Abstract
This chapter focuses on the challenge that many general educators face when they transition into the virtual learning environment. Even talented writing teachers struggle to shift their regular teaching practices to fit the format of online instruction. The author will address some of the pitfalls of stepping into the virtual world and then focus on the best practices for virtual writing instruction, including this author's recommended program, The Writer's Workshop by Lucy Calkins. The chapter will offer some tangible strategies for any virtual educator to teach writing in their subject area. It will also address essential contributors to student learning, like fostering a classroom culture online, assessing students, and working with struggling writers. While the virtual education field is forever evolving, teachers can benefit from practicing these strategies, as well as continuing to focus on professional development and growth in order to grow themselves and their student writers effectively.
TopBackground
There is a wide spectrum of how virtual education is delivered. Some schools are fully online, in which teachers combine asynchronous and synchronous work to make up the curriculum. In virtual education, asynchronous work is work that students complete on their own, outside of class time. Teachers give assignments and students are required to complete them and turn them in by a given deadline. Synchronous refers to live class sessions in which students log on to an online classroom and participate in activities in live time with their teacher. This chapter will address both forms of virtual writing instruction and how to best maximize each platform to create successful student writers.
The world of virtual education is vast and varies from school to school. Some schools are fully virtual, in which students attend classes and complete assignments from their homes. If the virtual school is a public school, they may have regulations from state policies they are required to follow. If the virtual school is a charter school, there is more freedom from school leaders to provide a virtual schooling schedule and environment that best suits their needs. Some public or private schools use virtual education on a smaller scale, for example for one of their class offerings that the school may not offer in their building. Some virtual students still go to a school building and take classes through one big screen for the students to share. This author has had several years of experience working at an online public school, in which students take classes from home full-time. The classes are a combination of synchronous and asynchronous instruction, and most of the strategies and suggestions come from the author’s specific experience, though the perspectives could easily apply to other online formats.
When schools do synchronous classes, they most often use an online classroom platform in which students and teachers can see each other on cameras and hear each other on microphones. They have various virtual tools they can use to draw on the virtual whiteboard or polling tools in which they can answer questions. They also have breakout rooms they can use to separate students into groups or for individual assignments to allow students to all work at the same time, while the teacher monitors by passing through each breakout room to observe the work the students are completing on the screen and to listen to them and talk with them as they work.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Anchor Charts: Posters to help remind students of important concepts in class. In the virtual world, these anchor charts are often in the form of slides in PowerPoint during the mini-lesson portion of class, in which teachers can remind students of the guidelines or target instruction.
Asynchronous: Work that students complete on their own, outside of class time. Teachers give assignments and students are required to complete them and turn them in by a given deadline.
Writer’s Workshop: A writing class format that includes a mini-lesson led by the teacher, extended writing time in which students are working independently on their own pieces, and conferences, in which students meet with their teacher in small groups or one-on-one to discuss their writing and make adjustments from specific, academic feedback.
Graphic Organizer: A structured visual to help students organize their thoughts and how they relate to each other. It can be on an anchor chart or PowerPoint slide, on a worksheet, or students can draw their own.
Synchronous: Instruction that occurs in live class sessions, in which students log on to an online classroom and participate in activities in live time with their teacher.
Author’s Chair: Can refer to an actual seat in which individual students sit to share their writing work with their class. In the virtual environment, teachers sometimes still use the phrase author’s chair to communicate a writing celebration of sharing out published writing pieces.
Learning Coach: An adult, most often a parent, who partners with a virtual teacher to instruct a student in a virtual setting. The person collaborates with the virtual instructor and is an equal partner in growing the student.
Brick-and-Mortar School: A traditional classroom structure, in which students attend public, private, or charter schools in person, usually for at least 6.5 hours a day.