Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

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When teaching online, you will have students that will not show up, who will show up to a live class, but not participate and/or who will not do school work. It will happen, but there are ways to draw them in. Check out the following video for ideas of how to contact your students:



There are several ways that you can contact your students, but what will the situation look like when you reach out to the student and/or parents? How will the call home go?
  • Scenario 1: There is no answer, so you will leave a message. Then you will call again, send texts, and email the student and guardians, but you will have no luck. Make sure to document ALL of your attempts. After 5 attempts (in 2 weeks), get the administration involved. It may become a truancy problem that the administration needs to be aware of.
  • Scenario 2: The parent will answer (or call back). They will insist that their son or daughter is online all day doing work. They have seen it. What now?
    • Ask the student the following: "Are you running into any technical difficulties?" There are times that students will be spending a long time trying to figure out how to use the technology. There are a lot of kids that can't do some of the things you may find easy, so offer help (videos, small group session, time in class, etc...), so they feel confident.
    • Ask the student the following: "Are you running into any issues with the material." If yes, offer a small group, a 1 on 1 session, and/or time in class to help with the content.
  • Scenario 3: The parent will answer (or call back). They will insist that their son or daughter is online all day doing work. They will tell you that it is ridiculous to accuse the student of not doing any work. So... if they are online all day doing work, is the parent sitting there the whole time? Students are smart. When a parent walks in, they will open an assignment, document, etc..., but, when the parent leaves, they go to Facebook, Twitter, a game, etc... The parent thinks they are doing work. When you make these phone calls, make sure to have data to support your suspicions. Data helps.
  • Scenario 4: When you get into contact with the student or guardian, you may find out something that is distracting the family (a death, sickness, anxiety, taking care of kids, etc...). Make sure to inform the administration of what is occurring, so all of his/her teachers can give the student the flexibility he/she needs, and always be prepared with 1 or 2 things that you can take off the students plate to help in these situations. Families really appreciate this understanding on your part. When you choose these items to take off their plate, make sure to choose things that you will see the mastery of when the student completes a different assignment and/or test.
Overall, there are a lot of things that occur when teaching online, but you will want to be understanding and flexible. Work with your students and families, and, if you only take one thing away from this blog post, make sure to use "WE" when you are talking to the student or parents. Make sure they feel included. I and YOU can be perceived poorly.

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