Week 6 of Remote Learning felt more like “assigning” and less like teaching:
I knew in my heart that if I didn’t change something, the next two months of remote learning were going to be painful. To get some conferring time in, I picked 3 topics I knew my students were working on, and divided our Google Meet time up with my interventionist. Students chose what they wanted to work on in their writing.
How conferring changed remote learning:
.Students had an audience. They shared their thinking with their classmates and they helped each other improve their work.
.Misconceptions were quickly cleared up. When students hit “submit” and I read their work, the most I could do is leave a comment that they may, or may not, understand. When we had conferring time, it was much easier to clear up misconceptions and see the thinking behind their responses.
.Students were engaged! Most students want to connect with their teachers. They want to hear what we have to say, and it motivates them to continue working when they know we appreciate the effort they are putting in.
Final Thoughts:
When we were in our classrooms, teaching didn’t end with a focus lesson or directions to an assignment and it doesn’t need to be any different with remote learning. It WILL be messy. There WILL be technical issues and background noise while you are trying to meet. It may take a while for you and your students to get comfortable with a new format. But in the end, the value of conferring with our students is the same. And for this teacher, it has made all the difference!
A Sixth Grader’s View of Covid-19:
by Kyrsten
