Is your school implementing a hybrid teaching program this year? A hybrid program refers to a plan where students will be learning in person for a portion of the week and then learning virtually for the remainder of the week.
Some schools are choosing this plan because they are able to have smaller groups of students in the classroom at a time.
Group A might be in the classroom on Mondays and Tuesdays while Group B is in class on Thursdays and Fridays (with Wednesday being a cleaning day). Any day that a student is not in class, they are learning and practicing virtually.
This is a tough program for teachers because they are teaching in person AND online. It can be a lot to prep and plan. I hope that your school is finding ways to offer extra support. I also want to share some tips that I hope will make it just a tad easier.
One of the best ways to teach with a hybrid model is to flip your instruction. Instead of teaching in person and sending kids home to do the work, have them watch the lessons at home and come to school to do the work.
Record Whole Group Lessons
Time with students in class will be very limited with a plan like this. You will need to maximize the time that you have.
I recommend recording whole group lessons and having students watch these videos at home.
You can use Zoom or Loom to record yourself doing the lesson. You can share your screen to show PowerPoints, passages, and anchor charts. You can upload the videos to Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams or any other platform that you use for virtual learning and classroom communication.
A few video recording tips:
- Keep the lessons short! Focus on sharing needed vocabulary terms, teaching a strategy and giving a couple examples.
- Don’t aim for perfection. Don’t stop and re-record every time you fumble over a word. This is time consuming and unnecessary.
- Use the same lessons and materials that you would have used if you were teaching the lesson in person. There is no need to reinvent the wheel!
- Don’t feel like you NEED to do these video lessons live. You can record them and share with students to watch when they are able.
Do Practice Activities in Class
Generally, we would teach the new lesson in class and send students home with worksheets to practice the skill. But, with a flipped classroom model, students will watch the lesson at home and then do the practice in class.
When students do the practice activities in class, they have you. They can ask questions and receive individualized support.
If students do the practice at home, some will have parent support and some will not. It is harder to know what a student can do independently.
Some ideas for in-class practice:
- practice sheets from your curriculum
- anything you have ordinarily given for homework
- independent writing time
- centers
- small group of individual conferencing
- reteach
- using manipulatives
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What do you do if a student doesn’t watch the video lesson?
It will happen. Just as you had students who didn’t complete homework sheets last year, you will have students who don’t watch the videos.
Be sure to communicate expectations with students and parents.
Ultimately, if a student didn’t watch the video, have them watch as soon as they get to class. They will miss some practice time, but watching the lesson will be better than you having to teach the lesson to them individually.
If you have students who cannot watch the videos because of Internet and technology access, come up with a routine that allows these students to watch the videos at the start of class. I also hope that your school is doing something to help these students if they are requiring a hybrid learning model!
I have said it before, and I will say it again, there is NO perfect solution. My heart goes out to you because I know how hard you are working. Keep reminding yourself that this is temporary. It won’t last forever.
Have a Not So Wimpy day,
God bless you! yes, hybrid is the plan. Some always at school five days a week, some 2 days a week and about half at home learning remotely. we will use swivels, a tripod that moves as you move with a camera or tablet attached. The first few weeks we will not have them so I certainly will use the recording as a plan.
I am a 40 year teacher and your kind words and generous spirit sure make my day. Thank you!
Joyce Kolakowski
Joyce – I used the Swivl all spring to record lessons at home and upload into Google classroom. It was perfect!
THANK YOU!!!!! I LOVE YOUR REASONABLE IDEAS!!!! I actually FEEL BETTER!!!!
Jamie, I can’t tell you how helpful you have been for me in the last year. In teaching my grade 4 and grade 5 resource students to write i.e. a persuasive essay; your materials were amazing. All my students needed much one-on-one to get them to write a few sentences on paper, even using graphic organizers. With your videos and your graphic organizers, they were all able to write a 5 paragraph persuasive essay. I couldn’t believe it!!!! I was so proud of my students and they were proud of themselves as well! I have now bought your other bundles as well and will be using them this year. I will be a hybrid teacher this year and look forward to checking out what you have come up with. Thanks so much!!!! Linda.