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Lesson learnt from google classroom

With a few weeks of live lessons complete I will reflect on a few lessons that I have learnt. 

1. A colleague suggested this 'quick fix' to me, and it has been a really useful adjustment; Within the chat function on google classroom ask all the students to write their answers without pressing send and to 'raise their hand' when they have finished, then after a count-down the students simultaneously press send. It has really helped with whole class participation and allows me to have a quick scroll through the responses, use praise and assess their learning.

2. www.teachermade.com allows you to turn pdf files into interactive activities and I have found this effective with KS5. Although I have learnt that if you leave any feedback on the teachermade assignment you need to re-direct the students to log back into the assignment to see the feedback, i.e., it does not notify them. So, I have taken to reviewing the class responses submitted on teachermade and then leaving whole class feedback on the google classroom stream, either written or via mote.


3. Mote - a chrome extension that our IT services have kindly added to our computers. With a quick google you can find out more and install it. Mote has enabled me to give quick verbal feedback, either to a whole class or to an individual, saving time and effort typing responses. I also think it helps to recreate our classroom environment where you would glance over someone's shoulder and give them a quick verbal tip.
4. Modelling has always been important in the classroom, but I believe it is even more important in the remote learning environment. One of my concerns about remote learning was how would I be able to support those students who I know rely on my interactions in the classroom to learn. How can I reach those students who always need the task explaining in a little more detail or need a few hints to solve the problem? For me and my students providing multiple worked answers has been one way to solve this problem. Either during the live lesson or via pre-recorded content I just keep going through questions in a 'chalk and talk' style, narrating my thought process as I go and although it can feel like a mad man doing it the feedback from the students is positive and they find it useful.


With any independent tasks I have also been trying to provide 2 versions of the task. One as the bare task and then another where I have added hints and tips that I know I would usefully have to give to some students if I was in the classroom with them. This is obviously differentiation but somehow it feels different from what I would normally provide.



5. Beautiful work - I often use a students submission as the bases of whole class feedback, either via a live-lesson or pre-recorded content.



I look forwarding to reflecting again in a few weeks so see what new lessons I have learnt through remote teaching. I would love to hear your top 5 tips too.



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