Tag Archives: online learning

How To, home

Keep Your Kids Motivated for Virtual Learning

By Tracey Dowdy

If your little Einstein leaps out of bed, humming with excitement over sitting in a virtual classroom all day, this ain’t the article for you. If, on the other hand, solving string theory sounds more accessible than getting your little one excited about another day of virtual learning, buckle up. We’re going to unpack some tried and true strategies to keep them engaged. 

Kids are far more resilient than the adults around them, and the secret to keeping your kiddos on track is to find what motivates them. 

Follow the leader. Remember, your children will do what you do more than what you say, and they’re always watching. Look for examples in people your children already admire, real or imaginary – superheroes, characters from favorite books or movies, astronauts, soldiers, first responders, RBG – who fought hard to find success. 

Stick-to-it-tiv-ness. As much as we all look forward to 2020 being in our rearview mirror, there’s a lesson in teaching our kids the importance of setting long-term goals. Suppose it’s something they’re passionate about, like a video game or TikTok dance. In that case, they have no problem applying themselves, so help them see the value of using that same work ethic to master fractions or the solar system.

Celebrate their wins. If you’ve got a student that struggles to sit still but managed to stay on task to write out their spelling list, celebrate that. If they struggle with math but learned their multiplication tables, celebrate that. If they did an assignment wrong but had a good attitude about correcting their mistakes, celebrate that. Wins don’t have to be a test with high marks or projects that got done early. It can be as simple as “Hey! You didn’t cry or lose your temper today!” This year has brought challenges no one expected – celebrate every victory. 

Stick to your schedule except when you can’t. Regular school days are based on routine, and most students thrive in that environment. However, many students – especially those with IEP’s and 504 Plans – need special accommodations. Even neurotypical kids are struggling to stay on task, so when you see the wheels coming off, stop, redirect, and circle back around when they’re calm and able to focus. 

Motivation Monday/Take That Tuesday/Wacky Wednesday…Come up with creative ways to make virtual learning fun. Virtual learning means no field trips to museums or the pumpkin patch, so inject a little happy by inviting their friends on a virtual play date and make distance less isolating and more fun. 

Take a walk on the wild side. If your child is bored and struggling with a concept, try a change of scenery. Go outside and write out spelling words or times tables with sidewalk chalk. If they’re stuck on a writing prompt, let them get up and take a short break outside to help them get out of that thought rut. 

Scooby-Doo the mystery. Sometimes the problem you’re trying to solve isn’t the problem you need to solve. Sometimes restless behaviors or bad attitudes are masking a learning struggle or stress. Reach out to their teacher, support staff, and principal for suggestions on supporting your child’s mental health.

Finally, remember that while we’re not all in the same boat, we’re all in the same storm. Don’t stress if your child isn’t achieving the marks they have in the past. Next year is a fresh start, and students across the board will need additional support. Educators are already thinking long term and are invested in your child’s success too. Don’t get discouraged – this is just a season, and like all seasons, it will end, bringing new opportunities for success. 

Tracey Dowdy is a freelance writer based just outside Washington DC. After years working for non-profits and charities, she now freelances, edits, and researches on subjects ranging from family and education to history and trends in technology. Follow Tracey on Twitter.

Tech Trends/Lifestyle, How To, home

Take the Stress Out of Virtual Schooling

By Tracey Dowdy

As summer draws to close and more school districts are opting for online over in-person learning for the Fall, parents once again face the challenge of virtual homeschooling. As last Spring’s school closure taught us, finding a balance between work, home, and school to make distance learning work for your family requires patience and flexibility. The juggling act becomes even more challenging if one or both parents work outside the home. 

So as we head into the 2020-2021 school year, keep these principles in mind as you prepare your family for their new normal. 

Take a minute for yourself before you start your day. As Dr. Robert Puff says, “The first word in “alarm clock” says it all.” Instead of rushing headlong into the day, set aside a few minutes for self-care before you tackle caring for everyone else. Read something inspirational, pray or meditate, savor that first cup of tea or coffee of the day, and determine that no matter what the day brings, tomorrow is a fresh start. 

A second key is to plan your child’s learning schedule around your work schedule. It may seem obvious – and sometimes not feasible – but whenever possible, try to keep your schedule flexible for times they will most need your attention and schedule your work calls or tasks around their independent reading or subjects that are less demanding for your child. No one accomplishes much with constant interruptions, and both of you will end up frustrated and annoyed.

Give clear instructions. Whether it’s a clearly defined list of tasks or a detailed schedule of their day, most children will need structure to stay on task and accomplish their goals. Let your child know you’ll be checking to see if their work is complete to determine if they are hitting their milestones. 

Be rigidly flexible. Most children thrive on structure to move through their day yet others struggle to stay on task for long periods. Work with your child’s teacher to understand how they supported your child during in-class instruction and adapt those principles to at-home learning. Even the most academically gifted students will struggle with an assignment from time to time, so be flexible about when the task has to be completed. We all benefit from taking a break throughout the day, so consider whether this is a task best tackled later in the day when you both have the freedom to work on it with fresh eyes and a better mindset. 

Take advantage of teacher and peer support. Just because they aren’t face to face doesn’t mean your child’s teacher isn’t equally invested in your child’s success. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s school for suggestions on tutoring, discussion boards, and a myriad of other resources. Be patient – remember that 100% online instruction is probably new for your child’s teacher, and they are doing their best to give your child the support they need. Just like you’re juggling your work/life balance, so too is your child’s teacher. A little kindness goes a long way these days. 

Parents, remember to be kind to yourself. These are uncertain times with demands on your family beyond what any of us could have anticipated. Everyone is struggling to some extent, and comparing how your family is coping against what you see online – especially on social media – is a shortcut to frustration for both you and your children. This is only a season, and like all seasons, it will pass. 

Tracey Dowdy is a freelance writer based just outside Washington DC. After years working for non-profits and charities, she now freelances, edits, and researches on subjects ranging from family and education to history and trends in technology. Follow Tracey on Twitter.

Tech Trends/Lifestyle, Online Safety, home

Helping Children with Online Learning

By Tracey Dowdy

If nothing else comes out of this pandemic, parents will at least have a greater appreciation for the myriad of skills it takes to teach a classroom full of children. Granted, most of the parents trying to teach from the kitchen table are also managing a household, working from home themselves, and hadn’t chosen teaching as their profession, making their job infinitely more complex. The prospect of accomplishing anything remotely resembling academics may seem overwhelming, but with a little preparation, clearly defined rules, and reasonable expectations, you can do it. 

Here’s how. 

Get set up. 

Determine which video conferencing platform they’ll be using and create the account together. By involving them in the process, you’re demonstrating that you are there for support but ultimately this is their responsibility. Do a practice run or a demo so your child knows how to answer a call, raise their hand, share their screen, record the lesson, mute the microphone, and how to exit the call. Many of the platforms allow you to save your settings, so while you can test the camera and mic on your system, make adjustments in the video-conferencing software you’ll be using. Gather earphones, an external camera and/or mic if there’s not one built into the computer, paper, pencils and any other necessary supplies (protractor, pencil sharpener, eraser) to take notes. Because video conferences use a lot of power, your battery will run down quickly. Make sure you have adequate battery life, or better still, plug in the device to avoid dropping the call. 

Don’t Hover

You may want to be within earshot the first time or two, but after that, take the time that they’re “in school” to work on whatever needs your attention, just like a regular school day. Of course, you’ve taken on the role of the teacher in some aspects, so if they’re goofing off and not paying attention, help them stay on track and focus on the lesson. If you have older kids, allow them some privacy so they can interact with their peers and teacher without worrying about you overhearing anything. You can check-in as needed, but don’t hover. 

While one of the benefits of video conferencing is being able to do it from anywhere, consider whether your child’s bedroom is an appropriate place to have on camera. Remember, privacy is still very important, and screenshots are easily taken by anyone participating in the conference. Wherever you choose, tidy up around you and make sure there’s nothing personal – photos, clothing, art, etc. in the background you don’t want on camera. Before the call starts, sit down, open your camera, and look at your background. If you want real anonymity, consider a virtual background that will take the place of your personal space.  Also, if your student is going to be sharing their screen or sending screenshots, make sure no other browser tabs are visible to avoid any potentially sensitive or private information being shared. 

Encourage them to go to the bathroom before or wait until after class – NOT during. A video of a student bringing her laptop into the bathroom during class recently went viral, and no one wants that kind of attention. If they really can’t wait or there’s an emergency, remind them to make they temporarily disable the video and mute themselves, and then turn everything back on again when they return. 

Remind your students that you and the teachers expect the same level of respect and appropriate behavior as when they were face to face. If your student is using Zoom, caution them about Zoombombing, and remind them there are real-world consequences for online behavior. Again, any live video chat can be recorded and screenshots captured by participants so it’s important to always behave appropriately. 

Tracey Dowdy is a freelance writer based just outside Washington DC. After years working for non-profits and charities, she now freelances, edits and researches on subjects ranging from family and education to history and trends in technology. Follow Tracey on Twitter.

Stacey Ross on The Online Mom, home

Parent-Approved Resources for Online Homework Help

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By Stacey Ross 

The surge of technology offered to today’s students extends far beyond the school day and classroom setting. It has evolved into virtual learning, independent study programs, and platforms for peer-to-peer collaboration that offer a wide range of resources and educational benefits.

Online research empowers students

More and more, educators and parents are encouraging learning styles that require  discipline and focus due to the plethora of choices and opportunities that new technology offers. In a 2012 Pew survey conducted in conjunction with the College Board and the National Writing Project, 77 percent of teachers said that the Internet and search engines had a “mostly positive” impact on student research skills. And while they are concerned that students might be distracted by all the choices at their fingertips, they ultimately agree that such tools had made students more self-sufficient researchers.

Resources for homework help

Online assistance via websites and apps has become a valuable extension of the classroom. School counselor and blogger Lysabeth Luansing-Garcia shared, “Our school encourages students to use Khan Academy. Many of my students also use Google Drive to save all their papers and projects for easy access. We also have teachers who do their own tutorial videos that are accessible from YouTube.”

Resources like KhanAcademy.org help students find thousands of how-to videos for K-12 topics, including chemistry, mathematics, physics, finance, history, and more. Students who want to learn how to find the slope of a line, for example, can go to YouTube and search for “How to Find Slope Khan Academy” and a step-by-step video will begin to play. Try it and you will be blown away!

My girl’s favorite tool, Google+ Hangouts, provides her with a study aid from the comfort of her own bedroom. I can hear through the walls that she is staying on task, as she “talks shop” online with her colleagues via her own personal study group. Along with studying together, they quiz one other, work their way through difficult assignments (taking advantage of screen share options), and even collaborate on their presentations. I still find this futuristic, but I am particularly pleased with how it allows for social interaction as well as building time management skills!

E-mail and instant messaging tools to contact teachers or classmates about schoolwork are also very handy. SchoolLoop, a widely popular communication tool between home and school, has built strong ties between parents, students and educators, even allowing the exchange of assignments and PowerPoint presentations.

Homeschooling moms’ favorite sites

Mom and blogger TerriAnn van Gosliga has been homeschooling for nine years and suggests that younger students use EnchantedLearning.com, which she considers “brilliant.” Enchanted Learning has 35,000 pages on its website covering a wide range of topics. Its focus is to provide materials that build curiosity and exploration experiences for K-12 graders. Membership is $20 annually, but some things are free. TerriAnn also shares the value of online research: “We use a lot of Google images and download free e-books from our local library.” She also recommends MotionMath for its great math apps and BBCTypingTutor for keyboarding skills.

Diana, a homeschooling mom of two, shared that her favorite two websites are Math.com and BrainPop.com. The former is quite impressive: it provides free math lessons and math homework help from basic math to algebra, geometry and beyond. BrainPop is a group of educational websites with over 1,000 short animated movies for students in grades K-12, together with quizzes and related materials covering the subjects of science, social studies, English, mathematics, engineering and technology, health, and arts and music.

Technology as a Social Learning Tool

Educators are embracing methods of learning that are more socially interactive, problem-solving oriented, and explorative by nature. The idea that my own daughter integrates her social and academic worlds thrills me, as I can listen in and monitor her live homework groups as well as help direct her to online assistance. The convenience of being able to access so many tools via a home computer, smartphone or tablet opens huge windows of opportunity. So far, I love what I see.

Happy learning via web searching, video conferencing and apps!

Stacey_Ross_50Stacey Ross is an online consultant, social media enthusiast, freelancer and owner of SanDiegoBargainMama.com. A former teacher and middle school counselor, she is now a mom of two who researches and freelances about lifestyle topics involving family and well-being.  

Tech Trends/Lifestyle, home

Online Tuition: Is It Right for Your Family?

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By Suzy St. George

Remember taking music lessons as a child? For many students, that meant packing up your instrument and your books at the same time every week and making your way to your teacher’s house. Maybe you got dropped off at the lesson or perhaps your parents waited patiently in the next room or in the car.

Well, things have certainly changed since then! Now, you can find practically anything you need online or through various smartphone apps – from shopping for household basics to learning a new language.

Music lessons, too, are evolving with technology. Many private teachers offer live, online lessons through Skype, Google Hangouts, or other video chat platforms. It’s a convenient way to help your child learn, and one that can save you time, money – and even your sanity!

Web sites like TakeLessons make it easier than ever to find teachers nationwide, offering online lessons in subjects ranging from music and languages to screenwriting, drawing, and vocal training.

Singing and acting teacher Molly R., based in Hayward, CA, has worked with several online students and sees them flourish just as much as her in-person students. Her student Sam, for example, came to her hoping to brush up for an upcoming audition.

“We chose online lessons because I don’t have a license and my grandparents didn’t want to drive me somewhere if they could avoid it,”Sam, 17, explained. “I wanted to improve my singing to help me be more successful in theater.”

For most online students, the learning process is exactly the same; you’re simply working through a webcam.

“We started with the basics – alignment, breathing, and basic ear training,”said teacher Molly. “I do this with everyone – in person and online. Nothing changes! The only thing that does differ is that my online vocalists tend to sit. This is not an issue as long as they sit up straight. I’m always looking!”

The training and guidance Sam received certainly came in handy – she scored the lead role at her audition.

Even if you’re not prepping for an audition or performance, online lessons can be a great option for students of all ages. Wondering if online tuition is right for you or your child? Here are 3 questions to consider:

 

  • Do you have a packed schedule or limited transportation? The convenience of online lessons is unbeatable. Instead of shuffling your kids to their lessons, simply power up your computer and your webcam and connect instantly!
  • Do you have a limited budget? Online lessons are typically priced lower than in-person lessons; plus, you’re saving money on gas or other transportation costs.
  • Are you having trouble finding a quality teacher? If your perfect teacher is across the country, connecting with them is still possible with online lessons, which can be a huge benefit if you live in a small town and want to expand your options.

For families with packed schedules, the convenience of online lessons is unbeatable. Students get the same one-on-one guidance that private lessons provide without the higher cost or hassle of traveling. And that alone can be quite the sanity-saver!

Suzy St. George is a writer for TakeLessons, an online marketplace for students and families to find qualified and vetted instructors in areas ranging from music, dance, and acting to foreign languages, math, and photography. Learn more and search for a teacher near you athttp://takelessons.com.