Do you feel like you’ve lost some students as the weeks have gone by with distance learning? I know I have. Week 3 may have just knocked some kids right out and I’m having some feelings about that. Mostly, I knew I needed strategies to make sure I was connecting with students online.
Our school board keeps reiterating that our primary goal is to prioritize the health and well-being of everyone. Then we are to focus on the continuation of learning in a variety of ways. We’re also supposed to maintain relationships and connection to one another.
Here’s the big one for me:
Engage all students, especially those who have historically been underserved and those who may not be able to participate effectively in remote learning for a variety of reasons. In other words, we want to remain in contact with students and their families, even if they are not able to submit work or participate in learning sessions.
Does it feel impossible sometimes? Absolutely. But yes, you actually can connect with your students online.
1. Connect with Students via Voice Messages
Your students are missing YOU. They are used to seeing your face and hearing your voice all.day.long. Even if you aren’t comfortable recording videos of yourself, believe it or not, just seeing your face or hearing your voice can help your students feel more connected.
First, download a voice recording app. I have an android phone and use the “Recorder” app. I like it because you can upload right to Google Drive and it automatically transcribes what you say. Using a pair of headphones with a mic drowns out the noise of my children playing (or yelling) in the background.
Then, record a message for your student. You may want to have a script that you can reuse with each student but make sure to use their name.
Here’s what my script sounds like:
“Hey there [student]! I just thought I’d send you a message to see how you were doing and to let you know that you’ve got this! I know distance learning is challenging and being at school is way easier (whoever thought we’d say that, right?) but remember that I’m here to support you in any way that I can. You’ve been doing such a great job of [insert something that they’ve done here] and I really appreciate that. Looking forward to seeing you online this week!”
If we really want to connect with students online then we need to take those small steps to let them know that we’re thinking about them.
2. Connecting with Students through Community-Building
Do you notice a pattern in the activities that your students are actually completing? For me, it’s short activities that are usually in the form of a Question on Google Classroom.
Interestingly enough, my “lost” students are connecting through the classroom community activities I put up each day. They don’t often do the Flipgrid Challenges for whatever reason. It is the Would You Rather questions and Snap a Pic slides that they love. For me, that’s enough. They haven’t checked out completely and it reinforces my belief that classroom community is more important than ever.
If you are looking for classroom community activities I have put together this collection to help you implement them on Google Classroom.This resource contains four different types of activities that will be sure to engage your students, promote a positive classroom community (even online) and provide them with opportunities to get to know each other better.
3. Connecting with Students via Mail
Have you had a really good mail day since the pandemic? There was one day when not only did the leggings and sweatshirts I’d been desperately waiting for arrived but we also got a card from my sister and a beautiful print from an Instagram friend. I could not stop smiling.
Sometimes our students are just OVERWHELMED. They don’t know how to deal with this situation at all. One thing you can try is to send them some sunshine mail. It can be good old-fashioned snail mail or even just a quick email.
Send them one of these distance learning postcards (for free!) to let them know that everything is going to be just fine. They are doing a great job and that you appreciate them.
Looking for other ideas to connect with your students? This post has a list of three things I am going to keep doing in my 8th grade class to build community.
Connecting with students online is a challenge, for sure! Just take a minute and think about all of the challenges you and your students have already faced over these past weeks. You are all going to be just fine. You are doing a great job and your students appreciate you!!!
This quote is EVERYTHING to me right now and I hope that it sticks in your mind, too, as you are busy planning engaging online lessons and connecting with your students.
