T/TAC Topics
September 2020
|
|
Supporting students’ transition to a virtual classroom using a PBIS behavior teaching matrix |
The school year has started and it is different than previous years. Many teachers and students are returning to learning in a virtual environment. The transition to the virtual classroom will be new for many students and has the potential to create feelings of anxiety or uncertainty. It is important for all students to be and feel supported during this transition. In the Recover, Redesign, and Restart document, the Virginia Department of Education states that “students who feel safe and supported are better equipped to learn, and learning is the fundamental goal for all students in all schools. (p. 54).” How can teachers create a safe, predictable, and positive learning environment for students, especially in a virtual setting?
The Center on Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) published a practice brief entitled Creating a PBIS Behavior Teaching Matrix for Remote Instruction. The practice brief explains how teachers can create a behavior teaching matrix for their virtual classroom. A teaching matrix includes the schoolwide behavior expectations and corresponding expected classroom behaviors, whether the classroom is in a school building or online. The teaching matrix is one tool teachers can use to create a safe and predictable classroom environment. The practice brief explains five steps for creating a virtual (i.e., remote) classroom teaching matrix:
- Use the schoolwide PBIS expectations. Using the school wide expectations for the virtual classroom matrix creates consistency for students across all settings, in person and virtual (Center on PBIS, 2020). For example, if the school wide expectations are Be Ready, Be Respectful, Be Safe, then they are listed in rows on the left side of the classroom matrix (one expectation per row).
- Use virtual activities or routines to define expectations. The online activities or routines in the virtual learning environment are listed across the matrix (one per column). Examples of activities or routines are Entering the Virtual Classroom, Whole Group Instruction, and Small Group Instruction.
- List specific behaviors (observable and measurable) for each activity or routine. For example, what does “Be Ready” look like and sound like when students enter the classroom? It might be, “Have all materials,” “Turn on your camera upon entering,” or “Greet each other using the Chat feature.” The teacher lists the expected behaviors for each activity or routine that students should exhibit.
- Teach specific online behaviors. The Center on PBIS (2020) explains that students may need instruction on behaviors that are unique to online instruction such as the use of video, audio, and chat. Additionally, students may benefit from instruction on how to use their online learning management system (e.g., Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas) if behaviors on the matrix are related to use of the system.
- Teach the behaviors in the matrix. Teachers need to teach behavior as explicitly as they teach academics. The teacher explains the behavior on the matrix, models or demonstrates it, provides guided practice, and, as students demonstrate the behavior in the virtual classroom, provides behavior specific feedback.
In addition to the steps for developing a teaching matrix, the practice brief provides additional tips for remote instruction and examples of an elementary behavior teaching matrix and a secondary behavior teaching matrix.
By developing the PBIS behavior virtual classroom matrix and teaching the expectations and routines, teachers can create a safe, predictable, and positive environment for all students. When students feel safe and supported, then learning can occur and students can be successful.
References
For more information, contact Chris Frawley (cdfrawley@vcu.edu), Program Specialist, T/TAC at VCU.
|
|
|
Strategies for re-opening your early childhood classroom without losing your mind! |
You’ve just received the directive from your school division’s superintendent that instruction will resume starting for the 2020-21 school year based on a hybrid model. As you contemplate what this will look like for your early childhood classroom, all sorts of emotions begin to rush over you: an excitement of being able to teach children face-to-face again, anxiety over keeping children safe per state and federal guidelines, and remorse over the loss of the way classrooms and teaching used to look like. In addition, and, perhaps, feelings of hope that this “new normal” will not only keep children safe but will still provide an enriching, quality preschool experience for all.
Despite all the fear that has been generated from providing face-to-face instruction, the American Academy of Pediatrics (2020), “strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school” (para. 7). This research should give teachers peace of mind, but for many, they may still have lingering uncertainty as to how to make their classrooms physically safe and a place where children feel comfortable. When considering how to create a safe and calm classroom environment, the following strategies may be helpful to keep in mind:
Keeping your room safe, within CDC guidelines, doesn’t mean forsaking comfort.
- Be sure you are adding in activities, routines, and materials that support the social-emotional needs of your children such as songs, soft lights, fidget toys, etc.
Be intentional with communication.
- Use a tranquil tone or practice good conversation skills with your children.
Let your classroom space reflect a calm atmosphere.
- Illuminate with soft lighting, display colors throughout that depict a variety of emotions, post children’s artwork to enjoy, arrange plants and living things at children’s eye level (e.g., aquarium) for children to explore.
Embrace routines.
- Use visual supports when needed and throughout the day with all children.
Try to remain calm.
- Calm children can’t exist without calm adults. Children are co-regulators and will do better when their caregivers are not as stressed (Searcy, 2020; Heiskell, 2020).
When teachers carefully and intentionally consider what will be required to reopen their classrooms safely, they will need to balance the needs of their students, co-workers, families, and, most importantly, themselves. Following statewide protocols doesn’t have to be rigid and sterile. They need to allow for flexibility within their procedures, which accounts for adapting for the individual needs of the students. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2020) recommends that “no child should be excluded from face-to-face instruction, based on their disability, unless required in order to adhere to public health standards or due to a medical disability that would put them at risk” (para. 6).
For more information on face-to-face, hybrid, and distance learning models of instruction, be sure to check out the following resources:
References
For more information, contact Mary Szymanski (mpswingle@vcu.edu), Program Specialist, T/TAC at VCU.
|
|
|
5 Tips for increasing clarity in the mathematics classroom |
|
Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey (2020) have worked together to provide educators with strategies to increase teacher clarity in mathematics classrooms. They share in their article, 5 Tips for Increasing Clarity in the Mathematics Classroom, that no teacher wants to be “the unclear teacher that students do not understand or that students are not able to learn from” (para. 1). Their article highlights strategies to develop teaching clarity in math that include identification of skills and concepts, communication of learning expectations, understanding success, aligning instructional approaches, and checking for understanding. In addition, the authors provide a list of evidence-based strategies in the areas of transfer learning, deep learning and transfer learning to consider when aligning instructional approaches. According to Fisher and Frey, these strategies will provide a return that is beneficial to the teacher as instructors and to the students.
Fisher and Frey (2020) state that a cursory review of the grade level standards does not ensure that lessons have significant clarity. Teachers are expected to provide students with clarity of the learning objective, but it starts with the teacher and her own understanding of the standards. They suggest that teachers look into the language of the standards and pull out the skills and concepts that need to be addressed. Fisher and Frey state that knowing the skills and concepts to be addressed helps teachers plan instruction, select instructional materials, and monitor students’ understanding.
Once the teacher has a firm grasp on the specific skills and concepts, the teacher should be able to effectively communicate the learning expectations. It is important to provide this information to students and to require that they understand what they are learning. Fisher and Frey (2020) state that teacher clarity requires that students know what they are learning each day. Addressing learning expectations can be a daily mundane task and the authors suggest providing learning expectations in a variety of ways to keep the students engaged. Along with communicating the expectations, teachers should think about the need for procedural knowledge, conceptual understanding, and the ability to apply learning. These success components do not necessarily happen in the same lesson, but they are important considerations for teacher clarity (Fisher and Frey, 2020).
Lastly, the authors suggest aligning instruction with the phases of learning and to check for understanding frequently to increase teacher clarity. Fisher and Frey (2020) have organized a number of common instructional routines by three phases of learning: surface, deep, and transfer. Clarity requires that teachers match instructional approaches with the appropriate phase of learning. The authors explain there is a place for surface learning, as it is considered to be the beginning stage of learning. When it comes to deep learning, this is when teachers change instructional approaches to allow students opportunities to make connections with their learning. The last component of instructional alignment is transfer learning. According to Fisher and Frey, transfer learning speaks to the application of learning in new situations. After teachers have aligned their instruction with the phases of learning it is time to check for understanding. Fisher and Frey (2020) explain that clarity requires teachers check for understanding frequently so that they can adjust their lessons to ensure that students understand the content.
In conclusion, Fisher and Frey (2020) have provided five strategies to support developing clarity in the mathematics classroom. Please visit their article and the resource information included to explore how you can provide additional clarity to your classroom.
Reference
For more information, contact Amber Butler (butleram2@vcu.edu), Program Specialist, T/TAC at VCU.
|
|
Welcome Jennifer Askue-Collins! |
|
|
|
Jennifer Askue-Collins is a newly hired Elementary Program Specialist at the Training and Technical Assistance Center at VCU. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Special Education from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and her Master of Science degree in Special Education Curriculum and Instruction from Longwood University. She is a National Board Certified Teacher, Exceptional Needs Specialist. Jennifer has worked as an elementary and middle school exceptional education teacher in central Virginia: Amelia, Cumberland, Powhatan, and Chesterfield. Jennifer’s areas of research focus on instructional coaching, inclusive practices, and reading strategies. In her free time, she enjoys kayaking with her husband and three boys, reading, and visiting her family at the beach.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
