TL;DR:

• Explore teaching online to level educational playing fields to benefit students, educators and parents.
• Consider making your own website or classroom site so that there is a transparent home-school connection when you are teaching.
• We teach students that belong to parents and build connections online with the community you teach; it is our next generation.

It’s that moment in education where we revolutionize the way we teach, learn, and work with curriculum. There is no better time to explore teaching online than today, as we all work online alongside our students and their parents to see how we can all collaboratively learn together to enhance learning experiences for the new generation. I always try to look at the positive aspects of teaching during times such as the ones we are living through.

If you needed one reason to go hybrid or online, it would be that it really does level the playing field for students by giving them access to technology to learn and explore! Imagine how connected our educational community can be and how holistic education can be when each student has access to technology while learning.

The accommodations and modifications that are built into the school programming when it's online make life at SCHOOL so simple! Consider it efficient for a teacher and empowering for a learner to achieve success, at any grade level. Click To Tweet

Why Hybrid or Online?

Benefits Students and Educators

The accommodations and modifications that are built into the school programming when it’s online make life at SCHOOL so simple! Consider it efficient for a teacher and empowering for a learner to achieve success, at any grade level.

• Technology offers automatic translations for students who are learning a language.
• We have a dictionary, word captures, and research about topics at our fingertips.
• Multi-tasking gives way to equitable platforms to be creative.
• Opportunity to be unique and be themselves.
• Highlights the positive aspects of documentation of learning.
• Opportunity to explore multimedia platforms that give way to project-based learning opportunities.

Parents Have a Peace of Mind

• Parents can see documentation on an online classroom platform of their student’s progress.
• Home is connected to the daily school online.
• Insights into the classroom and school climate on racial discrimination and systemic bias in institutions.
• Finally, we are transparent in education since there are difficult situations, difficult children, and tough school climates that we need to work on with a positive mindset.

The way you build successful classrooms and school environments is by understanding that we care for our children together.

This is one of my favourite poems as a teacher (author unknown).

Unity

I dreamt I stood in a studio and

watched two sculptures there

The clay they used was a young child’s mind

and they fashioned it with care.

One was a teacher; the tools that were used were books, music, and art

The other, a parent, worked with a guiding hand and a gentle, loving heart

Day after day,

The teacher toiled with touch

That was deft and sure

While the parent laboured close nearby and polished and smoothed it o’er

And when their task was done,

They were proud of what they had wrought,

For the things they had moulded into a child

Could neither be sold nor brought

 

And each agree they would have failed

If each had worked alone

For behind the parents stood the school

And behind the teacher stood the home

Brightspace and Google Together When Needed

I had the unique opportunity of learning how to work with Brightspace in my own self-paced way to explore my teaching philosophy and how it coordinates online to transfer to my students. I had worked with Google and was familiar with it so I jumped right into Brightspace to learn alongside my students without any training.

Now, it’s like that comfort zone of teaching and exploring video options and going on virtual trips to explore curriculum content. Here is how I organized my Brightspace classroom when I first started teaching online.

Enjoy the Moments with Your Students

Students will teach you so much about yourself. They will make you smile and laugh and then make you reflect as you collaborate to find out what works efficiently to run your programming. I call them my silent superheroes that have been there through it all to protect me and tell me what is happening while I’m teaching. They are the support network as we work together to make lessons fun while teaching on Teams.  Make your student voice count!

It’s not about funding. It’s about teaching innovatively so that our students enjoy classrooms and have fun learning alongside us educators, as we love teaching! 

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Educational Weebly, Taking Over!

My Website Link

Here is my educator Weebly professional website. I had learned and established this with my class first prior to Google and Brightspace virtual classrooms being available to teachers, prior to us having online teaching moments so that we have a place to collaborate and work online. This was a huge learning experience but once I set it up it was there permanently to adapt to each grade level I taught from Grades K-8.

If you are trying out my ideas please follow me and tag me on social media to showcase your journey and learning. Teaching is a collaborative profession and we can all learn from each other’s strengths.

Equity and Inclusion Reflection Questions:

1. Which model adequately suits your teaching style: online teaching or hybrid teaching?
2. What goals do you have to make your programming embed a new aspect of technology?
3. How would you consider bringing in student perspectives, voices, and ideas when building programming?

I would be more than happy to share your work, collaborate, and make a positive impact in 2023 in our global education community. I send wishes for a Happy, Peaceful, and Prosperous New Year as we start out 2023!

Yours in Education,

Nilmini

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About Nilmini Ratwatte-Henstridge

Nilmini lives in Ontario, Canada. She was born in Sri Lanka is immigrated Canada. Educator at heart, she is passionate about equity, inclusion, social justice and human rights in education.

She believes in understanding people as she travels to explore cultures in our world during her spare time, loves cooking at home and trying out new flavours, and continues to follow the latest fashion news!

Nilmini loves staying connected with global educators via social media: author, blogger, podcaster and most importantly, just exploring life.