Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Whether planned or unexpected, virtual learning days often fill teachers with anxiety or dread. At the same time, students may discount virtual learning and not view it as a “real” school day. But if we can think of virtual days as opportunities, they have tremendous potential to offer powerful learning experiences for students. The key is cultivating an active learning environment that doesn’t attempt to replicate the in-person classroom but still gives students the instructional support and firm expectations for engagement that they need. Here are some tips that will help you transform your virtual learning days:

Tips for Any Virtual Learning Day:

1. We can’t assume students will have a caretaker overseeing their work on a virtual learning day, so it’s crucial that we support students as they build their executive functioning skills, including organization, time management, and self-monitoring.
   • Be explicit in your directions for completing the posted lesson. Include the expected time to complete each component to help students maintain a schedule at home without bells or official transition periods.
   • Provide students with a to-do list or checklist to help them monitor their progress. Canva for Education (reviewed here) is a fantastic option for adding clip art or emojis to documents to offer visual cues that help students focus as they follow these directions. If your students have a Google for Education workspace, you can share a link to a Google Doc or Google Sheet that prompts students to create their own copy, enabling them to digitally check off tasks as they complete them. (You can find information about how to create a Make a Copy link in this resource.)

2. Use edtech tools that your students are already familiar with to reduce the cognitive load when students must work independently. If you have to use a new tool, be sure to provide ample technical support references.
   • Consider using a screen recording tool such as Screencastify (reviewed here) to demonstrate the appropriate use of the edtech tool for the assigned activity.
   • Use Scribe (reviewed here) to record screenshots and create a step-by-step PDF guide that shows students how to navigate a tool or platform.

3. Provide a strong model for the work you ask students to complete. Since students will not be able to get an immediate response to questions as they work, having an exemplar is a crucial tool for them to self-monitor and confirm their understanding of expectations.
   – Consider including the model directly into the activity students complete so it is easily accessible. For example, pin a sample post on a Padlet (reviewed here) to help students see potential sentence starters. If using Nearpod (reviewed here), use the reference media to provide an image of a worked solution to a similar question to help students understand the expected level of detail needed.

Tips for Unexpected Virtual Learning Days:

1. Leverage AI tools to help create last-minute lesson plans. Explore this TeachersFirst special topics collection on using AI for lesson planning for inspiration.
   • Use Curipod (reviewed here) to effortlessly create presentation slides that include interactive elements like polls and drawing prompts and are based on standards you provide.
   • Use the Parlay Genie in Parlay (reviewed here) to generate discussion prompts about an online article or YouTube video and assign them to students directly in the platform to complete asynchronously.
2. If schools move to virtual learning for several days, consider offering a digital check-in to allow students space to share their emotional needs when out of their regular school routines. Review this on-demand OK2ASK workshop for ways to create check-ins using Google tools.

Tips for Planned Virtual Learning Days:

1. Leverage the “open schedule” of a virtual learning day to accommodate the varying amounts of time students often need to complete certain types of activities.
   – Use this TeachersFirst special topics collection on escape room resources to create a gamified lesson for students.
   – Have students start brainstorming or researching for a project. Leverage an AI tool such as SchoolAI (reviewed here) to create a space where students interact with a chatbot to get inspiration.
2. Consider assigning the first part of an activity that includes a sharing or presentation component. Students can complete the independent piece at home and present their work when they return to the classroom.
   • Review this on-demand OK2Ask workshop for an introduction to EduProtocols. EduProtocols are lesson frames that allow students to follow a structured workflow focused on deep learning of content. Several free EduProtocol templates, like those in this Ditch That Textbook blog post, can be assigned for students to work on independently.

Ultimately, the success of virtual learning days hinges on providing students with the tools and support they need to thrive in an asynchronous environment. Emphasizing executive functioning skills, leveraging familiar technology, and offering varied learning activities will help ensure that students remain active and engaged, regardless of the learning location.

Do you have success stories of effective instructional lessons for virtual learning days? We’d love to hear your lesson ideas in the comments so we can pass along the wins to our classrooms!