Thread for primary teachers about remote learning - figuring out what works!

[RuleWithAWoodenFoot]

Hi,

Just what the title says really. This is ideally for primary teachers to chat about remote learning - what works, what isn't working and so on. I'm thinking about trying to teach 7 year olds who spend 20 minutes trying to find the hands up icon, or those who just like to moo down the mic.

What are you providing? How does it work? What is feedback from parents like? Is it sustainable?

Yep - writes over ppt and in notebook/promethean. It doesn't work very well for me in word - starts to act like a mouse, fucking everything up! But the ppt and notebook is the win for me. Means I can talk my way through the whiterose ppts and our own notebooks quite nicely.

To be honest, I have a crap 'interactive' whiteboard at school, so used this instead for the last few weeks of last term.

Thanks Rule! It's ordered, along with an arm for using my mobile as camera. And one of those back massager shiatsu pads

@GetTheGoodLookingGuy

I'd be wary of Google Meet. It doesn't have the same level of controls as Zoom does. The major issue is that once you create the room, it exists regardless of whether you are in it or not so the kids can access it without you there. Even if you don't create it until you're ready to use it, if a kid gets in before you, they can actually take control of the meeting.

We experimented with it initially but settled on Zoom.

@Iamnotthe1
We got over those issues by
*going in to the Google Meet first

• then posting the link on the stream.
• resetting the link in Settings after each meet
• setting Meet link as invisible to pupils

I prefer GM to Zoom because if pupils are logged on to their school account they drop straight in. No waiting room to monitor. Anyone not on their school account doesn't get access.
Zoom is a nightmare - I have a waiting room full of 'iPad;' 'iPad 2' 'Samsung Galaxy', 'Bob' (no Bobs in my class). I've said a hundred times make sure your Zoom name matches your name, but I have to let them in as is, and hope for the best or else my class would be empty.
We use Zoom now nevertheless.

@OnehorseopenBobsleigh
Zoom has worked great for us. We have one link at the top of the stream in Google Classroom and the kids use it four times a day at our set times. We've not had any issues with names but we might just be lucky.

I guess it's just one of those things: different things work for different people/classes.

We only had the option of Teams. It's not perfect, but it'll do. We taught them all to use it in term 1.

So with the pen thing, if a child uploads work to Google Classroom can you mark that and return the marked copy all through the Google Classroom interface? Or do you need to download their work, mark with the pen, save, upload and then return?

Hopefully I'll be able to tell you tomorrow @Lancrelady80

Does anyone know the permission situation around reading stories to your class remotely? Can you film yourself reading them and upload to your learning platform or must you get permission from the authors/publishers in order to do so??

In the first lockdown a lot of publishers gave permission, particularly if it was not public. Our videos were public (if you had the link) but we just had to email the publishers for most books. This time we have a way to send videos privately so I've not really worried about it.

My XP pen has arrived - I can't work out how to use it. I can see it moving around on the screen, but I can't work out how to get it to make a mark. I'd welcome any suggestions for good resources for using it with a mac.

I've no idea how to use it with a Mac, sorry. With my laptop I just plugged it in and it wrote straight over a powerpoint (ppt in display mode).

Got things sussed today.

Did my early morning 'register' slot, then did input for our reading vocab lesson. Sent them off to do the work (should be independently)

Did a year 3 maths teaching slot - put questions in as we were going, some left after the fluency work, others stayed. I know who got what and where to go tomorrow. I stayed on for an hour while they finished work, came back and asked questions etc. I did other planning.

Same with year 4.

When they came back for story time, all 17 kids who I'm getting regularly (lots of mine are KW/V and in school), had done the reading response work and the maths. Some had done the writing.

We've asked only for 2 pieces to be handed in, none came in today apart from my SEND kids, who by doing the above, I'm able to focus on a little bit in their own meetings. Which is totally manageable.

If it keeps working like this, this is sustainable for the rest of term.

We are setting the children whiterose worksheets but they are pdfs. Anyone know how they can be filled in electronically by the children?

Mine and ds's school are both struggling with this.

I have a Google doc w instructions for this - I set it as a task for tomorrow.
If you pm me your email address I can send it to you.

@SquashedFlyBiscuits

We are setting the children whiterose worksheets but they are pdfs. Anyone know how they can be filled in electronically by the children?

Mine and ds's school are both struggling with this.

Yes!

Use snipping tool and paste into Google slides.

Then insert text boxes where they need to write...put Type here or something so the know.

Done this a fair bit this week!

I might do a couple like that for assessment at the end of the week.

@SquashedFlyBiscuits

We are setting the children whiterose worksheets but they are pdfs. Anyone know how they can be filled in electronically by the children?

Mine and ds's school are both struggling with this.

Prob not helpful but when WR maths is loaded into seesaw they can just write or draw on the screen. Seesaw is working really well for both my son and my own school.

@TrashedWarrior we are a Purple Mash school

@Lancrelady80 thanks

@OnehorseopenBobsleigh I think I pmed you last night. My first pm so hope it worked.

I will try both your methods this week. Thank you!

Ah ok! We are both for some reason.

Is anyone noticing engagement decreasing this week?

Yes. Not seen one child this week for any work - apart from appearing at story time.

No. We've got 100% attendance across school on the Zooms, either from home or from the classrooms in school. My kids (Y6) are submitting all of the work. There are a few kids who have missed bits lower down school but most of them have been brought in now.

Engagement is low in my high pp/eal school.

The expectations from the government for what we must deliver is a real struggle for these families. Children and parents are becoming overwhelmed and quitting. I am simplifying things, making endless support calls to children and parents, giving loads of positive feedback and trying to make things as engaging as possible but feel like it isn't enough in so many cases.

we decided we'd reduce the expectation to hand stuff in - just two specific bits. One was due today, we've had none! Until last Friday we were getting reams of photos of work - responded to everything properly, marked properly - but even doing that number of photos would have been a huge expectation for lots.

Interesting to see what comes in over night.

4 children from my class in school today
4 children handed in their writing at home today
Only 1 of the at home children had produced a piece of work that was any good for them