Background for Administrators 

Watch the first 35 minutes of this AESD Keynote Address by Jeff Utecht.  This was presented in April of 2020 shortly after Washington issued their stay at home order, but the principles shared here apply for any district moving to remote or blended learning.

  1. 4:46  Introduction/background
  2. 7:50  Start with meeting the psychological and safety needs of students
  3. 9:00  What does not work
  4. 9:48  A new mindset for teachers
  5. 13:15  A 3 phase process to distance learning
  6. 14:32  Phase 1 Creating your Core 4
    • 18:22  No longer teaching periods, teaching all students
    • 20:05  Setting office hours – building relationships
    • 25:05  Create a “Drop Schedule”
  7. 27:40  Create a schedule
  8. 34:05  Setting up school or team meetings 

What are your Core 4 Learning Applications

Revising the Instructional Schedule: 

Onboarding Parents  

  1. Make sure students know how you will communicate with them, and how they can communicate with you.
  2. Communicate your school online learning schedule.
  3. Orient parents to your 4 Core tools.
  4. Communicate the teaching & learning expectations of students and teachers.

Teacher Evaluations

  1. Determine Instructional Expectations
  2. Align district evaluation with NSQ Online Teaching Standards and District Teaching Standards

Engaging Instruction- Online Students’ Perspectives

In each of these brief videos, online students answer questions about effective online experiences they’ve had – the ideas they share are transferable to any online class.  I recommend beginning with the starred titles below:

      • Q1 – (1:33) Connecting with your students online
      • Q2 – (4:11) Value of course updates
      • Q3 – (5:57) Importance of feedback
      • *Q4 – (3:37) Importance of teacher engagement
      • Q5 – (6:56) What makes a good online teacher
      • *Q6 – (1:43) Effective online tools
      • Q7 – (4:21) Hardest thing about taking online classes

Next Steps

Once the foundational pieces are in place, teachers can begin revising/rewriting their lessons and lesson plans more effectively to meet the needs of their distance students.

Additional Resources

School Closure Learning Continuity Readiness Rubric – Michigan Virtual has created a School Closure Learning Continuity Readiness Rubric that schools can use as an evaluation and planning tool. 

The IDLA eDay website  / Teaching Resources – General Resources for getting started with online learning. This resource contains videos of some of IDLA teacher’s favorite tools.

9 Ways Online Teaching Should Be Different From Face-to-Face – 9 shifts we need to make in our face-to-face teaching practices to make the most of online learning.

10 Strategies for Leading Online When School is Closed – Elements you should consider, especially if you have not taught or led in mostly or entirely online contexts.

QM Emergency Remote Instruction Checklist for K-12 – A tiered list of considerations, tips, and actionable strategies to enact during an institutional move to temporary remote instruction.

The Balance with Catlin Tucker – Podcast and resources for blended learning from Catlin Tucker.

LEAP Learning Framework – A framework for redesigning schools focused on elements such as learner agency, learning mastery…

Getting Started With Remote Learning – Printable PDF of this webpage.