Reflections on Remote Learning

It's been 5 weeks of Remote Learning, and we have 2 more to go.  

Often on the last day of class, I ask students to reflect back on the year and provide feedback after they've completed their semester exam.  I plan to do that this year, too, though we aren't giving exams.  In addition to the questions I usually ask, I'm going to ask students what they found most difficult about remote learning, and what things they wish they could keep when we return to some form of in person school.

Thinking about this got me reflecting about some of the positives of this new learning environment.  

My school district has adopted a Monday-Thursday schedule and has encouraged teachers to focus on asynchronous learning because students' home situations vary, and they might not all be able to attend a live video lesson on Tuesday morning at 9:25.  Teachers have "office hours" from 9-11 AM and 1-2 PM when they are available online to answer questions via email, Canvas message, or Google Meet.  

I've found this schedule to be calmer than my in person school routine (and I only work half time!), perhaps because I'm introverted.  Here are some of the positives for me:

• I don't have to get up at 5:30 anymore.  I can sleep until 6:30 or 7 and even go for a run before school.
• I can use the bathroom when I need to.  
• Teaching multiple sections of the same prep is much less tiring - I'm recording a lesson only once, rather than teaching it two or three times.
• Patrolling for cell phone use, which was a huge (and tiring!) part of daily classroom management, is no longer part of my job.
• A 2 hour lunch break lets me eat at a relaxed pace and even go for a walk after lunch.

I miss working with students in person, but I think this schedule is better for my overall health - if you leave out the stress of a global pandemic, of course!

I read an article yesterday about How to Reopen Schools Amid Coronavirus. Among the things mentioned were smaller class sizes.  Classes with only 12 to 15 students would be amazing!  

Schoolchildren have lunch at the Korshoejskolen Public school in Randers, Denmark. Denmark began reopening schools on April 15.
Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2020/04/23/gettyimages-1210034619_slide-adff93055917aebc5ed6b88550f6327099963c34-s800-c85.jpg

It would be great if we used this crisis as an opportunity to think about what works and what doesn't in our public schools and to make some changes.  It could be done - we just have to decide how important educating our children really is to us.

New Handy Haus

I've blogged previously about why I don't permit cell phone use in class and how I enforce this policy.

When I have to take away a student's cell phone, it goes in to my Handy Haus for the rest of the class period.  My original Handy Haus was just a basket with a label on it.

This worked just fine, but this summer I decided I wanted to upgrade.  I found a cardboard house with a removable roof for just $3 and knew I had found my new Handy Haus.  It was plain brown, but my kids offered to paint it yesterday, and I happily took them up on the offer. 

Here they are, planning the color scheme:

In progress:

The finished product:

Handyverbot

My first two years of teaching were from 1999 to 2001.  Back in the days before the iPad or the iPhone.  I didn't even own a cell phone.

 When I returned to high school teaching in 2013, one of the biggest changes I had to get used to was students and their phones.  My school does not have a school-wide rule about cell phone use.  Students are allowed to use their phones during passing periods and lunch, and then individual teachers set the policy for their own classes.  My rule is no cell phone use from the beginning bell until 5 minutes before the ending bell.  

I have this sign posted in several prominent locations in the room.  After the bell rings, I greet my students with "Guten Tag, Klasse!" followed by "Tschüss, Handys!"  (Handy is the German word for cell phone.)  After we bid farewell to our phones, they are to remain silent and out of sight for the next 80 minutes.  Then, during the last 5 minutes of class, when we are cleaning up and writing down assignments, I announce "Hallo Handy," and students may use their phones if they wish.  If a student has a phone out during class, I collect it in a basket on my desk, which is called the Handy Haus.  The phone stays there until the bell rings for the end of class.  

Cell phones are without a doubt the number one classroom management annoyance I deal with on a daily basis.  Usually the students are good about keeping their phones in their bags the first week or two of school, but then one or two start to appear under a desk or inside a sweatshirt pocket.  If I don't get out the Handy Haus, pretty soon most of the class is using a device all period long.  It's tempting to throw up my hands and give in to the onslaught of digital devices, but I think the Handy Battle is one that is worth fighting.

One of the things I want my students to learn (in addition to German!) is wise use of technology.  We need to teach young people when an appropriate time to text is and when is not - they don't automatically know this when an iPhone is placed in their hands.  If I think it's rude for them to use a cell phone while I'm teaching (which I do), then I need to explain this and follow through with classroom policies that support this. Research tells us that multitasking is inefficient - when we try to do several things at once, we actually don't do any of them very well.    I have certainly observed that students don't learn German well when they are distracted by their phones.  Ideally, I would like my students to have enough self-control that I don't need a Handy Haus, but realistically I know many of them haven't developed that level of self-discipline yet.  But it's something I think they can learn, with practice. And since they will soon be (or already are) driving cars, it's vitally important that they do learn it. In the meantime, I want to give my students every opportunity possible for success in German, so I'll continue to keep my Handy Haus nearby.