Best Practices for Online Teaching

Whenever we onboard a new teacher at Modulo, I send them an email with best practices for online teaching. These message makes a significant impact on the quality of the experience our students have with new teachers. We’ve decided to make this resource public so any parent, teacher or company can help improve online teaching quality for all kids.

Subject: Best Practices for Online Teaching

“Hi teachers! Before you start with your student, I wanted to send you some suggestions that I think will very much support you in keeping your student highly engaged (and active) in an online environment. 

When done right, online teaching can feel even more physical - and you may feel even more connected to your student than in person. This is largely due to the fact that they are in the comfort of their own home and free to move about.

Some of our students use FB portal. It follows them around the room so they can be active and makes it so she can whisper on the other side of the room and be heard. Not all students have this, but as much as you can encourage them to make direct eye contact with you when studying the better.

Here are the main points.

1) Take frequent movement breaks

2) Keep camera eye level or slightly above (don't face down) - no one wants to stare at someone's nostrils

3) Face the light (don't put your back or side to the window)

4) Make sure there are no sound distractions

5) Sit slightly back from the camera (not with your nose pressed to it)

6) Send an update to the student's parents via whatsapp after each class

7) Use a laptop, not your phone!!

8) See our blog on tutoring with adaptive learning apps

1) Movement breaks. Take movement breaks every 20-30 minutes or whenever you sense that student may be getting tired, bored or distracted. I strongly suggest you do the movement breaks WITH the student (even if you feel silly). There are two reasons for this. First of all, it changes the relationship, you are modeling healthy behavior to her instead of telling her what to do. Second, it will get you moving, which is so important for all of us!  I got this lense which makes it easier for me to be seen when I jump around. As it widens my camera lens, You don't have to get it , but it may help. 

Here are some easy and fun movement break ideas

-do 100 jumping jacks together

-pick a fun song on youtube, share sound (not video) and dance to it

-pick a 5-10 minute yoga video from Cosmic Kids Yoga (make sure it's geared up before class so you don't waste time choosing it together and figuring out how to screen share)

-Stretch to the sky, stretch to your toes, stretch to the left, stretch to the right

 Sometimes the student will be using a facebook portal. It allows her to run around, be seen, be heard and stay active. When she works on apps, she also plugs in her ipad.

2) Eye level. Position your laptop or computer camera directly in front (or slightly above you). Eye-to-eye contact is best so your camera should be on level with your eyes. Do not look down at the camera. It feels like you are standing above your student looking down. (Nobody wants to see your nostrils:)  If you have a desktop, the computer camera will likely be at the right level. If you're using a laptop, you can put it on top of a big book or a stand. I like to use the Nulaxy Laptop stand.  I don't recommend using an external camera as it makes eye contact difficult if it is not positioned in the perfect place.   

3) Face the light. If it is daytime, make sure you are sitting directly facing the window (not with your back to the window). That will give you the best light. If it is evening, make sure you are well-lit. 

4) Use headphones OR be in a space with a closed door. You don't want external sounds and distractions. My preference is to have no headphones but be in a closed space. 

5) Sit slightly back from the camera. You don't have to sit with your nose pressed to the screen. In life, people are usually a few feet apart. So, you can sit slightly back from the camera as you would in life.

6) We'll use WhatsApp for communication. Once we've gotten started, I'll connect you with the student's parents on whatsapp in group chats. I'll also make one group chat for all of us "the student's microschool" That will be fun as we can all collaborate on the student's education! A 9:1 Teacher: Student ratio!! 

Feel free to join the teacher whatsapp group for sub requests (if you are not already). 

[whatsapp link deleted (just for teachers we’ve vetted and trained)]

7) Send a short summary of the session to me and the student's parents about what you did after every session. It can be 1-2 sentences. But it's nice to know what's been worked on, any challenges that arose, anything that went particularly well so we can all be attuned. 

8) Tutoring with adaptive learning apps: Our blog on tutoring with adaptive learning apps will help you understand how to combine tutoring with kids working on apps at the same time - to help you avoid having to prepare. 

Some fun tips for zoom

1) Whiteboard - you can annotate

2) Remote control - you can request remote control of the student's screen if you enable this feature in zoom. She may not need this because she's quite app savvy, but it can help. 

3) Filters! They are so fun to play with. Your student loves them and you will have fun with them too. 

The student may use the facebook portal. It follows her around so she doesn't have to sit in one place and makes it easy to hear her even if she whispers from across the room. Unfortunately, it's difficult to screen share with Facebook Portal and they have limited apps. So, when she's working on an application (like duo lingo or beast academy), she also tunes in with her ipad so she can share her screen and you can watch her. 

I used to get the portal for all our teachers, but the tricky thing is we screen share a lot and it's tricky to run two devices at the same time, a portal and a laptop. If you want to go this route: here is what you need to tell your student: Join the zoom meeting on both devices, but do not connect to sound on the iPad.

Thank you so much! Please reach out to me or one of our child life specialists if you have any questions or need extra support. We’re so excited to have you on board!

Best, Manisha