What teams do you need to create?
Remote learning isn't online learning. In a remote learning environment, you and your students are transitioning from a face-to-face environment to a virtual setting. Your workflow will be different. Both you and your students will need time to ease into the transition. If you find yourself having to get up to speed quickly, you can help yourself and your students by viewing your progression to remote learning through the Crawl-Walk-Run model.
Your transition to remote learning can be a smooth one with proper planning and strategic use of Microsoft Teams and Office 365. This module will guide you in your preparations.
When you're creating your remote learning plan, you need to consider what teams you'll need for your rollout to be successful. Educators will, of course, need to create a team for each of their classes.
Other teams you may want to consider
- A team for grade levels. A grade level team can benefit educators in many ways. Faculty can communicate with one another regarding students who are consistently absent from calls or struggling with the work. Additionally, if you create the grade level team as a Class Team, you and your colleagues could practice different features inside the team. With the fast speed at which educators may be asked to shift to remote learning, setting your grade level team as a Class Team allows educators to continue learning about the tools available even when remote learning has begun. Educators will be less fearful about doing new things if there's a safe space where they can practice, make mistakes, and explore possibilities without the worry that students will see. Educators will also be able to join Teams calls to discuss upcoming lessons as well as share files with each other. Frequent check-ins will ensure continued success for educators.
- A team for each division in your school. A school leader can create a team for the entire school. If, however, your school is a PK-12, PK-8, or 5-12 school, your administrators may also want to create a Staff Team with specific grade levels or divisions. A division in a school is a segmented part of the school. For example, in a PK-12 school, you may have lower school, intermediate school, middle school, and high school divisions. With a division team, faculty and staff can hold virtual meetings to keep the business of school proceeding even during the school closure. Additionally, faculty and staff can work together to continue planning for the events that occur every year and will need to be ready to go when school resumes. Course selection discussions, awards days, graduation, etc. can continue as usual. Even though the physical school is closed, the day-to-day operations can't stop if you want to have a smooth reopening when the closure has passed. A division team can help you keep your planning progressing.
- A team for each class (for example, Class of 2023). For secondary students, it may be beneficial to create a team for each grade. Similar to the administrative tasks that must continue while your school is in a remote learning environment, it would be beneficial if student events can still continue in some way. For example, depending on the timing of the transition to remote learning, students may need to elect grade level and SGA officers. A team for each grade allows counselors to check on wellness and mental health practices. Principals can communicate about course selection, policies on remote learning attendance, and tips for common tech issues that arise. With students connected and working together on grade level events, they'll be hopeful for the reopening of school.