in the classroom
Balancing act
Tips to help make the move to online teaching .
Felicity Carrett
From my experience working on both sides of the distance education ( DE ) fence – as a DE teacher at Australian Christian College and helping my son complete school online – here ’ s some tips for making a successful transition to online learning while juggling your own children ’ s learning needs .
IN YOUR ROLE AS A TEACHER Be explicit
1 Don ’ t make any assumptions about the learner or the home supervisor – they might be grandparents or other family members . You ’ re not there beside them to guide what they ’ re doing , so you need to be clear from the get-go about every detail . Don ’ t assume they know they need worksheets and a glue stick for a lesson . Make everything as explicit as possible , including details about the learning environment , the necessary materials and the thinking and strategies you want them to work through . Be responsive
2 Try to be extremely responsive to email or phone communication . When home supervisors are in the thick of things and get stuck , that ’ s a key opportunity to teach and engage . If it takes you four hours to get back to them , often they ’ ve moved on . I think it ’ s best to be very responsive to cries for help or more information . Use video
3 It ’ s easy to forget how much information teachers gather from observing and interacting in a face-to-face environment . When you ’ re in an online setting , videos help to replace that . A simple , 20-second phone video can give you so much information .
Videos are great for getting work samples . For example , if you want to see how a student ’ s writing is going , have them take a short video as they write a sentence . Videos also help you provide feedback . For example , you might create a video offering instant , specific feedback about where a student is missing the mark or didn ’ t get the right focus on a task . Or you could show them an example of a C grade assessment piece and demonstrate how their work compares .
Videos are ideal for instruction . You can easily create demonstration videos for students . Another option is doing voiceovers in PowerPoint for on-screen teaching that doesn ’ t need your face on it . Students can use videos to ask you questions .
You can create videos to teach home supervisors how to guide students with particular topics or tasks . For example , you could demonstrate how to work through a maths problem or construct a paragraph in an essay .
Simple , clear , short and well-modelled videos are the most effective .
4 Communicate
It ’ s vital to keep communication flowing back and forth between the teacher , student and home supervisor . Almost everything else we can readily adapt – like print and online resources – but great communication is key to filling in gaps created by the loss of face-to-face interaction .
FOR SUPERVISING YOUR OWN CHILDREN Ensure good supervision
5 Like many 17-year-olds , our son can find things he enjoys doing more than schoolwork ! One of our conditions is that he does schoolwork in his dad ’ s office so we can monitor his screen . On the days I work from home , he works in his dad ’ s office in the morning , and does the second half of his day at the table where I ’ m working . We don ’ t allow schoolwork to be done in his bedroom , because we know he would get off task .
For parents with younger children , achieving the balance between work and supervising children is harder because they need more micromanaging . You might need to work with one child at a time while the others play . Have a timetable
6 With the greater intensity of working with children in lower grades , establishing a timetable will help you work out how best to get through everything . You might need to rotate through helping each child with their more challenging subjects while the others play or complete easier work .
Be sure to schedule regular breaks and time for your own work so you can fit everything in and it ’ s not too overwhelming . Set goals
7 Students in senior school can be relatively independent – you probably don ’ t need to be micromanaging every lesson , every day . With our son , we discuss his goals at the beginning of each week and intermittently review his work and assessment tasks .
Younger children will need smaller goals and more frequent check-ins to ensure they remain on task . Be organised
8 One thing our successful DE families have in common is strong preparation . Some check what work is coming up for the week and ensure they get organised over the weekend . They ’ ll print worksheets and organise the necessary resources for the week ahead .
Especially with primary school children , doing things on the fly doesn ’ t work . If you ’ re balancing a job with children doing school at home , it ’ s an absolute must to get organised the night before at a bare minimum . ■
Felicity Carrett is the primary student services coordinator at Australian Christian College and has a Bachelor ’ s Degree in Primary Education and a Graduate Certificate in Visual Arts from Griffith University .
20 | educationreview . com . au