Top 5 Things I Learned in 2020

2020 was a challenging year that turned teaching inside out and upside down. Here are the top 5 things I learned in 2020 – online and face-to-face teaching are not the same, organization and tech skills need to be explicitly taught, I have a passion for content creation, and students are incredibly resilient.

Lesson 1

Online Teaching and Learning is not the same as Face-to-Face

The first thing I learned is that online and face-to-face teaching are very different. As we continued remote learning, I adapted, tried, failed, and tried again. I watched webinars and read articles to learn as much as possible and improve my online teaching. My main takeaway was that best practices for online teaching are not the same as best practices for in-person teaching in a classroom. What worked for me? Google Slides, Google Forms, and choice boards. I would put my lessons into Google Slides and then link to a Google Form to check for understanding at the end. I also enjoyed using choice boards so students could pick an activity that they wanted, and they could access and complete. This helped with some connectivity issues and device features (tablet vs. Chromebook vs. laptop) that sometimes prevented students from completing activities.

Lesson 2

Teach Organization

The second thing I learned is that organization is a skill and it needs to be taught. Colleagues have always commented on my organization – even when I think I have a complete mess! Keeping track of online assignments, attendance, lesson planning, and content creation is a lot of moving pieces. I created my own systems and soon found something that worked, although it was still time-consuming. I also created systems for my students and families to help them keep track of assignments. Each week, I made a slide listing the assignments, and I linked each to the assignment on Google Classroom. One place for families to find everything for the week.

Lesson 3

Tech Skills also Need to be Taught

Tech skills, like organization skills, need to be explicitly taught. Luckily, I had been using Google Classroom with my 4th graders all year. Google Classroom was how I distributed small group assignments during guided reading and math groups. My students were familiar with the navigation and many of the websites I linked to frequently. This helped my families tremendously because they were not learning a brand new platform on top of the other changes everyone was navigating. We think students can learn technology instantly because they play video games, watch YouTube videos, and use social media. The truth is, these skills don’t always translate to the technology we use in the classroom. If you want students to use a website, you have to first teach them how to use it. This will prevent frustration and make the tech easier for you and your students.

Lesson 4

Plan for the Unexpected

This lesson might be the most impactful for me. Plan out time for the unexpected things or requests that come up. For me, this looks like blocking off the first hour or two of Monday morning to address tech emergencies that inevitably pop up every Monday. I also schedule tech support time each day to answer teacher and student questions. I clear my email inbox or work on other tasks that can be easily interrupted if there are no requests to respond to. No more Monday morning frustration because tech support requests throw my whole plan off track. Now, because I have planned to address these, I start my day on track and sometimes even ahead if there are no requests that morning.

Lesson 5

My Passion for Content Creation

I learned that I love creating digital lessons for my students. I was able to dig into the content and spend time creating lessons and activities I thought my students would enjoy. It was refreshing to be able to spend more time studying the content and lesson planning. I felt better prepared, and I enjoyed the process also. The downside is that it took me much longer to create and plan, but I enjoyed it and don’t want to go back to just following the curriculum and going through the motions. I was more confident in my teaching because I spent the time studying and adapting the curriculum.