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A series of interesting things my @PeelSchools students taught me through #distancelearning, as observed through their final feedback form. 11 math ss responded to reflection qs for me and them. Overarching question: "What if we have to do this again?"
1) I had thought they would've preferred the "checklist" format through assigning one task per day in Google Classroom, even if those tasks didn't require something to be handed in (i.e. would be just a lesson). Surprisingly, they prefer Classwork to remain Classwork!
2) Audio/video instructions are much more needed than I thought. Through distance learning I hadn't considered audio/video explanations (only providing written) until I saw the idea unfortunately after classes ended (thank you @ms_e_a!). Now a must-do!
3) Students want me to tell them how to write their notes, either through copying mine directly or having my version available. This begs the question: do they not want to write their own notes because they don't know how? Are they not confident in selecting what to include?
4) Students tried lots of things when they didn't understand. Most common were asking friends/family/etc, consulting the internet (including apps like Photomath) and using their textbook.
5) Practice problem completion varied greatly, but everyone did at least a little bit! #proud
6) I should offer more targeted practice questions. Several students in an open-ended q said when they saw lots of problems they were discouraged. Maybe I'll consider offering tiers of problems? I.e. start with these, if you need more practice do these.
8) To my surprise, students know confidently how to use @GoogleForEdu Classroom and @Gmail, some even saying their skills improved this semester alone. They want to learn how to use @googlesheets and Google Sites. Now to think about how to incorporate those into the curriculum!
9) Students liked the use of @MrDeltaMath for practice questions, but pointed out it's very easy to cheat with other websites/apps. I was worried the website was complicated for students, so this was reassuring!
10) Students want to learn how to use @texthelp's #Equatio!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!! This is so happening in the fall.
11) I asked students if teachers should be respectful of the school day - only posting things during school hours and having assignments due during school hours. This was almost a 50/50 split. I'm unsure of where I stand.
12) Students don't need a paper copy of the textbook. This really surprised me!
13) This survey was originally one question: if we have to close in September, would it be helpful for your teachers to give you "kits" for #distancelearning; if so, what should be in those kits. I still think this is a good idea, and math students clearly need graph paper!
14) Students were significantly less aware about board-level and school-level decisions than I had thought. Or at least my version of the news was appreciated! Will definitely continue posting the "news".
15) There is more to life than math! Although this is my philosophy for in-person classes, I did not translate this well to #distancelearning, so this is something I need to work on. Also developing relationships w/ss!
16) Replace textbook practice with online practice as much as possible, multiple students said they would much rather 10 questions on @MrDeltaMath than from a textbook. @DitchThatTxtbk!!
17) Time management was a struggle and many procrastinated. Students appreciate organization, responsiveness, and encouragement in a distance learning teacher. Even those that were keeping up would've appreciated a check-in.
To conclude - these students surprised me! So much more work was done and I do believe they did learn some math at the end of the day :) So #proud of everyone's efforts, even if that meant math wasn't a priority. I hope they're all recharging now!
