2020 has been an unforgettable year for the teaching profession. In many countries around the world schools were closed and teachers had to quickly adapt their knowledge and skills to deliver effective lessons remotely. Today, I’ve invited Dr Andreas Economou, Head of Science at The American International School in Cyprus, to share his reflections on 2020, along with some suggestions for teachers as we enter the New Year.
2020 is now gone, and what a year this has been. If you spent some time in social media looking through education/teacher dedicated accounts, you would have been exposed to the perception of the hive mind in this particular year. The consensus is that it was mostly doom and gloom. 2020 was “the worst”, and you will be reminded of the lockdown, all the issues of remote teaching such as the staring at blank screens in the chat rooms, the chronic student absenteeism, the lax in assessment and so on. But, there are those voices that point out that this was in-fact a great year because “we did it”. We all became online instructors overnight. We managed to persevere and provide the best, under the circumstances, education we could, and this should be celebrated.
In a way, perception is key. One of my favorite authors, Nikos Kazantzakis has stated “Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes that see reality” and these words cannot ring truer this year. Both cases described above about 2020 are true. It’s the way that you perceive reality that can make 2020 “the best” or “the worst”.
If we take this a step further, consider, how important is your own perception about your surroundings, and most importantly about your students?
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Setting high expectations signals to your students that you perceive them as able, intelligent and smart. Giving hard tests and challenging assignments signals the same. The opposite, easy tests, low expectations or half-backed lectures instead of a well-planned lesson signals to your learners that you perceive them as less able. And this perception, both by the educator as well as the learners is important. Anyone who has taught an “Honors” vs a “Standard” class in the same year can attest to that. The labeling of the classes as such is a self-fulfilling prophecy because the students perceive themselves more or less able because of it.
So how do we set high expectations? If you are a seasoned teacher, you already know that that this is a delicate issue. Setting the bar too high can lead to disappointment and disengagement. You need to make sure that you know your learners and set the bar a little bit higher day by day. Just enough, so when a student “fails” to clear the bar, he/she feels not disgruntled but instead convinced that they know exactly what they need to do to clear it in the future. And remember to cheer them for doing so. And keep on going.
Will your kids like you for this? Yes, and no. They will dislike every step of it. They are going to dislike the work you put them through, they are going to dislike the feedback demanding more of them, but in the end, when they realize how much they have learned and accomplished, then they will like you. And maybe, along the way, they will also realize the value of perception themselves.
Have a great 2021 every one. Let’s make it a good one!
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On Wednesday of this week I had the pleasure of attending a webinar hosted by Diane Jacoutot of Edvectus: one of the world’s most respected international teacher recruitment agencies.
The webinar’s theme was centered on the impact that Covid-19 has had on international school recruitment, along with predicted trends for the near future. However, I found that the conversation between Diane and Dr Stephen Whitehead covered many important topics that are relevant to anyone currently teaching overseas, or those who wish to make the move one day.
You can watch a recording of the webinar at theVimeolink below. However, in this blog post, I will provide a bulletpoint summary of the key points I took from this excellent dialogue, for those who prefer a quick read.
General points on teaching overseas
Making the move to teach overseas is a life-changing decision that should not be made lightly. Host culture, school culture, cost of living and your ability to teach the relevant curriculum/curricula are factors that should be considered.
International schools teach various curricula (e.g. the IB Diploma, the ‘British’ curriculum, the ‘American’ curriculum, etc.), and embody various approaches of applying said curricula (e.g. enquiry-based learning, Montessori pedagogy, traditional techniques, etc.).
80% of international education caters for the host nationality/populace. This means that international school teachers are typically working with manystudents who are ESL/EAL/ELD. In addition to this, one has to consider native sensibilities when applying an international curriculum to a host culture (e.g. teaching freedom of speech and freedom of expression related-issues in China requires extra consideration. Teaching sex education in some southeast Asian countries can be tricky, as the host culture may not teach this until a later age than, say, the UK or US, and may not be as open to ideas related to gender fluidity/homosexualtiy as a western culture may be).
Culture-shock hits you regardless of where you go, or how many countries you’ve been to. In addition, many international school teachers face reverse culture shock when heading back home after a number of years. This is because not only has their home town/city changed in the interim, but they have changed too.
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Transitioning from a state school in your home country to an international school overseas
You may find that:
There’s less paperwork and systems are more ‘streamlined’.
Class sizes are smaller.
Some schools can be very ‘corporate’ and business-driven.
It’s a good idea to do your due diligence before making the decision to take up a job at an international school. Ask if you can be put in-touch with a teacher who works at that school. If the school is reluctant to do this, then that’s a definite red flag.
The effect of Covid-19 on the current international education jobs’ market
Vacancies are down by about two thirds/66% and the market is depressed.
Lot’s of online teaching is happening right now.
Having a poor internet connection can be a major disadvantage now, as this is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for getting an overseas teaching job.
Key skills that schools are looking for now include being tech savvy (why not become a Google Certified Educator?), being adaptable, evidence of outstanding teaching abilities and good subject knowledge (as teaching from home means that you can’t rely on your team as much as when you’re physically at school).
Schools are basically recruiting teachers with online teaching capabilities in-mind (preparing for the possibility of a second lockdown, or in some cases, for the lockdown that’s already in-place).
China is now open for applications, and it’s pretty much business as usual there.
In the Middle-East it’s 50:50 – around half of the teaching that’s happening right now is online; half is in-school.
Kuwait is still in total lockdown. Schools are shut and online learning is taking place.
Presenting the best impression of yourself in the application process
Make sure you have a great C.V.:
Talk about the things you’ve actually done. Don’t just copy tidbits from the published job description of the job you are applying for.
Describe what you’ve done to get excellent results (attainment is an especially important consideration for schools right now).
Explain your tech skills. Get tech skills if you don’t have them!
Demonstrate good communication skills – schools are really looking for this now, as you may have to teach online in the event of a future lockdown.
Show that you areresilient. Schools will look at your C.V. to determine this. A big factor will be how many schools you’ve worked at, and how long you’ve stayed at each school. Do you come across as a ‘job hopper’ or a loyal, stable employee? Schools are really looking for stability right now, so try to capitalize on any evidence of ‘sticking with it’ that you can show, If you’ve left a school in the past, then why? Does this demonstrate resilience?
Reputationis more important now than ever: and that means your current school’s reputation as well as your own. Develop a strategy: Teach abroad for a few years at a decent school before moving on to a more elite establishment (with higher pay and more benefits). Be careful about what you post on social media: your personality will be judged (e.g. openly supporting Hong Kong protesters may not be looked upon favorably if you’re applying for a job in China).
IB (International Baccalaureate) experience is extremely valuable. If you don’t have any IB experience, then it will be probably be worth doing some IB courses (e.g. IB Category 1 courses in your subject area, which can be done online) prior to applying. Getting into IB schools when you have no IB experience can be tricky, but it is possible if you are tactical: look at less desirable locations to teach at an IB school for a few years first (e.g. Kyrgyzstan) – this will give you valuable experience that you can use to support an application to a top-tier school in a more desirable country later on.
The basic theme that you want to keep in-mind when preparing your application is this: Can I cope with the unknown?Can you show a potential employer that you are adaptable?
The international education market experienced an explosive growth track in the years immediately prior to Covid-19. The market has now been effectively ‘dampened down’ by the pandemic. The market is still expected to expand, however, but in different ways to years prior.
Top-tier schools are not offering as many high-end packages for teachers as before.
Dubai and other countries in the Middle-East have local education markets that are very much dependent on oil prices, which have been very low for quite some time. Covid-19 has added fuel to this fire as fewer people can, and are, travelling there. At the moment, the Middle-East is understaffed and when lockdowns are finally lifted and travel resumes, demand for expatriate teachers will be at an all-time high.
High fee-paying schools have been losing students to mid-level schools, and this trend is expect to continue as we enter 2021.
China is expected to continue running normally. China is closest to the ‘old normal’ than any other international school market on the planet right now. There are around 3.6 million Chinese millionaires in China and there exists a ‘pent-up’ demand for international education in wake of restrictions on international education being recently lifted.
Global demographics of international schools
British curricula (EY, KS2, KS3, IGCSEs, ‘AS’ and ‘A2-Levels) are taught in roughly one third to a half of all international schools globally.
The American system is popular at affordable schools in the Middle-East and Japan. Approximately 15-20% of all international schools follow an American curriculum.
The remainder of the schools are IB World Schools, and these tend to be high-paying, top-tier establishments with great expatriate packages. As mentioned earlier, IB experience is extremely valuable on the international marketplace.
Predicted trends
The market will recover, albeit in different ways depending on location.
Africa and Latin America are expected to recover slowly.
The Middle-East is expected to be depressed for a number of years: this region has been hit with a ‘double whammy’ of Covid-19 and low oil prices.
One-year contracts are becoming the norm in many schools, but some clients are asking for two or three-year contracts (and schools sometimes offer these). Permanent contracts are extremely rare at international schools (due to visa and immigration regulations).
The application and renewal of contract process is expected to keep moving to earlier and earlier dates in the calendar. Teachers will be expected to notify their school of their intentions early (typically in Term 1/the first semester) and more and more schools will begin recruiting in November (or earlier) for the following academic year.
Questions and answers
Is this a bad year to be thinking about changing jobs?
Yes and no. On the one hand, there are fewer teachers on the market this year, so there is less competition for jobs. On the other hand, there are fewer jobs available. Early years positions, for example, have seen a massive drop globally as this is non-compulsory education (and parents are choosing to keep their kids at home).
2. Have leadership posts changed?
Not really, but again: this is regional. Senior management positions are relatively unaffected, but many schools are cutting middle-management positions in order to save money.
As mentioned earlier: China is relatively unaffected. 200 new international schools were planned to be built in China (prior to Covid-19). Around 100 of those are actually happening and are being built.
3. Have contractual obligations been affected?
For the most part, no, but there have been anomalies. Contracts are dependent on teachers getting a visa. If you can’t get a visa, then a contract may be cut. Recently, contracts at some schools have been cancelled prior to the position starting due to a drop in enrollment.
4. Will a gap year due to Covid-19 reduce my chances of getting a job?
It depends. A potential employer will most certainly want to know what you’ve been doing to keep your ‘finger in the pie’ whilst you’ve been away from work. Think about taking some online courses (e.g. through Udemy, Coursera or EdX). There are many great online courses in educational theory/pedagogy that are free to take.
Please watch the full interview at the top of this blog post to hear answers to more questions (such as ‘Does age matter?’ and ‘What do you need to be considered as a ‘qualified teacher?’)
Recommended book
The hosts of the webinar recommend International Schooling: The Teacher’s Guide(a forthcoming book authored by Dr. Stephen Whitehead and Denry Machin)for anyone who is interested in teaching overseas.
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I have always loved mathematics, but I’ve not always been ‘good’ at maths. I got a grade A for GCSE Mathematics when I was 16 years old (a grade I worked really, really hard for) but I struggled with mathematics at ‘AS’ and ‘A’ – Level (the UK’s pre-university qualifications).
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It just so happened that mathematics wasn’t a subject I needed as a prerequisite for my university course anyway. So, in a sense, I committed the cardinal sin of thinking that it ‘didn’t matter’. I was planning to study molecular biology at university, and my admissions tutors were mainly interested in my biology and chemistry grades.
I achieved my goal of going to uni and doing my PGCE in order to become a fully qualified Science teacher in 2006. I was happy for several years, but my failure to complete my mathematics education at school kept gnawing at me like an annoying itch. I needed to do something about it.
I decided to complete the Certificate in Mathematics course with the Open University in 2009, after three years of being a full-time science teacher. This course covered everything in my ‘A’-Level syllabus with some extra, university-level topics thrown in. It was challenging and offered me just what I needed: closure. As a distance-learning course, it also offered me the chance to study and work as a teacher at the same time.
As I started studying the course and handing in assignments (which had to be snail mailed to the UK – I was living in Thailand at the time), I began to realise how much I had become disconnected from the student experience as a teacher. It had been around three years since I had ever studied anything seriously, and this mathematics course was teaching me how difficult it was to:
Meet deadlines
Seek help when in doubt
Have the self-discipline needed to study at a regular time-slot each day
These skills were, of course, things I had to do whilst completing my degree course and schooling earlier in life, but it had been a few years since I had been immersed in serious study like this. I was slowly losing empathy for my students: that was until this course gave me a wake-up call.
Another big thing I took from this experience was just how stressful it can be to prepare for a difficult exam (and to complete it). I had to fly to the UK to take the end of course mathematics exam (a three hour beast), and along with the intense revision that came in the few days running up to the exam I had the misfortune of not sleeping so well the night before the big day. And then, once sat down and actually completing the paper, three hours felt like it went by in an instant.
I guess I’m trying to make a number of points in this trip down Memory Lane – namely that by immersing ourselves in the ‘student experience’ we can, as teachers:
Regain, or enhance, our true understanding of just how many hurdles await our students on their race to the exam finish-line.
Learn new skills and concepts that can be applied to our roles as classroom managers, leaders and ‘purveyors’ of specialist knowledge.
Build self-discipline, and pass on the lessons learned to our students in our roles as mentors, homeroom teachers, form tutors and coaches.
One final point to stress is that, whilst we can study almost any subject we want via online platforms like EdX and Coursera these days, it’s also important that we take the time to thoroughly reflect on a regular basis. Keeping a journal of things we’ve done well, and things we messed up, can be a great way to have a written record to read over when we want to celebrate successes and remind ourselves of lessons we have learned on our journeys as educators. This video I made a few years ago goes into this in more detail:
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We all know how important it is to maximize the progress and attainment of our students, but how do we work to ensure that we make progress as teachers? What are the key strategies that teachers should deploy in the classroom? Today, I’ve invited Tatyana Cheprasova (Senior Lecturer and EFL/TEFL instructor atVoronezh State University,Russia) to share her insights and tips for educators.
Accompanying video (very compelling and interesting, and goes into more detail than the written responses below. Well-worth a watch!):
Tell us a little about yourself
My name is Tatyana. I am a senior lecturer and EFL/TEFL instructor at Voronezh State University, Russia. I have been teaching English for more than 15 years to various groups of students with a diversity of learning needs and backgrounds. I am also doing my MA in ELT: online at the University of Southampton. I love cycling and swimming, and training my Akita Inu dog when I have some free time.
Why did you choose to become a teacher in the first place?
I think it mostly happened due to the fact that when I was a student and was doing TEFL as a part of my major I was lucky to have a fantastic instructor. She was a brilliant lecturer, a very charismatic one, and she somehow managed to inspire many of my course-mates to become EFL teachers and to launch our teaching careers once we got our diplomas.
What advice would you give to someone who is new to teaching?
Presumably, there is very little advice to be given here as we all operate in very different teaching settings and cultural contexts. I do think, though, that all a novice teacher needs to gain in the first place is experience – as much as possible. Not to be afraid of making mistakes can become the order of the day, too. Self-reflection and self-evaluation are also very important here. In my opinion, these are the two vital skills a novice teacher needs to develop on their way towards professionalism. Hence, working in close cooperation with more experienced colleagues can be an effective practice.
What is your personal teaching philosophy?
So far I haven’t given it a particular thought. I tend to think that it resides in many aspects in the main populations of Positivism as a philosophical paradigm, where experience and observation play an important role. EFL teachers often find themselves at the forefront of ideological confrontations, be it a never-ending struggle with language policymakers or the government. Anyway, we often find ourselves striving for learners’ equity and the protection of their rights, hence, enhancing positive changes in the society.
What changes do you see happening in the future with regards to the teaching profession?
I am convinced that the world of TEFL will never be the same once the situation with COVID-19 gets back to normal. What I mean here, is that EFL teachers worldwide will no longer be able to neglect the need to actively implement the digital constitute in their teaching procedures. No longer will they be able to exclude the development of digital literacies as the vital component of their CPD. The era of Digital Natives has arrived and it is here to stay, so teachers will have to customize and adjust their teaching strategies in many ways.
What are the biggest lessons you’ve learnt in your journey as a teacher?
Not to let yourself become rusty. For me, this means to stay always curious, to be quick to pick up new skill sets, to challenge myself with something totally new and unexplored. Once you start to think and look like Master Yoda, you are lost for this profession.
What’s next for you and your career?
I would love to take part in an international research project and to have its results published in a TEFL journal. This would be an absolutely unforgettable experience for me!
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Thoughts and reflections from Richard James Rogers
Thank you, Tatyana, for taking the time to share these really helpful and insightful tips and experiences with us. Some key takeaways for me personally were:
A great teacher can really have a massive and profound effect on his/her students’ lives (as exemplified by your reasons for becoming a teacher in the first place – you and your classmates were inspired by a great instructor).
Don’t become stagnant (or ‘rusty’, as you aptly phrase it): continue to develop yourself and learn new skills along the way. Be a ‘reflective practitioner’.
Gain as much experience as you can and don’t be afraid of making mistakes along the way. I can personally endorse this wonderful advice – I’ve made a tonne of mistakes in my time as a teacher! I think it’s a good idea to write mistakes down in a journal of some form (so you don’t forget them!) and read over this journal on a regular basis – it’s a great way to ensure self-reflection and constant progress. Don’t forget to record ‘victories’ in your journal too – things you did well and personal successes.
COVID-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of the EFL/TEFL ‘edspace’, and teachers really do need to skill up, or face being left-behind. One place I would suggest that all teachers start is by becoming Google Certified – it’s a cheap, yet prestigious qualification and the training you receive is great for bringing practical edtech into the classroom.
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School closures due to lockdowns have presented teachers with two major challenges:
How to teach students effectively using online tools
How to assess and give feedback to students accurately and efficiently via remote-learning technology
Most of the books and blogs I’ve read deal primarily with the first of these two challenges. In fact, I even jumped on this bandwagon with some blog posts of my own (here, andhereandhere) and by publishing my latest book: 100 Awesome Online Learning Apps (which also includes some advice for assessment when teaching from home).
This focus was understandable in the early days of COVID-19: teachers had to adapt quickly and schools had to put systems in-place that were safe and efficient to use. We’ve now reached a point, however, where we need to start thinking seriously about the ways in which we are going to assess our students and provide high-quality feedback whilst teaching from home.
Thankfully, I’ve done some of the serious thinking for you. I’ve been testing a number of methods with my students over the past two months and I’ve distilled the mix down to to a few methods that seem to work best.
Tip #1: Use screen-share functions to quickly assess, give feedback and offer guidance
Any kind of screen share in a video-conferencing tool can be amazing for providing quick feedback. I currently use Google Meet with my students, and I use the screen share in the following ways:
To quickly see student work and offer some verbal feedback and encouragement (students share their screen with me).
To guide students through a process, because by seeing their screen I can show them where to click and where to navigate.
By showcasing excellent work with the class. Oftentimes I’ll do this by asking exceptional students to share their work via screen-share with the whole class.
Tip #2: Get your students to build website ePortfolios
Do you know what an ‘ePortolio’ is? It’s basically a website that each student creates. To this website each student uploads their work, either as photographs of their notes or more complex pieces such as Google Sheets, PDFs and Google Slides.
Provided that you, the teacher, has the URLs for each students’ site, marking becomes a doddle. All you have to do is click through the list of URLs and mark the student work. WithNew Google Sitesyou can actually type comments onto the students’ websites (if the student clicks ‘share’ and then shares the site with you). With other platforms (such as Wix and WordPress), an e-mail to each student after checking the sites would work well.
Tip #3: Use automated assessment programs for your subject
I personally use MyMaths (for mathematics), Educake (for Science) and I have used Lexia (for English) in the past. Software like this often has to be purchased by the school, but the investment is nearly always well-worth it. Automated assessment programs usually come with detailed reports post-testing which can be ‘auto-emailed’ to the class teacher.
Systems that cover a wide range of subjects include Kahoot! (which can be set as an assignment, providing excellent, quick whole-class feedback) and Quizlet (ask students to take a screenshot of their scores for tasks such as ‘Spell’, ‘Gravity’, ‘Match’ and ‘Test’). BBC Bitesize also includes a number of multiple choice quizzes at the end of ‘Learner Guides’, all of which provide model answers and explanations should students get questions wrong (Hint: Ask students to screenshot their responses and make a note of any model answers that come up to questions that were answered incorrectly).
Tip #4: Use verbal feedback in the same way as you would in a ‘real’ classroom (but with a twist)
Set students on a task, and, whilst this is being completed, have some one-to-one conversations with students about work that has been submitted prior to the lesson (e.g. last week’s homework). Use screen share to show the student their submitted work, and talk the student through the different parts. CRUCIALLY – ask the student to write down or type what you’ve said on the piece of work somewhere (e.g. “Mr Rogers said that I must make my diagrams larger and neater, and I must always label every part”). Then – ask the student to re-submit the work (so that you can check that those comments have actually been written).
Bonus tip: Try exam.net
Exam.netis a place where you upload end-of unit tests or assessments, and students complete them at home, remotely, at an allotted time and for a set period of time. The students submit their work via a word document.
Exam.net can be used at high-functionality for free, but also has some premium options available for schools who wish to use the software with multiple classes.
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In today’s video I list and describe my top 5 apps for remote learning (all beta tested with my students for efficiency, engagement and user interface). In the video, I describe:
Tip:Jump to the end of this article for questions I’ve received (plus answers) on these apps.
In addition to the above video, I highly recommend that you watch my ‘sequel’ to this, which goes through welfare, safeguarding and practical issues you’ll need to deal with when doing online learning (includes some not-so-obvious things to consider):
Your questions answered
Question about Nearpod from Mirian (via Facebook):
Sorry to ask but Nearpod seems to be really useful. Is it an app I have to download or a webpage? Because I logged in but then I couldn’t create my lessons or it didn’t generate a code for my students. Probably I didn’t do things properly 😕
Answer:
It’s a website. You’ll need to create an account, upload a slide presentation (as a pdf – just click ‘save as’ on your ppt and convert to a pdf.). Once your slide show is uploaded and saved (Nearpod will ask you to choose the subject and age level), you then need to click on ‘Live Lesson’. This will generate a code. Share the code with your students and you are good to go.
I have made a video describing how to create an awesome, free Nearpod lesson here:
It’s the story that everyone is talking about, and that also has many school leaders concerned: COVID-19.
The recent outbreak of this novel strain of coronavirus has caused a domino effect resulting in school closures, travel restrictions and a general, heightened sense of anxiety for many people. For schools, three major priorities now exist:
Protecting the student and staff body from infection
Having effective, simple plans in place to support students with their learning in the event of a sudden school closure
Educating the community about good hygiene practice and dispelling any myths about the virus that may surface, and which may add to anxiety
In this week’s blog post I aim to tackle all three of these priorities in a non-biased, objective way. Original sources will be hyperlinked and a full list of citations can be found at the end of this article.
Priority 1: Protecting the student and staff body from infection
This has to be a school’s first priority right now, as not only do the symptoms of COVID-19 infection vary slightly from person-to-person, but the resulting disease caused by the virus can progress to a serious stage in some people. A community in which high numbers of people work in close proximity to one another (such as a school) is also an ideal place for human-to-human transmission to occur, should an infected person be on-campus.
The latest official information about COVID-19 allows us to evaluate risk to some extent:
Transmission can occur from person to person, usually after close contact with an infected patient through droplet transmission. This is why it is important to stay more than 1 meter (3 feet) away from a person who is sick. (World Health Organisation)
Current estimates of the incubation period range from 1-14 days with a median estimate of 5 days (World Health Organisation)
At the time of writing (March 17th), official confirmed cases globally stand at 185,067 infected with 7330 total deaths and 80,236 official recoveries (Johns Hopkins)
Thisinteractive mapfrom John Hopkins University is a clear a quick way to track the official numbers.
Develop, or review, the school’s emergency operations plan. Review strategies for reducing the spread of disease and establish mechanisms for ongoing communication with staff, students, volunteers, families, and the community. Collaborate with local health departments and other relevant partners.
It is advised that students, staff, parents and guardians, are excluded from sites if they are showing symptoms of COVID-19 or have been in contact with someone with COVID-19 in the last 14 days.
When possible, regular health checks (e.g., temperature and respiratory symptom screening on arrival at school) of students, staff, and visitors. Those who are symptomatic should be excluded. For students experiencing homelessness, use your current procedures to ensure their safety.
Older adults and individuals with underlying medical conditions that are at increased risk of serious COVID-19 are encouraged not to come to the child care and food service setting (including employees).
Practice social distancing (i.e., limit contact of people within 6 feet from each other).
Provide adequate supplies for good hygiene, including clean and functional handwashing stations, soap, paper towels, and alcohol‐based hand sanitizer.
Follow environmental cleaning guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are followed (e.g., clean and disinfect high touch surfaces daily or more frequently).
Plan ways to care for students and staff who become sick and separate them from students and staff who are well. Use face masks as needed should this occur. Staff should go home immediately if they become sick. Contact the student’s parent or guardian immediately if they show symptoms of COVID-19.
Priority 2: Having effective, simple plans in place to support students with their learning in the event of a sudden school closure
I’ve come up with what I believe to be a simple method to facilitate learning in the event of a school closure:
The Online Learning Journal [A suggestion for schools]
Step 1: Every student in the school creates a website that will act as an ‘ePortfolio’ or learning journal. Each website should contain a separate page for each subject the student learns. Google Sites is amazing for this (it’s very user friendly), but Wix, WordPress and Blogger are also good (and free) alternatives. Just make sure the students are using their school e-mail addresses to sign-up to these platforms.
Step 2: The URL for every ePortfolio for every kid in the school is kept on a centralized spreadsheet (e.g. a Google Sheet or an MS Excel sheet) that every teacher has access to.
Step 3: Work is set by the teacher through the school’s online Virtual Learning Environment or MOOC (such as Google Classroom, Firefly or Moodle) or even via e-mail. Students are required to complete their work on their website (e.g. by writing notes on each page, uploading photos of work that’s handwritten, embedding Google Slides, etc.)
Step 4: Teachers simply need to click on the URL for each website of the kids they teach and check their work. Feedback can be written on the website itself (Google Sites makes this very easy, but the student needs to click ‘share’ and share it with the class teacher), or feedback can be directly e-mailed to each student.
You can read more about this method at my blog posthere. I also made an accompanying video:
I’ve done some recent research with my own students about which online learning platforms work and my findings are given below (please share this image far and wide):
Priority 3: Educating the community about good hygiene practice and dispelling any myths about the virus that may surface, and may add to anxiety
Keeping good communication lines open and providing regular updates is always a good idea at times like this. Consider the following ideas:
Send out a weekly newsletter to parents that goes through the steps the school is taking to protect the community from infection and general advice about good hygiene and best practice.
Encourage parents to e-mail any questions or queries they have to a designated person, or to their child’s homeroom teacher.
Assemblies and meetings with students and staff to go through good hygiene measures and offer advice and reassurance.
Find out where everyone in the community is travelling to during school vacations (Google Forms is great for this – send it out and collect responses). Analyse the data received and plan accordingly.
The recent outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus has caused concern for many school leaders, parents and educational authorities. Just this week, for example, we’ve seen parentspulling their kids out of schoolat Howard Springs, Australia (where a makeshift coronavirus quarantine center was setup nearby), and schools in the French Alps close due to a localized outbreak.
Other concerning developments regarding the novel coronavirus and its recent impact on schools include:
British schools haveissued warnings to parentsto help prevent the spread of the coronavirus after fears that it could be picked up on half-term holidays to the far east.
St Mary’s Independent School in Southampton, Hampshire (United Kingdom) is currently closed (as of February 10th 2020) after the family of some of their pupils were put in isolation over fears they may have contracted thecoronavirus.
More than 14,000 people havesigned a petitioncalling for one California school district to temporarily close all schools due to the outbreak.
Much is still unknown about nCoV2019, but one thing is becoming clear: person-to-person spread is occurring. The latest situation summary updates are available on the CDC’s web page: (2019 Novel Coronavirus, Wuhan, China).
The forecast for this new virus is unclear, and in my personal opinion school leaders would be well-advised to prepare for possible closure.
I believe I have come up with a simple method by which teachers and schools can support students with their learning when they are working from home. And I believe that simplicity is key – simple systems make life easier for everybody.
Advice for parents is given at the end of this article.
The Online Learning Journal [A suggestion for schools]
Step 1: Every student in the school creates a website that will act as an ‘ePortfolio’ or learning journal. Each website should contain a separate page for each subject the student learns. Google Sites is amazing for this (it’s very user friendly), but Wix, WordPress and Blogger are also good (and free) alternatives. Just make sure the students are using their school e-mail addresses to sign-up to these platforms.
Step 2: The URL for every ePortfolio for every kid in the school is kept on a centralized spreadsheet (e.g. a Google Sheet or an MS Excel sheet) that every teacher has access to.
Step 3: Work is set by the teacher through the school’s online Virtual Learning Environment or MOOC (such as Google Classroom, Firefly or Moodle) or even via e-mail. Students are required to complete their work on their website (e.g. by writing notes on each page, uploading photos of work that’s handwritten, embedding Google Slides, etc.)
Step 4: Teachers simply need to click on the URL for each website of the kids they teach and check their work. Feedback can be written on the website itself (Google Sites makes this very easy, but the student needs to click ‘share’ and share it with the class teacher), or feedback can be directly e-mailed to each student.
In my opinion, this method is much better than just using your school’s online learning platform and e-mail to set work because:
All of the work is kept in one place. Every teacher has access, but students cannot see or edit each other’s sites.
Work is less fragmented, as it’s all in one place. With Google Classroom and GMail alone, for example, it can be hard to organize the work one has to mark.
ePortfolios provide amazing evidence of learning, output, creativity and feedback for school inspectors.
Every teacher has access, potentially providing a healthy sense of competition between subjects.
Students can embed Google Docs, Slides, Sheets and Forms to their Google Sites. Other platforms also have amazing features that can enhance learning (e.g. news tickers, forum building and link sharing).
I think it’s important for schools to ‘make hay whilst the sun in shining’ – get your kids set up with all of this now, so that it becomes easy to assign and mark work if your school is forced to close (for any reason, not necessarily because of the novel coronavirus).
Advice for parents
It can be difficult to support children when school is closed, especially if both parents are working. However, where possible, try to follow these tips:
Make sure your child wakes up at an appropriate time each day and starts the day properly. This is particularly important for older teenagers who have upcoming exams, as productivity can be greatly affected by a slow and late start to the day.
Access your child’s work that has been set by school. Make sure you have your child’s password and username for their online learning platform (if they have one), so that you can determine what work is being set.
E-mail teachers and school leaders and keep in touch with key people in your child’s education. E-mail questions, queries or concerns you have – school’s are usually very happy to assist parents in supporting their children.
Read ahead in your child’s textbooks, so that you can explain concepts and knowledge when you have the time.
Check your child’s work, and make sure quality is high. It may take some time for teachers to provide detailed feedback if school is closed, so provide feedback in the interim (see my blog post about The Four Rules of Praise here).
Limit social interactions where possible, and make sure that gatherings have a purpose. For older teenagers, again, hanging out with friends can result in low productivity and loss of revision-time. On the other hand, a productive revision session with friends can be very useful. As a parent you will need to gauge the responsibility level and maturity of your own child.
Follow the recommendations of local authorities.
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