Blog 2 - Catlin Tucker's Blog
The blog post I follow, Dr. Catlin Tucker's blog, shared a video presentation this week. It was about 30 minutes long and I have already watched it twice! You know how sometimes, at this time of year especially, teachers can feel kind of bogged down like we are just going through the motions? The winter blues, perhaps? Back when my district used to allow us to take trips to attend a conference or workshop, I would often try to schedule one during this time of year, because sometimes listening to a colleague, expert, or any presenter who is inspirational, can give you a whole new outlook. I used to hope that I would hear at least one thing that would really motivate me, or a lightbulb idea that would really stand out ... Well, this video was so full of great ideas that I immediately started taking notes and grabbing screenshots!
Dr. Tucker is what I like to call a "guru" of all things blended learning. The subtopic in this video is teaching in concurrent classrooms, which has been my situation for the bulk of this year. She defines concurrent classrooms as "when teachers have a group of students in the physical classroom and a group joining simultaneously online via video conferencing". This presents many challenges, as you can imagine, some of which are unique to this type of teaching expectation. Dr. Tucker addresses 4 specific challenges and gives practical ideas to help contend with each one of them. Here are a few of my favorites from the many in this gold mine of ideas!
Much of the video centered around how to design your class, whether online or in person. It made me think about how I could redesign some parts of my class routine to be more inclusive of my online learners, while still being present for those who are actually with me in person. The first suggestion was about how to maximize the use of routines, and I was amazed at the variety of suggestions Dr. Tucker came up with for both the beginning of a class period and the end of a period. I have my normal beginning of class routine which involves playing a popular English song translated to Spanish, as well as a bell ringer to review something we learned recently. This might be a great time to mix it up, keeping with a beginning of class routine but switching every week or every couple days to a different activity within that routine, such as goal-setting, a feedback form, student self-assessment, or a welcome activity to "pique their interest" in an upcoming topic.
Another section that made an impression on me was Dr. Tucker's suggestion to design the "meat" of the lesson as a "flip-flop", which she describes as a 2-station rotation: one as a small group with the teacher, and the other as either an online or offline student-directed activity. She just has so many suggestions for possible online station activities - I look forward to trying many of these! Now if I could just find the time ...
This was an exciting post that really made me ponder my current teaching strategies, inspired me, and gave me that boost of energy that I have been needing to change up my teaching pedagogy a bit. I wish that same burst of hope this week for all of you as well!
(This week's blog: https://catlintucker.com/2021/01/concurrent-classroom-four-strategies/)
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