Teaching Wit & Wisdom at a Distance

this month's focus

Many of the key elements of Wit & Wisdom® translate well to distance learning, and through strategic planning and action, teachers can help ensure the success of distance and hybrid learning. 

Guidance

For many educators, teaching in 2020–2021 includes in-person classroom instruction, distance learning, or a hybrid approach. 

To meet essential curricular goals in varying modes of delivery, consider taking the following actions: 

• Prioritize content and skills.
• Determine the most effective mode of delivery.
• Establish norms for distance learning.
• Adapt instruction for distance learning.
• Take steps to meet students’ social-emotional needs.
• Connect with families and caregivers.

Prioritize content and skills. As learning shifts between in-person, distance, and hybrid environments, teachers will likely have less time with students—and for planning and preparation. Consequently, teachers need to prioritize critical skills and knowledge. To maintain the grade-level rigor of Wit & Wisdom, teachers should identify the goals in the Module Overview that are essential for student success in subsequent grade levels and ultimately college and their careers. As a guide, we recommend the following resource from Student Achievement Partners, which informed our development of the Wit & Wisdom digital platform: 

Student Achievement Partners. 2020–2021 Priority Instructional Content in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics. Achieve the Core, 2020.

Those teaching with the Wit & Wisdom digital platform in Grades K–8 are already working with a streamlined curriculum by following the Learn Anywhere Plan (LAP) for each module. Grades K–4 teachers who are not using Wit & Wisdom may want to examine the curriculum to determine whether they can remove certain core texts and accompanying lessons from the modules without compromising the corresponding knowledge goals. Grades 5–8 teachers will not want to do so because those modules typically include only one or two core texts.  

Teachers can also effectively teach some Wit & Wisdom lesson components to small groups or individual students rather than using whole group instructional time. For example, teachers can direct Deep Dive instruction toward certain students, or small groups can focus on certain aspects of writing as well as speaking and listening instruction. 

Determine the most effective mode of delivery. Consider what is best taught synchronously and what asynchronously.  

Two foundational Wit & Wisdom tenets align naturally with synchronous and asynchronous instruction: 

• All students need access to high-quality direct instruction on new content. (This can be asynchronous.) 
• Teacher-facilitated peer-to-peer discourse is a powerful element of student learning and should be prioritized. (This should be synchronous.) 

Teachers will not want to use precious synchronous or in-person time with students on instruction that could be delivered asynchronously. The following chart provides broad guidelines on how to most effectively deliver specific Wit & Wisdom components. Note that these guidelines generally describe the division of teaching responsibility between the Great Minds® teacher (video instruction) and the classroom teacher in the Wit & Wisdom framework.  

Finally, educators should consider the balance of synchronous and asynchronous learning. Devoting more time to whole- and small-group synchronous learning will support participation, particularly by younger students.  

Establish norms for distance learning. Identifying and maintaining classroom norms for distance learning supports academic development and community building. If possible, involve students in articulating these norms. Consider asking questions such as these: 

• What are the expectations for participation? 
• What are the guidelines for respectful communications online? 
• How can we respect a diversity of opinions online? 
• What are the expectations for group work and team member participation? 
• Do specific rules exist for participation in digital conferencing platforms? (These might include
  turning the camera on or displaying a picture and muting yourself when not speaking.) 
• What are the guidelines for communications outside of class time? 

Adapt instruction for distance learning. Distance learning does present new opportunities for teachers and students. Teaching online can also present a number of challenges, including the inability to re-create in-person instruction and routines; in fact, distance learning may be less effective if teachers try to teach as they would in an in-person setting. Consider these examples of adaptations as you plan and deliver distance instruction.   

Take steps to meet students’ social-emotional needs. Many students have likely returned to school in fall 2020 with social-emotional learning needs related to the disruptions from the pandemic. Wit & Wisdom offers opportunities for teachers to support students’ social-emotional learning, even at a distance.  

Wit & Wisdom  texts and read alouds allow students to explore the human experience and address universal themes and emotions. Storytelling is a natural bridge between academic and social-emotional competencies.   

Collaborative learning opportunities can take place virtually through video- or audioconferencing platforms. When they collaborate, students build relationships and develop communication and listening skills. Knowledge-based discussions provide students the chance to reflect on and hone academic expertise and social-emotional skills. 

Help students recharge and refocus by building in breaks for simple breathing exercises, stretching, or moments of quiet reflection. 

For more on how to support students’ social-emotional learning, read this blog post and explore the resources available from Great Minds and from CASEL, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.

Connect with families and caregivers. The shifting educational landscape this yeah makes intentional and frequent communication with families and caregivers more important than ever. Here are a few suggestions for engaging with families and caregivers. 

• Communicate clearly about technical requirements. Provide technology training and support for educators, families, caregivers, and students, and make sure to streamline the digital platforms and procedures for distance and hybrid learning. Host a meeting with the technology that students use to ensure access and ease of use. Consistently use the same technology for the same types of meetings, communications, and assignments.  
  
  Teachers who use the Wit & Wisdom digital platform can share the Help Center link with families for straight-to-the-source answers to questions, such as how to access and submit student work: digitalsupport.greatminds.org.   

• Keep families informed about content. Research shows that family involvement helps students most when parents and caregivers are well-informed about their student’s academic learning. The Wit & Wisdom Family Tip Sheets (in English and in Spanish) for each module summarize key knowledge, list texts, and suggest questions caregivers can ask or activities families can do to extend learning at home. Family Tip Sheets are especially important for multilingual learners. When parents know the topics being studied, they can help students build knowledge in their home language—thus supporting development of both languages. If students have copies of core texts, as Wit & Wisdom students will, encourage families to read the texts and engage in text-based discussions together.  

• Be clear about expectations. Regular contact with students’ families or caregivers—via a consistent platform and on a predictable schedule—will do much to support families this academic year. Clearly spell out the expectations for learning support, “attendance,” and work submission at home as well as for in-person classroom routines.  

• Communicate in a variety of ways. Families and students may differ in the modes of communication they find most helpful. Use a variety of formats for communications with families and caregivers, both synchronous and asynchronous, including sending weekly email updates and reminders, engaging by using the same collaborative conferencing tools students use, and holding weekly office hours.   

TIPS FOR SUCCESS 

• Establish regular routines and schedules, and communicate these with students and families and caregivers. Habits helps students with daily participation.  
• Be flexible with pacing. The various contexts for learning—and the shifts between them—may mean less focused teaching and learning time. You may not be able to complete a full lesson each day or all four modules in the academic year. Depending on the daily and weekly schedules, teachers using the Wit & Wisdom digital platform may find that it works better to hold the Great Minds video instruction and classroom teacher instruction on alternate days.  
• Keep online lessons short (20–30 minutes), and build breaks into any schedule.  
• Use the features of digital and videoconferencing platforms. Assign a poll to spark thinking on a topic or to encourage metacognition or goal setting. Use the Chat feature to engage students in sharing ideas, and then ask students to unmute and share aloud. Activate closed captions in your virtual meeting tool, as visual learners, developing readers, and multilingual learners may benefit from hearing and seeing your words. 
• If allowable under school and district guidelines, build a sense of classroom community by encouraging the use of cameras and minimizing or closing slide presentations or visuals during discussion so students can see their classmates. Seeing their friends motivates students to participate.   
• Share ideas with colleagues. Working with others can make teaching easier and help lessen the burden of these shifts. Seeking different ideas may help expand thinking and lead to more creative approaches to distance learning. 
• Take care of yourself. This is a challenging time to be an educator, but it has also highlighted the crucial role educators play in the lives of students and caregivers. We are here to support you and appreciate all you do to support all students.