Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Keeping Yourself Sane While Remote Learning During COVID-19




With virtually all European and American schools closed, most parents are becoming teachers overnight through remote learning for their children. There are some tips out there, but I found many of them to be overly general. I find seeing specific examples more helpful because I can customize them to meet my family’s needs. I used to teach second grade, so I have some old skills I whipped out.  Based on some of the general principles we often see recommended (outlined below) I’ve provided more specifics about how we are implementing these things at home. The main audience for this post is parents with more than one elementary school aged child (5-12) at home where one parent can focus on homeschooling.


  • Create a schedule
  • Go outside every day
  • Exercise
  • Limit TV
  • Expect good manners and polite behavior
  • Be compassionate towards yourself and practice self-care
  • Create a rewards system to motivate your kids (don’t worry sugar and money are not involved)

I’ve found that most of the recommendations can be accomplished with a detailed schedule and an incentive system.

  Create a Schedule



1.       Created laterally stacked schedules for siblings. Put the schedule for each child side by side and then add notes for the Grown-Up. This helps create realistic expectations for what the Grown-Up can do and will help you schedule things you know that your kids can do independently while you prep lunch, snacks, clean up lunch etc.

                                                               i.   Pair Labor Intensive Tasks for one child with tasks the other child can do independently. As you get used to the type of work the teachers are sending, adjust the schedule so that the subjects which are more labor intensive for the grown-up (for us it’s English and Math) are done at different times for each child. For instance, I do English with my son while my daughter is doing her online phonics (Teach Your Monster to Read). This way I’m less likely to be interrupted while helping my son.


                                                             ii.   Manage energy not just time – think about the amount of energy, both physical and mental that each subject entails. Create a schedule that helps manage your energy and your child’s energy based on how taxing each subject is. Intermix exercise and down times for brain brakes (choosing time) throughout the day. If it’s stressful for you to teach your child math, consider scheduling it before a break time. This will give you down time and space to move into a more patience zone for the next subject.


2.   Exercise and Outside Play time are not optional. Unless you are sick or it’s chucking rain (my new favorite British word for raining cats and dogs) you will play outside. Being in nature has been shown, time and time again, to be good for our mental health and chances are that if they are playing outside they are also getting in some exercise. Combine them both for the secret recipe to healthy well-being both physically, and mentally.


3.     Build in down time, snack and lunch times and stick to them. Children need structure and their tummies will get used to eating at the same time everyday, so stick to these times, even if you swap other parts of the schedule. Hungry children = meltdowns. Change their choosing time = whining and potential meltdowns. So, keep those times set at all costs! We call down time, choosing time, because that’s what they call it at our kids’ school. Choosing time is time for the kids to relax and do something similar to what schools allow at choosing time. So, often these still have education aspects to them, but the kids feel like they are playing and they get to choose the activity.  See the file for choosing time activity ideas. The biggest rule I have about choosing time is that the kids have to be able to do it independently. This is a break time for the grown-ups too, so they can’t ask for help during choosing time! This is time for you to practice self-care and recharge your batteries. You deserve it! In the afternoon, the kids have free time, this is time where they can spend the points they have earned . These activities can involve the grown-ups. Free time ideas are in the same document with choosing time ideas. Please customize these and based on age appropriate ideas for your kids interest and ages. More details on this system are below.


4.     Be Realistic with your time. If you have more than one child, your primary job is going to be teaching them. Don’t expect to get three loads of laundry done and check off lots of things on your to do list. Your to-do-list is mainly teaching, prepping lessons, and feeding your children. If you have a spouse at home with you during this time have them help with things like meal preparation and laundry.


5.      It’s okay to flex the schedule to swap out one subject for another, but don’t go all Montessori. As much as we’d like to think we are “home schooling” our children, we aren’t. This is remote learning and the teachers and schools are still being held accountable for our children’s learning. Stick to what they send you to do and if time allows, add in things your children are curious about and allow them to explore it. But, if you get sucked into following all of their curiosities you’ll find it very difficult to accomplish the lessons sent to you by the teachers.Having said that, if your child has a particular interest and you can use it to teach the same learning objective, go for it. 


6.     Consider adding inspirational thoughts to your morning. You don’t need to be religious. Just find a little daily devotional book, or look up some spiritual quotes online to share over breakfast. Nourishing the soul is a great way to keep your children grounded and start the day off on a positive note.


7.    Sample Schedule - See the sample schedule as a guide and feel free to tweak it to suite your needs.

Create a Rewards System

Each family is unique so make a system that works for you. I’m providing some ideas below based on what is currently working for us.

  • Create a point system based on the strengths and weakness of each of your children. Give them points to encourage behaviors and tasks that you want them to grow in.  For example our son doesn’t like green vegetables, so he gets a point for eating those. But, his sister is a champ with eating vegetables, so she doesn’t have that as item. Most of their items are the same, but they do have a few unique ones. If your kids don’t typically play outside on their own, give them points for that and it will encourage that behavior. There are several free rewards trackers out there. For now we are using the one built into the kids fitness tracker app - Garmin Vivofit. It's okay, but I'm looking into other options. 
  • Make it challenging but attainable. Make the point system challenging enough that they can earn enough points to do one thing they want every day but that it requires effort. It’s okay to tinker with the points until you get to the right motivation level for your kids.  Let your kids know up front that this a new system and that you’ll need to tweak it over time to make it work.
Be explicit about the rules around free time. Examples:
  • You must finish your chores before you can have free time.
  • To earn your point for each item you must do it with a positive attitude. If you play piano and whine and complain, then no point. If I ask you to help Mom/Dad with a chore and you roll your eyes and smack your lips at me, no point.
  • You can’t earn your point if I have to remind you more than twice to do it (brushing teeth, cleaning up your dishes etc.)
  • Mom and Dad are the judges. We decide if you earn your point for each item.
  • It’s your responsibility to record your points each day. If you forget, you may not go back to a previous day and add points.
  • You only get to watch 30 minutes of TV on school days. Period. Even if you have enough points to watch another show, don’t ask. The answer will be no.
  •  Any choosing time activity can be done during free time at no cost. Outside time can also be substituted for free. This allows them to build up more points for another day.
  • On the weekends, you don’t have to use any points. But, you can earn points just as you do during the week. So, if your child loves to read- they earn points on the weekend for this. If they want to help with chores they earn points for that too!

Other Considerations

  • Set aside one or two times a day to check social media and the news. Monitor how it makes you feel and step away if it’s bringing you down.
  • Be patient with yourself. Forgive yourself if you loose patience. Be humble and apologize. Show your children that you make mistakes too and we have to forgive ourselves and move on.
  • Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. This advice is tried and true and we hear it a lot. That’s because it’s what is best for our bodies. It’s tempting to stay up late when we don’t have to go to work in the morning. But teaching is your work now.  If you’re not up and ready to go on time, your whole school routine will suffer.
Above all else, have fun and enjoy this unique time at home with your family!


Resources

Files

Exercise

Reading


  • Audible - free streaming (not downloading) for all kids books


Tiffany Howell


Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Learning Technologies

For a cleaner/printer friendly copy of this post click here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcxpc6kb_90dc2c44df

Main Points/Questions to Ponder



  • We are in Age of Intelligence (Intellectual Capital), but we have failed to teach people how to learn.


  • Informal learning (social media, Web 2.0, reading books, mentoring etc.) can actually
    impact learning more than formal learning.


  • Why do we measure the number of hours a person sits in a seat for a training class, or
    spends time in an online class? What does this data really tell us?
    Don’t we really want to know what people can do? Why do we
    care how they learned it as long and they prove that they can do it?


  • We are learning more today in fragmented ways, little snippets of information. We
    are losing the ability to focus in-depth on a topic and truly ponder
    it and solve a problem. “Acquisition of expertise is done
    through absorption over long periods of time.” George Seimens


  • Should we call ourselves, “Instructional Designers” or “Learning
    Designers”?


  • When surveyed, the digital natives that are currently in our workforce wanted to learn
    in the following ways: practical, just-in-time, by doing, with
    inspiration and feedback from experts.


  • Today’s learners are “prosumers”. They are not just consumers of
    information or producers of information. They want to be able to
    both produce it and consume it. They want it now, fun, and
    interactive. We need to move from pushing/creating content to
    communicating with our organizations.


  • Your brain needs things in order to thrive:
    http://www.personaldevelopment.ie/2008/09/develop-your-creative-genius-with-tony-buzans-advice/



    1. Plenty of oxygen - this essentially means regular exercise


    2. Sensory stimulation - be creative and re-discover your own senses - touch, smell, taste
      and see things as if you suddenly became a different, much more
      curious person


    3. Lifelong learning - never stop discovering new subjects and expanding your knowledge
      - even if something is not directly related to your career, pick a
      topic every year to read a book about or watch an educational TV
      series on


    4. Take plenty of rest - enough sleep, regular showers and relaxing physical activity when
      your mind gets distracted from its everyday worries - running is a
      great activity for this.


    5. Friendship and love - be friendly and kind to people; make new friends regularly and
      try to stay connected with all the generations and not only your
      own age group; fall in love and enjoy this wonderful experience


    6. Eat healthy food - nutrition is very important for your body and brain in particular

Links to investigate further:

  1. Jay Cross’s Work – http://www.informl.com/
    Presentation Link:
    http://www.slideshare.net/jaycross/learning-technologies-2009-presentation

Collaborative Learning:


Publishing

Collaboration


  1. Poll:
    Jane’s
    Top 100 List


  2. Jane Hart's Work



  3. George Siemens’ Work


  4. Barry Sampson’s Work


    • His Blog:
      http://barrysampson.com


  5. Donald Clark’s Work



Books Recommended:


  • Treading Lighting by Karl-Erik Svieby


    http://www.treadinglightly.sveiby.com/Excerpt from
    Introduction
    :
    Australian Aboriginal society’s
    model for sustainability has the longest proven track record on
    earth.
    While societies outside Australia emerged, prospered
    and went under, Aboriginal society withstood and proved its
    sustainability over tens of thousands of years of dramatic events,
    until the Europeans’ arrival in 1788. It is an extraordinary
    achievement, especially considering that this is something humanity
    is now struggling with: the way to build a truly sustainable
    society on this earth. How did the Aborigines do it? How did
    they organise for sustainability? What type of leadership did it
    require? They must have had a ‘recipe for success’.
    What was it? Could we reconstruct it?

  • The Mind Map Book by Tony Buzan http://www.buzanworld.com/

  • Use Your Head: Innovative Learning and Thinking Techniques to Fulfill
    Your Potential
    by Tony Buzan

  • Informal Learning by Jay Cross

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

MICCA Conference Presentation

Here you'll find the presentation and handouts from my session today at MICCA on "Integrating the Alpha Smarts into the Elementary Curriculum".

Handouts

Presentation

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Utilization of Computers in the Classroom Class 2 "The Millenials"

Follow the links below to review Bloom's Taxonomy and Gardner's Multiple Intelligences.

Review of Bloom's Taxonomy

If the first link doesn't work try this one: Bloom

Review of Gardner's Multiple Intelligences

How does what we know from Bloom and Gardner impact the way we integrate technology? In what ways can we best utilize instructional technology to enhance the learning experience? Respond on our Blackboard Discussion Board in the appropriate forum.

The Millenial Generation - How are they different?

Watch the videos below and use this Generations List to address the following questions:

Paragraph 1: Discuss how this Millenial Generation (Y/Z) differs from Gen X and the Baby Boomers, elaborating on your generation.

Paragraph 2: What strikes you about this younger generation in the workplace? Do you think that these videos provide an accurate portrayal? Why or why not?

Paragraph 3: How do you think this generation is improving the current workplace? How are they impacting the workplace negatively?

Paragraph 4: What did you think of Zappos' strategy for adapting to this new generation in the workforce? How do you think the workplace in general will adapt to this generation of workers? In what way does the US public education system need to adapt to address this generation's (an the next's) characteristics?

Getting to know the Millenials Video:
A project my friends and I made for a history class. It talks about this generation, the Millenials, and covers important events, popular media, and thoughts for the future. Leave comments! Made by Rich, Ian, and Peter.





How does this Millenail Generation affect the workplace?


Millenials in the Work Place Part I




Millenials in the Work Place Part II


Generation Next Project - A clip about generational differences in the work place from the PBS documentary "Generation Next." Interviews with current employees of Muse advertising firm.



National & State Standards:

To prepare for tonight's class you should have read up to page 38 from: Towards a New Golden Age in American Education

Page 4 states, "Clearly, we must innovate for our country to succeed in this time of rapidly increasing global competition. This innovation is occurring. We see dramatic changes taking place in the educational landscape – a new excitement in the vast possibilities of the digital age for changing how we learn, how we teach, and how the various segments of our educational system fi t together – a ferment for reform that is bringing changes undreamt of even fi ve years ago and unparalleled in our nation’s history.With one notable exception, No Child Left Behind, these changes are being driven by forces in the fi eld. They are being driven by the new realities of the digital marketplace, the rapid development of “virtual” schools, and the enthusiasm of an amazing generation of students weaned on the marvels of technology who are literally forcing our schools to adapt and change in ways never before imagined. As one high schooler put it, “we have technology in our blood.”"

This document was published in 2004. How far do you think we've come in three years? Do you think we will meet the goals that Susan Patrick and our National Dept of Ed Tech set forth? What challenges are we still facing? Of these issues, and the ones mentioned in your reading, which ones do you think are are at the core of the problem? How can we make the shift and overcome these core problems in our education? How can we truly revolutionize teaching and learning? Respond via Blackboard.

Your Reading for next week is
Toward a New Golden Age in American Education - National Education Technology Plan Pages 39-59

DEN Virtual Conference Feb 2nd, 2008

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the Discovery Educator Virtual Conference at Discovery Headquaters in Silver Springs, MD.

I learned so many new things from our presenters that I decided to create a blog for myself to document everything I've learned.

Also,I was great to see Katie Knapp and Annie Gilstrip, my former colleagues from Virginia Beach. Oh how I miss my colleagues from the Beach. :-(

Our first Key Note was Lance Rougeux. His presenation titled "Lost in Translation" can be found here on the discovery blog.

I've also embedded it from slideshare.net below: (by the way, I learned that copying and pasting these codes in from You Tube, Teacher Tube, Slide Share etc. actually has a name. They are called "Widgits" - who new? Well- Lance did ...actually)

The whole conference should be available in the webinar archives soon, or here on Discovery's Blog

Here are the new and exciting resources that I learned about at the conference:
I also learned about many new blogs that I should keep up with to stay on top of new trends in the ed tech field. If any of you have Google accounts, I can share these with you through Google Reader.

Ed Tech Blogs:

http://www.bethknittle.net/WP_Blog/
Media Matters - Hall Davidson
The DEN in Second Life
Teach42 by Steve Dembo
The View from My Window- Alice Barr
Cliotech - Jennifer Dorman
Kathy's Shrock's Kaffeeklatsch
Daniel Goleman's Blog (creator of emotional and now social intelligences)

Books to read:
"A Whole New Mind" Daniel Pink
Lauren Myracle:
"ttyl", "ttfn" and many more.

Thanks so much to the Virginia Den Leadership Council for hosting this event!
http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/virginia

Utilization of Computers in Teaching - Course 1

Opening Ritual:

Pay Attention Video

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=40c570a322f1b0b65909



Watch Brad Paisley's Music Video - "Online" and think about what implications this has for education. What effects of this could spill over into the classroom? How are students today different than ten years ago? Be prepared to discuss this in class:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GcVnhNjWV0


Login to Blackboard: morgan.blackboard.com

Update your homepage with information to help your classmates get to know you. Include a picture of yourself (we'll take these in class).

Your first assignment: Create a digital photo story about yourself. Visit www.digitales.us
Go to the Story Keeper's Gallery and under Living Memories watch "Unexpected Ariel" and "Tears of Change" to get a feel for what a digital photo story is.