I think my favorite thing that has come out of this whole Covid / virtual learning season is the experience of using digital resources for our classrooms. This is a route that a lot of us would not have taken by choice, but we have learned so much already.
1. No Prep
I LOVE that my digital complete lesson sets and digital week of learning sets are no prep. I mean, is there anything better than having a whole year of no prep on hand?! Especially when it has a virtual exploration or lab like my digital complete lesson sets. These sets are ready to go. You seriously just have to send a link out using whatever method or platform your school has for your learners. This works both in the classroom and for virtual learners. Each of my digital complete lesson sets come with JPG images of each slide for teachers to use in apps or to make their own slides arrangement, if needed.
2. Self Guided Learning At Home
This year has been a year of uncharted territory, but so many teachers and families are really rocking it! Learners at home need activities that are easy to find and open. They need activities that they can complete independently, because parents still need to work. They need activities that they can do at their house with no supplies needed. The digital complete lesson sets and digital week of learning sets are both set up with an assignment page that guides students through which slide(s) to complete each day. You can see what a digital assignment page looks like below.
3. Sub Day Makeover!
This gives a whole new no prep take on that bulky “sub tub” or “sub binder” you have sitting on the corner of your desk. Now, students can get right to work on their devices and all the pages are right there for them. No bulky stacks of copies you made. No long list of instructions. If your students already know how to do these lesson sets on their devices, sub days can run seamlessly. You will see more on how to get your students trained to use these before sub days happen in the next section. Can you imagine how stress-free that would make your day when you have to call in sick or be out for training?
4. Paperless Learning In-Class
I know a lot of us have felt the pressure of copy limits and dreaded the long hours spent making copies and copies and more copies. No more of this needed with digital lessons! Students can complete their work and turn it in digitally. I already have seen this work so easily through the Google Classroom platform and Seesaw, and I hear there are so many more that make this work well. Students can complete an assignment and their teacher can monitor progress and check their work at the end of the week. This is a great way to incorporate a technology station into your lessons. You can pick and choose which pages can be done on a device an which can be completed on paper. In-class, I would always choose to do the lab old school with all the supplies and allow students to experience everything hands-on. Nothing compares with that good hands-on science, if it is possible.
5. Digital Labs and Explorations
Speaking of hands-on learning… I love that the digital lessons provide an option for digital labs. There are two ways that I create these to help students still get to really experience science. For the digital lesson sets I have been making for 2nd and 5th, I provide a “Science in the Real World Scavenger Hunt” which guides students through experiencing the science concept in the world around them – either at home or at school. The digital COMPLETE lesson sets that I am making for 4th and 5th grade, have the scavenger hunt PLUS Digital Exploration or Labs! These are time consuming to make, but I definitely think it is worth the time and effort. Digital Explorations and Scavenger Hunts are great ways to still give students hands-on experiences with the science concept while following social distancing guidelines in the classroom, learning from home, saving time and money on lab supplies, and students can easily complete their labs when they miss school. Here is an example of one of the interactive labs. Some are like this, some are videos of experiments, and some are just slides with observations to make.
6. Technology in the Classroom
The ways you can use a tech based lesson set in the classroom are endless! This can be a learning station or independent work while you work with students in small groups. This would be a great tool for students to work on make-up work when they miss school or get behind. Students can build tech skills while learning their science concepts. How would you use these in the classroom? I would love to hear your ideas in the comments!
I hope this helps you see how you can adapt to the needs or requirements of using technology in your teaching!
If you already have my 4th or 5th MEGA bundles, these digital items are being added as free updates!! Watch my instagram because I post each time one of my products gets a digital update.
As always, if you need something made into digital sooner than I plan to get it posted, shoot me an email and I will see if I can work it in early for you!
Happy Teaching!
– Alicia (Elementary Ali)