Thursday, April 02, 2020

Please Blog About Your Emergency Remote Teaching

It seems like there are a large number of long Twitter treads where educators are reporting their experiences and how their school is handling this period of emergency online teaching.  I love reading them but they are hard to follow, hard to find, and hard to share. They are also fleeting. I wish more people would use this time to start a blog.

Personally, I have found blogging about what is going on in my teaching practice and what I am learning to be a great  stress reliever. It is also creating a resource I can look back on later to see what happened and how things appeared at the time.

Blogger, GitHub, WordPress, Medium, and Tumblr are some sites you can use and have free offerings. I found this line that may help you choose one. How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform in 2020 (Compared)

Think about it. We’re teaching in a new time and in a new way. No one is an expert yet and we all have things to share. Let me know if you decide to start a blog and I will link to it for here. And read it. I want to know what you are up to.

8 comments:

Mike Zamansky said...

I too wish more CS teachers would blog but to be honest, while it would be great if people shared how they're managing at this time I'd also love to read more "normal" blog topics.

computationalThinkingInRoom112 said...

I am a CS teacher in Alabama and have been working to develop a blog that both documents what is happening inside my classroom, but has tips and tales from the road for new CS teachers. I would love your opinion of what I am building!

https://computationalthinkinginroom112.com/

Alfred C Thompson II said...

Great start! Can't wait to read more MaryClair Wright

Anonymous said...

I think it would be aspirational to blog at this time due to the bootstrapping we're seeing of many novice CS teachers in the remote teaching transition. However, many teachers are using Twitter more now than before I've seen in the NYCDOE sphere to crowdsource ideas and develop more of a PLC around CSEd.

As for what I am doing, I am focusing less on tech heavy work as many of my students are experiencing heavy accessibility issues and as some are undocumented, unable to even apply for the free WIFI offers. Libraries are closed, so they can't access those community centers to support their kids. We have onboarded nearly all of our children but taken the lesson pressure off to 1x a week of logging on and submitting when possible.

To date, we've done work on decomposition, decomposition x algorithms/sequences application, pattern recognition and I've put on a livestream cooking show to highlight CS in a relatable, emotionally comforting way for my K-5 students. The bulk of the work can be student independent but parents are more encouraged to participate b/c of the low tech/unplugged nature. When possible I attempt to relate this to work the parents can understand as most of this is asynchronous--for example, walking around the neighborhood and spotting patterns in doors or windows or breaking down parts of a flower.

For parents who wish more, I've provided a bank of enrichment activities that are self paced. Additionally, I've continued to hold my student organizations online with synchronous meet ups to supplement for a classroom feel.

Parents are critical stakeholders in the way I have already refined my CS teaching in these past few weeks. They act as direct pipelines for all teaching right now. It has helped to be open to their needs and respond accordingly with lesson design and delivery. If there is anything I would emphasize, it would be to start with the parent needs first and work from there.

I hope this has given you a slight insight into K-5 teaching!

Follow me if you'd like @MsTurula on Twitter. :) Happy teaching everyone and stay safe!

Amy Csizmar Dalal said...

I have a blog and am planning on posting once a week on how I'm managing the switch to virtual learning. Our spring term starts today, and it's been interesting thinking through how to structure a 9 week course fully online when it's not something I'd normally do.

My blog: https://acdalal.wordpress.com/
and I'm on Twitter @drcsiz

rwhite5279 said...

Thanks for the kick in the pants, Alfred. I've been meaning to restart blogging about my CS classes, and this post was just what I needed. I've appreciated what you, Garth, Mike Z, and Mark Guzdial have been putting out there. I'm at https://www.hybridclassroom.com/blog

Stay safe, and keep writing!

Andrea Wilson Vazquez said...

Hi all,
I'm a teacher and innovative instructional coach at an alternative high school in MN, and also work with a non-profit (Code Savvy https://codesavvy.org/) to train and support K12 teachers on equitable and engaging CS ed. I haven't been blogging regularly yet, but have been hosting weekly Zoom calls as ways for CS teachers to connect and share reflections, resources, ideas and troubleshooting -- Friday AMs at 8:30am, CT: https://mncodes.org/events/coffee-cs-ed-zoom-check-ins-friday-mornings/

We also are hosting a free virtual CS PD event that is open to any K12 CS educators and will feature discussion sessions: https://mncodes.org/events/mncodes-may-digital-meet-up/

Again, not blogging, but a few other ways to connect and support one another during these strange and unprecedented times!

Blog: https://mncodes.org/blog/
Twitter: @wilsandrea

Andrea Wilson Vazquez said...

Hi everyone,

I'm a teacher and innovative instructional coach at an alternative high school in MN, and I also work with a MN non-profit (Code Savvy https://codesavvy.org/) to train and support K12 educators with expanding equitable and engaging CS education across our state.

I haven't been blogging too much, yet, but I have been hosting weekly Zoom calls for any/all CS educators to connect, reflect and share resources, ideas and troubleshoot. Friday AMs - 8:30am, CT. Anyone is welcome to join! https://mncodes.org/events/coffee-cs-ed-zoom-check-ins-friday-mornings/

My nonprofit is also hosting a free virtual CS PD event on May 16th from 9-11:30am, CT, and any CS educator is welcome to attend. The sessions will be discussion-based and will focus on ideas, strategies, resources for CS ed during emergency remote learning. Please share with anyone who you think might be interested: https://mncodes.org/events/mncodes-may-digital-meet-up/

Again, not blog posts, but some meaningful ways to reflect and connect with other CS educators along the way.

Hope to connect!

All the best,
Andrea

Twitter: @wilsandrea