Tips for Teaching from Home during COVID19
“Balance is not something you find, it’s something you create.” – Jana Kingsford
TEACHME TEFL
This current pandemic has changed the education world as we know it. Students are at home, teachers are at home, we are all at home however life goes on!
Thus creating the need for remote work and online education. Fortunately, online education has been well-established for decades, but the demand was never as high as it is today.
Many classroom teachers are joining the online teaching community as education systems move to online options or as parents opt for online education as a safer option for their learners.
These few tips may help you maintain balance while teaching from home.
Dedicated teaching space
Off-screen activities
Student interactions
Technology
Parents
Create a teaching space
Your teaching space was your classroom, now you are at home, you need a space that is specifically for teaching.
It would be best to have a space in an area that can be shut off from the rest of the house. Since you are now working from home, keeping your work/home life seperate will be key to enjoying your online teaching.
Also, when it is time to teach, you will not need to ‘set up’ your space each time, keeping your work time to a minimum.
Assign off-screen activities
Students are also transitioning to online learning, this doesn’t mean all activities must be completed on the computer.
Students can be sent worksheets in advance to print and use during class.
Assignments and homework can ask students to draw, write or design and then submit images of their homework.
Creating off-screen activities will also engage those learners who find it hard to concentrate for online leaning.
Provide ample student interaction opportunities
Make good use of video conferencing to create team or pair work opportunities.
Students need to interact with other students, as this is limited due to online education, these features in your video conferencing can be used to increase student interactions.
If your videoconferencing doesn’t allow pair or team work, you can also use the mute and unmute function to enable pairs or groups of students to communicate at one time.
If you do use this function be sure to provide the other students with work to complete with the pairs or groups are interacting.
Know your technology
For your class to run smoothly you need to know how to use your online platform.
Imagine, not being able to open the your physical classroom, not only will this cause you great embarrassment but your students will also wonder why their teacher was not able to complete, what to them is a simple task.
The same is with an online platform, most of your students will be very tech savvy, so ensure you are able to ‘enter the classroom’ and use the tools provided in the platform.
Support the parents
Parents are also adjusting to this new way of life. Help them by providing clear instructions as to how to access the class, what students need to prepare before the class and what homework or assignments are to be completed after the class.
Be available before and after your class to answer questions any parents may have, especially if their student is new to online learning.
With these few tips, you will be sure to make a success of your online teaching.
For more tips and tricks, sign up for your 120hr TEFL course to get teaching English online to overseas students.