Every single school that is offering any sort of virtual option should take time NOW to learn how to motivate and manage people remotely.
I am a remote team leader since before COVID, and here are some top-of-the-dome thoughts:
Don’t measure or seek to regulate “time in front of screen.”
It may feel like you’re keeping kids honest. In reality, you’re motivating them to game the system. Instead, measure something directly related to the outcome you are desiring. Making a kid sit on a zoom call doesn’t make them any smarter or prepared for a test or prepared for life.
Asynchronous communication is critical.
If a meeting can be an email (or a video), it absolutely should be. This goes for parents and students. You can have ways of determining that they consumed the content of the “meeting” without staring at their glazed-over eyes on a screen.
Don’t reinvent the wheel.
There are already great educational resources out there on YouTube and elsewhere. Use those for “lecture time” and spend your energy applying the concepts to your specific students by interacting with them to see what they are missing.
Cut yourself some slack.
This is different than what you trained for, and remote teaching/learning is tough. You can’t just apply the same techniques for keeping kids engaged that you could in the classroom. But you can be creative and flexible.
Think through “cameras on” policies.
“Cameras on” meetings run the risk of every student being distracted by their own face on the screen. And they may be embarrassed to turn on microphone or camera because their home is loud or messy.
Teaching remotely? Here are 5 quick tips from a remote team leader that will save your semester. Click To TweetI’m more than happy to speak to or answer questions on a Zoom call of educators at my kid’s schools (Greenwood County District 52) or others.
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