Is it the same to teach in an online classroom as it is in a regular classroom? We’re all aware that the answer is no, it’s not the same! As freshly hired distance learning teachers, we must now learn an entirely new system in order to: provide online instruction.
- remotely interact with students.
- provide feedback (graded or ungraded) in a virtual environment.
- In a digital environment, develop a sense of community.
- maintain a relationship
Some proposals for improving math instruction in the age of the coronavirus are as follows:
1. Students must feel safe before they can learn.
When kids are intimidated, their brains release adrenaline, which limits cognitive activities as well as any other unnecessary activity. Setting the framework for successful learning and communicating high standards begins with a well-organized classroom and a supportive connection with students. Students are more likely to take risks in such an environment, and their mathematical anxiety, or feelings of fear and tension when practicing math, is reduced.
We’ve discovered that creating a safe environment is much more critical now. Many students live in fast, stressful situations. Some look after younger siblings or elderly relatives, while others live in a tiny house with others. When kids and teachers are forced to stay at home all day, tensions can rise. Establish defined routines and processes in our online assignments and meetings to keep a steady atmosphere so that students understand what we expect of them. These routines benefit pupils as well as us by assisting us in managing our lives.
We must work hard to retain the trust with pupils that we have worked so hard to establish over the school year. According to research, developing an emotional connection aid learning by allowing the brain to focus on higher-order thinking. Even small gestures like checking in with individual students on a regular basis can demonstrate our concern for them and help to alleviate kids’ sense of alienation from school. The use of students’ prior experiences to improve their learning capacity is an important aspect of culturally responsive teaching, which involves building trust. Maintaining contacts also keeps our moods up and stops us from feeling alone.
2. Students should be able to understand math.
We need to make sure that the arithmetic we teach makes sense to children when we organize our lessons. We resist the temptation to reduce math to “tricks” and shortcuts, notwithstanding the constraints of remote instruction. Such ill-advised efforts to save time or energy can swiftly backfire if students regard the job as worthless and refuse to do it. We need to incorporate smaller sets of questions that students can go through independently because we can’t undertake the cooperative activities that assist kids to acquire conceptual comprehension.
3. All kids require strong math instructions.
Instead of doing mindless computations, students should answer difficult tasks that challenge their intellect. Students can actively build knowledge through short self-guided discovery activities. Recognizing our students’ needs as well as our own hidden prejudices might help us make our lessons more relevant and culturally appropriate.
4. To be successful, teachers do not have to do everything.
Our classes normally consisted of a daily in-class lesson followed by a variety of tasks such as homework, tests, quizzes, and projects under normal circumstances. Our students collaborated in class with us and outside of class with friends, family, or by themselves.
However, in times like these, everyone’s routines—ours and our students—are severely interrupted. As a result, we have to be flexible and considerate of both students’ and our own limited time. Make sure that when we arrange lessons, pupils will be able to finish them in a reasonable amount of time. We have to adjust our expectations and assignments to account for the fact that kids will not be able to spend the same amount of time at home as they do at school.
5. Creating Math Assignments online.
Without in-person meetings, many students’ main connection with us is through online assignments. As a result, we must make these tasks as relevant and doable as feasible. Here are a few options for us to consider.
Putting Together Unit Plans
We can arrange our instruction by producing unit plans, which are papers that map out the primary learning goals and the sequencing of lessons for a unit, just like we do with our regular teaching. Unit plans don’t have to be lengthy or difficult to understand.
We need to revise our unit plans because our year-end targets have changed. In many circumstances, both the scope and content of our instruction can be limited. Topics that would be too difficult for us to convey remotely can be skipped. Instead, we can only deliver new content if it builds on previously taught notions. Give assignments, such as projects or other activities, on occasion to provide a nice break from our usual.
However, these activities should be limited to short tasks that students can perform largely on their own with little or no research. Many examples of online guided-discovery exercises can be found on the Desmos and GeoGebra websites.
Close the year with some form of year-end review, regardless of the topic we cover. This serves to create a sense of completion for the year and increases the possibility that our students will remember the content.
Giving Online Assignments
We need to set routines and procedures in our online assignments just as we do in our physical classrooms. Routines and processes help pupils focus on learning by making classrooms more predictable.
Simplify your work by assigning no more than one assignment each day for each course or subject to keep our online assignments more structured. Give both classwork and homework in normal situations but delivering two or more online tasks per day can overwhelm students who aren’t used to managing their time at home. Post one assignment per day to make your work more achievable. If you’re going to give a big assignment, break it up into smaller chunks.
When it comes to assignment deadlines, try to be flexible. Despite the fact that we teachers announce deadlines clearly (and frequently), be flexible and accept late papers without penalty. If students repeatedly fail to show up for class, you can reach out to see what you can do to assist them. We find that compassion goes a long way at times like these.
Oryx learning is an interactive learning platform that helps children in boosting their educational development by engaging them in different activities for learning and solving problems. It provides the option to teachers of giving online homework and assignments with flexible deadlines for submission catering individual needs of learners.
6. Organizing Math Class Meetings Online
Arrange remote training that includes regular online meetings with students. We can’t see how students respond to our education by just uploading assignments with videos or web links. Even using online forms (such as Google Forms) or websites that automatically assess student work isn’t enough—our students demand more rapid feedback. More than a virtual representation of in-class instruction is provided through online sessions. They also allow us to communicate with pupils in real-time and provide them with more personalized attention.
Despite the importance of these meetings, we must realize that many students are unable to attend. Some of our students have restricted access to the internet, live in a busy and noisy environment, or look after younger siblings. We can modify and publish a recording of our online meetings, such as a video recording or a slide presentation, to accommodate them. Separate appointments with other students may be scheduled at a later date. However, we must attempt to keep these one-on-one encounters to a minimum, as the time spent meeting with individual children can soon mount up! Above all, we must not take the absence of participation of kids personally.
As we’ve transitioned from in-person to remote training, we’ve adjusted our teaching in a variety of ways. Our basic beliefs about math education, pedagogy, and students, on the other hand, haven’t altered.
