Moving into the reality that teaching will likely be a mix of Web 2.0 and varied classroom instruction, I found my daily slides took on a whole new purpose and meaning. For me, I needed a “landing page” I could copy daily and showed clear guidance and instruction for my PARENTS and students. This presentation needed to be easy to edit from anywhere and have the capability of still feeling like a classroom environment. The most important thing for me was to be able to include links and instruction in one presentation a day.
Each teacher has their own delivery platform, whether it is using a Google Slide, a Power Point or an online piece like Prezi. I chose to use Prezi for the simple reason that I can edit it from a variety of devices and the memory of it is stored online and not on my computer. I love the creative capacity and the ability to create videos and audio recording on it as well. Summer is a good time to explore options and get familiar with a platform you can create NOW and easily change later.
I want to share a few key elements that make mine work for me.
Home Page/First Slide- I like Prezi because it is easy to go back to the home page/first slide between topic areas. I have my core subject instruction set up as the focus and it easily provides the next step. A student can go directly to the subject they want or begin from the first slide. A key piece here is OFFICE HOURS and ROUTINE. It looks the same daily so students know what to expect.
Start Here- I have a starting place that provides an AGENDA and the STANDARDS. A morning message is shared that I record for my students. Each morning. They can move onto the agenda that gives a daily rundown and then the standards are posted for reference.
ZOOM Classroom- When school is in session there is a regular class meeting. I gave students the option to ZOOM me during my office hours for one-on-one instruction. Same link every ZOOM. Google Meet could easily be inserted and used instead.
Core Subject Slides- I taught a split last year so a lot of differentiated instruction and scaffolding was needed. Within each subject there are instruction slides with audio recordings for the lessons. Prezi makes it easy to insert a Power Point into the presentation and all the slides are put into the flow of the instruction. I did this weekly on my Math lesson, provided a video instruction and then students could work at their own pace outside of those formats in hard copy work. I provide a lot of student choice, especially in Reading and ELA. Links for activities are embedded in each tab and easy to navigate.
Science/Social Studies- I’m a history teacher so it is hard for me to not include Social Studies in daily lessons. Our focus is to be on ELA, MATH and READING, but I made sure to sprinkle in these lovelies, along with specials every day. Sometimes it is just the Newsela link or a live cam but I don’t ever leave Science and Social Studies out!
Specials- We are so lucky to have a variety of specials in our school including Gardening and Robotics to go with PE, Art and Music. The kids love these, especially my kinesthetic learners so every day I choose a different special and we do an activity related to the theme of the week's instruction.
Exit Ticket- There needs to be a level of accountability and for my students I use a Google Form Exit Ticket. This is how I track attendance during online learning and students can see what was assigned and mark off what they did. They also can share what the like, what they didn’t and something they learned. This is my most valuable feedback.
Help- My last slide is a HELP slide and the methods students can contact me by. I also have an audio here explaining help tools. There is a Google Classroom instructional video as well oas others embedded through the slides.
This was a very brief overview of how my Landing Page worked for me. I share a link to this daily in Google Classroom and then send an email to parents and students about the new slide. Moving into a hybrid model of teaching where I will be teaching from both places next year, having this daily instructional tool will provide much needed instruction and routine for my students. Please feel free to watch/listen to my Guided Online Learning for more depth.
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