By John Schenk
My first experience with online learning came when I started my Master’s program at Wilkes University. Shorty after, I was not only learning how to learn online, but teach online too. This was a very overwhelming, and sometimes frustrating, part of my career. The pandemic caused many of us to become quickly familiar with new online platforms and resources. Even though I felt very unprepared, I think that the collaboration with online teachers all over the world provided me with insight on what they have found successful and what was a struggle in their online classrooms. It has taught me that when teaching online, especially in the elementary level, I have to allow for flexibility to complete their assignments. I need to understand that every student has outside factors that may affect their learning at home. Trying to teach and learn from home with 2 young children has taught me that I need to be considerate of these outside situations.
I really want my students to have access to many different resources that invite all of their different learning styles. Even though they are not in a face to face classroom, I need research the resources that will limit the students feeling frustrated or not confident in their work. I have to encourage students to use my virtual sensory room when they need a break, and to continue having built in movement and brain breaks (Just Dance, yoga, SSR). I also need to make sure that I take the time to implement a social-emotional curriculum to allow students the opportunity to learn strategies that will be beneficial to them during a time of feeling overwhelmed, sad, or frustrated.
I feel that the most challenging aspect of online/blended learning is the lack of face-to-face time with teachers and peers. This can be very difficult for elementary students because we want to teach them how to collaborate with their peers. Online learning can be very difficult to build personal relationships with the students. In the classroom, I like to have students come up to me and work close to me so that they are able to see modeling without any distractions. When students are online this can be difficult, since I am not sure what else is going on in the background. In this case, I have set up break rooms for students to work in and when I need to see a student I have them come into a 1:1 break out room. However, there were some times I found it difficult to manage all break out rooms.