Online Learning at Home
The discipline to learn on your own at home can be hard to manage, but I know that you can do it. You and your family need to figure out what works best for you.Here are a few suggestions.
Create a place to do school work
If you are able to, create a workspace that is just for school. I usually recommend that it not be your bedroom, but if you have a desk set up and you work well in you room, then definitely do that.
Keep a visual calendar
Even if you are super organized, a written weekly schedule and calendar can be very helpful. Make sure you write down when your teacher's office hours are and any extra Zoom meetings they might have. Write down any major due dates. You can even write in reminders for upcoming due dates. For those of you with smartphones, this is a great time to learn how to use the calendar and reminders function. I bet most of your parents use these!
Make a school schedule
This is actually very important. Decide when you want to work on school and then decide how you want to tackle each class. This is going to look a little different for everyone. You could work on one assignment in each class or you could choose to work on different classes on different days. Some of you might want to focus on one class for several days and just knock it out.
Take breaks
You must make time for yourself. You decide how you want to do it. You can use a timer and make sure you take a few minutes away from you school work each hour. You can create a schedule where you do school for a larger chunk of time and then take a long break. If you get overwhelmed, just stop and come back later. The cool thing about online learning is that you have a lot of flexibility.
Don't wait until the last minute
This is very important. You can work at your own pace, but keep to the due dates in Canvas. Work ahead if you want. If you leave everything until the last couple of weeks, you may run the risk of your teacher running out of time to grade your late work. Please remember, most of your teachers have between 130 and 180 students. Imagine if everyone or even half of them turned in multiple late assignments the last week of school. That is potentially hundreds to more than a thousand assignments to grade in a few hours. Do your work on time.
Stay connected
This is a tough time for all of us, for some of you this may be one of the hardest things you have experienced. It's scary and confusing. We are all in this together, even though we can't physically get together like before. Use whatever communication tools you have to stay connected to friends, family and teachers. I encourage you to log into the Zoom office hours at least once a week to check in. Follow the directives and mandates put forth by our governor and our mayor. These will keep you and your loved ones safe. If you need to talk to an adult or you feel unsafe please contact me or another one of your teachers.
Create a place to do school work
If you are able to, create a workspace that is just for school. I usually recommend that it not be your bedroom, but if you have a desk set up and you work well in you room, then definitely do that.
Keep a visual calendar
Even if you are super organized, a written weekly schedule and calendar can be very helpful. Make sure you write down when your teacher's office hours are and any extra Zoom meetings they might have. Write down any major due dates. You can even write in reminders for upcoming due dates. For those of you with smartphones, this is a great time to learn how to use the calendar and reminders function. I bet most of your parents use these!
Make a school schedule
This is actually very important. Decide when you want to work on school and then decide how you want to tackle each class. This is going to look a little different for everyone. You could work on one assignment in each class or you could choose to work on different classes on different days. Some of you might want to focus on one class for several days and just knock it out.
Take breaks
You must make time for yourself. You decide how you want to do it. You can use a timer and make sure you take a few minutes away from you school work each hour. You can create a schedule where you do school for a larger chunk of time and then take a long break. If you get overwhelmed, just stop and come back later. The cool thing about online learning is that you have a lot of flexibility.
Don't wait until the last minute
This is very important. You can work at your own pace, but keep to the due dates in Canvas. Work ahead if you want. If you leave everything until the last couple of weeks, you may run the risk of your teacher running out of time to grade your late work. Please remember, most of your teachers have between 130 and 180 students. Imagine if everyone or even half of them turned in multiple late assignments the last week of school. That is potentially hundreds to more than a thousand assignments to grade in a few hours. Do your work on time.
Stay connected
This is a tough time for all of us, for some of you this may be one of the hardest things you have experienced. It's scary and confusing. We are all in this together, even though we can't physically get together like before. Use whatever communication tools you have to stay connected to friends, family and teachers. I encourage you to log into the Zoom office hours at least once a week to check in. Follow the directives and mandates put forth by our governor and our mayor. These will keep you and your loved ones safe. If you need to talk to an adult or you feel unsafe please contact me or another one of your teachers.