After two weeks of "practice", we had our spring break. And although there was nowhere to go and nothing to do, it was a great time for a break.
But I also took the time to prep for going back.
Based on what I'd learned from those first two weeks, I made a few changes:
1. I only posted a week's worth of assignments. And I added a "suggested day" for students who needed some more structure to the work.
3. Another life-changing thing I did was to print out class rosters to keep track of grades on. Oh my goodness why didn't I do this earlier?! If you look closely in the top left corner you'll see some letters - I started putting in MTWRF according to the day the assignment was completed and an F in the right corner if I left Desmos feedback on the assignments. Red-squares were at the end of the week; assignments that I needed to verify on Fridays. This chart took my hour+ of updating grades daily to about 20 minutes.
4. To keep track of all of my weekly links, I created a Google Sheets file (with tabs for each week). It was so much easier to open up all of my assignments and check student progress from this one page.
5. A teacher friend of mine shared a Google Sheet Add-on called YAMM (Yet Another Mail Merge) that I started using at this time, too. It's an easy way of sending out personalized emails through a google sheet. I would typically wait until mid-week or so and send emails out to students who hadn't started working yet. One of the best things about it is that it lets you see who has opened and/or responded to the email.
But I also took the time to prep for going back.
Based on what I'd learned from those first two weeks, I made a few changes:
1. I only posted a week's worth of assignments. And I added a "suggested day" for students who needed some more structure to the work.
Math 3: 
Precalc: 
Just looking back at these makes me feel better.
2. I set a due date of Friday at 4 pm. Students can turn in work after that time, but if so they have to fill out a Late Work google form so that I know it's done. This has been a lifesaver! I currently have 41 student submissions on it (most with multiple assignments). I never would have been able to keep track of these just through email.
3. Another life-changing thing I did was to print out class rosters to keep track of grades on. Oh my goodness why didn't I do this earlier?! If you look closely in the top left corner you'll see some letters - I started putting in MTWRF according to the day the assignment was completed and an F in the right corner if I left Desmos feedback on the assignments. Red-squares were at the end of the week; assignments that I needed to verify on Fridays. This chart took my hour+ of updating grades daily to about 20 minutes.4. To keep track of all of my weekly links, I created a Google Sheets file (with tabs for each week). It was so much easier to open up all of my assignments and check student progress from this one page.
5. A teacher friend of mine shared a Google Sheet Add-on called YAMM (Yet Another Mail Merge) that I started using at this time, too. It's an easy way of sending out personalized emails through a google sheet. I would typically wait until mid-week or so and send emails out to students who hadn't started working yet. One of the best things about it is that it lets you see who has opened and/or responded to the email.
6. I was offering Office Hours via Google Meet three times a week. I didn't get much traffic but felt good about having a dedicated time set up to be available.
Weeks 3 - 7 have been so much smoother because of these adjustments. But the most important thing was the content that I was posting.
Weeks 3 - 7 have been so much smoother because of these adjustments. But the most important thing was the content that I was posting.
Part 1 - We have to do what?!
Part 2 - Starting to Implement
Part 3 - Making Adjustments
Part 4 - My Content
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