It’s not just important to stay connected to our students through our virtual classrooms. We must remember to stay connected to one another as well. While we might not have the privilege of being surrounded by our colleagues, we still have just as much opportunity to remotely connect with and support each other.
Staying Connected and Collaborative with One Another
We’ll feel more distant from one another while we’re not physically together, but we can’t let that feeling stand in the way of good community and collaboration. It is essential that we collaborate with our colleagues, working together to navigate through the challenges we are facing as educators.
Here are some elements to keep in mind when we’re talking to our fellow teachers.
- Do you have a plan for how to connect with your colleagues?
- What materials and methods can you share with one another?
- How will you maintain consistency between your similar courses?
- What are your common expectations of what students will complete and should know by the time the school building reopens?
- What learning or extra-curricular experiences might students miss out on that can be somewhat replicated digitally or focused on when they return to school?
You might not have answers to these questions yet…but now is the time to initiate communications and maintain connectivity. Remember that you are not alone. You do not have to reinvent the wheel; there are plenty of wheels out there already you can adopt and adapt to your students’ specific needs. It’s still important to lean on your colleagues, and likewise be a resource for them.
Team Meetings and Collaboration
So how do we keep connected to our peers? The conversations we have are highly contingent on the type of medium we choose for communicating. We can’t just huddle together in a classroom or swivel our desk chairs towards a colleague…we have to reinvent the way we gather so we can be effective as a team through a digital medium.
First, let’s make sure we understand some general aspects of collaborating online:
- Communication needs to be CLEAR and CONSISTENT. It’s all about the communication. Have a plan for when your team is expected to communicate and what they are expected to communicate about. Make sure that all conversation leading up to, during, and afterwards is clear. Share key details in simple statements, in writing. Ask questions; check for others’ understanding.
- Agendas help. Making a short list of expected discussion topics and sharing it in advance is always helpful, but especially so when our conversations are limited to digital spaces.
- Sharing is caring. Make sure to send helpful links to teammates. Allow one another to join each other’s LMS classes to see how things are facilitated. Talk about and give tutorials on tools you find.
- Respect the context. Remember that many colleagues are now at home with families. Understand and be respectful of their time and potential limitations (i.e. toddlers dancing on laptops or scampering away with paperwork). They may need to work around kids’ nap times, or have children or pets causing a ruckus in the background.
- Check in with each other. Make your conversations about more than work. Ask one another “How are you doing, really?” and share personal details about what you’ve been up to.
- Maintain rhythms when you can. There is a certain rhythm we get accustomed to in the schoolhouse, day by day and week by week. Maintain these if possible. Does your team meet every Tuesday afternoon? Consider keeping that time set aside to meet. Do you send out “This day in history…” messages every morning? Keep it going! These rhythms are important for helping us feel connected, in control, and productive.
Okay, so HOW are you going to collaborate? It depends on a number of factors.
- What do you want to accomplish?
- How many people should be part of the conversation?
- Who is expected to do the talking/sharing?
- What tools and materials need to be seen by everyone?
- Does this need to happen all together at once or can it be an ongoing, informal dialogue?
Zoom, Skype, or Google Meet. These are perfect for live group meetings. It’s like gathering around a digital conference table and chatting together and ideal for group discussion. You can share your screen and take advantage of other tools and resources as needed.
Recorded videos. Just turn the camera on yourself and press record. What message do you want to send? This can be a more personal way to send out information, especially longer messages that you want to make sure come out right. But you’re only sending info – this offers limited opportunity for response or collaboration.
Texting thread. Get one of these started with your team! These are great for staying informally connected, sharing updates, thoughts, pictures, links, or anything else that comes to mind. Don’t expect quality or extended conversations, since texting is usually an asynchronous form of communication, but it’s great for keeping the fire of conversation and community churning before the next more formal gathering.
Social media. Get your team connected on Twitter, Instagram, or another social platform. This is a great way to not only engage with one another, but get plugged into the wider world of conversation taking place. It can create shared experience and knowledge base: “Did you see that post?” “Let’s talk about what so-and-so is sharing.”
Email. Yep, it still works. Keep in touch as a team through this. Everyone should still be checking their email, right? Maybe there’s something you’ve been working on that you’d like to share out now that it’s completed. Describe it, link it, and press send – and be receptive for your peers to do the same!
Cell phone. Like live meetings, a simple one-on-one phone call or conference call can accomplish a lot of collaboration. It’s nice to hear the sound of one another’s voices once in a while, and the synchronous communication is helpful if you’re making decisions or building something together.
Discussion board. Maybe there’s a simple tool built into your school website or LMS that allows you to post thoughts, questions, and resources. It’s an informal way to engage with a wide group of peers from a distance.
Lean on Your PLN
Also remember that your school is not alone. There are thousands of districts transitioning to online school in lieu of gathering together. Access and develop your PLN during this time. One easy way to do this is to tune into the hashtags being used to discuss issues related to remote learning. Here’s a quick list of popular hashtags you can check out:
- #RemoteLearning
- #CoronaLearn
- #DistanceLearning
- #OnlineLearning
- #VirtualSchool#eLearning
Circumstances that compel us to be physically distant from our students and colleagues hopefully helps us to appreciate our PLN even more. There are thousands of educators out there, just like you, who are scratching their heads and trying to make the most of an unideal situation. Join the conversation!
Community and Recreation with Your Colleagues
Sure it’s important to keeping working together, but during this time of social distancing and isolation let’s make sure that we keep the humanity in our relationships as well. It’s okay (even healthy) to have some fun!
Here are a few ideas I’ve seen teams using to have some fun and maintain community with one another.
Celebrate the good times. However this needs to look for your team, make sure to call out the “good stuff” that’s happening that we would ordinarily celebrate together. Spring breaks, people’s birthdays, children’s births…bring attention to the positive!
Digital happy hour. C’mon. You know it’s a good idea. Grab a drink, jump into a Zoom or Skype call with your peers, and chatter away! It’s better than drinking alone.
Online Game Night. There are lots of online group games that are available. Get together around the virtual poker night table or run a Chinese checkers tournament.
Crowdsource a video. While we’re all at home, we can all contribute a few seconds to a group video. Sing a portion of a song, have a dance contest, or do the wave. Get a staff member who is comfortable editing all the splices together and enjoy the result!
You can do it just amongst yourselves or send it to your students. Here’s one high school that pulled it off!
Parade through your town. We can feel “together” even if we’re in our own cars. Some teachers have formed a caravan and driven through their school community, waving to their students who are standing outside to see them! (Here are some teachers in Indiana doing just this!)
#DingDongDance. This is a fun dancing activity to put together. Drive up to a colleague’s house (with their permission) blasting some dance music. Have them come outside with their families and dance! Film and edit it all together.
Social media. I mentioned social media above as a place to collaborate professionally, but it doesn’t have to be all business all the time. Make personal posts and keep up with what your peers are doing when they’re not working from home.