Every day I begin class with the question,
“How are you?”
I get answers like
“I’m ten years old”
or
“Yes”.
I'm lucky that I get any answers at all since online classes started up again.
What happened?
A year ago I was the first teacher to use Zoom classes and the kids loved it. They were excited to see their friends’ faces and we made jokes and students participated eagerly. It was fun and we played language games like guessing games and imaginary ball and BINGO and drawing games.
Something changed over time.
Other teachers started using Zoom online. It wasn’t fresh to the kids anymore. Also teachers used Zoom to lecture or play teaching videos while students’ tuned out. Students got used to it. If students want to speak in class they are told that they have to raise their hand.
That sounds fair, but it’s ridiculous when almost every student has the camera off and all the students have their mics muted. They found the best way to beat the system was tune out and disappear. Then they could get back to their game or whatever it was they were doing before class had so rudely interrupted them.
Not in my class!!
I like active classes. I love class clowns. This is English as a Second Language class. No one learns English as a second language by being smart. They learn it by practicing it and having fun. I come to each class with lots of games and interactive activities to make class fun but these kids are ghosting me. They are convinced that anything online is not worth their time participating.
On the first class I found 90% of the student cameras were off. I told students clearly that they needed their cameras on and they needed to participate but nothing changed. I knew immediately that all my tricks and plans would never work. I needed to go old school on them.
Going Old School on them
One by one I called their names. None of them wanted to answer. I smiled and I tried again. When they answered I complimented them and went to the next student and asked each of them to say,
“hello”.
I was torturing them and I knew it. They wanted me to lecture them so they could get back to their video games, but one by one I continued to call them one by one.
There was only one student that I didn’t get a response from. I called him on his cell phone in front of the whole class. He then started to pay attention knowing that I would find him one way or another. By the end of that class almost half the students had turned on their camera at one point or another.
Going Kindergarten on them!!
The next day still half the class was determined to never turn on their camera. Other students had their cameras focused on a light on the ceiling or an object on their desk but nowhere near their own face or body.
I’m not an idiot. I went kindergarten on those kids. They are preteens in fifth and sixth grade but I know that curiosity and competition was about the only motivator going for me. I couldn’t give them a piece of candy online or give them a free homework coupon. They don’t care.
That second day we began show and tell. Each kid wanted to show off something a little better than the last. One kid showed off his gold fish. The other kid showed off his dog. The next kid showed off his little brother. More and more cameras were turning on.
The Empire Strikes Back!!
I gave students quiet time to think about things and showed them a timer to complete a task. I asked them to draw a picture and speak one sentence about it. One by one cameras went on and then as soon as the assignment was over they went off. This was exhausting. I felt like my title had changed from teacher to dentist.
Kids were still missing the point. I called them on the phone and talked to them one to one. Then things were starting to click. Then I could hear what they wanted to say. They said that English time is OK, but the other classes are a drag and teachers did the impossible.
They managed to make online school more boring than real school.
Reversing the effects of bad online classes
It’s going to take a long time to reverse the effect of bad classes online. A lot of money and time is wasted on stuff that never gets used. I think some money and time needs to be invested in student motivation intrinsically and extrinsically.
What is too easily forgotten is that young students are actually motivated by learning. When they recognize that they are getting something and they can use it they are excited. They are motivated when they are challenged. They are curious and want to see what will happen. When students are involved and invest ownership in the class they are motivated to participate.
Above all kids are motivated by a prize from the teacher.
Look at the last post I made called Greedy Yellow Bird. No one was forced to participate. There was no roster or attendance list. There was no grades to be sent home or degree or certificate promised yet people participated eagerly and joyfully.
The content of the post was simple and boring but the challenge was gamified and rewarded. The rewards were simple and users knew that not everyone would be rewarded but if they helped each other a few people would get the reward. The goal to have 51 comments on the main post was huge but attainable. In the end 59 different users commented on that post with a total of 228 comments to date.
The blockchain is ready to gamify education
I think our schools can learn a lot about online motivation from the block chain. What is it that would motivate people from all over the world to participate and help each other for a little reward from a token of code?
This is the secret to schools being here in the future or not. Is there any motivation. In order to activate intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivator must be put in place. I see a use for proofofbrain and Hive beyond the school systems and school buildings, but applied to the education of individuals in every nation.
If learning is not gamified and rewarded in the next few years then the use value of these school buildings and equipment may be better off as a recreation center for the community.
What a great story! You are doing it well and every teacher (and parent) knows how these preteens are hard to be "moved"... Gamification is the answer to most of the motivational attempts for kids (and not just them)... I saw some great results of implementing gamification in "real-life"...
We on @liotes are doing something similar with our rankings and Wednesday missions where people have to engage with us to get points for rankings... Slowly, they learn a lot from each other in the comment section, so it's a win-win for everyone!
I have picked this post on behalf of the @OurPick project and it will be highlighted in the next post!
That sounds cool. That's the mindset I need to stay on top. I will look at @liotes and hang out some time. !PIZZA
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I can say you are a great teacher! It’s not easy to manage 10 years old, you need a lot of energy and creativity to keep their minds in the right direction.
Gamifying studies is the best thing to do. Children learn best while they play and they show interest also,
Now you can see what kind of teacher I am. I think the city will stop online classes soon, but there is a lot we can learn from the experience.
engage
engage
engage
I am wondering how are students dealing with these online classes, it’s so difficult and it’s increasing the screen time by huge amounts which is definitely not a good thing.
I hope this ends by the time Raag is big enough for school. I don’t want him to do online classes.
So kids do well online... especially slow learners with concerned parents. The have a chance to look at the material at their own pace and parents can take time to help them. In the classroom they pretend to follow but don't understand anything. Attentive parents can catch a learning problem early by monitoring a child's online progress.
As for "the middle" they want to meet their friends and do projects together. They really need to and online is not the best way to do it but again possible. Middle school students have a better grasp on technology and can use break out groups and padlet to work on projects. Some of the online technology will spill over into the classroom as schools are converting to "smart schools".
For all the students an interactive classroom is the most ideal environment where all the senses are engaged. The best part of school experience is students learning from each other. That should not be taken away regardless of the platform.
Don't worry about your kid. Just spend this time before school to discover who he is.
No, I'm not worrying. Whatever it may be, I will try and do the best for him. But I truly believe that going to school is a very important part in our development. Interacting with other kids, socialising, taking part in co-curricular activities, learning healthy competition, learning to lose and then win, school fights, teachers day celebrations and much more.
I have beautiful memories from my school days and my closest friends are also from my school. So I know how important and wonderful is this phase of life. I don't want anyone to miss on that.
You'er a great teacher . If this your suggestion can be adapted it will go along way in motivating how students will want to participate in learning in the future .
It's not that easy to adapt but there is a possibility. Kids want privacy online and protection, but at the same time parents don't like to sign up for anything. They prefer to click a link and just use the system without thinking about what goes on behind the scenes. If block chain was adapted to reward education it would have to be in a way that the front end was super easy and the blockchain rewards just a perk.
Yes it won't be that easy, but is quite possible.
Teaching is actually different from lecturing
In teaching you react to all aspects and views of the students trying to condition them understand what you are trying say but in lecturing- teaching is based on the subject and any question raised is based on the subject matter but all the same it's actually a passion. I am loving
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STOPYou are as adamant as these kids, it's actually good and passionate. Try a Yellow bird game contest in your online class, see how it goes 🙄😉👍
You are the biggest trouble maker @vikbuddy and that is why I like you.
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Now you can see why kids want to go to school not online.