Talk Less, Smile More

In the musical Hamilton, the fictional version of Aaron Burr tries to convince fast-talking, say-whatever-you-think Alexander Hamilton to “talk less, smile more”. What Burr really means is to keep people guessing so they won’t have a reason to dislike him. 

But it’s not a terrible way to think about online & hybrid teaching. 

No, not the “keep em guessing“ part. But the teacher-talking-less part is good advice for all of us. And the keep ‘em bonding part is pretty good, too

Teaching is SO WEIRD right now, right? The online part is definitely one of the weirder parts. For most of us, there are a handful of kids who answer questions and participate. 

And then there are the silent icons. Silent initials.  

Are they listening? Are they learning? Thinking? I have no idea. A bunch of them turn in work. Some of them are just weird lurking icons. They turned off their mics and cameras. Did they turn off the incoming sound and video so they could just watch TV, too?

Their silence unnerves us. As does the repetitive nature of those same four kids who participate. 

And so in our awkwardness and discomfort with the silence, we-the-teachers talk into the abyss. 

And some days, we talk and talk and talk and talk...

It’s a teacher-talkapalooza. And it makes time slow down and class kind of boring. Even those teachers who are natural-born storytellers (and god help the kids who have teachers like me who aren’t). 

Why is this not our best idea? 

First, I think of those poor kids who spend 7 periods a day listening to teachers talk all day. Whew. That’s a whole new kind of tired. I also know that as a teacher, it is exhausting to talk all day - and even more exhausting to talk ON SCREEN. All those studies on Zoom Fatigue are real. It’s reason #815 why you’re so tired. It makes the day go soooo sloooowwww....

But there's one thing I do know about learning 

That the “person doing the talking (about content) is doing the thinking (about content). 

So if the teacher is doing all the talking (about content), the teacher is doing all the thinking (about content). 

If the same four kids are doing the talking, THEY are doing the learning and the thinking.

What are the other kids thinking about? 

Who knows? Pizza? Minecraft? Romantic interests? What are they going to eat tonight? Grandpa’s health? Fave tv shows? Tiktok dances? All of those? 

But probably not content. They don’t need to. The teacher is doing all the work. So they can kick back and daydream about Kid Thoughts that don’t involve content. 

Hey, teacher! Like Aaron Burr says, “talk less”. Maybe have those same four kids talk less, too. 

You might ask what else to do instead of talking. These are weird times in which to teach and we can all use some new thoughts.  

Here are some ideas:

1. Chunk your class (with timers!): Use a timer for yourself to only talk for 5 or 8 minutes. Use a timer for how long kids should go watch that video you dropped in the chat. Use timers for how long they should take on bellwork, quickwrites, readings, discussions, or anything else you give them to do. Keep. Class. Hopping! Keep it moving to keep kids engaged. 

2. Use wait time differently: If you want to talk less, it’s only logical that ALL the kids should talk more. But what if they won’t? Wait time hits differently when everyone is silent and unseen. Suddenly, everyone thinks class is over? Or the internet went out? Or the sound stopped working? You can’t just be silent like you could in your all-live class. Nor is it fair to let the only-in-person kids be the only ones to talk. It’s time to use music, a ticking kitchen timer, the Jeopardy tune, or a countdown clock to let them know that you’re waiting -- but that the internet hasn’t actually crashed (not this time, anyway)

3. Call On Kids: It helps to tell them this ahead of time and not spring it on them like a wacky surprise, but let them know that you are going to call on all of them. And maybe if they answer, it will be for a point somewhere that you have built into participation or something or maybe they get a school “buck” or maybe they can earn a free homework pass or something. But call on every kid. Give them all the opportunity to answer (even if it’s in the chat if they don’t have a mic) You can spin to choose who will answer with Wheeldecide or SuperteachertoolsSpinner OR you can use the RandomNameGenerator Or RandomNamePicker Or any of those tools.But don’t let them off the hook just because they don’t raise their hands. I know, because I have heard from the online kids in the Hybrid class that it is hard, even for the outgoing ones. It’s hard 

4. Make it Fast: Make it a race. For your in-person kids, give them 30 seconds to write a quick response to what you just read/said/wrote/viewed on their desks with dry-erase markers (everyone is cleaning all the time anyway, right? Might as well wipe down desks again. For your online kids, give them the same 30 seconds to put something in the chat (emojis and gifs count ONLY IF they are a response to the thing you just  read/said/wrote/viewed). Then, have kids share out their answers if they like. 

5. Walk Away: Give kids a specific SHORT amount of time to do THE THING you just asked them to do. Like, “You all have 5 minutes to read the first paragraph (or two) and underline/highlight any words you don’t know.” or “Please answer the first two questions on your one paper and we will come back together in 8 minutes (at 11:15) and talk about it.” I am HERE at my desk and in the chat if you have questions”. Then, let them do their thing. 

6. Process, Process, Process: Kids need to process content and information. They need time to “chew” it up. There are 100 ways to do that but some are

1. Draw something they learned

2. Talk about it to a partner

3. Connect it to something they know

4. Agree/disagree with a statement about the content

5. Summarize

6. Address misconceptions

7. Compare/contrast the content

8. Examine it from multiple perspectives

9. Ask questions about what they learned

It’s okay to talk less, even into the silent abyss. But smile more and find ways to make class move at that “lively pace” that you used to have. Make it fun and quick and the kids will learn more. 

And guess what -- I promise, that if you end up talking less during your day, you will be LESS TIRED. (I really DO want you to feel better, work less, be less exhausted, and enjoy your job more. One small baby step at a time. 

I want to make your day easier. I also want to make it easier (and more successful) for your kids. Hopefully, there are one or two ideas here that will work for you AND for them :) 

You got this. Let’s pump up the Pumpkin Spice Lattes and pep up our classes so we can be less tired! 

Let me know if I can help! As always, I love to hear from you! 

-Tracy

Insane, Sane?

 This is so hard, you guys. 

I know. I see and hear and watch you all. You are working, so, so hard. 

I am not sure if we acknowledge this enough. This is insanely hard on, like, 50 different levels.  Here is a non-exhaustive list of things that are insane. 

• It is insane to teach online and in person, whether you are doing it at the same time or alternating class periods. 

• It is insane to try to gauge kids’ reactions and expressions behind masks. 

• It is even more insand to try to gauge it with cameras and mics turned off. 

• It is insane to have kids ghost your class. 

• It is insane to try to keep naturally-social yourg human beings 6-feet apart. 

• It is insane to think we have 6 feet space in our classrooms, and to keep them 3 feet apart. 

• It is insane to try to do this with some kids on computers, some on phones and some on no devices. 

• It is insane to ban student devices from classrooms like it’s 2019.

• It is insand to plan for in-person and online lessons like they’re the same. 

• It is insane to grade for in-person and online lessons like they’re the same.

• It is insane to assess for in-person and online lessons like they’re the same.  

• It is insane to think you will sleep or see your friends and family again. 

• It is insane to think that the stress of health and safety doesn’t take a huge toll on you.

• It is insane to think that they

This is all so crazy. And I wish it wasn’t. If I could snap my fingers and become a virologist and magically solve Covid, I would. 

In a heartbeat. Because this sucks for a lot of people, but you all are the ones I worry about. 

So, I have two things for you today. First, huge props and thanks. I know that you’re working your butts off and if you haven’t been thanked profusely lately, please hear my thanks. 

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

YOU ARE WONDERFUL AND AMAZING AND MAKING A GIANT, HUGE DIFFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!! 

YOU MAY NOT BE PERFECT BUT YOU ARE WHAT YOUR KIDS NEED TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!  

CHEERS TO YOOOUUUUU!!!!!!!!

Second, I don’t have any magic wand, but I do hear a few small tips of what’s working from some colleagues. Maybe some of the ideas might help? 

If not, take the thanks and run. 

Otherwise, here are the smaller tips and ideas I have been hearing from some of you that seem to be making life slightly easier. 

1. Bond with your kids: Nothing else matters. Most years, you already have that bond “glued” and you have moved on to solid content. This year, between masks, computers, lack of computers, and switching back and forth between computers & face-to-face -- our bonding isn’t quite as strong as it normally is. Keep working on it, and keep being intentional about it and it will make things easier as you go (I promise).  

2. Plan for Online First: I keep hearing this from you guys: it is easier to take an online resource and turn it into an offline resource -- than the other way around. Take the reading offline and make a copy or project it. Don’t take a textbook reading or a paper copy and figure out how to put it on Canvas. 

3. Use The Resources: Your district staff (in secondary SS: Me, Josh, Michelle, Matt, Jess) are working so hard to get every possible resource up on Canvas for you that we possibly can. You are welcome to spend your evenings and weekends searching for and creating your own resources. But if you want some downtime, use our stuff. And if you don’t love our stuff, it’s okay to tell us. We can see what we can find. But we do this, not to mandate stuff, but purely to take some burden off of you.

4. Use Speedgrader in Canvas: If you haven’t used Speedgrader yet, please do. It is, indeed, speedy.  It’s easy to quickly see kids’ work (whether in the text-boxes of an assignment or in an upload) and quick to grade. And then, sync to Focus and you don’t have to do double the work. 

And PS - don’t grade too much (but don’t grade too little). Take it easy-but-fair on yourselves and on the kids!

5. Ask for Help:  Back when we used to use Mac computers, someone sent me something NSFW and I spent an entire planning period trying to figure out how to delete it. If I had asked for help, it would have been gone in under a minute, I would have had a new skill and I would have had my time back. ASK FOR HELP. We are all learning here. This is crazy for all of us and someone has figured out something you need to know that they can solve for you quickly. OR -- they didn’t know it was a problem and they can try to solve it, stat. 

A  reminder. You are amazing. Your kids are learning to love you and you are making a difference. You can handle this by putting one foot in front of the other. You have support when you ask for it. You can do one task at a time. Everyone is struggling (it’s not just you). 

This is a pandemic and teachers all over the country are losing their minds. You are not alone. You can make it through tech problems, mask renegades, virtual meetings, schedule changes, Canvas issues, and the Pumpkin Spice Faculty Meeting.  (Mmm!). Just hang in there and don’t let it get too bad. 

Please know how thankful your kids and parents are (even if they don’t say it. They’re going through some stuff too) and please ask for help when (not if, when) you need it. 

Have  a great rest of the week. This weather, amirite?

-Tracy

Together, Apart?

 A hundred years ago, schools were redesigned from one-room schoolhouses (which functioned a lot like farm houses and small businesses where everyone did what they needed to at wherever level they were) to industrial revolution schools. 

Industrial revolution schools were where children were trained like factory workers -- mainly  because they were being trained to BE factory workers. They sat in rows and the info went into the children as simple input and came out of them on tests as simple output.  Low-level learning, teacher (boss) directed. Not creative or collaborative learning, because that’s not how their workplaces would be when the kids moved up and into the work world. 

And then, in the last decade or two (or more?) we have worked on preparing our kids for a different kind of workforce. For jobs that don’t exist yet. For collaboration and creativity. For solving problems. For flexibility. We have asked kids to use higher order thinking and small groups and project-based thinking.

Suddenly, our classrooms look like plague-versions of those industrial revolutions. Rows, spaced as far as we can get ‘em. Not a lot of collaboration, if any.

And our at home kids are often silent. And invisible. 

What the heck, you guys? Did we go back in time? Are we just training ALL kids to be Amazon drivers? How do we get back to collaboration and problem-solving and creativity?

Here are a couple of ideas to help kids collaborate. Because they are social beings who need to be social (for their mental well-being!)

(PS -- for YOUR mental well being, JUST TRY ONE OF THESE! DON”T OVERDO IT! 

1. In-person Partners: Let’s not get in too deep here. Start slowly. There is no reason to start with anything complicated. We can start with our in-person students in pairs. They do not have to move close to each other. They can either talk (maybe loudly) to one partner in a smaller class or they can use (and clean) white boards and markers to “talk” in a larger class. Turn and talks are not dead. They just require a little finessing. 

2. Online Discussion Boards: They aren’t bad tools, if used well. Ask kids to post “x amount” of times to a prompt -- and have REAL discussions, not just checking a box to get a teacher off their backs. Post something thought provoking, knowing that a quote, a political cartoon, an artwork, a chart/graph or something that has real substance gives kids something to discuss. Feel free to MODEL what a real online discussion should look like (their social media examples are probably poor examples).

 

3. In-person Teacher-led Small Groups:If you’re teaching simultaneously, it’s OKAY to give your online kids a task and a time limit and say “go read this NewsELA reading and meet us back here at 11:15”. Then, sit down in a socially distanced small group of in-person kids and work with them on a specific task like teaching a text-marking strategy or thesis-writing or explaining the corroboration between two documents. You can split your room in half and work with half your room while the other half reads the article, too. (it’s better for the other half if they can use headphones so they aren’t bothered by your group talking). It’s like rotations! 

4. Online small-groups: These are slightly more tricky, but even more necessary for our lonely, at-home kids who are at risk for more mental health issues. You can create a sub-channel on Teams. Next to a Team, click the three dots (the breadcrumbs) and choose “Add a channel”. Then, give your sub-channel a name, like Group 1, Blue Team, or whatever you like. Assign students to a sub-channel (Group 1 will be Deshawn, Emma, Diamond, and Aiden). Show the kids how to click on the sub-channel.

NOW THE HARD PART: SUPERVISING THE CHANNELS! Make sure to pop between your channels at randomized times quickly to make sure conversations are appropriate and that kids are not up to mischief. If kids are up to no-good, remove them immediately and use your school’s discipline procedure. 

5. Rotations: Treat your online students as one or two groups (depending on the number of students). Treat your face-to-face students as one or two groups (depending on the number of students). Then, have them rotate. Give the kids you are not working with a video, reading, computer work, or other independent work while you make your way through the 2, 3, or 4 groups. This helps the kids bond with you and with each other. It helps them see and be seen, hear and be heard. It helps them better understand the content. And it helps you-the-teacher see what content they are or are not getting.  

I know you’re tired of “delivering” all the content in a teacher-centered way. It’s okay to take a break from that and rearrange some learning in a collaborative way. Actually, it’s really good for the kids. 

And if all you can do is a discussion board or a turn and talk, that’s ok too. Do what you can do. I know that this is incredibly hard and that simultaneous teaching is double the preps and double the work. I see you and talk to you all. Maybe this can be a way to stop doing all the teacher-led work and let the kids do more of the thinking and leading? It’s worth a try. 

You don’t work in a factory and you don’t teach in a 20th century version of a factory-prep school. It’s ok to let some collaboration back in as best you can. 

Let me/us know how I/we can help. 

-Tracy

All The Things

An awful lot of you are Livin La Vida Loca called “Simultaneous Teaching” or sometimes “Hybrid Teaching” An

On behalf of all humans everywhere, not a dang one of us who have personally cured Covid-19 by now, I apologize for putting you in this position -- where no teacher should be. 

I am seeing my veteran master teachers feel like first year teachers and I am seeing my first year teachers ... feel even less “together” than they would during a normal year. I am seeing you all work even longer hours than usual (I didn’t know that was possible. Get some sleep, y’all!)

This is so hard, you guys!  

Whoever said to just “do the same thing with both groups” has obviously not been in a simultaneous class, especially in a school where Face-to-Face kids aren’t allowed to bring technology into the classroom (or don’t have any to bring, which is killing me!)

I facilitated PD last night where I mostly asked questions and listened to our colleagues talk about their Simultaneous Teaching problems and victories. 

Here’s what I learned. I’m like Robin Hood today, stealing (with permission) the great ideas from our colleagues to give to those who need great ideas. I hope at least one will make your simultaneous teaching life easier. 

 Here are the Top Ten Things I have learned (from our colleagues!) to make Simultaneous Teaching easier on Teachers (and kids, too)

1. Plan for the Virtual Part First: I am hearing that it is easier/faster to adapt the digital activities to face to face (play the video whole-class, make the discussion verbal and not a chat, print the reading) rather than the other way around. This is especially true if you are using district-created resources and not making/finding all your own stuff.

2. Establish Bellwork/Beginning procedures: There are plenty of ways to start class, and starting class smoothly has always set the tone for the rest of the class. That hasn’t changed, but maybe the logistics have. Some teachers have the face-to-face kids (F2F) start on bellwork by looking at the board and writing in their notebooks while the teacher gets the Online kids started on their digital bellwork. Some teachers have all kids (F2F & Online) do their bellwork the same way -- all in a physical notebook or all in Canvas. But all teachers who feel like they “have this down” have the kids do some sort of bellwork while the teacher takes attendance. 

3. Build Relationships with Online Kids Differently (but intentionally): Remember, some of the online kids don’t see another human all day. And some of them have their whole families breathing down their necks. They have a lot of emotional needs and they really need to bond with you and with each other. (please don’t forget this! Please be intentional in building classroom culture with them!) Some great ideas to help with building relationships included:

1. Asking kids (at their choice and discretion and comfort level) to turn on their cameras for a few minutes at least once a week so you-the-teacher can get to know their faces.

2. Asking kids to turn on their mics for an extended culture-building bellwork once a week where everyone shares their answers out loud. Something like “Thankful Thursdays” or “Good news Mondays” would be great for this!  

3. Having each kid create a Bitmoji to use in your physical & digital classroom, even as their “signature” on a Class Agreement or classroom Social Contract. 

4. Have Online kids respond with emojis and F2F kids respond by drawing emojis on whiteboards (they can be cleaned at the end of each period).

5. Let Online kids be “seen” and known by having “bring your pet to Online Class day” or use that as an incentive for Online kids (like dress-down day for F2F kids)

4. Manage Canvas Confusion: Kids are confused in Canvas. To manage this, our colleagues suggested the following:

1. Put a due date (of that day, if possible) on everything so it shows up under today’s “to do” list and not under a future “to do” list. 

2. Hide everything kids don't need to see. Hide the apps on the left that they aren’t going to use.Hide future lessons and future tasks. Less clutter is less confusion!

3. Make tasks “prerequisites” to each other. Meaning that they can’t go on to Task B if they haven’t completed or looked at Task A. 

5. Doing Too Many Things At Once (and None Well): Use rotations to give some special, focused time to each group -- your Online kids and your Face to Face (F2F) kids. Depending on your numbers, this might just be two groups, say 15 minutes of direct instruction with your Online kids while your F2F kids do some independent work (maybe a reading task or map activity). Then, switch! Ask your Online kids to do the reading while you do some direct instruction with your F2F kids. 

*Bonus -- this can help with the bonding/relationship building that you’re doing with your kids (that’s harder with those Online kids AND can possibly decrease your stress level one notch [we can’t work miracles here] while you only work with only one group at a time). If your class numbers are uneven (maybe one of those two groups are larger than the other) you can split it into two and have a rotation of three groups (for example, two F2F groups and one Online group) or if you have One Giant Class, you can have four rotations. You can split those rotations over two days if necessary. 

6. Using Channels: Do you have an ESE teacher who needs to meet with ESE students for pull outs -- online? Use a Teams Channel! Do you want to have your online kids discuss things in small groups? Use a Teams Channel! Do you want kids to work in groups? Use a Teams Channel *One caveat! Kids can get up to mischief if they are unsupervised in a physical room OR a virtual room. Please make sure to be really good about popping into the Teams Channel(s) to make sure kids are being supervised and not up to mischief.

7. Nearpod:  Nearpod is great for lots of things -- including the checks for understanding and kids collaborating and giving feedback. This gives them a voice -- which THEY need right now because the world is crazy and YOU need because you’re reinventing your teaching. 

8. Thumbs Up: Have kids use “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” both in F2F and (when cameras are on) with Online kids. It’s an easy way to see if kids are okay, and if they’re with you, and if they’re understanding coursework. 

9. Online Kids Can Check Out and Come Back: If your audio won’t work or the simultaneous content won’t work ... ahem .. ..simultaneously, have the Online kids go watch the video on their own and come back to Live Class at such-and-such time. It’s not skipping class. It’s doing their classwork! 

10. Having Patience: In a normal year, by the third week of school, half the kids still don’t know where to turn in work. Or how to put a heading on their paper. They have seven (or eight) different teachers with seven (or eight) different expectations. Now amplify that with in-person and/or virtual expectations. OF COURSE they don’t remember how to do all of the new things! That is also changing as we all work through things. Add the stress of a pandemic and the learning curves of new technology (for us AND for the kids) and the economic stresses hitting a lot of our families and they’re all a hot mess. (so are many of us, to be honest) Not turning in work. Ghosting class. Not answering questions. Not turning on mics. Acting like fools.  Just having patience with ourselves and with our kids when we/they mess up can make all the difference. 

I know that this is ALL different and weird and crazy. Do you? Do your colleagues? Do your kids? Do their parents? 

This is your weekly reminder that this is a GLOBAL PANDEMIC (yes, I’m yelling) and NOBODY HAS EVER DONE THIS SIMULTANEOUS TEACHING BEFORE (because why the heck would they?). 

It’s ok that it isn’t great yet. Don’t forget to be patient with yourself and your kids. It takes small, incremental fixes to go from terrible to okay to good to great. Start small. 

And let us know how we can help. 

-Tracy