Can't do my homework: Part 3 of 3 - flipped class

Activity from Primary Grammar Box (CUP)

Books closed, use it to hide a pair work activity and to lean on (one in-class learner paired with the Zoomer whose screen share also 'hidden' on another monitor). Pencils at the ready - no need to spell anything (although all the target vocabulary is familiar...didn't want to defeat the object of this exercise by getting bogged down again!) but the possible issue of artistic limitations/reluctance instead?

To be honest, I didn't monitor that output. Rather, I tried to see what the students were doing to get the language out...

• glancing at the rods to 'get started' & 'load' the full utterance in their mind before starting
• glancing at the rods to double check they'd 'used' each block/word ie completed their utterance (I wanted to make sure the time phrase was included to give meaning to the past simple target structure)
• moving a rod to make sure they'd used the right word needed to add a couple of extra rods for the plural (doubled the ones in play) forms - nicely previews or flips next week's lesson
• listening to each other better (for nitty gritty bits!)

...and of course listening to their spoken out & giving as much non-verbal encouragement as possible - which was not really necessary as they got on with the task really fluently, collaboratively and effectively. And, despite the masks, pretty chuffed smiles all round. And the dark clouds have lifted.

With that, I don't think any of us are dreading the next lesson! 

What are your solutions/suggestion/reactions? Let me know @oyajimbo on't twitter :)

Appendendum: a few days later I asked my son to get his homework book out (imagine the face!). I asked him to underline the words in the structure we'd been practicing with the same colours as we'd used midweek. Penny dropped - the colours had done the trick & he could correct his own work...

Where can you buy Cuisenaire Rods? 

Can't do my homework: Part 2 of 3 - a different tack

Cuisenair Rods = colour + length 'coding'

I wanted to take the words out of the equation, but leave them in somehow. Replace them?

The Game Plan...and no, I couldn't remember exactly all the words either.

Solution...post-it notes. As a group, I asked them to write one word at a time on to a post-it (books open if needed); my online student did so into the Zoom chat. So no, not a 'spelling test' per se. Fortunately, my post-it notes were not very sticky so they needed weighing down (fan was on for a reason!).

Online? I'd opened a Google Jamboard & drawn colour lines where I wanted my student to enter text. Hard for newbies, but he's been learning on the job for a year now, and could cope with the challenge (enjoys messing about with the mouse/keyboard when I give him control, defacing things!). Problem = few colours available for the pen/type tools on Jamboard than I needed...

Unsticky post-it notes...just the excuse!

So we had the question form on the table, in a straight line, and then the answer below, so's that words 'lined up'. Putting the Cuisenaire Rods on the post-its = words were there but obsured, and could be peeped at if we needed a prompt (ie "I want to read the word")  without referring to the book. We negotiated block lengths to suit the actual words...subliminally giving each part of speech a different colour code into the bargain.

I didn't want to hide the words for my Zoomer, as he's already operating from the far end of the telescope and he has a lot fewer clues to work with - cannot pick up non-verbals etc. But, as his workspace was on another screen, my in-class gang did not realise he had an "advantage", so he became quasi-sensei & his ego was suitably enhanced.

Did it work? 

(Part 3 will be posted tomorrow)

Can't do my homework - it doesn't make sense. Part 1 of 3 - the problem

Ever had one of those classes when you assumed you had a relatively straightforward lesson coming up, and 2 minutes in you realised it was going to go horribly wrong and you had no escape route? Happens to us all - especially if you make stupid assumptions and you have a blended F2F/online classroom. As I tell my teachers all the time, have a plan B and 'go to resources' just in case...and don't make assumptions!

Everything fell apart when I could not see whether my online student had done his homework or not (still struggling with that 'problem' as he cannot fax his homework book, nor scan it on his own - he's 11). Holding it up to his webcam about the best we can manage at the moment (cannot spot mistakes/spelling/handwriting obviously). Goody two shoes had done her work in pristine condition + extra doodle decorations; older lad was absent (happens); and the left-hander presented a dog's dinner. I blame the parents (that would be me...).

The rest of the lesson was painful for all; no dynamic as everyone had different starting places...could not do 'next' as the last thing we'd done was clearly a train wreck. Orally, this class usually steams through content. Listening? Too easy. Reading - we get by, and the graded readers are core to this, especially as we now have audio + online presentation tools. Comprehending question/answer word order...decoding the grammar if you like...at home, alone showed for the most part I had not done my job at all well. I'd assumed it had 'gone in' when I had not paid careful enough attention.

My son avoided me for a day or two - ask any school owner & you'll realise that is not difficult, and I had a whole week scratching my head trying to figure out a nifty app or online game that would deliver a "Tadaa" solution. Lazy.

So I asked myself what would Alex Burke think of. 

Colour. Ah yes, colour. And inaccessibility - my lefty does not like reading for detail. It overwhelms him (Japanese maths problems - he can do the numbers but he does not 'understand' the questions). 

More sleepless nights for me, and lefty's homework bag an abandoned nightmare on the floor in the genkan (entrance hall). Dark clouds as the next lesson loomed.

(Part 2 will be posted tomorrow)