Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1278320
KYMBERLY TAYLOR Moreno Valley Educators Association African American Parent Involvement Special- ist for Moreno Valley Unified School District and presenter at the California Association of African-American Superintendents and Administrators confer- ence on online learning. " Changing the virtual background [on Zoom] is a way to create equity and not invade a student's privacy." • Reach out to parents through text, email or social media. Record and send lessons to them. Host a Zoom meeting for them. They need to understand the work their students are doing so they can help. If you can't connect with parents, reach out and ask if everything is OK. You may find that something hap- pened in the home and that they need resources. Some parents have lost their jobs, and families need housing or food. The trickle-down effect of reaching out to parents, referring them to resources and let- ting them know you care also helps students. • Address equity gaps. With online learning, the gaps are widening. We know many of our kids still do not have access to the internet, even though our district provides hot spots and Chromebook com- puters. Make sure students and their parents know how they can connect to these resources and take advantage of them. Be mindful that on Zoom you may be showing inequities in the home. Changing the virtual background is one way to create equity and not invade a student's privacy. • Help students who are struggling. Don't give them excuses, give them resources. Virtual instruc- tion can be impersonal, because you can't shake their hand or welcome them to your classroom. So do that personal touch virtually. Meet with them on Zoom or Google Meet if they need some extra help, which includes tutoring. Sometimes you have to go the extra mile. ADAM JUAREZ Cutler-Orosi Unified Teachers Association History teacher and tech integration coach for one middle school and two high schools in Cutler- Orosi Joint Unified School District. He is a Google Certified Trainer. " When students speak about or listen to some- thing before writing about it, you will see improvement in their writing." • Help English learners by using programs that emphasize speaking and listening. I use Flipgrid, so students can make videos of themselves. When they can speak about something or listen to something before writing about it, you will see improvement in their writing. • Try frontloading vocabulary for English learn- ers. This means teaching words and their meanings before students read them in a text. I use Quizlet for this, which is like digital flashcards on steroids; you can make interactive games that engage them. It gives them 20 minutes before we start lessons to get familiar with the words, and it's more fun than memo- rization. Also, for kids who have trouble pronouncing words, it includes a live review game that helps. • Encourage blogging. Blogging with Google is easy for teachers to organize and manage. It allows kids to reflect and journal on what is happening around them during this odd time of life in a pandemic. It's an informal way of getting writing into the curric- ulum. It's a time stamp for teachers to see when a student is working and to see how things are going in their lives. And it's a way for students to share and feel more connected with each other, if they choose to share their blog with other students. 28 cta.org