Are you hustling to quickly transition your lessons, activities, and assessments to an online learning format? You’re not alone. The coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic has led thousands of teachers – just like you – to explore remote teaching for perhaps the first time.
In this article, you’ll get a quick summary of what remote teaching is, learn why our team at Albert thinks Google Classroom is a great tool for distance learning, and explore a demo classroom that models how to incorporate Albert (and many other great learning sites) into your remote teaching plans.
We know you have no time to waste – let’s dive in!
What We Review
What Is Remote Teaching?
In many ways, the online “remote teaching” classroom can be just as powerful, if not more so, than the in-person teaching model you may be used to. Education has been trending digitally in models like flipped classrooms and blended learning, so the idea of remote teaching isn’t as strange as it may have been 10 or 20 years ago.
However, extreme circumstances are now forcing the educational community to move online-only and create some sort of hub to connect you and your students. This might be a Learning Management System (LMS) your school uses or a more universal tool like Google Classroom. The key behind a remote teaching classroom is to establish some form of two way communication between teachers and students.
While this transition may be unexpected and rushed, it doesn’t need to be a bad experience, and could possibly be an opportunity in disguise. There are issues of online equity to address and a learning curve for many to climb, but persistence pays off. Educators are nothing if not dedicated to making learning happen.
Done well, distance learning can promote self-reliance and personal accomplishment in students and a greater sense of inclusion and accountability from parents. Setting up a digital classroom online provides more flexibility for individual learners to engage and learn at the pace that is right for them. Bells no longer control when a student learns; that is now up to online lessons.
Who knows? You might find tools here that you continue to use once schools are back in the building! Unfortunately, no one will be able to wear pajamas to class anymore.
3 Reasons Why Google Classroom Is a Great Hub for Your Remote Classroom
1. Enrich assignments with a wide range of activities and integrations
Let’s be honest: there is no single website that does everything you need for remote teaching.
One day you might want to include a fun interactive activity or instructional video. The next day you might prefer including student practice problems or a quick assessment.
Google Classroom creates a flexible central “hub” for all of the resources you collect across the internet. It works especially well with YouTube and Google Docs – as well as any other items created in Google Drive. You can post discussion questions for students, create unique editable copies of documents for each student, and so much more.
Looking for some creative activities for your Google Classroom? This great post from Cult of Pedagogy has tons of engaging ideas to leverage the flexibility of Google Classroom for remote teaching.
2. Clear communication with students and families
One of the keys of successful remote teaching is keeping everyone – students AND families – engaged in the learning process. Google Classroom makes this easy by allowing class-wide announcements on the Stream tab and individual teacher-to-student conversations with private chat threads.
Google Classroom creates a central home for families to easily view all activities assigned to students. This means you can avoid having to write dozens of emails or messages each time you want to send kids a new task. And perhaps best of all, if your school uses a G Suite domain, you can invite guardians to sign up for email summaries of student work!
Concerned with students posting public comments for the entire class to see? Check out this help article from Google about controlling who posts to the public Stream page.
3. Make distance learning accessible to all students
One of the most difficult challenges of teaching is scaffolding content to fit the needs of every student. That challenge is made even more complex when you (and your co-teachers) can’t actually work with students in person.
Google Classroom allows you to create unique assignments for individuals or small groups of students. You can create unique learning activities based on the modifications required by IEPs or 504 plans – as well as adjustments for students who identify as English Language Learners.
These student populations are likely to face significant challenges in transitioning out of the normal routine of in-person school, so it’s critical that your remote teaching meets the needs of all learners.
Want to be sure your co-teacher has full access to Google Classroom? This help article will walk you through the steps.
For more ideas on how to individualize your remote teaching, watch this short video from Google on differentiation with Google Classroom.
Albert’s Distance Learning Demo Classrooms
In order to better help you envision your own classroom, Albert has put together a demo classroom for you to explore. To start with, we have a sample math Google Classroom, but ELA isn’t far behind!
Join our classroom as a student and notice how we tried to incorporate the 3 reasons above. Assignments are loaded with activities like Google Docs, Kahoot, Desmos, and yes, even Albert! Instructions and expectations are stated clearly and the Stream is full of messaging to students and parents. And finally, assignments vary in difficulty to provide learning opportunities for students of all levels.
High School Math Demo Classroom
Become a student in Albert’s Math Classroom!
- Navigate to classroom.google.com.
- Click the “+” icon in the upper right corner to “Create or Join a Classroom”.
- Click “Join class”.
- In the textbox that pops up, enter the classroom code: 3hgbysa.
High School ELA Demo Classroom
Become a student in Albert’s ELA Classroom!
- Navigate to classroom.google.com.
- Click the “+” icon in the upper right corner to “Create or Join a Classroom”.
- Click “Join class”.
- In the textbox that pops up, enter the classroom code: 4wobuld
How to Set Up Your Own Classroom
Teacher Center
Are you new to the Google Classroom experience? No worries! Google has you covered with an amazing number of help resources. If this is your first time setting up your classroom, check out Google’s Classroom 101 video to show you the ropes in under 2 minutes.
From there, you can access all their Classroom help videos from the Teacher Center. Albert’s favorites include:
Creating a New Classroom (1 min)
Creating an Assignment (2 min)
Add Students and Invite Guardians (3 min)
Find other helpful videos in the Teacher Center to make quizzes, add materials, and generate originality reports to prevent copying!
TeachfromHome
If you have the Google Classroom basics down, head over to Google’s TeachfromHome page for even more free tools that will help you continue your students’ learning. This page, created specifically to support teachers during the COVID-19 outbreak, shows you how to do Video Calls with Google Hangouts, Live Q&A sessions with Google Slides, and Live Streaming a lesson you teach right from your living room!
Albert Is Here to Help
And don’t forget, practice and data is still an essential part of teaching and learning, especially remotely. Albert specializes in practice opportunities for students and data analytics for teachers. Learn about our course offerings and data analytics, and then find out more about our free access for schools affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Need even more ideas to inspire you? Check out our list of 121 Tools for Distance Learning to explore more possibilities to add to your classroom, no matter what you teach! We also have a post outlining how to study for online AP® exams here.
