Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community

INTRODUCTION

GUIDANCE

Beginning of the Year

Middle of the Year

End of the Year

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Introduction   1

The school closures and emergency remote learning during the 2019–2020 school year have changed the landscape of instruction. Center for the Collaborative

Classroom recognizes that going forward, educators will need more flexible options to support their students’ learning in a variety of circumstances and formats.

The guidance that follows was designed to focus instruction on pedagogy rather than the technology used to deliver the instruction. We want to help ensure that the integrity of the lessons is maintained, while making necessary adjustments for distance learning. Additionally, we want to make sure the work students do is rigorous and cognitively engaging, leading to independence rather than simply completion and compliance.

The Remote Learning Guidance is designed to support teachers in transitioning Caring School Community from an in-person format to either a blended or fully remote setting.

Copyright GuidanceIn order to facilitate remote learning when in-person instruction is not possible, you may

share Collaborative Classroom program materials as needed via private or closed digital and

audio environments. This includes the ability to:

• Access digital versions of certain trade books for the duration of the remote learning period. We have secured permission from the copyright holders to provide these versions to our school partners. Please note that the digital editions are not to be printed, downloaded, or shared beyond the classroom community.

• Copy and share student materials as needed for learning, and share teacher materials in order to collaborate on lessons. Please make a reasonable effort to maintain existing copyright lines and reference owners of copyright (for example, if copying pages, include the copyright lines).

Introduction

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Introduction   2

A Note About Read-Alouds

Unfortunately, in most cases Collaborative Classroom is not the copyright holder for the

books and does not have the right to grant permission to record read-alouds. When recording

read-alouds of any sort, please follow these additional guidelines to protect copyright holders:

• Many publishers have relaxed their copyright requirements during the covid-19 pandemic. Before recording a read-aloud or sending a request to the copyright holder, check the copyright holder’s website for information. Typically, information about recording read-alouds can be found under the Subsidiary Rights/Permissions or Contact Us sections of publisher websites.

• If you are unable to find any information on their website about whether a copyright holder is allowing recording of read-alouds during the covid-19 pandemic, then send the copyright holder a request for permission to record their book(s) in order to temporarily facilitate remote learning. Include your school name and book information.

• When recording and sharing a story do so privately or in a closed system (e.g., YouTube channel set to private).

• Include the book title, author, and publisher at the beginning of your reading.

Navigating a Virtual Platform Students need the opportunity to learn the tools of their virtual platform. Build in time

during the first few lessons to teach students how to turn their cameras on/off, mute/

unmute, open and use the chat box, click to join a breakout room, and share their screen

(older students). Review these procedures as needed. Ask yourself these questions:

• How will you incorporate learning to navigate the virtual platform into your online sessions?

• What are the aspects of your virtual platform that are essential for students to know how to manipulate?

• How can you remind yourself to be patient about teaching this navigation?

As you consider the aspects of your virtual platform that are essential, think about:

• The age of the students

• The content

• The time available

• How you can make best use of platform features:

− A chat box is an excellent way for older students to have quick conversations, provide short responses, and share thinking.

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Introduction   3

− A breakout room is an excellent way to have deeper conversations, partner talk, and group work.

− Sharing a screen is an excellent way for older students to show their work or share information.

Involve Parents/Families

Developing At-Home Norms/Expectations: Ask families to establish at-home norms or

expectations for the school day. Encourage families to discuss norms for working at home.

Possible discussion questions include:

• What kind of routine will we establish to make sure we can all get our work done?

• When will we take breaks to play and have fun?

• When is it okay to interrupt adults while they are working?

• How will children communicate that they need help?

Supporting Younger Students: There is a lot for our younger students to learn in this

transition to online learning. Consider how you might involve parents/families in effectively

engaging in the platform.

• Who will help the student sign on?

• Who will help the student get oriented to their screens as you teach them about the camera, the microphone, and the other features of the virtual platform?

Establish the “Ways We Work Together”

Provide an opportunity for the students to reflect on and discuss how to work as a community

during online learning. Talk to the students about the ways you will work together on your

virtual platform. Consider creating a “Ways We Work Together” chart. Possible discussion

questions include:

• What can we do to make sure we get to sessions on time?

• What can we do to ensure we have all the materials needed?

• What can we do to show we are listening?

• What can we do to make sure everyone gets a chance to talk?

• What can we do to make sure several of us don’t talk at the same time?

Over time, you might consider asking students to reflect on questions such as:

• Which work habit was easy for you today?

• Which work habit was challenging for you today? Why?

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Introduction   4

• What do you like about working together virtually?

• What can be hard about working together virtually?

Norm Setting

Consider engaging students in a more formal norm setting experience.

1. Ask the students to imagine what kind of virtual classroom they want to have. Ask them to close their eyes and visualize (make a picture in their minds) as you slowly read the following scenario aloud twice.

Imagine logging in and joining our virtual classroom. You feel nervous because you’ve never used [the platform] before. You are a bit shy and worried about being on camera. You may be feeling a little overwhelmed or confused about having to be out of school for so long, and a little sad because you are not able to be with your friends and your teacher. And you’re just feeling a little uncertain, but also maybe a little excited, about this new online structure for learning.

2. Ask the students to consider:

• When you come to our online classroom, how do you want to be treated by the other class members?

• How would you feel if other class members treated you this way?

• Imagine if another member in our group felt this way—how would we want to treat them?

3. Ask the students to open their eyes and write their ideas (if grade appropriate). After a few minutes, ask the students to share their thinking.

4. With this discussion in mind, let the students know that you will create a “Ways We Will Work Together” chart based on the class discussion. Model for the students how to generate ways to work together statements. For example,

I will…. I will not….

Example: I will talk with a kind voice to other people.

Example: I will not talk over other people.

5. Ask the students to share their “Ways We Will Work Together” statements. Based on what the students share, create a list of about five norms of “We will . . .” statements.

6. Revisit norms periodically across sessions.

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Introduction   5

“Go Bag” GuidanceThe following suggestions will help you grab the necessary resources for teaching and

learning when at-home remote learning is necessary.

For Teachers

While all of the teacher-facing resources are available on the Learning Portal, we recommend

that you take your print Teacher’s Manuals home.

For Students

We recommend:

• A fully charged device

• A writing tool—preferably a marker or a crayon as those are more visible when holding up documents to the camera

• Paper

Supporting Students with DisabilitiesEnsure learning opportunities for all students. Additionally, consider how to use the digital

supports offered in your virtual platform such as the speech-to-text feature.

Professional Learning ResourcesCollaborative Classroom is dedicated to providing on-going professional learning resources to

support teachers in their work planning and teaching our programs. Our teaching community

has been a wealth of information and idea sharing during the time of remote learning. The

following resources might be of further help to you:

• Join our Collaborative Classroom Community Facebook page

• Follow us on Twitter

• Access our blogs and use the filters to find blogs of interest

• Access our archived webinars, review the various webinar series, and determine which might support your own learning

®

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Beginning of the Year   6

Caring School Community

Guidance

Beginning of the YearRelationships are essential. Consider how you will engage your students in Caring School Community activities with the goal of maintaining a sense of community. Below are some things to consider if you will be teaching in blended or fully remote scenarios during the first 10–12 weeks of school.

• Build relationships. Building strong relationships remains the centerpiece of the Caring School Community program whether you teach it remotely or in person. We suggest teaching the lessons and meetings in the program as regularly as your remote learning schedule allows. Consider starting each day with a morning circle and ending each day with a closing circle. Some activities will need to be modified, but following the structure each day and week will help students feel connected and supported.

• Conduct regular one-on-one video and/or telephone calls with students and families. You may need to make some extra connections with families and students at the start of the year. While these calls take extra time, they will prove essential as you begin working together. Connecting with students and families regularly will be especially important for kindergarten students, who will be new to school and to remote learning.

• Provide ongoing ways to support student interaction. Building relationships takes time and effort. Students will need many ways to engage with one another across the curriculum. These opportunities are essential for students to practice and to see the utility of the social skills they learn in the program.

• Prepare students to re-enter school. Teaching the Caring School Community lessons as often as you can during remote learning will set up students for returning to the physical classroom when it is safe. They will enter the classroom having learned some essential procedures and discussed and established norms. Students will be ready and excited to reconnect with one another in person.

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Beginning of the Year   7

Scheduling GuidanceWe recommend prioritizing Morning Circle and Community Chats/Class Meetings

(grades K–5) and Advisory and Class Meetings (grades 6–8) whether in a blended or fully

remote learning format. Consider how you will engage your students during blended or fully

remote learning settings.

• Schedule the Morning Circle, Community Chat/Class Meeting, or Advisory at a consistent time.

• If you are using a blended model, schedule the Morning Circle, Community Chat/Class Meeting, or Advisory during a time that allows all students to participate (in-person and virtually).

• If you are using a blended or fully remote learning format, use the break-out function via your virtual platform (if available) to engage students in partner conversations.

Instructional ConsiderationsA sense of connectedness is an essential part of developing a strong learning community.

• For K–1, engage the students in the “Starting the Year” (weeks 1 and 2) and “Building the Classroom and School Community” (weeks 2–10) lessons.

• For grades 3–5, engage the students in the “Starting the Year” (weeks 1–10) lessons.

• For grades 6-8, engage the students in the “Beginning the Year” (weeks 1–10) lessons.

At-Home Activities

• Consider using the Home Sharing Activities (grades K–1) to engage families.

• Consider using Home Connection Activities (grades 2–5 and 6–8) to engage families.

Live Virtual Guidance

• “Gather” the class for a Morning Circle, Community Chat/Class Meeting, or Advisory and conduct a modified version of a meeting. Even if the meeting lasts only five minutes, it is vital to maintain the community by connecting in this way.

− Use the established lesson format for the Morning Circle, Community Chat/Class Meeting, or Advisory. This will help you keep the meeting short but effective. You might:

• Do a modified version of the greeting using waves instead of handshakes.

• Modify the team building activity by expanding the sharing time.

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Beginning of the Year   8

− Possible topics for virtual class meetings include:

• How to ask for and give help to each other

• Ways to stay connected to classmates

• What to do when we are bored

• Students and adults may be feeling anxious during this time of unknowns. Some self-calming strategies to try during times of stress include:

− Tell someone how you are feeling.

− Hug a stuffed toy or curl up in a comfy chair for a few minutes.

− “Shake it off” by shaking out your arms and legs or by engaging in some physical activity.

− Draw a picture of yourself feeling calm.

− Write about how you are feeling.

− Try the following breathing techniques:

• Close your eyes and take five deep breaths.

• Practice “one-minute breathing”: Set a timer for one minute and slowly breathe in and out.

• “Breath moving”: Sit up straight, close your eyes. Breathe in and imagine moving the breath to the top of your head. Breathe out and imagine you are moving the breath to the bottom of your spine. Repeat.

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Middle of the Year   9

Planning for Middle-of-the Year Lessons • Revisit routines and procedures. Routines and procedures provide the framework for engagement and interaction. The more nimble the students are navigating the virtual classroom, the easier it will be for them to get into discussions and share their thinking. You probably spent the first few weeks establishing routines and procedures. As you move into the middle part of the year, it will be critical to assess how your students are doing. Which routines are helpful? What procedures do they really have down? You will also want to explore where they might need more practice and which routines or procedures seem cumbersome and no longer needed.

− The pace of instruction often hinges on the procedures we have established, the clarity of our language, and on careful planning. Take a few minutes to reflect on how long your Morning Circles, Class Meetings, and Closing Circles are taking. Following are some suggested times for different components of CSC. If your meetings regularly run longer than the suggested time it is a sign that you might be taking too long and need to revise your planning or facilitation of the lessons.

• Morning Circle: 15–20 minutes

• Closing Circle: 5–10 minutes

• Class Meeting: 20–30 minutes

• Examine your daily schedule. While we recognize that you may not have much flexibility in your schedule, after the first 10 weeks it is important reflect on what has happened and ask yourself:

− Did I start most mornings with a morning circle and end most days with a closing circle? If not, what prohibited me from doing it? What modifications might I make to the meetings or schedule to ensure I make time for it?

− Was I able to fit in a Class Meeting each week? If not, why not? What might I do to make the space for it?

Middle of the YearDuring the first 10 weeks you and your students have spent a great deal of time setting norms, building relationships, and laying the groundwork for a caring classroom community. The middle of the year presents the opportunity for students to engage in new learning experiences building on that solid foundation.

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Middle of the Year   10

• Plan for cross-age Buddies. Buddies Activities can be a great way for students to have fun, build friendships, and take responsibility for their learning and behavior. Buddies Activities are also a great way for a whole school to maintain a sense of community.

− Buddies Activities can be adapted to a virtual classroom but will require the use of breakout rooms in your platform.

− Buddies are typically introduced on week 10 but can be introduced later when necessary.

− Because schedules are tight when schools are operating remotely, consider reducing the number of Buddies meetings to one per month.

− Consider using the simplest activities that don’t require many materials or setup, such as:• A Drawing of Me and My Buddy, p. 19

• Buddy Interview, p. 23

• Sing Out, p. 66

• Book Share, p. 70

• Bring Buddies Home, p. 74

• Buddies Charades, p. 123

• Buddies See; Buddies Do, p. 127

− Use the “Considerations for Designing Your Own Activities” template on p. 196 of the Cross-Age Buddies Activity Book to create your own for the virtual classroom.

• Examine your approach to discipline. Continue to foster self-discipline by examining your approach to virtual classroom management and discipline. The principles outlined in the Introduction to the Teacher’s Manual as well as the Caring School Discipline book remain important to consider as you move to virtual instruction.

− Students will make mistakes in the virtual classroom much like they did in the physical classroom. The mistakes may look different but they are an essential part of growth and development and are to be expected. They are not signs of character flaws.

− Like in the physical classroom, when students are struggling with behavior, the first place we want to look is our own practice. We ask: What in the lesson might have caused that? What tweaks in the lesson might keep that from happening again? What procedures or routines need practicing or reassessing?

− All students, but especially young ones, may not have the language to express what they are frustrated or struggling with. Their behavior mistakes may be ways they are expressing what they can’t yet give voice to.

− Flexibility is crucial. What works for one student may not work for another.

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Middle of the Year   11

Notes on Topic Weeks • Even when students are learning remotely, most of the Topic Weeks will remain extremely relevant to your students.

• The Social Issues Topic Weeks may require some modifications to adapt to the virtual classroom.

− In the “Unkind Speech” Topic Week for example, you may need to add and plan for addressing issues such as inappropriate use of the chat functions, commenting on Flipgrid posts, or other ways students interact with each other in your learning platforms.

• The Character Building Topic Weeks can usually be used without much modification and provide an important way for students to learn and grow with each other.

• Continue to try to incorporate Class Meetings each week or at least every other week. Class Meetings provide students with regular opportunities to raise questions, solve problems, and develop a sense of agency at school. Skipping Class Meetings takes these valuable learning opportunities away from students at the very time when they may need them the most.

• Try to use the Secret Student (grades K–1), Spotlight Student (grades 2–5), and Home Connection Activities. These are easy to do virtually and help students learn more about each other.

• Consider skipping these weeks as they are not as relevant for virtual classrooms:

− Grades 2–5: Preparing for Assemblies; Preparing for Field Trips

− Grades 6–8: Enjoying Lunchtime

Create Your Own Week • When teaching remotely, it may be necessary to write your own Topic Week to best support your students.

• The “Create Your Own Week” planning template can be found in the back of the Teacher’s Manual (grades 2–8), just after week 10.

• As you plan your own weeks, be sure to follow the routines closely. The more similarly you make the format for each week and lesson, the more focused your lessons will be.

• The ideas suggested in the planning template can also be used to help you modify Topic Weeks that might require changes due to the nature of teaching remotely.

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: Middle of the Year   12

Assessment • Assessments in the Caring School Community program help you make informed decisions about adjusting your teaching based on your students’ learning and behavior.

• Because it is very difficult to get a full understanding of what is happening for students socially in the virtual classroom, we suggest only using the Class Assessment Record and not the Individual Student Assessment Record.

• Consider setting aside 10–15 minutes regularly each week to fill out the Class Assessment Record (found in the Assessment Resource Book).

Remote Learning Guidance for Caring School Community: End of the Year   13

End of the YearThe last week of Caring School Community is spent reflecting on the year, appreciating each other, and sending notes to the students who will be in that grade next year. This week can be done without much modification and is an important part of the closing of school.