In 2020, it is estimated by the United Nations that approximately 1.3 billion students in the world were forced to study in virtual classes due to the COVID-19 virus. There was no preparation time, there was no handbook explaining how to make this move smooth or successful, there were no pre-virus workshops to prepare teachers, Directors or administrators. It just happened, unplanned, unprepared, and without any form of professional direction,
This has been a difficult adaptation, I believe, for every educational institution in the world, each having to overcome their own individual difficulties. In our normal classes, when we are in the physical classroom, every teacher will testify to the fact that it's often a challenge to keep students engaged for an entire class. This is a situation that teachers face every day, day in, day out. No matter if the students are young or old, there are always those who have a tendency to naturally “switch off”, especially when the teacher fails to actively engage them in the class.
When it comes to younger students, keeping them engaged is even harder. There’s no denying it, all kids are easily distracted.
When it comes to virtual classes, it is even more difficult to keep a very young student interested in any lesson. This is especially relevant for the fact that unlike normal classes, their teacher is not physically with them, and therefore unable to enact their time-proven methods of classroom management. For a child, in their mind, this may equate to the feeling the teacher is not real, an easily confused reality caused by the fact that these days, children spend so much time online playing games, or in social media, therefore making their teacher seem even less real.
So what can be done to keep young students engaged in their virtual classes? Methods for igniting their interest is the key, and there are a number of things you can do to keep the lesson interesting for your younger students and give them the desire to learn.
Know Your Student.
Build a relationship, a rapport with your younger students. One great way to do this is to have an introductory homework sheet. Include questions about their family, friends, pets, likes, and dislikes. As the student answers each question, encourage them to ask you questions as well. This will help them relax and encourage them to share with you.
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Be well prepared in advance
Before starting the class, be 100% prepared. Have PowerPoints, audios, videos ect ready to go. If you are not completely set up in advance, and your students have to wait for you to get ready, even if it is just for one minute, the connection between the teacher and the students will be broken and the student's minds will wander to other places, and think about other things. Students need to be engaged at all times.
Start Each Lesson with a Chat
Most online lessons last 45 minutes to an hour. It may not seem like a long time, but when you are sitting there with a class full of young students, you need to start at a slower pace. Don’t go straight into teaching mode. Ask your student what they’ve been doing in their other classes, or if they’ve seen any good movies on Netflix. Sometimes your student may have something they want to show you. Let them! If they initiate this free conversation themselves then half your struggle is done. The chat only needs to be for a short time and will help your student ease into the lesson.
Use Props and tools
Kids love to be entertained and the more animated you are as a teacher, the more likely you’ll keep them interested in your class. You can use puppets to entertain young students. Hand puppets are a great way to speak to young children as their focus will be on the puppet, not their adult teacher, and are more likely to respond to the puppet, answer questions, and more. You can also use a variety of hats and masks to keep them engaged. Set up your computer or laptop with a wall behind you and have bright pictures that will attract the student’s attention. A whiteboard is also a good tool to have visible within the screen so you can write or draw things during the lesson. Pets also help. If you have some sort of pet, introduce them to your students.
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Introduce Music, Songs, and Stories
Most children love to sing so have a collection of songs ready for every class. Fortunately, it is relatively simple to find teaching songs for any subject and any age group. Sing the song to your students first, so that they understand the message in the song and hear each word sung, then encourage them to sing along with you. Also, ask them if there is a particular song that they would like to sing for you. Also, you can read a story to your student as a way to ignite their imagination and creativity. Just make sure that it doesn’t last for too long. Like the songs, if you find a good video you can use that too. While the student are enjoying the video, you can be getting your materials organized for the next part of the lesson.
Keep Tasks Small
The shorter the activity, the easier it is to maintain a student's attention, especially with the youngest of students. In a regular classroom, a teacher can hand out worksheets or write tasks on the board for students to follow. Online classes are somewhat different. You either need to write questions in the chat section and ask your student to type the answer, present them in PowerPoint presentations, show videos or for age-appropriate students, you can send them, in advance, a worksheet, and ask them to type the answers during the class. You can also give them multiple-choice questions to make this part of the lesson easier. Don’t give them worksheets with too many questions or tasks. It takes up a lot of precious lesson time and can be boring for the student.
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Include A Little Reading
Reading is a great addition to any class. For the youngest of students use the concept of "Story Time" by reading stories that ignite their imagination and enthusiasm. For slightly older students, reading is a way to determine your student’s progress and you can incorporate reading into worksheets. This is another good reason to get to know your student because you can either find or put together your own reading worksheets. Choose a topic, find a picture, a couple of paragraphs of text, and then include some questions at the bottom of the page. Ask your student to read the text and then go through the answers together.
Consistency and routine
Whilst variety is the foundation of creativity, and therefore encourages active student engagement, at the same time, a level of consistency and routine is also important, especially if it is creative. Establish some form of consistent routine that you follow each class, and within that routine, include a variety of different daily activities that form the basis of your methodology. By doing this, the routine that you follow with be full of surprises and help to maintain an active engagement between you and your students.
Well, I hope that you enjoyed this article, and found it to be useful.
Good luck, and good teaching.
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