Tag Archives: remote teaching

7 Remote Entry Events in PBL

This is the first of a series of posts about what Project Based Learning infused with Social and Emotional Learning looks like when teaching remotely. Is it the ideal situation? Probably not, but it is the reality that many of us are dealing with. I will share my ideas and what others are doing to hopefully inspire you to action.

Entry Events

Every project should begin with an entry event to prime the learner’s pump. We want to activate the prior learning inside of our students to launch the project. We also want to get kids excited about the topic that we are about to study. Entry events are a “hook” to the content that is coming and preemptively answer the age-old student complaint, “Why do we have to learn this?”

A good entry event captures both heads and hearts. An interesting problem creates cognitive dissonance while an empathetic situation generates an emotional perspective to the issue at hand. Different students will react more strongly to each, so including both engages more students into the project. Finally, the entry event should connect the content to the community and the final product.

One of my favorite entry event videos is posted below. Watch, laugh, and enjoy the plot twist. But then ask yourself, “What is the final product and community connection?”

Hopefully these teachers did more than just this simulation, but also tied this into a larger purpose. Sometimes rather than being a single experience, entry events are multiple activities that build upon each other to a culminating call to action.

Historically, by which I mean before Covid, entry events included things like simulations, inspiring videos, field work, guest speakers, a controversial article, open-ended science experiments, or a puzzling problem. Many of the best entry events require interactions between student and the community. So how can you launch an engaging project online? Here’s some ideas to consider:

Videos with Back Channel Discussion

Obviously, videos still work in remote learning, but just dropping a video into your LMS feed for students to watch whenever they feel like it, isn’t going to cut it. Make it an event. Schedule a time to watch the video together in live time. Have students active in a chat reacting to it as they watch. Show multiple short videos around a theme. Use videos from various platforms like TicTok, news clips, interviews, or science clips, not just movies or YouTube. Share videos of diverse people reacting to your topic to give them multiple perspectives.

It is important to set the stage. If you just show a video without any background, students may not react much. Instead hype it up by telling students we about to launch a huge project to set up the video before viewing it. Your enthusiasm toward the project launch goes a long way in selling the value of what you are about to embark on.

Video Conference Guests

Many teachers are using video conferencing to invite in guest speakers. One benefit of social distancing is that many adults are working from home and it is actually easier for them to commit to sharing with your class. They don’t need to take time off from their job or travel, but can easily join you for a few minutes.

Guest speakers don’t need to be national scientists or famous leaders. Your local healthcare worker or government official are more accessible and connect the project to your local community. Having trouble finding someone? Ask your students’ parents to contribute personally or if they have a connection in the field related to your project. Many teachers are uncomfortable with networking, but reaching out is a risk worth taking to move your project to the next level.

Virtual Field Trips

I don’t think anyone is scheduling field trips this year. The risks and safety protocols are too big of an obstacle. I prefer the term, field work, which implies that there is a purpose and task to be completed related to the project. But in lieu of physical trips there are hundreds of online options from virtual museums, webcams, or other virtual trips such as Google Expeditions.

Teacher Field Work

Another option is to do the field work yourself. My friend, Sarah Smith and her team go on a trip themselves, interview people, collect data and information for the project. They record their field work and edit it to present to students the information. Is this better than students doing it? No, but it is better than no trip at all. Personally I love this idea!

Home Field Work

Field work can be done at home. Tell students to go outside and collect bugs, leaves, water samples, or whatever else that you are studying. Have them observe patterns in their neighborhood or at the store (if they go). Assign data collection of how much time they sleep, read, exercise, and are online. This kind of field work is personal and relevant. Bonus: you can get them off from their devices and active.

Interviews

We may not be gathering with loved ones over the holidays as the virus is spiking, but a phone call or video conference with family members is a great opportunity to interview them to get their perspective on a historical event, current event, or cultural viewpoints. Tying content into family history is a powerful way to make it relevant. When students share different viewpoints with each other they can learn to appreciate other perspectives.

Virtual Simulations

Run a virtual experiment or record yourself in a science lab. Use a popular game like Minecraft or Among Us as the launching point. Ask students to design their own (safe!) experiments at home with adult supervision. Have them investigate scientific phenomenon themselves.

No matter what option or combination of options, you choose, an engaging entry event is critical for student buy-in to the project. Few of us consider remote learning ideal, but we can still engage students in relevant work with a little creative thinking.

Questions? Interested in SEL and PBL workshops or consulting?  Connect with me at  michaelkaechele.com or @mikekaechele.

Online Can’t Mimic Face-to-Face Learning

The irony is that this video was created for a class project. Students will do incredible work if the task is engaging.

You can’t just “upload” your class.

As I scroll through teacher social media I keep seeing posts: “How do I have students take notes virtually? Does anyone have a good powerpoint on _________ that they can share? Who has a PDF of the textbook? How do you grade ___________(rote activity) online? What is your favorite app for tracking student engagement.” And the horrible behavior guidelines for Zoom that are not only controlling, but invasive of student privacy.

Please don’t start your remote or hybrid learning thinking that you can mimic the face-to-face experience. This is especially true if you run a traditional, teacher-centered classroom. You can’t “upload” your face-to-face lessons to your school’s LMS and be done. Don’t plan on video or asynchronous lectures and slides with notes, expecting every student to watch them and excel. You can’t just scan worksheets to PDF and ask students to print at home.

All of the social media requests from teachers basically asking for canned resources shows me that we have a long way to go pedagogically. Many teachers are not student-centered face-to-face and are trying to replicate the only thing that they know online.

So here’s 6 things you shouldn’t expect from remote learning and what to do instead.

Go as fast

Everything is going to take longer than in school. Logging in, introducing the technology, teaching, building relationships, and even attendance. But think about how many things are better done slowly: crockpots, BBQ, and walks outside.

No sense stressing, accept the slower pace. One quarantine lesson is that it is more human to take our time and focus on the significant people in our lives. It’s not healthy living every moment at a frantic pace. Plan extra time for everything and center on your students, not completing tasks.

Cover the same amount of standards/content

First of all, let’s just delete the word “cover” from education. Curriculum is bloated with too much content already. Since we are moving slower, then we need to focus on less material. Winnow your class down to the essential standards that are fundamental to the discipline or will be needed as prerequisites in following classes. Instead of a shallow drive through a zillion topics, go deep on a few and concentrate on developing the skills, not just memorizing facts.

Run a normal bell schedule

I can’t believe how many districts are trying to do this. They think that kids are going to engage sitting in online meetings for 30 hours a week? This is ludicrous and the school leaders are out of their minds. It is not going to work for any amount of time. Online meetings are exhausting for adults and students alike. I think 2-3 hours a day is maximum for secondary students.

Instead assign students projects and hands on activities to do throughout the day such as science investigations outside, choice reading, and PBL. Kids don’t need to be “on camera” to be learning. Teachers should have regular office hours to consult and help students as needed, but requiring students to sit through their daily schedule online is asinine.

Take attendance by simulating butts in seats

Similar to above, we can’t take normal procedures like attendance and shift wholesale to online. I even heard one teacher say that their district is asking parents to keep track that their child is online and verify it. If you post videos that for asynchronous viewing and your student views it at 1am, were they absent? If older students provide childcare for siblings and “attend” your class in the evening were they absent?

Let’s find creative ways to check in with kids and relax outdated policies. Let’s assign credit based on the actual proof of learning of the content of the course, rather than whether or not they were physically present in front of a camera at any given time.

Micromanage student behavior

Don’t make a bunch of rules to regulate students–you can’t control participation, distractions, what kids are wearing, where they are, or if their eyes are on the screen the whole time. Quit trying to control students! Who cares if they are in PJs or eating breakfast. At least if they spill, you won’t have to clean it up! I saw one system set up for points if students were on time to the Zoom call, stayed the whole time, and had their eyes on the screen 95% of the time. I am not sure how you even measure that!

Instead of worrying about student behavior, build community. Many students have experienced trauma through the double tragedies of Covid and the murder of George Floyd. Remote learning adds another layer of stress for them and places our most disadvantaged learners at an even greater risk. Get to know your students deeply. Foster SEL Competencies. Let your class overflow with love, grace, and caring.

Be boring

Those powerpoints and videos of you lecturing aren’t going to cut it. Kids are going to tune you out and play a game on their phone. Kids will find ways to copy your worksheet answers and shortcut your lectures. They will cheat on assessments and basically learn hardly anything at all.

Instead challenge kids with a project that involves movement and hands on activities. Create Project Based Learning lessons around themes in your content. Give kids design challenges to motivate them.

The final products could be digital or a picture or video (Flipgrid is an excellent tool) of a physical product. Worried about supplies? Have students upcycle from their junk drawers and recycling bins. Prototypes can be made from just about anything. Even while social distancing students can still connect with community experts and family members through video calls.

Conclusion

Of course, I have been arguing for years, that these kind of practices should end in face-to-face classes too. But it is obvious that they are still the dominant pattern in many classrooms. The difference with online classes is that cheating is easier and teachers really can’t control students when they check out. A subset of kids who care about grades and achievement (or their parents do) will do whatever is asked of them, but many kids are going to quit playing the game of school.

We can do better. Kids deserve better! Let’s find ways to make online learning as personable and engaging as possible!

Let’s Connect

Questions? Interested in SEL and PBL workshops or consulting on remote learning?  Connect with me at  michaelkaechele.com or @mikekaechele.