This model, built around self-made videos that empowered students at all levels to learn at their own pace and build mastery skill-by-skill, was originally developed by  high school teachers pre-COVID . The teachers used these screencast-style videos:

• To replace traditional lecture-style direct instruction, freeing them  up to work directly with individual students;
• To give directions for projects and other complex tasks; and
• To provide remediation on skills that students might need to practice.

Click here to see example of a short video on inference. It  introduces an important concept, provides several examples, and gives the students a task—all in just over 4 minutes.

Access the full article here.

Please share  your  results via the blog or @fvwlriclit

To help support home learning and maximise the impact of work set, the EEF has produced some initial planning and reflection tools. EEF intends to draw upon the expertise of schools, further developing resources that can help everyone ‘bounce back’ when schools do re-open.

The EEF research underpins the RIC Literacy plan and these resources draw existing evidence together. There is, for example, support  for home reading/talking  that can be accessed via the “Communicating Effectively with Families”  section.

There is also a checklist/flowchart that makes recommendations for disadvantaged learners/families with  supporting links . Many of  the recommendations  will be familiar as they are  integral to the effective pedagogy underpinning the RIC Literacy Academy’s programmes .

There are, of course , the usual links to resources  but  there are also very useful  frameworks  for texts to parents that provide unpatronising advice about supporting learning at home. They also provide good advice about  how to minimise the  flow of information to parents/carers, especially those with limited access to the internet or  difficulties with data usage and cost. The advice also provides guidance about managing  expectations re work/study at home.

Resources available here include:

Please share via this blog or  Twitter @fvwlriclit  how you have used these resources.

An educator with experience in distance learning shares what he’s learned: keep it simple, and build in as much contact as possible.
“The coronavirus has caused widespread school closures for an unknown duration. Teachers are scrambling to find ways to support students from afar through distance and online learning. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by this daunting task, you’re certainly not alone.

I’ve also struggled to reach students outside of class. For several years, I taught in communities where students struggled to attend school consistently. To help absent students access my courses, I developed a blended, self-paced, mastery-based instructional model that empowered all my students to learn, whether they were in my room or not. Today, I run The Modern Classrooms Project, where I help other teachers do the same.”
Read the article here