Teacher’s top tips for dealing with remote learning 2.0

With many Victorian students returning to remote learning, a top teacher has offered key tips to parents for navigating the second stint of schooling from home. Here’s her advice.

Parents have quizzed a top teacher for tips to cope with remote learning 2.0.

The Herald Sun asked Jill Fitzsimons, Marcellin College teacher and director of professional learning and partnerships, to offer advice on key questions from parents as 700,000 students returned to home schooling today.

Here’s her advice for navigating the second stint of remote learning.

What should i do if one of my kids is distracting the other?

Kids being kids, this will happen at some stage. Try to get on the front foot in a positive way by having a family meeting. In this meeting, everyone can discuss what is and isn’t OK during home learning, including the consequences for anyone who doesn’t follow through with what they agreed to. Kids love suggesting consequences! Ensuring everyone has a say helps because students really respond when their point of view is taken into account. Providing students with lots of specific positive feedback in relation to the agreed family home learning ‘rules’ goes a long way too.

Is it ok for my kids to do their home schooling in their bedrooms?

Ideally students should do their home schooling outside of their bedrooms. If this isn’t possible, it’s important for students to blur the background if they are on camera. This message will be reinforced by schools. It’s about having a balance between school (their work space) and home (their bedroom) but also about keeping themselves safe online. If they are studying independently in their bedrooms, encourage them to have plenty of time outside or to break things up by studying in other areas of the house (when they can). It’s amazing how productive you can be when you mix up where you are working and ‘hot desk’.

What should i do if both my kids need my help at the same time?

I’d have a quick chat to them about what they need help with. One question could be really quick, the other might take some time. I’d also ask them both if there’s something they could go on with while you help the other. Again, positive affirmations are key here too. I’d thank your other child for being patient and for going on with something while they waited.

My daughter is worried she won’t get through all her scheduled tasks in the day, she is quite anxious about it. what should i tell her?

This will be her first week of home learning for a while so it’s OK to feel a little anxious. This week will give her a good idea of what to expect in terms of workload. It will also provide her with a chance to reflect on how she went (and felt) this week.

I’d encourage her to tap into what she already knows about she does when she is really using her time well and is focused. This might involve having her phone off, working in 40 minute bursts (then having a break) and writing down questions she is stuck on to ask a teacher or peer about later (rather than spending too long on one question).

If she’s really anxious, she could email her teachers or use time provided within or outside of lessons to ask questions of the teacher/review her work. Teachers want students to feel calm and confident so keeping in touch with them is always okay. Anxiety is usually alleviated by lots of encouragement and affirmation, too. She could list all of the things that went well during the week and you could add your observations to her reflections.

You can focus on what was achieved but also the process she followed and character strengths she demonstrated.

My kids are easily distracted. should i offer them rewards or other incentives to stay focused?

Kids do love working towards a goal. These can take lots of forms, including positive feedback.

Getting everyone involved in a family discussion about how you (or they) might reward themselves for achieving particular goals is definitely a great idea and sharpens focus. This could be as simple as choosing the family meal or dessert, getting to play a favourite game etc …

Both my wife and i have to go to work one day a week – on the same day. my daughter doesn’t want to go to school because none of her friends will be there. can you give me some advice on what to tell her?

Even though she’ll miss her friends, she’ll be surrounded by lots of friendly faces at school so this is a great chance for her to get to know them a bit better and to show her friends how confident and independent she is.

It’s a tough time for everyone and I understand her reluctance given her friends won’t be there, but it’s an unusual time and being cooperative is an enormous support to you and your wife who are doing your best to juggle work and home learning.

Encouraging her to see that her positive attitude will help her enrich her relationships with new people and help you and your wife in this difficult time might reap rewards.

I’m working from home with the two kids doing their school work in our main living area. but they talk over each other. should i split them up in different rooms? and if i do, how do i keep an eye on them and help them both?

We had the same problem when we had two teachers and three teenagers trying to do home learning in our main living area. I’d involve them in a discussion about who will be working from where and when, emphasising that everyone needs to be flexible. This is a great chance for them to show that they can work independently (and probably a bit more productively given they won’t be talking over each other). You can move between the two rooms and negotiate a system with them so they can contact you if they need help. If this doesn’t work, I’d go with Plan B, which will be negotiating a way to be in same area but not talking over the top of each other. Deep down they’ll know this wouldn’t be tolerated in the classroom, so getting back to classroom behaviours might help everyone stay in the one area and make it easier for you.

If we’re struggling to get through all the lessons, should i just focus on maths and english? or should we cover the specialist subjects like Music and French too?

I think it’s important to work through all of the lessons. Having variety in their day will help keep students engaged and will ensure they don’t fall behind. Use this week to track how everyone handles what’s been set. If you aren’t able to get through what was set in the allocated time (factoring in the HW time that each school recommends for particular age groups during home learning), let specific teachers know so they can make some adjustments for you (and possibly for the rest of the class if it’s common feedback).

How do we keep remote learning fun?

I think attitude is really important. Students pick up on adult’s cues so seeing home learning as a positive opportunity to learn in a different way is key. Ensuring everyone works effectively and in short, sharp blocks will help keep the energy in the day. Nothing seems fun when everyone is worn out.

Students love games too, so using educational games can help break up the day. Making the most of being at home is can also be a lot of fun. Lots of schools will set activities that require students to go outside or use household appliances/products to provide students with a variety of experiences and keep them active. One of my daughter’s teachers starts the class with a song that the class has voted on and the class does a series of simple dance moves to warm up.

I think the other way to keep things fun is to allow students to use different tools to demonstrate learning. They can make videos, build models, record podcasts, do research, take photos etc. The more students feel they have choice and voice, the funner it usually seems.

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