- For additional resources and video from our ELT webinars on blended and hybrid remote learning, visit www.nysut.org/hybrid.
Kurt Hassenpflug
National Board Certified High School ENL & ELA Teacher,
North Colonie Central School District
“Finding time is precious," says NYSUT ELT instructor Kurt Hassenpflug. "Finding minutes this year is precious. We’re trying to find instructional minutes wherever we can get them. This year, we’re more dependent upon technology than we have ever been at any other point in time in our careers.
"So with technology, I think it’s important to remember that when it comes to technology failing, it’s a matter of ‘when,’ not ‘if.’ So, what do we do when that’s the situation?”
Have a Plan:
- We can’t afford to waste time
- Know when you are in over your head.
- Know when to move on.
- Know who you can reach out to for help.
- Have a plan for what students can work on when you are forced to spend time troubleshooting.
Time-Saving Tips When Troubleshooting:
- When in doubt, restart devices.
- Is your device charged? Is it plugged in?
- Hold the power button.
- Switch your device to ‘Airplane Mode,’ wait a minute, then switch out and reset Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios.
Framing Assessments to Drive Instruction:
- Don’t Reinvent the Wheel — Rethink how assessments that already exist might fit into a digital model.
- Use self-grading Google forms and Google classroom rubrics.
- Learn about and know what free resources exist to help teachers.
- Learn about and know the resources that your district already pays for.
Check out these Quick Assessment Tools
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Tips for Motivating Remote Students:
“Try to keep a focus on giving work that is student-selected and therefore meaningful to them,” Hassenpflug says. “I’ve had to tweak my curriculum a little bit. The more meaningful the work is to (students) the more likely they are to do it.”
Additional Resources
About the Webinars
One of the many challenges facing educators over the past year has been how to adjust instruction for first completely remote and then for hybrid learning environments. The reality is that nobody was an expert at this before the pandemic. It forced teachers to radically rethink how to approach teaching and how to promote effective learning environments, no matter how their students are learning. We conducted a series of webinars for NYSUT members featuring some of our instructors from NYSUT Education and Learning Trust. We asked them how they are balancing it all and what tips and tools they have learned and implemented to help them make the most of hybrid learning. In this series, we break down their top tips for you.
For additional resources and video on blended and hybrid remote learning, visit www.nysut.org/hybrid.