Teaching Online –– in this time of crisis

 <br />Your school closed because of Covid-19. You found out that your students will be off for the next few weeks. You still have to teach them or provide resources so they continue to learn. You may not have taught any classes online. This could be all-new for you. If so, it can be scary and overwhelming.<br />Instead of trying to redo your entire curriculum, this might be the time to look at how you can communicate effectively in an online environment. This means teaching you and your students the tools and protocols along with realistic expectations.<br />Reaching out to your students<br />Many schools and districts have ways to communicate with their parents.<br /><br />* Did you receive instructions on how to communicate with your students when you are not at school?<br />* Do you have your own website or blog, a page on the district site, use learning management systems or use google docs?<br /><br />You may want to reach out to your students introducing what learning will be like for the next few weeks.<br /><br />* Introduce yourself as an online teacher.<br />* Put up a picture or video of you.<br />* Share how you plan to communicate and receive messages.<br />* Start slow with a simple schedule for one day.<br /><br />Here is a Daily Schedule Planner that you can copy and use thanks to Rebekah Madrid. Instructions:<br /><br />Click here to open the Google Doc<br />Go to File > Make a copy<br />* Type a name and choose where to save it<br />* Click OK<br />* You’ll then find an editable copy of the Google Doc in your Google Drive<br /><br />If you did not receive instructions or do not have a way to communicate with your students, then you may have to resort to sending mail home or sending messages via text. I know there are students that do not have access to digital resources so I'll look for ideas to share with you. I'll share what I find in future posts.<br /><br />Take a Few Breathing Breaks<br />Meredith Johnson @mjjohnson1216 shared "Breathing Breaks" on Twitter when we were discussing how to ha