A Practical Strategy for Moving Your Teaching Online

Right now teachers all over the world are converting classroom instruction into virtual experience. Having worked the last decade as both an online educator and a coach helping others succeed in virtual teaching, I wanted to share an approach that will not only lighten your conversion burden but also strengthen your online teaching impact. It will also foster a sense of community among your students who may feel isolated during this moment of global quarantine. The strategy described below is as effective for teaching older elementary kids as graduate students. Encourage me to share more advice by commenting below or sending thoughts @debhowes on Twitter; challenges and/or additions are also welcome.

1. Spread out your teaching work by answering these three questions: 1. What can students do independently to prepare for the live session? 2. How and what can students contribute during a live session? and 3. How can students deepen learning after the session is over? Note the focus here is on planning for students' actions. This means your teaching work is integrated into these before, during, and after phases, and your primary role during the live session is facilitator, not lecturer.
2. Prepare online materials for students to research before the live session. "Prepare" does not mean make everything yourself from scratch. Think about museums, libraries, and other educational organizations that might have relevant, ready-to-use content online. Assemble a list of resources in a shared online document (Google Doc) from which students can choose to learn, and even contribute their own discovered resources. For example, if you are teaching the Civil War, you might suggest watching 2 videos from the National Civil War Museum and ask students to find 3 more sources reflecting a different point of view (such as those found in the National Museum of African American History and Culture or the Whitney Plantation websites). Students can summarize their preparatory learning by completing a survey (Google form) or quick poll (polljunkie.com) that you create.
3. Make the live session as participatory as possible. Begin by asking students to comment on the survey/poll results: e.g., did their opinions converge or diverge? Consider showing a relevant object and facilitating an open conversation driven by students' responses. For example, this model of an important Civil War Memorial in the National Gallery of Art's collection is accompanied by a high resolution zoom tool, a video showing how such a conversation might be structured (select the "Creating Artful Thinkers" video link on right side), a classroom poster, and a related teacher packet for context. Students can write their ideas in the chat area or discussion forum while exploring the object and waiting their turn to speak; this practice builds on the students' excitement to share with each other. Consider enrolling in Skype in the Classroom to bring experts from around the world into your live session. Keeping everyone actively sharing ideas when "together" is key to increasing student excitement and motivation for what comes next.
4. Synthesize and assess learning after the live session. Transforming ideas and explorations from your live session into lessons learned is the goal of the third phase. This part might feel like traditional homework but it does not have to be boring. Encourage your students to use free online media (audio, video, graphics) tools to create reports that capture their thoughts and feelings about the topic. You don't have to teach or even specify these tools; let students use what they already know and/or help each other to use them. Instead, supply content models for their outcomes. For example, to create Civil War stories from family memories or documents you might consult StoryCorps DIY; to design a speech bringing two opposing sides together or demonstrating another point of view, look for historical recordings in the digital collections of the Library of Congress or your local historical society (e.g. Brooklyn Historical Society Oral Histories). Or watch the video featuring student voices on the Indian Removal Act from the National Museum of the American Indian teacher website. Using fun digital tools to demonstrate mastery and share knowledge will facilitate learning as well as long term memory storage. We really do remember better when having fun!

To discover more museum-made online resources, search social media for the hashtags #MuseumsFromHome #DistanceLearning and #MuseumsAndChill and consult this list: The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Museum Resources | MCN