This week's Spotlight on Success is brought to us by Middletown High School Math and Computer Science teacher, Steve Lecky! We asked Steve to share some of his engagement strategies for hybrid and fully remote instruction: As this year of the hybrid and sometimes fully-online model has progressed, it has become clear that our success is largely dependent on engagement. I have appreciated our district leaders’ efforts in providing support and encouraging the sharing of ideas in this area. I will share two engagement strategies that have been effective for me. After carefully planning an activity for my initial Zoom Breakout task of 2020, the experience was a disaster. On entering each room, it quickly became clear there was almost zero student-to-student discourse! Confident in my lesson design, I recognized the need to “jump-start” the student discussions. Now, prior to assigning breakout rooms, I pose a “fun” question for the students to answer once they arrive in their rooms. And, I alert the students that when I first enter each room, I will randomly call on one of the members of the group to report out each student's answer. For example, the question might be “What is your favorite snack?”, or “What is your favorite game to play, whether sports or video or a board game?” In the creation of the fun question, I do view it through an equity lens, trying to be sure it is accessible and non-intimidating to all. On each Zoom breakout experience since the first, when I enter a room, the selected student eagerly communicates each student’s answer to the question! Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of the breakout groups continue in dialog on the content-area task. I do have one class for which student-to-student discourse presents a large challenge for a variety of reasons. To encourage engagement with me throughout the entire hybrid or fully-remote lesson, I am requiring frequent student feedback through the chat (and in-person). It can be quick as in “Give me a 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 on your level of comfort with that last problem/discussion.” Or, I will pose a content-related question with an A, B or C response. Each time, I communicate that the response may be sent through either public or private chat for the online group. The expectation is for students to answer all questions, and I tie a participation score to this expectation. I do hope one or both of these tips are helpful. I am heartened by our collective persistence to address this area of need!
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