Tips for Online Learning: 7 Ways to Thrive While Teaching Online

“Tips for Online Learning” by Kristin Menke, The Integrated Teacher

For the past year and a half, I have been a 9th Grade English 1 Teacher for an online virtual school in my state. I absolutely love the freedom, flexibility, colleagues, and, most especially, my students. They are awesome! I get a range of students from full-time home school students to seniors who need one last credit to graduate. Some play sports overseas and others enjoy selling art and poetry online. My students teach me so much every day, and teaching them online has been a huge blessing in my life. Before becoming an online teacher, I taught in local public schools in Jacksonville, FL for 13 years. I have taught everything from Intensive Reading to College English Composition. Making the transition to teaching online, however, has NOT been an easy one. Don’t get me wrong; I love so many things about online learning, but there is a transition period for most teachers. My goal is to share with you 5 Tips for Online Learning, so you too can grow with your students in their Distance Learning Experience.

7 Tips for Online Learning

1. Be flexible.

Now, I get it. Teachers have been told since the beginning of time to be flexible; however, do we really take this mantra to heart? When I first began teaching, I was told to be flexible about everything. This included grades, students’ behavior, my working conditions, my pay, etc. As I started to leave the traditional school setting, the term flexibility came with a whole new meaning. My day went from 7:15am-2:25pm to 8am-8pm using a schedule of my own. At first glance, you might say, “That is awesome!” Then, you start to live in your place of work. All of the things from student calls and messages to continuous grading can overtake every thought of every day. Instead, I live by this motto: I will do my best to get everything done in a flexible way. For example, if a student calls and I am in the middle of grading, I may wait to call the student back. It’s okay; the call can wait 5 minutes. If a particular student needs more help than I can give on a certain day, I will encourage him or her to schedule an appointment with me for the next day. If I am about to sign off to have supper with my family, and I see an assignment uploaded, I just might wait until the next day to grade it. It is okay! Things will get done. Just give yourself grace, especially during this time of chaos.

3 Ways to Be Flexible for Online Learning: (Tips for Online Learning)

DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF- If a student doesn’t submit something on time, or if you called a student a million times and he/she wants to talk right as you are about to leave for a dinner out with your sweetheart, let the phone call or text wait. Let it go…and let it wait.
DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY- When my husband transitioned to becoming an intensive reading teacher, the struggle was real. He would get emails from parents at the end of each quarter asking why students were failing and what he was going to do to help. Now, you can come at the situation with a prideful heart. I already texted you. I already called you. I already emailed you. About 100 times each. Now, you want help? (I am not at all saying my hubby responded this way, but he could easily have.) This mindset does nothing to help the situation. It is not personal. People get overwhelmed by….life. When parents contact you with this mindset, all they are asking is “How can you help me to solve my problem?” They don’t want to hear that they avoided you or forgot to respond or that their child has not done any work yet. What can you do to help now? Trust me; humility goes a long way and costs us nothing but our pride. After falling off a desk my fourth year of teaching in front of a classroom of 9th graders, I have no pride 🙂
DON’T MAKE IT HARDER THAN IT HAS TO BE-If there is a shortcut, take it! With awesome colleagues, you can tag-team on creating resources together. Also, read up on other articles that offer “Tips for Online Learning” as more information can help you create a plan that works best for you! Be sure to check out materials online that you can use for your own students, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

2. Communicate as much as you can.

Students and parents may struggle with transitioning to online learning. Because of this difficult transition, our whole job is motivating and encouraging students to get to work and improve as they go along in the course. In my English 1 class, we can communicate via phone calls, texts, and emails. Just recently, I have started texting a couple of days before an assignment is due and then a reminder the day an assignment is due. This process has cut my non-workers in half. I always text a parent with the student in the same thread solely for accountability. A quick text will motivate the parent to check in with his or her student. It can’t hurt. If you can’t text or call a student specifically because of school restraints, I encourage you to text/phone the parent and post updates a lot on the online forum/platform. Too much communication is way better than not enough.

3. Set boundaries for work time.

When I first started teaching online, I noticed that I could work 12 hours a day if I really wanted to. But who wants to do that? We have a 1200 square foot house, so it is really easy to hop on the computer and start texting; then, the texting becomes calling, calling becomes “I am going to call just 5 more students” and so on. I encourage you to create a schedule. If you are on a schedule for your local school for the next school year, still do this. No one is requiring you to sit at your computer for 8 straight hours. At least I hope not. You have the right to have a lunch time, bathroom breaks, a planning period to work on other things, etc. Here are 2 schedules based on a 12 or 8 hour workday:

12 Hour Flexible Schedule/8 Hours of Working

8-9am: Grade
9-9:30am: Take a break; go for a walk; whatever 🙂
9:30-11am: Contact students and parents through Phone, Text, or Email
11-12pm: LUNCH
12-1pm: Check Email & Grade
1-2pm: Contact more students/parents
2-2:30pm: Take a break
2:30-4:30pm: PD, Plan, Grade, Do a Live Lesson
4:30pm-6:30pm: Family Time
6:30-8pm: Check in 1 more time to catch up on grading, return calls/texts

8 Hour Schedule

7:30-9am: Grade, Plan
9-9:15am: Take a break; go for a walk; whatever 🙂
9:15-11:30am: Contact students and parents through Phone, Text, or Email
11:30-12pm: LUNCH
12-1:15pm: Check Email & Grade; PD, Plan, Grade, Do a Live Lesson
1:15-1:30pm: Take a break; go for a walk; whatever 🙂
1:30-2:20pm: Contact more students/parents
2:20-2:30pm: Small Break
2:30-3:30pm: Check in 1 more time to catch up on grading, return calls/texts

4. Plan ahead.

Knowing what you are going to do a couple of weeks ahead of time can be an amazing way to ensure you don’t lose your hair with online learning. My students are on a flexible schedule, but I like to know where they currently are at all time, so I can prepare for discussions, send final exam information, recommend a specific live lesson to attend, etc. Having an outline for each quarter is vital, and if you can set up your entire quarter with all of the assignments ahead of time, it will make your job that much easier. Yes, it takes time, but really 2 hours a week of meaningful activities is enough for most students for a specific subject area. I have noticed that as many teachers transition to online learning, they are suddenly asking students to write entire research papers with a week or two or complete a packet of 50+ pages. When it comes to teaching online, if students know what is expected in terms of what is due and when it is due way ahead of time, it makes your job easier. Include relevant assignments and offer live lessons, but don’t expect students to do things at the last minute just because you posted the assignment the night before.

5. Have a heart to serve.

My views of teaching have changed dramatically since becoming an online teacher. I now see myself as a servant in the very best sense. My goal is to serve my students to the best of my ability. They don’t have a traditional timeline like many students in public, private, or charter schools, but they do have goals. We set goals based on their own timelines, create schedules that work for them, maneuver times to chat they work for both of us, and allow for more time and help if needed. If you think of your students like customers, it might help with the transition to online learning. Now, this does not mean that they get to say whatever they want or do whatever they want, but we get to create the best individual experience for each student!

6. Create a place to work.

Like I said before, we have a smaller home. We have 3 bedrooms in a 1940’s house, but one of the rooms is a dedicated office. You may not have that spare room (our daughters sleep in the other bedroom together) to use, so you might have to get creative. You do, however, need to create a space for you to actually work. If your kids are home with you, as mine are, you need to be sure it has the following qualities:

Quiet: You can sequester yourself away from everyone else, or use headphones to drown out the noise 🙂
Calm: Close the door if you can or put on music with/without lyrics to manifest a peaceful environment.
Organized: I have pens, post-its (I am a big list writer), all of the technology, chair, desk, etc. However you organize yourself, do it. Get rid of the clutter if you need to.
Productive: Individualize your space, so you can be the most productive. If this requires a window to look out of for momentary reflection or putting your personal phone in another room to avoid a technology obsession, do it! Have fun! You get to be your own boss in a sense!

7. Make sure your assignments are digital friendly.

If you choose to have students complete work online (or the choice has been made for you), make sure that every assignment easily transitions to the online space. I have my curriculum available for me, but I sometimes may have to add something in or modify the wording to help students. Additionally, creating a links page for you to text assignments may be incredibly helpful as your students communicate with you. Most importantly, check out online resources that you can purchase easily and cheaply to make your teaching easier! Check out my store Integrated ELA Test Prep for help finding digital resources!

Tips for Online Learning-by Kristin Menke (The Integrated Teacher)

Overall, as you temporarily transition to Online Learning, give yourself some grace in this difficult time! Or if you are transitioning permanently, give yourself some grace in this difficult time 😉 Most things will get easier, and some things will get harder, but it is not the end of the world if everything doesn’t get done. You are the most important person to your students, and helping them succeed to the best of your abilities is all that matters.