Make Every Virtual Moment Count
No-Plan Strategies to Boost Student Engagement Quickly
By Christina Quarelli, K-8 Curriculum Specialist at McGraw Hill
“Let me share my screen.”
“Eye contact please!”
“Unmute yourself.”
“Remember that you are on camera!”
“Drop it in the chat box.”
The list of our new remote learning “mantras” goes on — and they don’t seem to be going away any time soon.
As teachers and students across the globe have had their agility, patience, and emotions tested and retested, there has been a consistent challenge: how to make the most of their time together. In addition to the technical logistics, student access, and a whole host of other obstacles that have come with abrupt and revisited distance learning, the challenging feat of how to make every minute of instructional time more interesting, relevant, and engaging has been one of the more difficult hurdles for teachers.
Any educator can tell you that engagement is the first door students must walk through to access the learning goal, so using various strategies is key and can be easily incorporated throughout the normal school day.
However, with our NEW normal, every teacher can also tell you that there has been a cloud looming over them daily; a secret lock of sorts that they’ve been desperate to unlock in order to motivate students to be invested and active participants in their remote learning.
Although there isn’t a single answer or combination to that lock — with the obvious and never-ending list of environmental variables that are simply out of the teacher’s control — there are still things teachers CAN control, such as the learning climate that is fostered and the strategies that are employed.
How Do You Make the Most of Every Remote Learning Moment?
There are various ways teachers can be creative and give their remote teaching a bit of a “refresh”, and it’s not just by creating cute Google slides or virtual backgrounds.
Those are great, but ultimately, that’s not what students will remember.
Students retain experiences and what we do WITH them.
As mentioned in a prior article in this series, it’s never too late to pause, reflect, pivot, and evolve. Being agile, taking a detour, and experimenting with some of the following practices will not only help transform the motivation and participation in your remote classroom — they can also dramatically impact the class culture, and they’re fun!
In the next series of blog posts, we will explore each of the following strategies in detail to help boost your remote teaching:
- Establishing a Safe Learning Environment
- Using Participation Points as Currency
- Creating Relevance by Leveraging Pop Culture and Media
- Fostering High-Quality Discussions
Many of these strategies work beautifully together and work in any learning model (whether that’s in-class, hybrid, or 100% remote). And the best part? None of these will require much, if any, additional planning time!
For more on how to make the most of every virtual learning moment, download the guide below!
Christina Quarelli is a K-8 Curriculum Specialist at McGraw Hill. Christina, a former K–8 teacher of 18 years, specializes in gifted education. She holds a Master of Education degree in Educational Counseling and has worked as both a teacher mentor and instructional coach focusing on best practices for engagement and maximizing learner potential. Christina is currently a K–8 curriculum specialist for McGraw Hill and resides in Phoenix, Arizona. Most recently, Christina has created teacher supports and resources for those transitioning to teaching their core content remotely.
