The challenge of remote learning can take its toll on students, parents, and teachers alike. From confusing directions, mounting frustration, or even a sense of despair, it can be easy to feel hopeless. Change, however, also brings opportunities.

In this installment of SMARTS Online  Real-Life Experiences with Remote Learning, a parent shares some moments of gratitude for unexpected moments of growth that remote learning has offered her daughter.

Because of the low self-esteem that often goes along with learning differences, my child will not always try new things, especially at school where teachers and students are not supportive and do not understand the struggle. In the safety of home, my child tried something new this week! It was just a quick musical project, but was a meaningful little victory. 

Isn’t that great! For this student, like many others, home is a place of safety. Students with learning differences might be anxious at school, nervous to try new things in front of their peers. Learning at home offers more freedom to explore things they might avoid in school. 

Also, after years of trying to get her interested in yoga, which could help her stress level, finally she has become interested. The remote yoga sessions that her school is offering have somehow sparked an interest. Now, she is doing yoga all the time, which may be reducing the stress of today’s various challenges. 

Many students, and their parents, are struggling with the monotony of being stuck at home. Why not try to adopt some new, healthy habits? Yoga, meditation, and arts and crafts are just some of the habits that students might have rejected before but would provide welcome entertainment and relief now that they are stuck inside.

I hope everyone out there is finding moments to smile and even be grateful during this very trying time.

• Michael Greschler, M.Ed., SMARTS Director

This post is part of SMARTS Online’s Real-Life Experiences with Remote Learning series.

The stress and chaos of the rapid shift to remote learning is hard on everyone: teachers, students, and parents. However, the impact doesn’t affect all students equally.

Students are now expected to do their learning at home, self-regulating their schedule and their productivity, while navigating new tech platforms and learning to engage in an entirely new way.

Students with learning and attention differences, those exposed to trauma, or students living in poverty all have unique risk factors that may be amplified by the demands of remote learning. (Check out SMARTS’ Remote Learning series for students’ perspectives on remote learning.)

Tracey A. Benson, professor, activist, and consultant, hosted a webinar entitled, “Developing Virtual Learning Plans with an Eye on Equity”. He laid out a number of tips for designing remote learning lesson plans that can support all students. The following three strategies are especially relevant when we consider the executive function demands of remote learning.

Weekly Surveys

Benson recommends sending a weekly survey to all parents to collect data. Parents will have unique insight into how well their student is able to handle the time management and homework demands of remote learning. This is also a great way to make sure parents are aware of the executive function expectations and the strategies students are learning. I love this idea, and why not also have a weekly student survey? Ongoing reflection is key to promoting self-understanding (for students and adults) and surveys will give students a voice during a challenging and chaotic time.

Minimize Independent Work

When students are assigned independent work, there is a lot that can go wrong. With asynchronous learning becoming an increasingly popular option, many students are struggling alone as they attempt to break down the directions, manage their time efficiently, overcome tech problems, and persevere when they are feeling stuck. By minimizing the amount of work students have to do on their own, and making sure students feel supported, we can reduce the risk that students will get stuck.

Aim for a 0% Failure Rate

A big part of equity is maintaining high expectations for all students and helping them achieve those expectations. While many schools are turning to pass/fail grading during distance learning (which is fine), we need to make sure we do not adopt a pass/fail approach to supporting our students. This means finding ways to differentiate our support and help every student to engage with remote learning materials and develop the strategies they need to be successful.

• Michael Greschler, M.Ed., SMARTS Director

As schools move to remote learning, parents are being asked to support students at home. Support can range from time management and academic help to regulating emotions and organizing materials. But how do you know when to help and how much to offer?

Many parents, especially those students with learning differences such as ADHD or dyslexia, are unsure of how much help to give. After all, school is a place for students to begin to develop their independence from parents. At the same time, no parent likes to watch their student struggle or give up.

Here are observations from a parent of an eighth-grade student during the first few days of remote learning (read some of her students’ blogs here).

After about an hour of school, I hear her chatting with her friends, cracking jokes, and being by far the loudest voice on the video conference. My blood pressure is going up, but I tell myself not to interfere. I’m actually sort of glad she is socializing as she was feeling so isolated after day one.

Later in the day, I hear sounds of extreme frustration. This can halt all progress, so I tried to help and we got into a big fight! When the storm calms, she says thanks, actually that was helpful, and she dives back into her schoolwork. In our house, there’s no point in holding a grudge.

As is typical, sometimes my daughter just needs a tiny push to get her over the hump of hyperactive inaction. Then she can work independently for hours. I see now that my “helpfulness” is interpreted by my daughter as if I said she’s “wrong”!  Note to self: find a better way to help.

Remote learning is challenging for everyone, including parents. Keep in mind that relationships are more important than any homework assignment. This mom knows her daughter and knows how to support her, and that is the most important thing.

Parents can also help by reminding their student to do the things that they enjoy.

Although the hands-on project was just arts and crafts, my daughter started listening to an audiobook while she was doing the project. Since we don’t want to go to the movies right now, she found and started listening to Emma. This was awesome as she’s been so busy and stressed lately that she has not had time to just relax and read (ear reading).  

Students may be too caught up in their online schooling to make time for things like reading, listening to music, and exercise. Helping students take time to relieve stress and anxiety can help them better understand the role that anxiety plays in their lives and how to manage it.

Finally, parents can help by reminding students to take advantage of available supports.

After the school day ended, my daughter did not want to “meet” with her Executive Function coach! However, after doing some note-taking practice, they discussed the challenges of remote schooling. From that, her EF coach put together a summary table of four challenge areas and solutions for each. For instance:

• Problem: Reading the assignments is difficult
• Solution: Reach out to the teacher via email or Google Classroom, keeping in mind that teachers are not always immediately available

Her coach also offered to do a quick review of the reading via Skype, but, timing may not work out. One key solution is to acknowledge that remote schooling is hard – for teachers, too – and it’s only Day 2, so try to give it a little more time.  Good advice for me, too.

Many remote learning models rely on the student to reach out to the teacher when they need help. This may be a challenge, especially for students who struggle with motivation or who have experienced academic failure.

If your student was seeing an executive function coach, educational therapist, or a tutor, try to see if they can maintain that connection. These professionals can help students develop concrete strategies for adapting to online learning. They also provide one more supportive relationship that students can rely on as they adapt to their new remote learning lifestyle.

Looking for more resources? Check out these free executive function resources for parents.

• Michael Greschler, M.Ed., SMARTS Director

Are you using Zoom to video conference with your students? Here are 3 ways you can address best practices for executive function strategies to support all students, especially those with learning differences such as ADHD or dyslexia.

1. Share your screen

Zoom makes it easy to share a window on your computer with your class. Use this feature to display an agenda at the start of class to help students envision the layout of the lesson. In order to engage executive function, students must be able to envision the end product of what they are working on, as well as the steps to get there. By sharing your agenda, students can keep the scope of the lesson in mind, helping them stay on track and use effective strategies.

2. Use the whiteboard

Zoom has a whiteboard feature that you can use to sketch and take notes. Executive function strategy instruction is most successful if students have been explicitly taught how to use it. This means modeling the strategy yourself. Use the whiteboard to model how you want students to break down an assignment, and they will be more successful with it.

3. Poll your students

The polls feature of Zoom is ideal for reflection. Use a poll at the beginning or end of a Zoom session to help students reflect on their approach to learning. Are their strategies working for them? What goals might they set for themselves moving forward? There are many different ways to engage in strategy reflection. Be sure to ask questions that build on students’ awareness of their strengths and challenges and encourage reflection and planning for next time. 

Remote learning poses big changes for teachers and their students (and parents!). By knowing how to integrate best practices for executive function strategies into technology, you’ll make online learning easier, and more impactful, for everyone.

• Michael Greschler, M.Ed., SMARTS Director