VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

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Elementary Students are Too Young for Virtual Learning! Or Are They?

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During our TSIP (Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel) evaluations, I make it a habit to ask all of my teachers, “How's it going?” “Do you need help or assistance with anything?” Mrs. Candice Nurney, a second-grade teacher at Sussex Central Elementary School, answered “No, I’m fine and my students are doing well!” Given that her portfolio evidence is always exemplary, her evaluation was short so we had a few minutes to chat before my next evaluation. I was intrigued by her answers and wanted to know more as I have read the horror stories about virtual learning and elementary students.

Reflecting back to the beginning of the school year, Mrs. Nurney said and continued to reiterate that ATTITUDE was very important and instrumental in the success of her second-graders in the virtual learning environment. Just like every other teacher, she went into virtual learning with the fear of the unknown, but her positive ATTITUDE made the difference. It would have been easy to succumb to the negative stigma that elementary students are too young for virtual learning, but not Mrs. Nurney. She stated that how you approach the situation and your ATTITUDE will dictate success or failure.

screenshot of website by 2nd grade teacherAt the beginning of the school year, Mrs. Nurney took the time to​ explain and practice ​with her students, just as she would in the face-to-face environment. She mentioned that she kept her instructions simple and clear, as well as allowing ample practice time for her students while making sure she did not overwhelm them with too many tasks. Although the focus was given to the usage and features of the Canvas, Clever, and Zoom platforms for the first few weeks of school, the subject matter was still being taught.

Mrs. Nurney recognized the importance of these platforms and the role they would play in her success as a teacher in the virtual environment so she took the time to model screen sharing, muting/unmuting, reactions, and how to access documents and resources in Clever and Canvas with her students. She made it fun by using the popular Bitmoji classroom, which also made her Canvas page easy to navigate. In addition to her normal working hours, Mrs. Nurney made herself available after hours to assist parents and students so they could be successful. With persistence and patience, her second graders continue to thrive in this virtual environment. Despite this horrible pandemic and the normal challenges of virtual learning, she kept a positive ATTITUDE. Mrs. Nurney is a true testament to the saying, “a positive attitude will lead to positive outcomes.”

Written by Tim Mays (@tmays921). Tim is the Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Student Information Systems for Sussex County Public Schools. He is a VSTE Board Member and a member of VSTE’s Education Committee and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Mentor. Mrs. Candice Nurney is a second-grade teacher at Sussex Central Elementary School and is currently a doctoral student at Liberty University.

Webinar: Being the Calm in The Storm

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In the first of two March 2021 editions of the VSTE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Webinar, Amy Jackson discusses how to maintain calm, transparency, and control during times of technological difficulties. Amy currently works for a small school district in Central Virginia and is the co-chair of the VSTE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee.

The webinar is hosted by Charles Randolph.

Our next edition will be on Wednesday, March 17 at 12:30.

Webinar: Incorporating Diversity and Equity Principles Into Learning Content

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In the February 2021 edition of the VSTE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Webinar, Charlotte Morris talks about how educators can include diversity and equity principles in their learning content. Charlotte is an instructional designer of graduate courses in the College of Professional Studies at George Washington University.

The webinar is hosted by Charles Randolph.

Webinar: Incorporating Diversity and Equity Principles

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Tomorrow, February 24, at 12:30 pm the VSTE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee will host a webinar on incorporating Diversity and Equity principles in your learning content. One of our mentors, Charolette Morris, will facilitate this webinar.

In this webinar, you’ll learn about:

  • The importance of incorporating D&I in learning content.
  • Examples of how to apply D&I in your learning content.
  • Common D&I Terms

Charlotte Morris is an Instructional Designer with the College of Professional Studies at The George Washington University. Join us at 12:30 tomorrow as she shares insight into how to incorporate Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) principles in your learning content.

If you would like to attend this webinar, email vstedei@vste.org to receive a link to the Zoom room.

Elevating Collaboration With Jamboard

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As teachers have adjusted to virtual and hybrid learning one of the tools that has risen to the surface has been Google Jamboard. Jamboard is an interactive whiteboard application that, like most Google products, is collaborative. Our principal, Leeane Turnbull-Palette, began using Jamboards in conjunction with inclusive opener prompts to begin staff meetings and many in our staff, at Salem High School in Virginia Beach, loved the collaborative nature and ease of use. One of the biggest highlights of the tool is that you can use an image as the background making any whiteboard a graphic organizer.

Jamboard has been a versatile tool for inclusive openings, collaborative groups, intentional closings, and advisory activities. It allows teachers to set up prompts, embed graphic organizers into the background, and gives teachers options on how they are going to have students respond. For inclusive openings, the teacher may post a prompt and all students can answer that prompt simultaneously regardless of where they are. As the class moves into classwork, the teacher can assign 1 page of a Jamboard to each of the 5 groups with a graphic organizer embedded onto the slide. Jamboards will allow for up to 20 pages per Jamboard which allows for a lot of versatility, not to mention all of the students' work for the day is neatly on one Jamboard for easy grading.

Recently when using Jamboard for a professional development course, teachers were asked to note on a Jamboard what new tools or strategies they implemented during the first term of virtual learning during the pandemic that was a game-changer. They each noted their tool or strategy and signed their name to their sticky note on the Jamboard. Next, the teachers were asked to think about what they’d like to change to make the next term run a bit more smoothly for them or their students.

Graphic showing Jamboard examples

On the next Jamboard slide the teachers were asked to write on a sticky note what tool or strategy they wanted to try for the second term to help with their challenge, again they were asked to sign their name. In conclusion, teachers were asked to “ask the experts”, their colleagues who may have already used that tool of strategies for tips and points on where to get started. The Jamboard was their take away with tons of tools and methods that had worked for their peers as well as a point of contact to reach out to.

Another great example of how teachers are using Jamboard is how the catering teacher, Chef Voloudakis, is integrating them into class and creating a culture of collaboration and inclusion in her virtual classroom. Teaching a cooking class virtual was quite a challenge in the beginning. She uses Jamboards in a variety of ways. One way is to share thoughts and options on different foods. During Thanksgiving, students were able to share recipes, traditions, even photographs of dishes they help create with their families for the holiday meal. Another way they are using them is a brainstorming sounding board while discussing dishing as alternative ingredients. Lastly, Jamboards have become the classroom’s virtual bulletin board where students and Chef V can post pictures and video demonstrations of how to create a dish as well as the final products.

This pandemic has been a challenge for everyone. However, teachers are thinking outside of the box, sharing ideas, using new tools, and creating new classroom experiences that may not look like they did in the past, but are equally as rich and meaningful.

Written by Jennifer Blais. Jennifer is an Instructional Technology Specialist at Green Run High School and Salem High School in Virginia Beach. You can follow her on Twitter @MsJenBlais.