Helping Families Cope with Another Round of Remote Learning

Starting the conversation about best practices in distance education.

As reopening plans are released, it is becoming more apparent each day that socially distanced education is not palatable for many reasons. Hybrid schedules don’t solve the childcare crisis that is driving the push to reopen schools. Socially distanced education is not pedagogically sound and does not provide the socialization opportunity many parents are seeking for the mental health of their children.

But when discussing a 100% virtual option, a return to remote education, many parents are concerned about their child’s academic progress. If teachers want parents to support keeping schools closed, we have a responsibility to prove that we can improve upon the crisis schooling we put together in a weekend last March to offer a genuinely robust and viable remote learning option for the fall.

Remote education is not the ideal choice. It might be the best choice in a sea of bad options, or it might just be an inevitability as long as our school buildings are unsafe.

Either way, as long as remote education stays on the table, it is essential that educators begin to discuss best practices in remote education. In that vein, I present what I feel are 10 Best Practices in Remote Education.

At the core of this piece is my belief that remote education can only work when classroom teachers are mindful and intentional in designing their remote classrooms to support parents in every step of the process.

As professional educators, we are trained to always consider a student-centered experience, but during remote education, that needs to shift to a family-centered dynamic. My determination for what I feel are best practices is through that lens.

10 Best Practices in Contexts of Remote Learning

1. Too much communication is not enough communication.

I know one of the things that my students’ families struggled with during this past spring’s crisis schooling was communication. Many of the parents of my high school students expressed frustration at not knowing if their child had completed all of their assignments, and many of my students were stressed about how their work was being assessed.

Because of this, I started sending an email alerting students and their guardians any time an assignment was missing. I wrote up a simple form and used the BCC feature to send mass emails while maintaining privacy, so it only took about 10 minutes at the end of each day. The email was a gentle reminder that an assignment was due, and if support was needed, to please reach out to me. If the assignment required a login and password, I also reminded them of where they could reset that password, if needed.

Going forward, I plan to make a list of each site I use that requires logins and send it to my families so they can easily keep track. I know that was a source of stress for many families.

Commenting on student work is also more important than ever. I’m a high school English teacher, so that’s actually how I spent most of my remote working hours — commenting on student writing.

Usually, in a non-socially distanced classroom, we’d meet in small groups or one-on-one to talk about their writing. All of this feedback now needs to be clearly written down, without the give and take of conversation.

One of my colleagues, Gerard Dawson, has experimented with using headsets and making audio commentary, which is something I plan to use going forward.

Commenting on student work extensively and keeping your gradebook easy to follow by clearly labeling assignments, and of course, keeping up to date with grading and feedback all support families in succeeding during remote learning.

2. Be available, but be clear about when you aren’t.

Across the board, teachers have said that crisis schooling led to longer days and constantly being tied to our devices. This is unsustainable, yet remote learning does necessitate more flexibility and availability as everyone is struggling to balance our many responsibilities.

Best practices to support families would be to be clear about your availability. Teachers should hold office hours and clearly post them. Be mindful that not all families will be able to work with your availability, so you’ll need to be flexible. I extended deadlines when necessary to accommodate my students.

Many schools offer support during the school day. In my district we have “resource areas” where subject teachers are stationed for duty periods to provide drop-in help to any student who needs it.

Schools should put together similar opportunities for remote learning, ensuring that students can access help during all school hours. Districts could also work with their local teacher’s association to consider offering after school hours either as a paid position or as an opportunity for flexible scheduling for staff who need it.

3. Be consistent and transparent.

This is always a best practice, but in remote education it looks like establishing clear expectations, routines, and grading policies, and posting them so they are readily accessible. I pinned mine to the top of my Google Classroom.

Districts must determine now what policies will be used for grading, attendance, scheduling, etc. so that teachers can design their course with an understanding of how they will use assessment, so they can clearly broadcast this to students and guardians.

One strategy I used in my secondary English classroom that had positive feedback is to be consistent in scheduling my assignments. Every day my class met, all of the work I assigned was grouped together as one assignment, and it was due the next time my class met. So every class, one assignment was turned in, and one was assigned.

Many of the families I spoke with said this made it easier to keep track. My class met 2-3 times per week, so it was not a challenge to have worthwhile assignments for each class. In a schedule where a class meets every day, I’d have my students complete a short Google Form each day to track their progress on classwork and skill growth for formative assessment purposes.

I’d love to hear from elementary teachers about ways to streamline assignments at that level — I have no idea how you do it! The same goes for other subjects. I only know my realm, so if you have something to add, I want to hear it.

4. Look for equity issues.

Don’t wait for someone to tell you about them. Look for the equity issues and address them. If it’s beyond your power to address them, then you find the person who can and get it done.

This is our job. We’re professionals. We know what’s available, we know how to get it. Don’t expect the parents to reach out.

Make sure everything your district offers is prominently displayed. Discreetly ask your counselors to check in on kids who raise your red flags — they are the best equipped to meet these needs but they don’t have the face time they used to, so you need to make referrals more than ever.

During last spring’s crisis learning, the counselors at my school moved mountains for my kids — school counselors are amazing people and we need a lot more of them. Don’t forget about this amazing resource.

5. Be engaging and creative.

Again, this is always a best practice, but during remote learning parents need us to engage their kids more than ever. I know we can’t have every lesson be a trivia game show and all learning is hard work, but we can make sure to prioritize inquiry, current events, and student interest to make our assignments as engaging as possible.

Provide as much choice as you can (choice boards come recommended from several sources) and be creative wherever possible. In my subject, that means that I will choose texts with the interests of my students in mind and will offer many opportunities for personal and narrative writing — always big hits.

If you are struggling or lacking inspiration, use your librarian. Library Media Specialists are skilled in finding resources for ANY subject, and they are sure to be up to date on all those new apps and software packages being marketed to educators. My best lessons have all started from brainstorming and bouncing ideas off of my librarian.

6. Connect with your students.

I’m noticing a trend about best practices — they remain best practices no matter the circumstances. Educating through a world-wide pandemic means that connection is more important than ever. Even a passing knowledge of trauma-informed educating makes prioritizing socio-emotional learning and our relationship with our students absolutely essential, but this is more challenging than ever through a screen.

We have to look for places to reach out to our students. I sent many private messages on Google Classroom during crisis schooling last Spring. Often, after I offered feedback on an assignment, I’d reach out and ask follow-up questions about an unrelated detail I gleaned from their writing.

In one instance, students wrote letters of advice to a character in a story we read dealing with isolation, and one student advised picking up some artistic hobbies, as she had. I reached out and asked her about her art and expressed interest in seeing her paintings. She followed up in email, sending pictures of her new puppy, the cake she had just baked, and a video she convinced her mom to make with her in Tik Tok.

She blossomed with that tiny interaction, and honestly, so did I- it felt almost like being in the classroom again. I started looking for ways to do this, and every time I did, both the student and I benefited.

I know my subject lends itself to this, but another way I found to engage with my classes is by hosting drop-in Google Meets at the start of each class. This provided an opportunity for instant clarification on assignments and quick help, but it more frequently turned into a chance to catch up and connect with the groups who came. Friends started making appointments to meet up together. I was able to meet every new pet, face to face, and to keep an eye out for my kids.

I was also really lucky that my association provided postage-paid postcards to teachers who requested them to write to our students, and this was a really fun and easy way to reach out that I plan to continue doing on my own, even if we don’t stay in remote learning, but especially if we do.

Last spring, teachers came together to create amazing Wave Parades, incognito lawn sign drop-offs, my school’s teacher band even created two music video tributes to our students. Teachers are some of the most creative people out there- we are more than up to this challenge.

7. Be flexible. Assume good intent, always.

As classroom teachers, we've always been aware that many barriers impede learning for many of our students. The current health crisis has only created more, and many of my young adult students have found themselves with new roles and responsibilities within their families.

Many families are working off of one device, or an internet connection that cannot handle the newfound demand — if they have devices or internet at all. Some of my students started working to keep family businesses afloat or bring extra income to their families.

And many of my students dealt with illness and loss.

We must be cognizant of these barriers and we must be flexible in helping to meet and overcome them. Be open to extending deadlines and condensing assignments. Offer this when reaching out to a student you haven't made contact with recently. When the obstacle is surmountable, kids have amazing resilience. Help them find theirs.

Also, extend this whether or not you know why it is needed. Asking students to share their trauma to justify an accommodation is unnecessary and problematic, even in normal times. Honestly, it's really not our business and we can assume everyone is doing their best. I'm sure many fear they'll be taken advantage of, but in my experience, this is groundless.

Making the choice to extend grace to my students with no expectation of an explanation has consistently paid off in engagement, mutual respect, and the trust needed for authentic learning.

8. Be conscious of screen time. No, really.

I know we can't avoid the screens completely, but we can be mindful and intentional in their use. Also, not all screen time is created equally. We don't need a flashy PowerPoint full of animated transitions where a brief video introducing the assignment, accompanied by clearly written simple text will do. Not all students have the capacity to stream long YouTube videos, and even fewer have the attention span under ideal circumstances.

Keep videos short and wherever possible use them as enrichment or supplement instead of as required material. Show your personality to connect with students in your material creation but keep the extra stimuli to a minimum.

If you can, try to craft assignments that the students complete off of a screen. I gave the option to handwrite and scan or photograph and upload, for students who had screen fatigue. I also gave options to create podcasts or videos, and many students relished being on the other end of the screen for a change.

Whenever possible, try to incorporate real life into their learning. I know a math teacher who asked students learning fractions to pick a recipe and make it and let her know how it went.

I asked students to interview a family member or friend over the phone as the basis of a writing piece. We know better than anyone that learning happens all around us. Let's help expand upon the learning already happening so that we can maximize our efficiency and take as much of this burden off of parents as possible.

9. Use synchronous and asynchronous learning purposefully.

Parents want me to say that we need to hold live class all class every day so they can get their own work done (and with two of my own children, I do understand) but it's just not going to be effective.

Access and equity issues are a factor. Anything offered synchronously must have a viable asynchronous option for students who can't make the session due to illness or internet malfunction.

Large videoconferencing groups are also challenging to focus in, as we've all learned. Holding hour-long live classes is not good pedagogy. More effective would be a large group check-in, and then utilizing small group break out rooms to facilitate learning. Districts should be prioritizing this type of professional development for their staff immediately so we can effectively embed these tools into the design of our class.

Another consideration to keep in mind is to schedule any synchronous learning well in advance so families can do their best to adapt their schedules. Time and space are limited resources so offer the respect of scheduling your sessions clearly and well in advance and your turnout and engagement will increase.

10. Recognize what you are requesting.

Earlier, I said to expand upon real-world opportunities wherever possible. But the corollary is to be hyper-aware of what your assignment requires. Consider materials needed to complete the task, and provide several common options for each.

You'd be amazed, but something as common as coffee filters is not something this tea drinker keeps on hand. Don't assume what is commonplace in your home is available in the homes of your students.

With enough planning time, well-organized districts could organize supply bundles to be picked up, or ideally delivered to students. My district was able to partner with a publisher to deliver summer reading books directly to our elementary students- a program I would love to see continue and expand.

Recognizing what we're asking also means we must make our instructions clear and easy to follow. I've been making my husband explain them back to me while the kids are trying to get our attention as a gauge of clarity because those are my living conditions, and those are my students' living conditions.

Recognize how very full everyone's plate is at the moment and make sure you're not adding stress without purpose. Student learning is essential, but every single idea we have may not be. Maintain focus on what's essential and be flexible about the rest.

And, above all else, recognize how much we need and value the support of our families right now by returning that support any and every way you can. We really are all in this together, and if we work together we'll get the best outcomes possible for the most important people in the world: the kids.