JLWAITE FINANCIAL GROUP

Tips for Distance learning/teaching

1.) Get to know your students. I know that’s difficult when you don’t even see them in your classroom each day. Find out when their birthday is, what their interests are, how many brothers and sisters they have, pets and something interesting about them. Send them a hand-written welcome note, birthday card, or  “congratulations” when they win an award. Parents are a good resource.

2.) Have your students get to know you. Introduce yourself and tell them a little about yourself. Let them know you are human and were once a student yourself. Tell stories about your school days or other times which can inspire your students to do their best.

3.) Make your expectations and instructions clear. You may not know all the guidelines or curriculum yourself with daily changing structure. However, let them know what is expected of them and that distance learning is not playing video games for hours. The difficulty with distance learning is that students can’t walk up to a teacher’s desk and ask questions when they don’t understand something.. Follow up with assignments given and be there to help.

4.) Post assignments and schedules. Let your students know what the assignments are and when they are due.

5.) Create a question-and answer discussion board. Make Q&A forums open to the entire class. Students can ask general questions or for clarification on assignments that might benefit everyone else.

6.) Hold live office hours. This is more common in college, but why not elementary, Jr. High or high school too? Let your students know what time you are available for any help or questions they might have. This is not teaching time, but rather helping time.

7.) Be Flexible. If possible, structure your class curriculum so that students can complete their work in their own time, not according to some rigid bell schedule. For example, don’t punish students for not making it to virtual meetings. Audio and video recordings are helpful. If you have online quizzes and exams, allow students to take them anytime throughout the day.

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Here are some website links that may help in distance teaching/learning broken down by subjects: