This has been a very different and challenging time for those involved in education. Parents are scrambling to find childcare options and wonder how they can successfully supervise their child’s learning. Children may be confused by the uncertainty of the future, lonely without their friends, or miss the structures and routines of the classroom. Teachers are suddenly flung into a very different mode of delivering lessons. Most people would agree that remote learning is not a substitute for the in-class “whole child” experience. Fortunately, Essential Skills offers a complete suite of elementary reading programs online that will ensure classroom consistency, engaging and challenging lessons, and reliable monitoring of progress.
Here are some thoughts to keep in mind to make the transition from in-class to online successful for all concerned.
Communicate with Students and Their Families
Try to stay in touch with parents to get a better idea of the environment and possible challenges your students are facing. Many families are feeling added financial burdens, some have limited resources. Some homes have a number of kids sharing a single computer, or access to internet only by phone. By being aware of the circumstances of your students, you will be able to design a program that will accommodate every need. Using elementary reading programs for schools from Essential Skills will allow you to monitor each child’s participation, even when their schedule is not the same as usual.
Collaborate
Working with other teachers is a wonderful way to share strengths and knowledge. One teacher may have lots of experience on-line, and another with assessment tools. By working together at the planning stage, it is easier to develop a program that will keep all your grade-level classes on the same course. Basic math and literacy skills are explicitly taught and are also used across the curriculum. One good way to provide reinforcement of skills is by sharing vocabulary lists among grade level teachers. Another way to achieve consistency when collaborating is to use the same elementary reading programs. When all grade level kids are using the same program, teachers of other subjects can use the newly acquired skills to further challenge young minds.
Variety in Technology
Elementary reading programs for schools are wonderful resources. Essential Skills has a wide range of literacy programs that have been proven successful and will help make it easier to teach reading on-line. But we don’t just teach academics in our classrooms. School is a safe place to learn how to behave positively and successfully. It is important to enforce routines and rules while encouraging kindness, creativity, and honesty. This will hopefully help students learn the value of teamwork and nurture a positive attitude. When trying to create a facsimile of the in-person classroom on-line, educators need to take these elements into account. Teachers can post daily messages and lessons, have whole-class online meetings, and send individual messages to students. Learn how elementary reading programs online from Essential Skills can help create a virtual classroom.