This post is intended to be a reflection on the past 2 months transitioning a very traditional middle school into online learning. I’ve previously shared my thoughts privately and publicly via social media, but felt the time was right to put it all down in a more coherent format. I decided to post this in my Fulbright Singapore blog as it is really a (surprising) extension of what I experienced there in many ways. Working collaboratively in teams to design and implement quality lessons is a loadstone of the Singaporean model of education.

The model I will describe below was developed over a few days in early March. My middle school is located in a small agricultural community in southern Monterey County, California. Many of our students come from a background of poverty. Reading levels average far below grade level and basic math skills are often missing.

We are an K-8 elementary district and we were just beginning Spring Break when the shelter in place orders came to Monterey County and quickly spread throughout California. As teachers stayed home and pondered the new reality, district staff and administration quickly and efficiently put a plan into place to start school again upon our return. Moving online required truly heroic efforts by all staff, but especially our 3 person technology department. They quickly gathered all Chromebooks from every classroom, updated them, and began to distribute to students that would need a device for distance learning. Hot spots were coordinated with other community services and reduced price internet was offered to parents.

But there was not a plan for instruction yet. Spring holiday was extended a week while an instructional plan was developed. I was part of the middle school team that developed what I will describe below. We were faced with a staggering challenge - how to get students engaged in a new model for learning that placed heavy emphasis on independence. Independence was not a strength of our students. Low skills equate to low confidence in oneself and our students seek reinforcement and encouragement throughout the day. How would we be able to provide this remotely?

We determined our approach had to be different than those of other schools around us whose plans were to provide some form of synchronous learning - a return to normalcy as much as possible. We felt that asking teachers to become experts in online instruction and to develop effective, content-rich lessons daily was asking too much and would not be an effective use of resources and skillsets.

The district approach was to engage students in the review of critical skills and content and to not attempt to teach new material. That was an wise choice as any attempt to do so would have exacerbated the already staggering challenge of providing equitable learning opportunities within our community. We also offered students and parents the option of completing weekly distance learning packets. This was a stopgap measure put in place while we developed our online model. Students continue to have the choice of working online, or completing the packets that were developed by teams of teachers. We have about 60% of our middle school students working online and 40% completing packets.

Middle School Model

Teachers work collaboratively by grade level and combined content areas to create one lesson to be published each day. We work in grade level teams: Science/Math, ELA/History, and PE. Special Education teachers are working to add modifications to the lessons we create.

We are intentionally limiting each day’s lesson/activity to around 90 minutes. In order to not overburden the students and parents with multiple and varied short assignments each day, we felt that we had a better chance to reach more students by focussing our efforts on one developing one interactive lesson per day that would build in live teacher feedback.

All lessons use the same (and very versatile) hyperdoc template that has proven to be an effective means to deliver independent learning opportunities for students at CPMS. I have been using them for years and find that they are a wonderful way to promote both individual and collaborative learning activities for my students.

Teachers are available in teams from noon to 3 to work with kids in tutorial rooms while monitoring and responding to their submissions at 3 checkpoints. We don’t teach classes anymore, we are attempting to reach out and connect with all students every day.

We believe that we truly are better together and it makes an abundance of sense to design and develop lessons together with as many subject matter experts as possible. There were only a handful of staff that had used hyperdocs before, so we spent that first week without students learning how to design them. Not only are teachers learning a highly effective digital lesson format, they are acquiring new technology skills and are professionally applying themselves in new and exciting ways.

A teacher’s day looks like the illustration below. We begin at 8 AM with a general meeting and affirmation via Zoom. Staff then have approximately 2 hours to work on their own professional development. Some are taking Google certification courses, some have formed academic book clubs, others are extending their team time by responding to student work that was turned in overnight, or doing collaborative data analysis - we have LOTS of relevant data now. SPED is also hosting IEP meetings during this time and we are popping in and out.

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At 10:30, we each open up our own Zoom homerooms where we ask students to check in. It gives us time to connect, go over the hyperdoc (released online at 10 AM each day), answer questions and play games. At 11:00 we all retire to lunch and then return at noon for “live” help sessions.

At noon the team whose hyperdoc ws published earlier that day reports to a Zoom tutorial room. They stay and help students, score the assignments, and respond to students as they complete each of three checkpoints. Students can work on the hyperdoc at any time, but this live help is available between noon and 2:30 each afternoon.

The team whose hyperdoc is not live that day are meeting in another Zoom room and collaboratively creating upcoming hyperdocs, exploring new technologies, and developing lesson models for the next school year.

We do not use Google Classroom to push out hyperdocs and information. Instead, we have built an internal (Google) website that hosts everything. Students, teachers, and parents all know where everything is. It also allows us to engage the kids in school-wide activities. The site hosts video announcements, PE and Leadership news and activities, and messages from the staff. The site also contains a counselor’s page with embedded Google Forms where students can request an appointment or seek immediate attention.

Our Virtual Career Faire with character actor Wesley Mann.

Finally, at 2:30, we have an assortment of activities for both students AND staff to participate in. Examples include online career faire Zoom interviews, gamer chats, pet shares, Kahoot challenges, PE activities, cooking demonstrations, and stop motion animation.

All students are important and it is critical that we attempt to reach everyone everyday. It has not always worked, but we have the mechanics in place to help. If students don’t check in with their homeroom teacher, they are to email or message them. If it continues, we make phone calls. We also track students connecting with counselor’s and administrators via a shared spreadsheet, we record up to three hyperdoc responses, and we look for them during extra-curricular time as well. We want students to receive an affirming message everyday.

Hyperdocs

We are using hyperdoc because we wanted to provide every student with a unique and individualized high-quality lesson each day. We felt that anxiety levels would be made worse for everyone by overloading students with work. The initial goal was to connect on a personal and emotional level with all of our students through grade level teams. Learning would follow. We were not trying to recreate school at home. Our plan was not to try to conduct business as usual in these extraordinary times. In response, learning options needed to be varied and flexible.

They needed to encourage sharing and emphasize connections. By collaboratively creating hyperdocs, we are addressing each of these areas of need while supporting our own creativity, professionalism, and well being. We worked together to create a series of hyperdocs to support our common learning goals - language functions and applied mathematics.

Although hyperdocs can take many forms, all include these three critical elements:

Student exploration of resources to build background knowledge (10-15 min)
Opportunity for students to dive deeper and explain/discuss content (30 min)
Options for students to create and apply their understanding (45+ min)

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The three parts, explore, explain, and apply build in depth and complexity. They are also used to differentiate instruction. Hyperdocs can be modified and alternative versions can be pushed out to SPED students and English learners. We also build in ELD scaffolding into our design.

Our expectations are that students complete at least the explore portion of the assignment. In the actual classroom, students move through the entire process at their own pace, but we realize that our students face enormous challenges at home, Many are home alone. Some are taking care of their younger siblings, others and helping mom and dad and are working in the fields. Their are also students who are facing enormous peer pressure to not be a “schoolboy or “schoolgirl”.

Each day varies of course, but on average, across three grade levels 65% of our online students participate each day by completing at least one section of the hyperdoc. About 50% complete two sections, and 35% complete all three. We walk a very fine line designing each day’s hyperdoc. Too much reading or analysis required and we get fewer participants.

Final Words

I feel very proud of what my school and my district has accomplished. We bucked the trend and created something that will have lasting effects on our school and community. Teachers that had not used technology as part of their instruction are now seeing the benefits. Data has suddenly become real because we have gathered it. We are getting excited about spreadsheets. We are connecting with students in many new ways. We are openly learning together. This is teacher efficacy.

Getting to this point has not been without obstacles. We have students who are experts at falling through the cracks. Some staff were hesitant and vocal about their desire to go in a different direction. Working collaboratively in a Zoom room for 2-hours a day with colleagues can be challenging. Unfamiliarity with the tools of online instruction has produced a great deal of unease.

Yet, I’m thrilled with what we have accomplished in such a short time. Whatever the upcoming school year brings, I’m confident my colleagues will handle it with courage and will feel empowered by their actions in these past weeks to redesign teaching and learning at Chalone Peaks Middle School.

Hyperdoc Examples

Here are a few selected hyperdoc sections. These were created by teams, so I do not have their permission to share their entire document. These samples include each grade level (6-8) and team.