9 Cool Things Happening in Our Distance Learning Classrooms

9 Cool Things Happening in Our Distance Learning Classrooms
The Sage Hill faculty has spent the last several weeks transitioning to a distance learning format while the campus remains closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have come up with some really neat ways to stay connected to their students while continuing to give them a high-quality education. 
 
Interactive Whiteboard
Algebra II and AP Statistics teacher Ms. Angotti is using an app called Jamboard, which is an interactive whiteboard. She’s had students “come to the board” to go over their homework and work on example problems. Jamboard is partnered with Google Hangouts so everyone can still see each other and be able to talk and message each other. To see an example of how Jamboard looked by the end of one of Angotti’s classes, click here.

Chemistry Games
Chemistry teacher Mr. Thomassen has been having his students split up into teams and compete in a variety of chemistry games in their Zoom Breakout Rooms. One is a chemistry-themed Pictionary game where one student draws for their group, and only that group can guess for the first 90 seconds.  After that, the other groups can steal the point. For example, one student drew “dry ice” but was not allowed to talk or draw symbols, like “CO2(s),” only pictures. His classes are also doing Kahoot games where the teams compete for correctness and speed. Next up, he will be adding costume contests, with bonus points for chemistry themes, of course! 

Helpful History Apps
Using the student engagement platform Nearpod has helped Patterns of Civilization and AP Psychology teacher Ms. Shiraki feel like she is still in a classroom and giving a lecture. Essentially, it is a PowerPoint presentation that can be broadcasted to individual devices that allows her to control the pacing of the slides as she lectures. The best feature of this application are the many integrations that allow you to interact with students in real time. She can pose open-ended questions and share student responses with the rest of the class. She can also embed quizzes and memory games that assess student learning. Shiraki has even sent her students on mini virtual “field trips” using pictures to have a better understanding about a historical location like the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. 

Flipgrid is Shiraki’s #2 go-to distance learning application. It is an easy to use application that records student responses to questions or research. She uses this when she wants her students to explore different facets of the content that she is delivering independently. For example, in her psychology class, she asked students to explore the different classes of disorders and to make a two-minute video recording of themselves describing the disorder that they found. Flipgrid enables the students to watch and comment on each other’s videos (only available to students listed on her Canvas roster!). It has been a convenient way of maintaining a sense of classroom community when they do not have the opportunity to see each other face-to-face on a regular basis.

Capture Thought
Math teacher Mr. DiOrio actually invented a product called Capture Thought (pictured at top) last year. It essentially is a foldable stand that fits inside of a standard 3-ring binder that turns your smartphone into a virtual classroom. He said he originally invented it to be a useful formative assessment tool. “The idea was that in order to really understand what my students know, I wanted them to have a quick and easy way to show me,” he said.

He started the company back in January 2019 and 3D-printed a set for his current Calculus students. Over the course of the year, students used the device to record themselves doing math problems. They submitted their video and he watched it and gave them targeted, informed feedback based on their work. Students can also build a personal video library of the work over the course of a year every time they have a new homework assignment.

“I have my own Capture Thought set up at my home,” he said “I call them via Google, use grid view, and the students set up their Capture Thought on the other end and we can all see each other’s whiteboard in real time and I can see them working through a problem as I coach them.” 

Learn more about Capture Thought here.   

Scavenger Hunts
Spanish teacher Sra. Sefami has been trying to work on building community and finding ways to connect in her classes. On Thursday, her students did a scavenger hunt in their own houses, and took a picture with the items and themselves in their favorite room of their house. It was a great change to have some fun in class and be active. They needed to include 8 out of 10 of the following items: something to wear to a dressy party, something that represents a sport they play or exercise that they do, their favorite snack from their pantry, a childhood photo, some kind of quarantine supplies (i.e. toilet paper or disinfectant), a picture of a friend, a favorite book, an award or trophy, a letter with their address and a souvenir from a trip.
 
Exponential Modeling of Coronavirus
Ms. Cassidy’s Accelerated Algebra II students are doing an optional extra credit project on Exponential Modeling. The data they are modeling is the growth of coronavirus cases over time, in a county of their choice. They have been gathering data daily, and have developed three different types of exponential models with which they are making projections. The models they have developed have become more and more sophisticated as they learn about this type of modeling. 

The class has tracking for 30 different counties across the US, and it has been interesting to compare what's going on in various hot spots. Some students chose counties where their grandparents or other family members live. But a lot of them were interested in data-rich counties (Kings County in Washington, Queens in New York, Bergen County in New Jersey, Orleans Parrish in Louisiana, etc.) 

Along the way, students have had to journal their reflections as they gather the data. 

“The students have been incredibly engaged, and some of their observations reflect incredible maturity” Cassidy said. “They are adamant about the benefits of social distancing, as painful as it is for them.” 

Physics Fun

Ms. Tekin is using a platform called Go Formative. With it, she can create formative classwork and assignments. There are lots of options like: show your work, show your drawing, short answer, and multiple choice questions. Students can also watch YouTube videos and listen to audio that Tekin has sent and answer the related questions. “The best part of this platform is viewing live responses and results and sending live feedback,” Tekin said. “You can watch in real time as a student solves a problem.

Journal Entries
English teacher Mr. Parker is having his students share personal journal entries related to what they're experiencing and making connections between their current experiences and the English texts they have read. The pandemic has given them new insights into the texts. They are also sharing some of the pluses of having distance learning: more time with family, more time for their own creativity, more rest, etc.

These are just a few examples of the many ways Sage Hill’s faculty are getting creative in their distance learning efforts.

Many other teachers are reporting various ways to break the class into smaller groups (using Google Hangout and Zoom mostly) or breakout rooms. They are using the breakout groups for synchronous collaborative work, and the teachers can bounce from one group to another checking in with them and answering questions -- the same as if they were within four walls of a classroom setting.
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