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We Are Living in a Material Virtual World

Eric D. Nichols

June, 2023

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Eric Nichols

I teach teachers…

–11 years in the classroom

– 8 years brick and mortar principal

– 5 years small school advocate

– 7 years Virtual School Assistant Superintendent

–15 years of education consulting

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Hello!

In the chat, or in this case talk to your neighbor, introduce yourself AND share what SUPER POWER you would love to have!

Example

Eric Nichols

Invisibility

+Partners–Singles Bar–

*Shorter Hair–1st (15 seconds),

*Long Hair–2nd (Respond and then yours–20 seconds)

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What did y’all say?

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Goals

  1. Build strong classroom cultures through relationships
  2. Create opportunities for students to thrive academically through engagement
  3. Have the tools to know that you left the place better than you found it. (ie–you’ll have evidence that they learned!)

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What elements of effective teaching did I just use?

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Goal

Build strong classroom culture through relationships

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What I know about effective teaching...

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Thinking Questions

  1. What is/are the learning target(s)?
  2. What effective strategies/practices do I already know and do that match these targets?
  3. Why are these effective? What is the evidence?
  4. How can these be adapted to a virtual classroom?
    1. Tools?
    2. Barriers?
    3. Opportunities?
  5. How do I know if they learned?

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When Effective Teaching Happens

Clear and Focused Mission

Climate of High Expectations

Positive Relationships

with Families

Resources

Strong Leadership

Safe & Orderly

Environment

Established Support Systems

Effective Teaching and Learning

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Establishing

Online or Face to Face Expectations

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THINK–PAIR–SHARE your group’s strategy

*Think–What are the 2 most important item that your training audience needs to have the day run smoothly? (15 seconds)

*PairSame partner… Longer Hair First this time (30 seconds with WHY)

*SHARE– “My partner and I discussed that…

(7 words or less)

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Demonstrate Respect and Build Trust

Establishing and Communicating Expectations

Online Expectations

Offline Expectations

Interactions with Peers/Groups

Time

Camera

Microphone

Chat room

Reactions

Break out rooms

Logins

Emails

Platform use

Exercises

Turning in work

Group work

Feedback

Interacting with peers

Emails

Communication with teacher

Online

Offline

Support system

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Goal

Build strong classroom culture through relationships

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Examples

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Activity

Direct Instruction

BreakOut Rooms

Group Discussions

Independent Practice

Video

On

On

On

Off

Microphone

Muted

On

Muted, but turn on when recognized

Muted

Chat

Ask questions

No

Encourage and ask questions

Ask questions

Engagement

Eyes on the the speaker, take notes

Eyes on the speaker. Take notes. Engage in discussion.

Eyes on the speaker. Take notes. Engage in the discussion.

Focus on assignment.

Keep an eye on the timer.

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Google Hangout Video ON/Audio OFF

Review the agenda.

Conduct one piece of business at a time.

Participation is a right…and a responsibility.

Differences resolved constructively lead to creative problem solving.

Give others a chance to talk.

Communicate authentically; what a person says should reflect what he thinks as well as what he/she feels.

Develop conditions of respect, acceptance, trust, and caring.

Develop alternative approaches to the solution of a problem.

Summarize what has been accomplished.

Think Kindergarten Rules

NORMS

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Next up: Modeling Online Expectations

Microphone: Muted

Video: On

Engagement: Eyes focused on the screen

Pencils: Down

Chat: Ask questions

Cell Phone:_______ Using the Camera

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Video

Be able to turn on and off

Plain background

Look at the screen

Let’s Practice

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Microphone

Be able to turn on and off

Use active listening

Let’s Practice

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Chat

Respectful language

Purposeful communication

Timely—Wait Time (“Think”)

– “Type and Enter”

Let’s Practice

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Appropriate humor is a good thing…

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In 30 seconds, �write one “aha!” you just had.�

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WHAT WORKS

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Thinking Questions

  • What is/are the learning target(s)?
  • What effective strategies/practices do I already know and do that match these targets?
  • Why are these effective? What is the evidence?
  • How can these be adapted to a virtual classroom?
    • Tools?
    • Barriers?
    • Opportunities?
  • How do I know if they learned?

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This I know about students thriving academically...

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Thinking Questions

  • What is/are the learning target(s)?
  • What effective strategies/practices do I already know and do that match these targets?
  • Why are these effective? What is the evidence?
  • How can these be adapted to a virtual classroom?
    • Tools?
    • Barriers?
    • Opportunities?

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ENGAGEMENT IS…

The observable evidence of the learner’s active involvement in all lesson content

“VISIBLE EVIDENCE”

Engagement is NOT optional…this is how we do learning

Every learner explains their thinking & receives feedback from peers and the teacher multiple times in every lesson

SAYING — WRITING — DOING

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ENGAGEMENT IS…

The observable evidence of the learner’s active involvement in all lesson content

“VISIBLE EVIDENCE”

Engagement is NOT optional…this is how we do learning

Every learner explains their thinking & receives feedback from peers and the teacher multiple times in every lesson

SAYING — WRITING — DOING

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SAYING — WRITING — DOING

If it’s worth doing, then I am going to ensure that ALL students are

“doing the doing”...

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NEVER MORE THAN 2 to 10…

- minutes goes by in any classroom without EVERY single student saying/writing/and-or DOING something directly tied to the learning target

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Unlimited list of strategies and “stuff” to do and/or measure learning….

*Precision Partnering (Peanut Butter & Jelly, Chips & Salsa, A & B)

*Fist of Knowledge

*Choral Response–Questioning

*Graphic Organizer

*Reciprocal Teaching (They TEACH)

*7 word summaries

*And on and on and on and on…

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Teacher-Centered Instruction

Modeling

What is it?

Disseminates information efficiently

When should I use it?

Teaching metacognitive processes like analyzing

Use an anchor chart with steps (Google Doc/PDF)

Teaching a strategy or a process

Use an anchor chart with steps (Google Doc/PDF)

Sharing new information

Provide notes and slides

What tech tools support it?

Live tool (Zoom, Google Meets)

Recording Tool (Screencastify, FlipGrid, etc..)

YouTube

So then what?

Students need practice with live feedback

Students need practice with live feedback

Students need tools to digest and internalize

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Eric D Nichols

iamericnichols@gmail.com

Twitter: @iamericnichols