Author Archives: Courtney O.

Problem: Students are rude to each other. Solution: Depending on the severity of the rudeness, a teacher might wish to screenshot the comment in situ, and then delete the comment. If peers have called the student to task, the teacher will need to decide whether the “public” reprimand by peers is appropriate. If not, thenContinue reading “Problems and Solutions for Online, Written Discussion Questions”

If teachers want to call out good work as a way of praising a student (the carrot is often more effective than the stick), there are several options. Use a “gold star” image as a virtual sticker in the teacher’s response to students who went above and beyond. Take note of interesting questions or responsesContinue reading “Praising Students Online”

When students respond to each other, “I agree” or “You’re wrong” are not adequate answers. When prepping students for the assignment, teachers should remind students that if they were having a discussion with a friend, if everyone responded, “I agree!” to a statement that discussion wouldn’t last very long. Every student response requires two parts:•Continue reading “Modeling Written, Online Discussion Questions”

In Reading Reconsidered, the authors discuss a technique called Open Response, which are slightly longer prompts that “usually ask students to refer directly to the text and use specific evidence or details. Although they can be used to CFU, they also frequently assume that students have literal comprehension of the story and are now readyContinue reading “Adapting Reading Reconsidered’s Open Response to online teaching”

Here is a sample discussion question format for middle school. Choose one:• Watch this video. Write a one-paragraph summary.• Read this article. What real-life situation can apply to . Draw up the situation and either post your image or type your answer.• Do a hands-on project. Show your work! Analyze the results for cause andContinue reading “Discussion Question Formats”

In a given week teachers should ensure that students access the same content multiple times but in different ways, strengthening learning. Reading, writing, taking notes, completing diagrams, practicing problems, memorizing critical vocabulary, doing hands-on projects, participating in class discussions, taking quizzes—all of these work together to help etch the content into the student’s brain. TeachersContinue reading “Common Online Assignments”

Decades of research supports the use of visual schedules. Color coding these is also useful. Every day, the student with print issues can find the item that they’re supposed to do that day. In my experience, some parents print these out and stick them on the refrigerator, while others export the learning management system calendarContinue reading “Visual Schedules”

Building student community is critical for retaining students in the class. One easy way to do that is to open the online, synchronous classroom 10 to 15 minutes early and monitor (but don’t participate) in informal student chatting in the online classroom. As Jon Gustafson puts it, this links “should” behaviors (attend class, pay attention)Continue reading “running a synchronous lesson”

When teachers are not physically present with the student, they cannot easily engage in the kind of joint attention required for a high-quality Socratic discussion that enables students to make good, independent sense of the content—also known as “essential overload.” Students are often distracted by a novel task and not focused on the content itself.Continue reading “7 Reasons Not to Schedule Your Class Around A Weekly Project”

Students with print issues could be English Language Learners (ELLs), students learning English as an Additional Language (EALs), have dyslexia, have poor reading comprehension skills, or perhaps be visually impaired in some way.  post visual schedules Decades of research supports the use of visual schedules. Color-coding these is also useful. Every day, the student withContinue reading “5 Tips for Teaching Students Who Don’t Read Well”