The course that I am creating is a support for teachers to use and it is a course that I will use when working with students in small groups. Creating a sense of community and safe space for learning are always high on my list as I begin any school year and when I begin working with a new group of students. Once this is built, we work to foster it for the duration of the year.

At the beginning of a session, I plan to have in person face-to-face interactions with my students and when this isn’t possible we will use Google Meets. During these first interactions we will set up expectations for our time together. This will be in-person expectations as well as expectations when using technology such as Google Meets, using apps and other activities done online. I found a good Resource for helping make a matrix for setting up online behaviour expectations. Below is a great example of a visual of expectations that could be used with elementary students.

In the article Guide to teaching 1st grade online, the author says “Many teachers have found that the best way to help students get used to the system is to begin with low-stakes, fun tasks to complete using the LMS.” During student- teacher face-to- face interactions we will also spend time getting to know Google Classroom, the LMS I plan to use for my course. Some of these activities can be set up for interactions between students.

I am nervous about the idea of using discussion boards with students from grade 1-3. I work primary with students working significantly below grade level and often don’t have the skills developed yet for spelling. However, this many be a fun and engaging way to practice. I am also considering using Flipgrid to provide the students an opportunity to create videos with questions or examples of their reading. This would provide an opportunity for student-student and student-teacher interactions.

Finally, thanks to Leona for providing an excellent review of Book Creator, I think this would be another great way to have the students interact. At the writing station, the students could create a book together using their simple sentences. I think this would be a fun and engaging way to encourage writing and creating together.

By starting each session with a discussing the expectations, having visuals for the expectations and referring back to them will be important on helping make these interactions meaningful. The Flipgrid videos, Book Creator books and possible discussions boards, these can be shared with the classroom teachers to be used as part of assessment and see the growth in their students.

I would love to hear your feedback on using these tools with grade 1- 3 students. Have you successfully used any discussion boards with grade 1- 3 students?