"How are you supporting students in your remote classroom?"
"What have you specifically done to support students who are failing your remote class?"
...The questions that we have all heard endlessly this year from our administrators, department heads, principals, and parents. These questions can spark instant frustration among teachers who hear them as an accusation, and for good reason - We have been all working extremely hard to redesign our curriculums and classrooms and we know that teachers cannot singlehandedly solve all of the problems associated with remote classrooms.
Try these strategies to build a strong support routine in your online classroom. Instead of getting frustrated by these questions, you will be ready to answer with confidence that you are providing consistent and effective support for your students.
Establish a Consistent Office Hours Routine
As teachers, we know that structure brings success and uncertainty brings chaos to a classroom. Our students have faced a whirlwind of change since the start of the COVID pandemic, altering everything from how they travel, to their family dynamics, to even their most established daily routines (going to school, etc.). One of the most important things that we can do this year is to establish clear and consistent opportunities for support, and maintain them throughout the year.
In my opinion, the easiest way to do this is by establishing a weekly "office hours" schedule. Every school and classroom looks different, so you will need to engage in some reflection to determine what type of office hours schedule would work best for you and your students.
My office hours schedule looks like this:
Monday = Two 15 minute one-on-one appointments with students (by appointment)
Tuesday = 30 minutes of designated parent outreach time
Wednesday = Two 15 minute one-on-one appointments with students (by appointment)
Thursday = 30 minute period of "group" AP World office hours (with targeted focus)
Friday = 40 minute periods of "group" Global class office hours
Consider what times of day will work best for both you and your students. Our school built in 40 minutes of office hours time at the end of each school day and all day on Fridays in non-AP classrooms. Even if your school does not schedule specific office hours, I would strongly encourage you to find time at least a few days a week to set up office hours. These extra periods might feel like an eternity to add to your work day, but the time and frustration that they will save you in the long run is undoubtedly worth it.
Once you find a routine that works for you, it is important to consistently communicate this routine to your students (and their families) using email, your learning platform (ex: Google Classroom), parent outreach (see below), and reminding students everyday at the beginning of class.
Establish time for Individual Appointments
Be sure to provide time for individual students to sign up for one on one support. As a public school teacher in a NYC high school, I absolutely recognize that class size plays a significant role in the difficulties that we face in supporting our students and can be a profound barrier to student growth. Remote learning has made this even more difficult, as class sizes (at least in some NYC classrooms) have grown to 68 students per section and we have all lost the ability to naturally provide one on one support while circulating a classroom. Students NEED this support, and establishing individual appointments with them will make an enormous difference in their success.
So, how many appointments should you account for per week? I teach approximately 160 students and four appointments per week has been successful for me. I average about 3-4 student appointments per week. This might seem really low for 160 students (I thought for sure I would have to increase this after trying it out for a few weeks), but it is the sweet spot for my students. Our reality is that more students would prefer to attend the targeted group sessions than individual appointments, and that many are overwhelmed by remote learning and not looking to sign up for additional time. You will need to figure out your own "reality" and provide an appropriate amount of appointments for your own students.
Best Practice: Use the Google Calendar "Appointment Slots" feature to allow students to sign up for appointments and generate a personal Google Meet link for their individual appointments. It takes about 5 minutes to set up repeating appointment slots on your end, and students can use the same link all year to sign up for their appointments. Make sure that the link always remains easily accessible to students (I keep mine at the top of my Google Classroom page and in my email signature). Not sure how to do this? Send me a message or check out Google's own instructions for setting this up.
Target "Group" Office Hours for Specific Tasks
Target your "group" sessions to a specific purpose to increase student attendance and to make sure that the time does not become "dead space" in your schedule. Remind students each day during class what the weekly group session will be focusing on to encourage them to show up.
A few examples of what to focus on in a group office hours session:
Review of a specific assignment or assessment that students struggled with
Review of a specific skill that you notice is a problem for many students in class
Review of a specific subject that students are having difficulty grasping
Review of work and organizational habits if many students are struggling to hand in their work on time or having similar issues
If you are not sure what to focus on in a particular session, ask the students! A simple "Tell me in the chat what we need help on this week" or using a class poll can go a long way towards targeting your support in group office hours.
Designate One "Office Hours" per week for Parent Outreach
Don't forget about the parents! Parent outreach is more important this year than ever before, as parents are in a position to support their own children in remote learning that we are not accustomed to during a traditional in-person setting. After realizing that my parent outreach was falling behind due to the overwhelming amount of other tasks in my day, I made the decision to designate one "office hours" period per week to parent outreach. In doing this, I have been able to improve the quality of my parent outreach by holding myself accountable to those 40 minutes and targeting it in specific ways.
How can you target your parent outreach time to be most effective?
Focus on students where there is increased likelihood that your phone call home will lead to student success (Ex: The student who has decent attendance and is hovering around a 60 average, when they need a 65 to pass.)
Structure the call as an "invitation" for the student to attend office hours. Explain your office hours schedule and invite the parent to attend an individual appointment with their child if they want to.
Update parents that you have spoken to in the past 3 weeks. Let them know if there has been improvement after your first conversation, or if issues remain. These follow up calls tend to be quicker than an initial phone call, and are highly appreciated by parents.
Make at least one positive phone call home with each batch of "needs improvement" calls. Students deserve to be recognized for doing the right thing, and are more likely to remain consistent if they receive this recognition.
As always with parent outreach, stay positive. Do not think of this as an opportunity to get a student in trouble at home. This is an opportunity to figure out how you and the parent can work together to help the student be successful. That is the goal, always.
So, how are you supporting students in your remote classroom?
Next time you get asked this question, I hope that you can confidently explain your office hours structure and how you are using it to support students. Good luck!
Questions, concerns, ideas, or feedback? Leave it in the comments and let's chat! :)
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