For Parents: Helping Your Child Have Successful Zoom Time — Wednesday, 13 May 2020

Dear Parents, 

Some of you have asked if you should sit with your child during Zoom lessons. While you are most welcome to do this, please know that this is in no way expected. This is your child's time 'at school' and we will guide and help them. We want to free you up for whatever you need to do. 

This is not to say that there are not ways for you to be a huge help! Whether you choose to work elsewhere or sit and observe, here are ...

the three most helpful ways you can be a

Zoom Assistant Teacher:

#3. A child's environment is one of their most important teachers. 

• Have a dedicated space for the Zoom times. 
• If possible, somewhere that is away from distracting items and the movement and noise of other family members.
• We completely understand that every one of these suggestions is not always possible. Do not worry. We are all doing our best. 
• But if your child is having a hard time with Zoom, maybe try a change in location and create a space for Zoom. 

#2. Establish a self-sufficient break system

• We are learning that Zoom is mentally exhausting for everyone, including children.  Schools and experts are reporting that initially seeing teachers and friends on Zoom promoted a high level of focus for many children.  But as this continues, the executive functioning that attending to the screen takes is wearing everyone out.  

• Sometimes children need the option to take a quick mental break or a movement break — to "reboot" mentally, get some wiggles out, or even rest their eyes from the screen. It's better to miss a few moments of the lesson than to miss most or all of a lesson because they can't focus.

• Tag Break: Pick a not-too-close/not-too-far-away away spot in your house as the Tag Break spot. When your child needs a break, he or she will run or walk to the spot, tag it, and then return to their seat. Practice using this strategy safely ahead of time. Let them know when they need a break, they can tag the spot and then come back to work. 

• Ten-Times Break: Mark a spot on the floor with some tape where your child can jump/spin/squat ten times quickly, and then return to their seat.

Are you ready? This one is the hardest... 

And the #1 most helpful thing you can do to help your child in a Zoom lesson:  
    Allow your child to offer an incorrect answer. 

• While your child is in a Zoom meeting, you might often overhear conversations where children say things that are incorrect or where questions remain unanswered. Don’t worry! 
• Incorrect answers are one of the most important parts of the learning process. Teachers work hard to resist "helping" by providing the correct answer. We ask that you do the same, and not interject, help them, or provide the right answers.
• The teachers are shaping the conversation in a specific way — even if on the surface the child's answer seems "wrong," we are probing those ideas and answers and finding how they are connected, relevant, and valuable to the topic we are discussing. We do this by listening, accepting, and asking.
• Please trust us and allow us to model how to support the child exactly where they are in their thinking. 

• Rather, the goal is allowing each child to share his or her ideas, regardless of the accuracy. 
• This leads the children towards our goals of discussion, debate, and research. 
• The teachers steer this conversation to encourage information sharing and questioning that lead children to arrive at the correct answers independently. (This may not happen right away. Teachers gather misconceptions to address at later times.)

• If your child looks to you for the answer, don't give it to them! This is an opportunity for you to model wondering and thinking slowly. You can give an encouraging look at say:
• "What do you think?"
• "Oooh, that's an exciting question, wonder what the answer could be?"
• "It doesn't matter if you make a mistake, the teacher just wants to know what you are thinking!"
• If they raise their hand and then freeze, unable to answer: This can be a moment that really pulls at the heartstrings. The child will often look panicked or scared.
• It can be hard to not interrupt the silence, but sometimes they need a quiet moment to catch up with their thoughts. After a moment or two, the teacher will chime in to help them. 
• If they look to you, panicked, give them a calm warm smile, and say, "Do you need more time to think, or did you forget?" 
• You can also say, "If you don't know, you can just say: 'I don't know!'" 
• You can remind them that saying "I don't know" is brave. 

• Sometimes the teachers will end a discussion before we have found the right answer. Instead, we end with a question that the children can wrestle with until we meet again when we will restate the question and the ideas that have been offered. 

Thank you for your collaboration! 

These three things will be a big help in our Zoom time together.