5 Reasons Some Learners Are Thriving During Remote Teaching & Learning

We know that our learners are all experiencing something different during this time of emergency remote teaching and learning. Some are experiencing trauma, which is absolutely heartbreaking. Others feel frustration with the lack of support that may come with not being in the classroom with their teacher. Many learners are deeply missing the interactions with their peers and teachers or outlets such as engaging in music classes, art, clubs or sports teams. However, there are some learners who are thriving with aspects of remote teaching and learning.

With that said, I do not believe that remote teaching and learning ought to replace experiences in school. Nothing can replace the relationships, connections from social interactions, and the skills that are developed from face-to-face interaction and collaboration with others.

As educators, I know that we have a wide range of feelings related to this experience, but reflecting on why some learners are thriving or what they’re benefiting from, might just help us as we reimagine what learning might look like when we eventually return to school. Some of my reflections are already in place in some schools, but perhaps there’s something that will resonate with you.

Self-Pacing & Choice

Children benefit from engaging in choice and pacing themselves at a rate that feels best for them. I’ve watched my own children sleep in later, getting the rest their bodies require, and then choose what subject to start with following breakfast. Sometimes they look through all of their assignments and then make their decision on what to begin with. They have the opportunity to rewind videos, re-read, and time to look up information to gain a better understanding of what they’re learning, too. I hear from many other families that their children enjoy being able to work at their own pace and select the order in which they work through assignments. Learners often have choice in how they demonstrate their learning. In some cases. I’ve seen children creating more often in Flipgrid, Google Slides, iMovie, Seesaw and more which not only empowers choice, but inspires creativity.

As Educators:

• We can provide opportunities for learners to work at their own pace by lessening the workload and instead, creating learning experiences that are meaningful and authentic; allowing learners to go deeper.
• We can also empower learners through choice as we allow them to select which role they may want to assume, how to demonstrate their understanding, and opportunities to incorporate their own unique and creative touches.
• Learners still benefit from flexible timelines, check-ins, follow-up support/reteaching, engaging in reflection and receiving feedback.
• We might want to explore start and end times of the school day to fit what’s best developmentally for each age. Research suggests that teenages benefit from later start times due to their development.
• We can even consider what is best in-person and what might be helpful to have accessible on video for learners to review or even preview ahead of time to gain an understanding of what they’re learning.

Distractions are Minimized

Although many learners flourish in a busy classroom, some benefit from a quieter space with fewer distractions. I’ve worked with learners who feel overstimulated in the classroom and others who seek attention from peers by trying to be funny. Now, as a teacher of 15 years, there are numerous ways we can support every type of learner to ensure they’re successful. But, the reality is that some learners are able to settle in and focus more on learning during this time because distractions are minimized. Teachers have shared that they are noticing that some of their learners are demonstrating more quality work than they would in the classroom. Oftentimes, it’s the ones who seem to be more distractible. Additionally, at home, learners can select where they want to engage in learning. Our thirteen year old moves around the house throughout the day to minimize his own distractions and so that he feels comfortable. Sometimes he will lay down on the floor, sit on the couch, or choose to work at our kitchen island. He also prefers to keep his Apple Airpods in which have the noise cancellation feature. Our fifteen year old enjoys having music on softly as he does his learning in his bedroom. What works for one, doesn’t necessarily work for another. They both have the autonomy to create an environment that works best for them as individuals.

As educators:

• We can create spaces that minimize distractions.
• Flexible seating can be offered for learners so that they have autonomy in where and how they choose to engage in their learning.
• We can provide noise cancellation headphones. Many districts that have purchased noise cancellation headphones to support those with an autism spectrum disorder have found that many other children enjoy the use of them, too. If headphones aren’t an option, we can create quite spaces in the classroom as a choice for learners to use.
• We might find it helpful to survey our learners or engage in reflective conversations with them to identify how they learn best.

Ability to Take Self-Directed Breaks

In the younger grades, it’s more typical to provide movement breaks or to have classrooms that lend themselves to learning styles that naturally incorporate movement. For example, if teachers leverage project-based learning, maker education, and provide flexible seating, learners may not need formal breaks as they are naturally moving around and interacting in engaging ways with others. They still benefit from play, but breaks are naturally occurring in some classrooms due to the learning design. However, that’s not always the case. Often times at the middle and high school level, learners are expected to sit for longer lengths of time until they walk to change classes. Our thirteen year old is a perfect example of a child who benefits from taking breaks as needed. Since being home, he focuses well on his work, but when needed, he’ll decide that he’s going outside for a break. He’ll get up, go outside and shoot some hoops or go on a walk. After roughly 5-15 minutes, he independently returns to his assignments and is focused. In speaking with many other parents, I hear how nice it is for kids to take breaks to go outside to play, pick up a favorite book to read for a bit, or just close their eyes while snuggling up to a parent or pet for a few minutes. These breaks leave kids re-energized and focused to continue their work.

As educators:

• We can foster a culture where we allow choice of the kind of break and when it is needed, and still maintain established boundaries for the frequency or length of time. Timers can be beneficial for students to use, if necessary. Too often break times are set by the teacher, and which may result in children feeling frustrated, acting out, shutting down, or losing the ability to maintain focus.
• Our learners can be empowered to share what they believe breaks should look and feel like and to reflect on what they benefit from. Together, we can develop a system for taking breaks as needed to do our best.
• Our learners benefit from understanding how the brain learns, why breaks are essential, and practicing mindfulness. When learners make the connection to how they’re feeling and how that connects with their learning, they become better at knowing what kind of break they would benefit from.

Opportunities to Explore Interests and Develop Life Skills

Honestly, this is one of the best benefits for my own children. Our boys are spending more time contributing to caring for the home, lawn, laundry, and our pets. Additionally, both are exploring interests and developing passions as well. From content creation and video editing, to designing businesses for lawn care, both are spending more time developing their interests and refining how to spend their time. Like other families, we too, struggle with balancing screen time and how technology is used, but I think that comes with the territory in today’s world, particularly with teens. So, although they are typical teens in many ways, I’m watching them develop skills and grow in different ways than they would if they were in school at this time. All over facebook I see friends sharing their children learning to make eclairs, macaroons, smoothies and more. I can’t help but feel a slight tinge of jealousy that my own children aren’t into baking! Additionally, friends share their children’s art creations, treehouses built with parents, sewing, and even volunteering at animal shelters. The list is endless.

As educators:

• We can design opportunities for learners to engage in project-based learning, maker education, and/or passion projects. I share about the overlapping elements of each of these and how to incorporate the concepts in my book, Take the L.E.A.P. Ignite a Culture of Innovation.
• Meaningful and authentic learning experiences can be created that incorporate learners’ interests and passions.
• Identifying the needs of those in our community or school can help us develop service-learning projects, enabling our learners to recognize how they can give back.

Greater Family Connections

Many families are spending more time with one another than ever. At our home, we are seizing the opportunity to spend quality time together when we can. For starters, we are taking long walks with each other. I’ve learned that our 15 year old opens up and talks more if out walking with me, which has led us to going on 2-4 mile walks on some days! Our thirteen year old lost interest in board games a couple years ago, but ever since mid-March, we’ve been playing Monopoly 5-6 nights per week. This time has provided us with a unique opportunity to connect in ways that might not have occurred if we were living our typical, busy life of work, travel, and on the go with school sports teams. Likewise, other families have expressed the simple pleasures of spending time with their children and engaging in activities together. That’s not to say that every moment is perfect; there are many memes out there summarizing the experiences of all being home together or supporting children with remote teaching in learning. My favorite is the one that shows a parent holding up a sign that says, “you lied! My child is not a joy to have in class!” We too, experience the normal struggles that come with parenting, particularly the ups and downs that come with the teenage years. However, we choose to look for all the silver linings and do our best to find and use humor in challenging moments.

As educators:

• We can minimize homework sent home in favor of encouraging families to spend time together.
• It’s possible to send home ideas for family activities or bingo sheets (with family activities) to complete within a month.
• We could incorporate more family activities within the school year or involve families in the classroom (of course, this is all up in the air with social-distancing).
• We can encourage learners to brainstorm activities that they are interested in engaging with their families or even projects they could collaborate together on. Perhaps families could participate in a mini service-learning projects to give back to the community.

There are silver linings to challenging times looking for them helps me put everything into perspective the best I can. With that said, we all know that there are kids who are struggling and even suffering because of this time. I do not believe that remote teaching and learning should ever replace face-to-face learning that occurs in schools. However, I do know it’s important to explore what’s working well and in some cases, helping certain learners to thrive.

Reflecting on why some learners are thriving provides insights on how we can reimagine teaching and learning in our schools. I do want to note though that there are educators who are already doing things that I shared to some degree or even all of what’s shared here. What I’m sharing isn’t necessarily new to everyone. However, it’s not uncommon for some educators to place a greater emphasis on covering the content and curriculum due to mandates and pressures that they feel. Or, in other cases, people become accustomed to doing things the way they’re most familiar with doing.

Together, we can create experiences that enable every individual to fully thrive. Doing so requires a focus on connections, social emotional learning, engaging in learning that incorporates interests and passions, and infuses choice. Right now, we have the opportunity to consider how we might create more meaningful and authentic learning experiences that meet the needs of the whole child and inspire individuals to want to learn. Each of us has the immense potential to positively impact and shape lives.

This is a time for us to slow down, reflect, and reimagine what we could to make an even greater impact. It’s an opportunity to consider shifts and how we might create better learning experiences for our children and teens. What is one shift you might consider incorporating within your school or classroom?