What are we learning during COVID lockdown?
Last week in a Zoom meeting with colleagues, we were naming all the skills teachers have had to develop in the last eighteen months and the terminology of teaching that has grown around COVID – Zoom, online learning, uploading, mute button, assessing online, backgrounds – and the list grew and grew. I am so thankful to the Junior School staff for working so hard to keep on top of all this learning at the same time as planning and delivering engaging lessons each day of this lockdown.
What have we learnt about our students, and what have our parents learnt about their children?
The time during Blended Learning Online has been an ideal opportunity for our students to develop their Learning Behaviours. Consider how your child is coping with learning at home. Are they managing distractions and able to sit and work through tasks? Are they trying to use various strategies to understand a question or activity before they ask for help? Are they persevering with a more challenging task before giving up and going to the next question?
When at College our classrooms are filled with rich discussions, small group work and constant feedback. The classroom environment is a place where students learn from each other and the teacher. At home, they need to be more self-reliant. What a challenge for them to remember the Learning Behaviours that are taught at College and to practise them at home.
As we get read to begin the fourth week of our lockdown, praise your child for the positive Learning Behaviours they have displayed. Keep a chart of the times they show persistence or sit through a task without being distracted. If you want to encourage these behaviours even more, consider asking your child questions before you provide the answer – “What is another way to work out the answer?”, “What strategies have you already tried to work out what that word says?” and “What have you done already to solve that problem?”
The Junior School staff want to thank our parents for the wonderful support you are offering your children. We know it is not easy as many of you are working yourselves as you encourage your children to complete work. May God continue to support you and keep you safe over the coming weeks.
Ms Lisa Hansford
Junior School Director of Teaching and Learning