Share tips that are making distance learning work!

[bisous]

OK, here's mine. I get everything ready and set up at the kids' desks prior to the zoom calls in the morning. My older kids actually set themselves up but the littles I help by prepping their electronics and all the things they'll need through the day (workbooks, pencils, books, etc.) I lay it all out on their desks. DH made little "On Zoom Call" signs that they put up.

Another tip is that my two oldest take a walk each morning. I'm glad for the exercise they get and they get a sense of "getting out" and a little bit of autonomy which is good for their mental health.

We do "quiet time" every day from 1:15 to 2:45. During quiet time, one thing I take a little time to do is pick books for each kids' reading levels. I put them in their school backpacks! Then after quiet time they get "mom hour". They get to eat (relatively) junky snacks (ritz bits, teddy grahams, etc.) while reading a book but they have to be quiet for 30 minutes. I got the idea from the Simply on Purpose instagram account (she calls it the Mom Store) but I adapted it a little bit. I love it because reading aloud is so important! Taking those few minutes to consciously choose interesting reading material for them, kind of "force" them (through treats) to read, they love it and they usually keep reading after the 30 minutes is up!

What have you been up to?

[Peaches Keane]

I have a kindergartner and 1st grader. They are set up in different areas of the main space (kitchen/living/dining/entry) basically, I try to put them in nooks with lots of walls to block the sounds of each other’s direct instruction. Luckily, the teachers have them log on and off throughout the day, so this is not as much of an issue as it was in the beginning. We have headphone BUT I need to hear the teachers so well.

Our entry door is metal and I use Urbio Perch magnetic storage for a lot of school stuff (I already owned these, former teacher). I have four Biggies. One for each child’s workbooks and school issue dry erase boards. The other two for our own extras (workbooks, dry erase boards, paper etc.). Two Bitsys, one for scissors and glue sticks, another for dry erase markers. And one stumpy for the small journal notebooks. I also have another magnetic storage item (Really old, no name) for small Flat items and pencils and erasers.

I’ll write more later. Kids are jumping on me.

[georgiegirl]

I have three complete different ages: 1st grade, 6th grade, and 9th grade. Each kid has their own space. (The 9th grader has a learning pod with her 3 BFFs and they rotate houses.). My 6th grader (middle school) is completely independent. He organized his own leaning space and I printed out his schedule with his google meet codes and laminated it. He does have his own room for schooling with a door that closes.

My first grader needs the most help. Every morning, he organizes his work space. We look at the schedule for the day and turn on all the relevant timers (I have timers set for each time he needs to meet with his teacher/class in either a large or small group.). We also review what apps he will need to use for the day (again based on the published daily schedule). He has a laminated sheet with all of his passwords on wall. Today was the first day he didn’t need any assistance at all. but for him, I think the iPad timers are key. And he knows where all of his supplies are located. His math teacher is very smart and begins each math lesson with a visual of what supplies the kids will need...so they can have them all in place before lesson starts (white board, dry erase marker, eraser, dice, math journal, etc.)

My 9th grader is only at home every third week, but the teenagers are located in the basement. They can either sit at a table or on comfy chairs (with TV trays). We have extension cords and chargers available.


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[niccig]

Prep the night before! I prep my own work so I can get started quickly and know what I’m doing, so I can be interrupted and can easily get back to things. I’ve never prepped so much but it makes the day go easier


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[PZMommy]

Wine..... I’m not even a drinker, but distance learning is making me rethink my decision.lol

My 6th grader is pretty independent and doesn’t need my help. My 4th grader is a mess. With both my husband and I busy teaching all day, he is on his own. I’m getting to the point that I may pull him and homeschool him until we return to school. His teacher zooms for 3 hours, and I’ve told his teacher to text me if he disappears. He has been known to go to the bathroom and somehow get lost for 40 minutes. We had no clue until I started getting messages from his teacher. He hates zoom and he hates the hours of asynchronous work that follow. Even though he can do it, he chooses to not do it, so when my husband and I get done around 2:30, we have to spend hours begging and bribing him to get it done. It’s too much for him. I still agree with not opening schools, but there is no distance learning format that is going to work for him. I think if it was just the zoom or just the asynchronous work, it would be okay. But 3 hours of each is too much, and way longer than what he would have to do in a classroom.

[pharmjenn]

My DS12 is 7th grade and we set him up at a folding table in the living room with his rolling office chair. He has an end table next to his "desk" with bins containing his notebooks, another for his textbooks etc. I made a M-F dry erase calendar and have his class times, kung fu classes, counseling etc on it. I did a 2 week schedule, but the only thing that changes is the counseling. That is 3x4ft and sits on an easel in front of him. There is space for info on the bottom, but we haven't used it. I think I refer to it more than he does now.
He is pretty independent with sitting through classes, and all his assignments are in Google Classroom and due Sunday nights, so I do have to push him throughout the week and then on Saturday and early Sundays to get everything done.
He missed a lot of assignments early on in the quarter, and now he is turning them in, but I hate that I can't see the work once it is turned in. In the "old days' I could see his paper work the night he worked on it, and work with him to make corrections.

[jgenie]

Wine..... I’m not even a drinker, but distance learning is making me rethink my decision.lol

My 6th grader is pretty independent and doesn’t need my help. My 4th grader is a mess. With both my husband and I busy teaching all day, he is on his own. I’m getting to the point that I may pull him and homeschool him until we return to school. His teacher zooms for 3 hours, and I’ve told his teacher to text me if he disappears. He has been known to go to the bathroom and somehow get lost for 40 minutes. We had no clue until I started getting messages from his teacher. He hates zoom and he hates the hours of asynchronous work that follow. Even though he can do it, he chooses to not do it, so when my husband and I get done around 2:30, we have to spend hours begging and bribing him to get it done. It’s too much for him. I still agree with not opening schools, but there is no distance learning format that is going to work for him. I think if it was just the zoom or just the asynchronous work, it would be okay. But 3 hours of each is too much, and way longer than what he would have to do in a classroom.

Huge hugs. My younger DS really struggled with distance learning last spring. I had to sit next to him to make sure he stayed on task and even then it was a struggle. He’s done much better this year but last spring was such a slog.

[marinkitty]

Honestly, after trying to be "involved" last spring, I've taken a very hands off approach this fall. Mine are 7th, 10th and 12th, so I have that luxury.

I just made sure they each have a separate desk/table space where they aren't disturbed with lots of light (we did say absolutely no school from their bedrooms this fall - DD and DS2 had been using their rooms last spring which wasn't working) and everything they need vis-a-vis electronics and supplies. I try to be around at lunch and right after school to discuss anything they want to talk about and hear how their days are going/went. DH is working from home and is on standby for tech support.

I check my 7th grader's Schoology dashboard and nudge him if I see overdue things pile up because that happens all the time with remote learning (he isn't a good fit for it at all), but I'm done proctoring his minute to minute like I did from March to June last year. It wasn't worth the stress and the damage to our relationship to have me riding roughshod over him. Frankly, his middle school's learning plan for this year has been terrible so far and if they don't pull it together soon, I fully expect that there will be a lot of catch-up to be done in 8th grade. We'll deal with it then, as piling supplemental work on him right now won't be an effective way to handle the deficit.

My high schoolers stay on top of things on their own, so I'll peek at their Canvas pages once a month to make sure there aren't any issues but otherwise, unless they come to me, I'm hands off. DD shares a lot. DS1 less so, but seems to be toiling along.

My heart goes out to everyone with small children who have to be micro-managed or to those whose schools are doing a poor job with distance or hybrid learning.

[mmsmom]

My DC are 6th and 8th and home every other day. I have them make sure their desks are cleaned off and ready the night before. I make them breakfast and tell/show them during breakfast what their options are for lunch. They have breaks built into their schedule when they take a walk or do a PE assignment. They take care of their own lunch. After breakfast I am working too so they handle day on their own. We do not have a portal but I ensure they are checking that everything was turned in.

[bisous]

PZ mommy you’d be an amazing homeschool teacher for your DS. My heart goes out to the kids of teachers! You guys are busy!

As an alternative, can he just do the zoom portion and you follow up to make sure he’s covering the material from the asynchronous stuff? I mean, the idea is to not get behind, right? Would they actually not advance him? And the school still gets credit and he gets a little interaction with his peers/teacher? Or is this a horrible idea?

Right now with DS3 (who is awaiting further testing for some recently diagnosed special needs) his teacher is very happy that he is now completing his work every day. But I feel like he’d be better served by me spending that time teaching concepts he’s lacking, if that makes sense. I’m super interested in your answer with your experience as a teacher!