@ In response to your request to share our approach to remote teaching https://twitter.com/courosa/status/1246544867628441601?s=20, I put together my first thread!

Full Disclosure: When I saw your request, it was something similar to what I would be doing for @ualberta EDU597 - Tech In Schools 1 with @janetbell & @wrice1978. I am taking this course with my @mightyminds colleagues @mightylillybee @scimann @Madonner99

I thought posting here might be helpful for others.

Right now, I am a cheerleader for my Gr 9 @mightymindsabm ELA Ss. These are some of the things they hear me say:

“Yaaaaaay! Thank you for handing in your Quick Write!” (in Google Classroom)

Or, “I look forward to reading more of your writing!”

Or, “I look forward to reading your quick write” as a gentle reminder via Google Classroom or email.

Or, I look forward to our Book Club Google Meet on Friday.

Tech Used for Accessibility: I mostly use my Acer tablet w keyboard, & sometimes a Google Chromebook to connect. I know from a Form that we asked all Ss to complete they are working on laptops, desktops, Chromebooks, iPads or other tablets, iPhones & other types of cellphones.

Some students choose to take photos of their writing that they have done in their journals or annotating of a poem on a hard copy & submit via email or Google Classroom. (I recently learned that you can comment on a photo just like you can on a Doc! Love this!)

Knowing that there can be 3, 4 or more children + adults sharing 1 device, we are flexible in when & how Ss work & offer weekly reminders to students of online & options for completing then sharing with their T.

This is particularly important for students in other time zones in eastern Canada or working remotely in India.

Tech Used for Engagement: My ELA teaching partner & I use Google Slides to create a plan for the week that is unveiled for Ss ea Tues at 10 AM. We collaborate on this asynchronously over the course of the week & have a Sat morning Google Meet to finalize plans.

My colleague & I also have a Doc where we collect links that we come across that we know that our students would like related to reading, writing and poetry, such as readings by Neal Shusterman or Harry Potter at Home, that could be incorporated ea week.

All S slides are in the same file so that they can refer to the previous week’s slide & links. The work for the week is all linked to from one slide so as not to overwhelm, something we are very mindful of.

Math with @csichar is unveiled on Mon, Science with @scimann on Wed & Social with @andrewwarke on Thursdays. The focus on Fri is French, options including Art with @artyabm & PE with @ABMathletics.

Because we have read about how important it is for students to see & hear their teachers, my ELA9 teaching partner and I link to a weekly audio & video message.

(This will be our 3rd week on Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT), a term @madonner99 @snbenivan & I 1st heard about fr @lissadavies when she shared @gcouros blog post https://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/11563 with us.)

We record weekly messages using https://online-voice-recorder.com/  or I use the camera on my tablet to record a video that I upload to YouTube, make Unlisted, and link to from our slide plan. I appreciate the data it collects on how many views it has had. I have used Screencastify as well

(I also use https://online-voice-recorder.com/  to record the writing examples that I have written so that Ss can listen to it or listen and follow along.)

I appreciate the even more specific data for Google Slides or Docs that we link to. I know who has viewed them and who has not. This helps with follow up messages in Google Classroom, emails, or phone calls.

@janetbell, 1 of our Technology Integration & Planning Support (TIPS) Team members, calls Google Forms a “swiss army knife”! We linked to a form to collect information about each S's reading over the extended 2 week Spring Break.

By asking separate Qs for 1st, last name & class, we were able to easily sort the info we received into our 3 classes. @scimann also used a form to collect S interview Qs for author Dan Riskin. Ss loved viewing this recording & it combined both LA & Sci.

We have used both asynchronous (email, comments in Google Classroom/Docs) & synchronous (Google Meets, phone calls) to communicate with our Ss. For March Mammal Madness https://bit.ly/ABMmadnessFINALS, @scimann had a Grade 9 Google Meet to announce the results to +70 Ss!

Tomorrow, @csichar and I will have our 3rd weekly Google Meet for the class of 31 that we share. Because we know our Ss are staying up late & sleeping in, we have these at 2 PM. Each time we have had a Community Circle where each student shares something.

This is a practice that we have maintained fr in person classes. While we don’t see all of our Ss bc they choose to keep their cameras off, we sure do appreciate hearing their voices! I have also had 2 small group book club meetings so far.

Regardless of how many Ss are in the Google Meet, I find wearing a headset is helpful in hearing the softer voices.

Expectations: @csichar & I hope to see all of our students in Google Meets but know this might not be possible for everyone.

Whether in Math, LA or Sci, I hope to see that they are engaged in any 1 of these subjects in the 1 Google Classroom that @scimann setup for all Gr 9's when ERT was announced. If we have not heard fr someone in a wk, I follow up with a phone call to check that everything is ok.

Assessment: Right now I'm checking whether things are (in)complete & whether it is consistent with their previous work. I feel like I'm getting to know our Ss in new and different ways & I am learning things about them that I never knew before!

End of thread. Only lost once!