Engaging Parents in a Virtual Setting Betsy is an instructional coach & teacher at Gull Lake Virtual Partnership, Richland, MI Having a child in a virtual class at home comes with expectations for parents that are often new, unexpected, and unclear. Past experiences or faulty assumptions may set students and families up for frustration. Other students, however, thrive in the new virtual environment, feeling empowered by the flexibility and choice. Recent research has attempted to identify and measure the most effective types of parental support for virtual students at home. Parents may breathe a sigh of relief that they do not need to be an expert in Algebra or World History to have a significant impact in supporting their virtual learners. Read more.

  Partnering with community resources can be a great way to expand learning opportunities for students. Schools throughout Michigan partner with businesses and community leaders to offer opportunities such as job shadowing, learning applications, and more.  Businesses often embrace opportunities to work with schools to give back to the community and to ensure a qualified workforce. Inviting business leaders into the school to design career academies is just one way to create a bridge beyond graduation. Another way to create community connections is through applications of learning. Schools can partner with local businesses to expand PE offerings, for example, by using swim lessons at a local facility if the school does not have a pool on campus. Other opportunities include partnering a PE teacher with a fencing instructor to bring a new course offering to the high school. This community involvement can involve other content areas as well, from music to performing arts to outdo...