Reflections on My First Year of Teaching Online

The new school year is rapidly approaching, so I thought I would finally take a couple of minutes to reflect on the previous school year. Last year was my first year teaching all courses online and my first year teaching with TCAH. And although it was a challenging year, it had a happy ending.

TEA threw us a curve ball last year right as the school year began which basically capped our enrollment way below what was anticipated, so many students had to be shifted to a private section (as did teachers). With all of the moving around and the 300 students I had at the beginning of the year, I was seriously beginning to think that perhaps I had made a wrong decision. But, I decided to hang in there and keep plodding away. By the second six weeks things had calmed down a lot and by third six weeks I began to feel settled and like I was beginning to get some solid ground beneath my feet. (My student load was also much lower than at the start which helped a lot).

I am not sure I would have stayed had it not been for the awesome administrators and fellow teachers... not to mention the really nice families I worked with. They were all super helpful and encouraging. I also really like the mission of TCAH and the way in which learning is laid out, so I decided to invest some more time in the school, and I am glad I did.

Overall, especially with the difficulties we overcame, I feel like I had a really good first year. 

Here are a few accomplishments I am specifically proud of this school year:

• 99% pass rate for 8th grade Reading TAKS (with 100% participation)
• Taught a few low-key staff development sessions and presented to a few visitors
• Learned how to manage my time to accomplish my daily goals
• Attended several field trips and met lots of families
• Cultivated good relationships with my homeroom students/families

Although I feel like I had a very positive year, I still have areas in which I would like to grow and improve.

Which brings me to my goals for this year:

• Really get to know all of the readings and lessons assigned to the students
• Make my live teaching sessions more interactive with students
• Increase my contact with families
• Familiarize myself with the new STAAR test and requirements
• Give more specific feedback on students' writing

Last night I was thinking about the questions I answered in my previous post about online teaching and how it is different, and I decided I left out a big chunk of information so I thought I would add it here for clarification.

Teaching in an online classroom isn't foreign to me like it is to many traditional teachers. I had the experience of working in a one-to-one laptop district for ten years prior to moving to my new online position. I taught in a traditional classroom with students in front of me, but the majority of their work was done on the computer, so I was used to using a computer to generate lessons, post lessons to a learning management system, and grade lessons digitally. So, although I was learning a new system and way of doing things last year, I already had the majority of the technology skills and experiences I needed to be successful. I think this allowed me to have a much easier and seamless transition than some of my other first year colleagues. I also think this is one of the reasons I don't "see" as many differences in face-to-face instruction and online instruction (besides the physical).

I also had the opportunity to teach and develop online courses for my previous school district, and I obtained my Master's degree via online classwork. So, I was going in to the position with some experience to reflect and pull on when needed. I am very thankful for that. I believe my prior experience really served me well last year.

I am looking forward to beginning the new school year now that I have a year under my belt. I think it is going to be an even better year for me and my students! I wish you success with your school year as well.

Yesterday's Post Today

When I began writing yesterday's post, I had every intention of answering the question of how is online teaching different then a traditional classroom as well as giving a basic framework of my day; however, the post kept getting longer and longer and I didn't want the pressure of having to be "engaging" for a long period of time in order to keep you interested, so I thought I would break it in to two posts. :)

I, however, forgot to change the title from "A Day in the Life of Me (an online teacher)" to  "Teaching Online: How is it different" until after I had published the post. So, I renamed it after the fact. Apparently it caused a little confusion because the new name didn't update in some aggregators, etc. And, here I go again, rambling on about something not at all interesting...

So, I will finally get to today's topic. :)

I am always asked, "What do you do all day? What does your day "look" like?" Before I begin, I want to assure you that I am busy. Many times I am busier than when I worked in a traditional school setting. That being said, here is a basic break down of my day. Keep in mind, that I have flexibility to shuffle things around as I need to which happens quite often. I am big on making lists in order to keep organized. I usually make my to-do list at the end of the previous day so I know what I need to get started on each morning.

7:00am - Wake up, shower, get the boy dressed and drop him at school

7:45am - Make toast or oatmeal and sit down at my computer - logged in by 8:00am

8:00am - Check and respond to emails, check voice mails

8:30am - Check grade book and grade papers

9:00am - If I have a meeting it is usually during this time period. Last year we met as departments (middle school and/or ELA) and as grade levels (8th) somewhat frequently; we have quick "accountability" meetings each week with our supervisor to check in and see how all is going. We also have weekly training meetings on Fridays. If I don't have a meeting, I use this time to grade or plan.

10:15am - Return calls if needed. Make some calls to families - homerooms students as well as curriculum based calls and log calls.

11:15am - lunch and exercise

12:15pm - Planning for live teaching sessions, reading text, creating lessons, etc.

1:30pm -  Make some calls to families - homerooms students as well as curriculum based calls and log calls.

2:30pm - Live teaching session. This is just a place marker. The live teaching sessions are on a set schedule and last year I had four a week so some days I have a session or two and other days I have none.

3:00pm - Finish up the day - emails, grading, feedback, calls, and/or whatever needs to be completed. Check reports for attendance, participation, grades, etc. Make to-do list for tomorrow based on information in reports as well as anything left unaccomplished.

4:00pm - Done for the day :)

So again, the information above is just a guide to show how my days can be broken up. Some days I spend more time on the phone and others I might spend more time grading and giving feedback. I also attend field trips in my area 2-3 times a semester and meet with the other Dallas area teachers about once a month. I can also choose to use some of my time learning by attending training sessions or viewing training videos.

And during state testing time, I spend my time watching kids test... the logistics of state testing in a virtual setting are a whole other crazy can of warms. :)

I hope that sheds a little light on what I do for those of you who are curious. As always, feel free to ask any questions

Teaching Online - How is it different?

In my post yesterday I spent a little bit of time answering the most frequent questions I seem to get about my job; for those of you who don't know, I am an online teacher for a wonderful public school in Texas. Last year I taught eighth grade Language Arts, and I expect to teach the same this coming school year.

I helped a little with the interview process for a few of the open positions this year and the applicants seemed to ask me pretty much the same questions. What does my day look like? How is it different than teaching in a traditional classroom?

I think today I will begin by talking a little bit about how the position is different and tomorrow I will try to paint you a little picture of what my day teaching from home looks like.

How is teaching online different than teaching in a traditional classroom setting? Of course there are the obvious differences - I am at home and the kids are at their homes. But when you reflect on just that piece of the equation alone, it accounts for a lot of differences. Once I drop my son off at daycare, I am pretty much alone each day (physically that is). I don't have people popping in my office or classroom to ask me questions; I don't have my classroom phone ringing; I don't have the intercom blaring information at me or bells ringing. It is me - somewhat unstructured and uninterrupted. I am going to guess it is similar for students. Although a parent is usually with them during their school day and perhaps siblings, the interruption of fellow classmates is gone - or at least takes a different form (perhaps via emails, etc.)

So, that being said my discipline problems are pretty non-existent. Last year I had to re-direct some students to get them back on track in my virtual classroom (they were chatting off topic) and I had a couple of cases of plagiarism to deal with. Honestly, I can't say I had tons of discipline problems in the traditional classroom either, but the lack of focus on classroom management is definitely different.

I have a much more flexible schedule. Now by that, I don't mean I can work whenever. I have set hours from 8:00-4:00 with a lunch break in there somewhere, but during those hours I have a lot of flexibility when I do what. In a traditional classroom I had class periods, and I knew which students would be in each section on which days. That isn't how it is set up in my online world. I have set live teaching times (2-4 a week depending on how many students and preps) and I have set meeting times (usually in the mornings from 9:00-10:00 when they are scheduled) and then the other time I structure around what I need to get done and who I need to talk with. I like the flexibility and being able to structure my own time around the tasks I need to complete and the needs of my students/families.

It is much easier to differentiate instruction in an online course. All students are given the same curriculum to complete, but I can make additions or deletions to their assignments based on their needs. Students are also able to work at a different pace. They have a minimum of work to complete by the end of the semester, and I provide them with some pacing information, but students can choose to spend longer on one lesson than another. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest advantages of online instruction.

Teaching online is also very transparent. In a traditional school, I went in my classroom and taught and what I did with my students was not very visible to those outside of my room. Sure, I had visitors sometimes and my observations, but that was pretty much where the visibility stopped. In my online classroom, I record my live teaching sessions and post them for anyone to view. Grades are viewable by teachers, admin, students, parents, etc. What I am teaching is visible and how I am teaching it is visible. Reports can be run to see how long it takes me to grade and return feedback to students (we are given a window of time in which grading should take place). Call logs show how often I speak to families. Email logs show what I say to students and families. I am accountable for my teaching and interaction with students/families and it is all visible. I am good with that; in fact, I am GREAT with that.

And probably the most important difference I have seen between my traditional teaching experience and teaching with TCAH is parental involvement. In the brick and mortar schools where I taught, it was always such a chore to get parents interested in what their students were doing or learning in school. In my experience teaching with TCAH, the students' education is more a collaboration with the family than just me and the student. It is a partnership where the parent works at home with the student, and I assist them all in helping the student learn a concept and be successful. Parents are able to log in and view the students' lessons and grades at any time. They know what the student is learning and are involved in the process. I LOVE that.

As I see it, those are the major differences between teaching online and face-to-face. I hope you noticed that I didn't spend much time focusing on technology or not physically seeing the kids. To me those are given and neither make much impact on my teaching. Good teaching is good teaching - online or off. Building relationships with students is something that good teachers do - online or off.

Come on by tomorrow and I'll give you a peek into my day as an online teacher. As always, if you have any questions, please ask!

Online Teaching - What's it all about?

Last year I started a new teaching position with Texas Connections Academy as an online teacher. I have been planning to write some reflections on my first year as an online teacher, but yesterday I decided that perhaps before I reflect on the school year, I should clarify what I do.

Inevitably when someone new finds out what I do, I can tell they are confused and then I get a barrage of questions. So, I thought I would take the time to answer some of those questions now and see if I can paint a more clear picture of what online teaching looks like (at least from my perspective).

The first question I ALWAYS get is about logistics. Where am I and where are my students? It seems that the classroom where students sit in rows of desks is so ingrained in peoples' minds that they have difficulty imagining students learning in any other setting. Well, I am at home in my office where I spend the majority of my school day. I teach from my computer with help from the good ol' Internet, some software, and my telephone. The students are at their homes (or really where ever they work on school work). To learn and accomplish their lesson goals the students need basically the same tools I do - a computer with an Internet connection, their books (or access to online ones), and a phone.

What do I DO all day? Well, I teach. :) I grade papers. I plan lessons. I teach live sessions via an online classroom and Adobe Connect (think Elluminate - what I use is similar but proprietary). I call students who are struggling or who I need to speak with. I answer emails with questions about concepts or assignments. I answer the phone. I talk to parents who need help motivating their students, further challenging their students, or need some help with teaching strategies. I look at reports and see how students are performing on tests, concepts, etc. I attend field trips. I create lessons or clarifying assignments/instructions. I analyze TEKS vs. lessons to make sure all concepts are taught in enough depth. What I don't do is just sit around all day.


What kind of kids do I have? Do I have all of the BAD kids? No, I don't have all of the bad kids. In fact, I have a lot of really GOOD kids. I have students who didn't fit the mold of the traditional brick and mortar school for various reasons or I have families who wanted to try something new. I have competitive athletes, musicians, chess players, actors - students whose schedule makes it difficult to attend school during "normal" school hours. I have students who are autistic, have Asperger's, are high energy - students who might find it difficult to function in a "normal" school setting. I have students who are BRILLIANT and needed something more tailored to their needs. I have students who live in very rural settings and getting to a "normal" school is a chore. I have students whose religious views are perhaps not the mainstream views of the majority. I have students who have had social problems with bullying or "fitting in." I have families who made the decision to do online schooling so they could be more involved and aware of what their students were learning. I have some good, sweet kids.

How do you make that one-on-one connection with so many students? (this one is for you Darren). The same way I do in a face-to-face environment - I talk to them. :) At my school we are "required" to have so much synchronous contact whether in our virtual classroom, on the phone, or in person (at field trips). We also make curriculum based calls to assess how students are learning concepts. In all honesty, I talked to some of my students more last year than in a brick and mortar school. In a traditional classroom when you have large classes, the quiet students who aren't struggling just kind of get overlooked while the teacher is dealing with students who need remediation or those who are discipline problems. It isn't "as easy" to overlook them in an online environment.


How do I know the students are the ones doing the work? Isn't it easy for them to cheat? Sure, it is easy for them to cheat. Let's face it, if they want to, it is easy for them to cheat in a traditional school. So, how do I know they are doing their work? I don't know that every single assignment is completed by the student, but it is easy for me to tell when short answers or essays aren't completed by students. In most of the learning units there is what is called a "portfolio" assignment which is basically either a writing assignment or an application of a skill. If students haven't done the prep work, they are going to struggle with the portfolios. Teachers also conduct curriculum based calls where we ask students about what they are learning. In Language Arts I might ask a general question like, "Tell me about the story you are reading?" or I might ask something more specific and higher level like, "How does the antagonist in story x compare with the antagonist in story y?" The curriculum based calls are logged in a database and can be tracked, so teachers, admin, etc. can see if students are consistently missing questions. Students know they will be accountable for information (most of the calls are not scheduled) and talking to the kids gives the teachers a chance to get to know them.

Those are the main questions I seem to get from people. Perhaps I will write a "day in the life" post before I compose my reflection as well. I think it is important for the public to begin to clearly visualize what online learning is all about and embrace that it is a viable learning opportunity for many.

Feel free to pose further questions in the comments and I will try to get them answered.