Teacher/Parent InvolvementEach student has one real-life person (or sometimes several) who serves as coach and contact-person. For students who attend a school building, this may be a teacher or counselor. For others who are studying at home, this may be a parent.
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How it works . . . |
The students' coaches (teachers/parents) truly don't need to know a thing about computers. And even if a coach is a real whiz at computers, we encourage a non-interference, hands-off approach. We need coaches to be relational, not evaluating student work or managing student behavior. There is no time-commitment to coaching a student taking an IVL class, but physical presence and communication are key.
These are the sort of phrases that coaches should learn to say:
These are the sort of phrases that coaches should learn to say:
- "I don't know--why don't you go ask that in the virtual classroom?"
- "Today is Monday--have you been on to see the new assignments/projects yet?"
- "Have any of your classmates made anything cool lately?"
- "We're at the end of Week 4--do you have your 400 points yet?"
- "We're at the end of Week 5--do you have your 500 points yet?"
- "We're at the end of Week 6--do you have your 600 points yet?"
- "Can you show me your total-points screen in the gradebook?"
- "What have you been making lately?"
- "You read it and it doesn't make sense? Try reading it out loud to me--that may help."
- "I don't know--did you already ask on Google?"
Capacity-Building = Education's Primary Purpose
There is "method to the madness" of not over-helping kids. One of the risks that we take in forcing teens to figure out their own learning is that sometimes they complain "He's not teaching us anything!" and "It's too frustrating!" We take that risk. We build that self-learning muscle very intentionally.
We're serious about this, too--please do not over-help them; capacity-building is a primary goal of Impact Virtual Learning's process, and it doesn't build capacity if coaches over-help kids.
We're serious about this, too--please do not over-help them; capacity-building is a primary goal of Impact Virtual Learning's process, and it doesn't build capacity if coaches over-help kids.