Teaching Online Tomorrow? Here are a few tips!

The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has forced most schools in the United States to shift to e-learning. Online teaching is a skill-set that most educators did not have as part of their teacher education programs, and this national crisis is a situation that most administrators have never encountered. The expression "building the plane while we fly it" is an apt one during this unusual time in our history.

Although there are many societal and socio-economic issues that affect access and prevent our national educational community from fully embracing e-learning, this post will focus on some general tips as traditional teachers step into the world of online education. Granted, I am making a huge assumption ... that teachers (reading this blog) have access to online platforms and that students have internet/computer access to learn online. However, the number of teachers facing this reality is growing, so I hope that these tips are helpful.

Here are some of the most important items to remember as you prepare to teach online ...

1. Know your e-learning Platform(s) -- Whatever online platform your school has decided upon, know it well. Some schools already have an online LMS (learning management system) that can accommodate e-learning; many other schools are adopting systems with little research, pilot testing, or staff input due to the harried shift to online learning. Whatever the case, your first day of planning should be spent learning the platform. Most are intuitive and a self-exploration of the features and website will help you become more familiar; additionally, websites will have tutorials for getting started. Don't skip this step! The more familiar you are with the platform, the more equipped and confident you will be to utilize the system and troubleshoot when the inevitable problems arise.

2. Support your Students -- The quote, "students will not care what you know, unless they know that you care," is so needed during this pandemic. For some students, school is the most stable area of their life, teachers are the most positive role models in their life, and their only friends are from school; recognize that they will be mourning these losses. Student stress levels will be heightened as they deal with distressing news, isolation, and family concerns. The downturn and uncertainty of the economy will touch every student, from parents losing jobs to families unable to get supplies. All of these factors will impact the emotional health of students; they need teachers to be supportive and caring during this time. A weekly phone call or note (real mail) home can go a long ways towards supporting your students.


3. Teach Students How to Learn Online -- Most students have never taken a class online, so the first lesson should be a "how to" e-learning lesson. This is going to take extra time, but it is a vital first step so that students can grow into success. Kindergarten teachers understand this as they spend the first month teaching their students how to "do school." All teachers, today, are un-learning and re-teaching how to "do school" online; they must lead students patiently in this initial lesson. Also, remind students to do the following outside of "class time" activities in order to be successful:

• Get up and get ready to "do school" like you normally do. People who work from home can tell you how unproductive pj days are. If learning in an a-synchronistic format, schedule a consistent "class time" schedule to follow each day.
• Go to bed at the normal time on school nights (resist the temptation to binge watch Netflix until 3:00am!)
• Exercise more than you usually do. Physical exercise does wonders for healthy emotional and cognitive development. There are many exercise apps to help students develop and track their exercise routine.
• Limit devices when you are not e-learning. Take daily "phone fasts" and stay off devices. Eight hours of e-learning should not be followed by eight hours of gaming or social media. 
• Expand your horizons. Students will have more time to learn (or return to) a musical instrument, re-discover board games, read, begin a new hobby, and explore extra interests.

4. You Do You -- Like a traditional classroom, online "classrooms" must take on the personality of the teacher. One of the blessings of working in a school is the natural diversity that comes from everyone's different personalities and gifts. Our diverse students need diverse teachers and diverse classrooms; each teacher's creativity, kindness, love, humor, and passions come out in a variety of different modes: direct instruction, collaborative learning, structured lessons, Socratic discussions, projects, practice questions, bell-ringers, and formative assessment. I love the fact that every classroom looks a little different (and the students love it too). This needs to continue with online education. You can absolutely "steal" teaching tips from others and follow models, but don't compare yourself to others and don't follow the "perfect online lesson plan." Use your creativity, show your personality ... and You Do You.

5. Make a plan B (and C) -- Online learning requires consistent wifi/internet and working devices at both the teacher and student end. Plan for one of these factors to not work. Whatever platform you are using, make sure students (and teachers too) are able to access it via wifi and through their cell phone data (download apps). Show students how to use a hotspot on their phone to connect a laptop if needed. Download all your assignments so you can email them to students.

6. Focus on the End Results -- Every educator trained in the past 40 years has heard of "backward design" (essentially, looking at learning targets / unit objectives / standards first and then designing lessons to best achieve those end results). That is especially important to do at this time. No matter how effective a school's e-learning plan is, content will need to be cut. Go back to your syllabus and review those course objectives ... what needs to be done by the end of the year to prepare students for the next year of learning? Teachers must prioritize lessons and make sure they are selecting the ones that best help students achieve the end results.

7. Slow Down and Check for Understanding -- It is going to be more difficult to assess students and their understanding of concepts online. A quick informal assessment by reading the body language / eyes of your students in the classroom becomes much more difficult online. Teachers will need to add extra examples, provide exemplars, and implement additional formative assessment. You cannot assume students understand; remember the full cycle of communication ... communication is not complete unless you know the receiver understood the message the way you intended. Build in quick responses on whatever platform you are using to check understanding.

8. Care for Yourself -- Teaching online can quickly consume your life and become a 24/7 job; there is always a better lesson out there online, more resources to add, and student questions will come in at all hours of the night. Set boundaries for your "teaching" time, establish office hours for student meetings/responses, and limit the research time you do for each lesson. You need to care for yourself first in order to be the best teacher you can be (remember the "air mask principle" on an airplane). Identify what fills your bucket and do those things daily.


Finally, give yourself (and your students) a lot of grace. Teaching and learning online is hard work; it requires unique planning and pedagogy, a different assessment mindset, and it takes time, professional development and practice to do it with excellence. Starting as a traditional classroom teacher/class and transitioning in the middle of a term to online is not ideal, but it is a necessary stop-gap to get students through this difficult global crisis with some sense of normalcy.

I am not an online educational expert, but many of these tips are compiled from the research I've frantically done (over the past week) to provide resources for my high school staff. If you want to read about this topic from an expert in online education, see Dr. Dave Mulder's blog (@d_mulder from @dordteduc); it does have a higher ed focus, but much is transferable to the k-12 world.

Finally, what is especially fascinating is that this is a national phenomenon. There are a million (literally) teachers/professors in America going through the same professional experience at this time ... transitioning to online teaching. Lean into this community of educators, ask for and give advice, support each other in this journey ... and pray for a quick resolution.

Adolescent Development: Positive Tethering

The most famous developmental psychologist is Erik Erikson, and his stage theory has impacted the study of human development. He describes the adolescent stage as one of "identity vs. role confusion." Working with students in this stage for nearly 30 years, I would affirm the importance of identity: teenagers need to discover who they are, where they fit, and how they are uniquely gifted. The post-modern mantra has been to "find yourself"; however, we've often forgotten the support needed to foster healthy development toward that end.

"Coming of Age" is a phrase used to describe the adolescent years, historically the teenage years in which children grow into adults. Today with delayed adulting, many individuals don't "come of age" until early to mid-twenties. So what encourages healthy development? What factors hinder development? How can parents and educators help teenagers develop in a healthy way during the adolescent years?

Tethering: Slow, Steady, Supported


Healthy development through any of the stages involves a slow but steady process of increasing independence.

Think about teaching a young child to ride a bicycle. A parent does not put a 3 year old on a 24" mountain bike to teach her. The process begins with a "big wheel" tricycle that sits low to the ground to help learn pedaling (even before balancing). After mastery is achieved, this process moves to a tricycle where the child sits higher and more upright. After mastery of this skill, the child begins on a small bicycle with training wheels to learn how to balance. As she begins to balance better, a parent typically takes off one of the training wheels to slowly increase difficulty. After mastering this, both training wheels are removed, and with the parent running along by her side, she finally is able to ride a bike. Rushing the process leads to frustration, however, so does the lack of challenge. Once the child builds up confidence, a parent must encourage her to move to the next level. A slow, steady, and supported process leads to healthy development.

I like to call this slow, steady, supported process "tethering." Tethering can have a negative connotation as it implies being tied up, but think of a tether ball. Each time the ball swings around the pole, a little more slack is given out. Similarly, tethering is an important parenting technique; it is the  process of giving a child more and more independence. This concept can be followed with children learning to walk, swim, skate, along with many other areas. Tethering also happens in parenting or teaching teens.

Adolescent Tethering

So what does tethering look like for teens?

The process of getting a driver's license is a great example. Before a teenager is 15, he needs to learn about driving by taking driver's education, this leads to a permit. The permit allows him to drive with a parent (and a professional driving instructor) for a whole year, this leads to getting a license, Once the student has a license, there are restrictions placed for a season on who is allowed to ride as a passenger, and this leads to full independent driving. Each stage is slow, steady, and supported so that over a two year period ,a teenager can become a licensed driver.

Just like beginning on a full-sized bicycle is not a good idea and is going to lead to skinned knees, giving a 16-year old a license without any training or practice is not a good idea. However, more parents skip some steps in the tethering process of getting a license, and the stakes are so much higher; a crashed car is definitely worse than a skinned knee. Healthy development needs to be a slow, steady, and supported process.

Parents often tether well during the early childhood years, but, unfortunately, they seem to forget this process as their children get older. Parents give pre-teens phones without remembering the slow, steady, and supported process of tethering. Parents encourage dating in middle school without remembering the slow, steady, and supported process of tethering. A plethora of negative examples in both phone usage and dating prove the point; if we rush the process, teens struggle in development.

Supportive Adults

The concept of tethering assumes one huge essential element of healthy development during adolescence: supportive adults.

Triangulated support (the "power of three" principle) is essential for teenagers to grow into healthy adults. Every teen needs three supportive and positive adult role models who are actively present in his/her life. Chap Clark, a Christian sociologist who focuses on adolescents, has even proposed a 5:1 ratio, meaning every teen needs five adults speaking into his/her life.

So, who are these three (or 5) individuals? Of course, most think of mom and dad as two of those adults, but I would encourage putting "parents" together as one, as many teenagers see "parents" as one entity. Traditionally, the other supportive adults have been teachers, coaches, youth pastors, counselors, and extended family members. It is also important to have supportive adults from different areas of life (e.g. home/family, church, school, work) because if something goes awry at home, teens need someone to support them who is outside the home, likewise with something that happens at school. Intentionally placing role models into a teenager's life, like selecting a school, sport team, and church with this in mind is an important step parent's can take.

Obviously, teens need 3 to 5 supportive adults because the adolescent years are difficult. In addition to physical changes happening during puberty, adolescence is filled with "firsts." Life events happen that cause teens to "grow up" faster than they should; they are rushed into adulthood. With support, teenagers can develop well through this difficulty ... leading to being ready to launch into the next stage: adulthood.  Below are a few of those experiences ...

1. Moving to a new school/community.
2. Death of a pet / loved one.
3. Parents splitting up / divorce.
4. Health concerns of self or loved one.
5. Financial stress of a parent losing a job.
6. Pressures of school / future decisions.
7. Managing a first romantic relationship / first break-up.
8. Troubling world events like a pandemic or terrorist attack.
9. Experimenting with adult behaviors like drinking, smoking, sex.
10. Getting a first job.

Each of these experiences can be used to tether teenagers into adulthood, but it takes a team of supportive adults who help "run along side" them as they learn how to "adult."

Positive Risk-Taking

The other essential element needed to positively tether teens into adulthood is risk-taking. Teenagers need to be encouraged to take risks. This is ironic as the teenage years are often stereotyped as ones marked by reckless risk-taking; recklessness or illegal activity is not what I am encouraging. Healthy development, at any stage, requires practices things in the next stage. This can be done with supportive adults walking alongside teenagers as they practice adulting. However, digital natives today are "safer" and more hesitant than ever to try something new, and parents are not actively encouraging them to try new things. This lack of positive risk-taking stunts "coming of age" and delays adulting.

Positive tethering involves encouraging teens to step out of their comfort zone. Teens should try new things, explore interests, be actively curious, and get out of their comfort zones. One of my favorite quotes to use in discussing adolescent development is, "There is no growth in the comfort zone, and there is no comfort in the growth zone" (Betsy Nuttall). In order to grow and develop, teenagers need to be nudged (or sometimes shoved) out of their comfort zone.

Teachers know how to do this academically, using the concept of the "zone of proximal development" (ZPD) (Vygotsky). In order for a student to grow, teachers need to challenge them with something just outside their comfort zone; if teachers don't do that students become bored, and if teachers push too far too fast, students get frustrated ... both hindering growth. Parents and teachers need to apply that ZPD concept to life skills, too.

The supportive adults in the teenager's life needs to nudge them to practice "adulting" in order to encourage healthy development. It warrants emphasizing, in order to do this with success, the adults who are nudging teens into risk-taking must be one of the supportive adults in their life. If the relationship is not there, teenagers will strongly resist (I've tried it, and it doesn't work). Like learning to ride a bike, supportive adults need to be there (almost) every step of the way cheering the teenager on.

Being present in the life of the teenager also provides more opportunities to discourage destructive risk-taking behaviors. Unfortunately, these risky behavior can cause an unhealthy development into adulthood if the process is not slow and steady.

Positive tethering can help teenagers "come of age" in a healthy way by encouraging a slow and steady process that allows teens to practice "adulting" life skills. Supportive adults play an important role in that process.