I just checked the human toll of Coronavirus before I wrote this sentence. The US is on the verge of 20,000 deaths and the world has surpassed 100,000. It’s been awful to watch these numbers climb. And I, like hopefully you, remain isolated in my home reading way too many news stories about what’s going on in largely isolated cities and towns and overcrowded hospitals. The whole thing is sad, weird, and unsettling. 

I will say, however that during this dark time, I’ve gotten myself into a routine with some positives. I’m getting more sleep because I don’t have to set an alarm. I’m eating healthy because my wife and I prepare every meal, with the exception of our once a week pizza night. I workout for 90 minutes most days. And my wife and I enjoy sitting down and watching a program together each night before bed.

But those are the only positives I can muster. Man do I miss interacting with people. I get really sick of interacting on my computer or phone and also sitting at my desk. I’m seriously thinking about purchasing a standing desk just to keep moving. Now if you’re getting sick of social distancing–think how sick your students are of navigating online lessons. Sadly, they have a ways to go till school is out. 

This situation reminds me of a January in the late 1970s. I was in high school and the Midwest got clobbered by a catastrophic blizzard. We were out of school for a month. There was no interaction between the school and students at home. There was no internet and no social media. My friends were able to walk to one another’s houses. There was no social distancing, but the snowy environment did lead to a lot of cabin fever. My friends and I treated the entire time like summer vacation. We played in the snow for a month and forgot about school work. We desperately missed seeing our friends and going to basketball games and school dances, but otherwise we just rolled with it. Please remember that although your students are probably bored, given the option between watching Netflix or doing school work, for many, would be an easy choice. When crafting lessons, starting from that understanding will help.  

I recently participated in a Times 10 Roundtable Webinar offering ideas for teachers on how they could instruct their students remotely during this bizarre time. I was joined on the panel by Joe Sanfelippo a superintendent from Wisconsin and Chrissy Romano-Arrabito an elementary teacher from New Jersey. The panel was moderated by Mark Barnes who’s the founder of Times 10 Publications. The discussion was well balanced because we got a broad perspective from Joe, and a younger student and economically disadvantaged perspective from Chrissy. I focused on specific ways you could stay connected with students. I’ll expand on those ideas in this episode. 

I’ll focus on 3 tools that can maintain and perhaps facilitate deeper relationships with your kids during this challenge. These platforms will also help you teach your classes. I’ll offer these tools as suggestions, if you have something you’ve utilized that works better for you, go for it. I’m more interested in ends and not means.  

I would encourage you to once a week record a YouTube video of yourself for your students. Just take a video on your phone and upload it to YouTube. If you have a Gmail account, you have a YouTube account. This video can explain what’s next, but it should also encourage. Here’s a link to the video I sent out last week. If you want to stay connected to students, on a weekly basis let them see your face, hear your voice, and read your body language. They’re used to seeing you everyday. This doesn’t have to be a big production. Just record a message to your students every week and then share it with them. Add some levity to your weekly todo list by giving kids a virtual tour of your home. Record in a different room each week. Record in the kitchen during meal prep and describe what’s on the menu. Please make the message positive. “You all did a great job last week!” “I loved some of your creations!”. Your weekly YouTube message is not a forum for airing your grievances, “Hey–you guys need to submit your assignments on time!” If you need to deliver such a message, that should be done one-on-one to offending parties and I’ll address such communication momentarily. But for your weekly class-wide broadcast, keep it upbeat. Students need to hear a positive message. 

Which brings me to one-on-one interactions. I know some teachers that are utilizing virtual office hours and Facetime and other such tools. Bravo! Keep it up. I’m going to promote 2 tools which have interesting attributes. What I love about both is that participants aren’t time bound. They don’t have to be receiving or transmitting in a specific time frame. Both of my tools are like emails in that respect–but so much richer as I’ll demonstrate. 

Remind is an app I became familiar with 2 years ago. My principal promoted it as a way that he could directly communicate with the entire staff, or individual teachers via phone texts. The beauty of the Remind App is that it hops right on your phone, which everyone seems to be addicted to anyway. I must confess, at first I found this method of communication invasive, but I soon grudgingly acknowledged that I was more aware of what was going on in the building. And, my principal and I got into some side messaging about unrelated topics that were highly enjoyable. I remember once a lengthy text chain on the Ohio State Michigan game. I got to know the guy better because of Remind. It’s really simple why Remind is so successful, people read texts before they read emails. Even before this crisis, I had all of my students join my Remind. It has facilitated understanding and relationships. Here’s a link to an episode I recorded last fall where I interviewed some of my students who lauded this app. Remind has been invaluable during this crisis. You could use this app as an outstanding delivery method for your weekly YouTube video. 

As much as I love Remind, during this crisis I’ve found myself primarily communicated with students via Voxer. Voxer is the 21st Century walkie-talkie. I prompted this app many episodes ago and I find it fascinating that I’m circling back and using it. There are 2 wonderful things about Voxer. Number 1, students can hear your voice and respond with theirs. This helps erase the obstacles presented by this virus. While it certainly isn’t a face-to-face conversation, it’s still a vast improvement over sterile text. With voice inflection you can communicate so much more. Have you ever misinterpreted the tone in a text or email? I sure have. A voice message contains all the flavors of your voice–a voice your students have probably missed. And they can talk right back to you. And they sure have. One of the biggest problems with online instruction is that students aren’t sure what they’re supposed to do. When that occurs, students send me a voice message, “Sturtevant, I don’t understand Job 3.” And just like with Remind, these messages wait to be consumed by the recipient when they’re ready. The second massive benefit of Voxer is ease. I can talk a heck of a lot faster than I can text or type. It’s so easy to push a button, record my voice and move on. Because it’s so easy, I find myself sometimes broadcasting to my whole class, or individual students who may have an interest, messages that are not academic in nature. I’ll offer menu suggestions, workout suggestions, or streaming suggestions. One can also share images and links. It really has become my default. And it’s been a great way to maintain and deepen those relationships. 

Episode Template

The Problem:

Students and teachers are growing distant due to the CoronaVirus. 

The Solution: 

Utilize tools so they can see your face, communicate with you easily, and hear your voice.

What you can do Tomorrow:

• Record a brief video encouraging your students, upload it to YouTube, and then share it. 
• Set up a Remind texting group for your class. If your students are too young for this, set one up with the parents.
• Set up a Voxer group chat with your class. Again, if your students are too young for this, set one up with the parents.

Emails, texts, and written instructions can only communicate so much. Let students hear your voice and see your face. Maintain, if not deepen, those important student-teacher relationships during this extended period of online instruction.  

[spreaker type=player resource=”episode_id=25297119″ width=”100%” height=”200px” theme=”light” playlist=”false” playlist-continuous=”false” autoplay=”false” live-autoplay=”false” chapters-image=”true” episode-image-position=”right” hide-logo=”false” hide-likes=”false” hide-comments=”false” hide-sharing=”false” hide-download=”true”]