Day Lock Down Day 1 26 March.
An extraordinary time and we all will need to be creative. This
morning I see 450,000 cases worldwide and a quarter of the Earth's
population in lockdown. India in Lock Down!
Good maths there and see this website for all the latest data. John
Hopkins Data COVID19.
Now Day 6 31 March....750,000!
Now Day 10 1.05 Million! getting bigger. Day 11 1.2 Million. A gain
of 150,000 in 24hrs.
Day 11. Is the peak approaching? Now over 1.26 million in the world
and in NZ we are over 1000.
Schools have closed and the Nation is in Lock Down. Teachers are
still expected to develop ways for students to learn. All online of
course and I should imagine we could could do a very good Tui Yeah
Right here.
I predict we all make new learning about this extraordinary
situation! It could well change what we do in the classroom and
normalize other behaviours.
- thank gooddness for fast fiber internet
- thank goodness for cheap computers, iPads and
smart phones
- thank goodness for all the app builders
- just be thankful we are in NZ
However. There is learning to be done and I hope you find some
ideas and help on this page.
The Non-Reader Summary
1. KISS - make sure it works
2. Easy platform and fun
3. Test it out and have a regular Check - In.
Step One
Develop an online way for a class or groups within a class to be
collaborative, be creative, be critical and communicate. Keep
away from complex pass codes and procedures. No one will use
those. Many teachers have already established Google Classroom as a
normal way for their students to get learning material and provide
feedback. Contact is the key (relationships) so email, text,
or private Facebook, Whatsapp and a few dozen other apps might well
work. Keep it Simple. I have a web page and I use texts, emails and
Skype. Whatever you choose make sure it will work for you. That
takes us to ...
Step Two
Select a platform that everyone can use. Most schools have already
adopted Google Classroom and Google Drive. A private Facebook page
could work as well. WhatsApp, email, messages, Zoom. There are many
but best advice is get one that works for you. A private Facebook is
easily accessed by students and a web page can be good but it does
take some time. Each student could have a webpage and keep a diary
of events, a blog and a learning journal. It would be good for each
student to normalise writing and posting pictures, video and
creations. That is fun. Learning has to be fun.
Zoom looks like fun and easy. Very controllable. Free. https://zoom.us/
Step Three
Test it out. Make sure everyone can access the material and respond.
Communication is key and maintaining that classroom relationship
will test every teacher. See my 1st
Chapter on this website. Once you have a platform and students
have access pretty much a normal programme of work can proceed. I
would recommend a structure similar to your classroom but there are
differences.
STEP Four
Normal is a good word here and in my classes always a bit of fun.
Why change? Most maths classes I see have a strong structure such as
- Starter
- New learning
- Practise
- Review and practice
- Puzzle or Problem
- Journal Learning.
So do the same..... but realise there is no set time for access,
students are on their own, they are not good at self motivating,
they are easily distracted and this bizarre situation is new to all
of us.
Some resources to download and distribute. I would match problems to
the scheme you are working with. Each bundle below has fully set out
pages suitable for students to use. Open the file and see what suits
your program and copy paste it in the student file.
I trialed this with one Y9 grand-daughter by asking "If 5 people in
a room all shook hands with one another how many handshakes would
there be?" A series of guesses and questions followed and eventually
after an hour or so she gave up to ride a horse. We return to the
problem today. I have a strong relationship with this young lady so
we can do texts easily. With a class of students it would be an
online blog and I would be watching the groups or class comments as
they unpacked the answer and recorded it. Jo Boalwer has some good
ideas and problems, nrich likewise is a mine of treasures. There are
many others. Be careful about using websites that just mimic a
textbook and present endless examples for students to mindlessly
complete. I would rather one problem was solved in 5 ways that 5
problems in one way.
Here is a beauty that has a few answers and is suitable for Y7 to 10
of all abilities.
What fraction of this square is shaded?
Solve in at least 2 ways.
