Since March 14, grades four and five of the Puxi campus smoothly moved to online learning with the support of all the teachers, students, and parents. Though all the communications are on the screen, students show their passion for learning, while teachers also tried their best to carry out fascinating and various online learning materials. At the same time, teachers try to create a positive and enjoyable learning environment since students’ mental health during online learning is also a priority.

Provide Diverse and Detailed Instructions

The essence of the online instruction model of G4-5 is the combination of recorded lessons, live classes, and learning through the LinkedClassroom platform (LC).

The content of the recorded lessons is thorough and informative, thanks to the contribution of all the subject teachers. Learning recorded lessons allows students to have a more flexible learning, for students can replay the confusing parts or pause for taking notes and looking for resources. In addition to ample individualized learning time provided by recorded lessons, the live classes offer the opportunity to solve the difficult and important points of the lesson and have face-to-face interaction, discussions, and presentations among teachers and students. Besides, each subject teacher in grades 4-5 set up a WeChat group for the class and provided an online Q&A forum and LC messages to ensure instant and efficient communication with students and answers questions.

To coordinate better with the recorded and live classes, LC follows the logic of lesson planning and adds more interactions and fun activities to the learning process. On LC, students use the forum to discuss essential and challenging questions with friends, participate in H5P interactive tasks to review and get instant feedback, hand in assignments on time, and check teachers’ corrections and feedback.

On the LC course page, teachers clearly listed daily teaching objectives and day’s to-do list. The tasks are arranged so that students have to finish the previous ones first to unlock the later ones or earn a little surprise for them, guiding students to follow specific steps to complete the tasks. Students also took the initiative to make daily or weekly study plans and schedules to better help themselves adapt to the online learning pace and ensure they finish the tasks on time.

Besides maintaining high-quality subject teaching, teachers also used LC and daily morning meetings to carry out moral character education to promote the overall development of our students. Since the online learning started, grade four has talked about topics such as respect, embracing differences, staying positive, and grade five has discussed topics such as accountability, communications, and how to improve efficiency. Students can also take part in arts, music, PE, and optional courses on LC. All the current available optional courses are open to all the students to enrich extracurricular lives.

Encourage Peer Communication and Promote Positive Mental Health

Grades 4-5 hope to maximize the function of the morning P&B function, “daily themed and daily updated,” to improve class cohesion and communication among students during learning online. Teachers and students meet every morning at 8:15 am at Tencent Meeting to start the day on a good note. The teachers play light and energetic music so that the students are full of energy as soon as they enter the meeting room. Every day, teachers introduce the students to a fun holiday or a historical event of the day, be it When Everything You Think is Wrong Day or World Water Day. Students can think about the world without leaving home. For example, on St. Patrick’s Day, the teachers and students dressed up with green elements to commemorate St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. The teachers and students are photographed in the online meeting room, a ritualistic way to mark the occasion.

Fifth graders began working on the “Spring on Campus” video, providing each child with more ways to showcase their work than usual. During the morning P&B, different students shared their videos about spring. Even though it is not easy to enjoy spring outdoors, students still took every opportunity to capture it. Some usually quiet students in the classroom have also produced commendable work online.

The teachers also introduced a “Guess Where in the World” game in the morning P&B class, where students contributed photos of their travels and give three confusing tips. Students actively participate in this game each day during morning P&B. Everyone travels the world online and their minds were far away before moving. The communication between students is not limited to studies, but it becomes more diverse.

Grades 4-5 teachers have prepared several tips to help students maintain and improve their psychological wellbeing. For instance, the Bingo game, in which students choose a small task to complete each day, includes doing a workout and spending quality time with their families. In addition, the teachers took the students through breathing exercises and meditation sessions. Students are expected to take control of their emotions, become masters of their emotions, and have a smoother and happier time during online study.

Fourth and fifth graders are encouraged to set up independent study groups, with students taking responsibility for the topics and agendas of the meetings. In their independent learning groups, students discuss problems they have encountered in the course, organize revisions, and monitor each others’ progress. It is expected that the online meetings and interactions between students and their friends will enhance peer-to-peer communication, relieve the pressure of studying, and reduce the isolation of studying at home.

Gain Feedback and Meet Students’ Needs

Although we can’t meet in person, communication between teachers, students, and parents is tight and regular on daily basis. Before starting the online learning, the fourth and fifth grades held a grade-specific meeting with their families so that they were aware of every detail and become supporters of the online courses. Teachers, parents, and students actively communicate with each other through different platforms so that everyone is on the same page. At the end of the first week, a survey is provided to students and their parents to better understand their needs, listen to their feedback, respect their views, adjust, solve problems, and share the joy of their learning.

Each week, teachers send the families a Parent’s Letter to summarize that week’s progress, ensuring a high level of engagement with each student.

Online teaching is dependent on the hard work of all the teachers, the cooperation of parents, and the trust of students. We hope that students will be aware of and accept their emotions, maintain a good mental state, maintain a regular and orderly life in a more flexible learning environment, and improve their ability to learn independently during the online study. It is believed that the pandemic will eventually pass, and we look forward to seeing you all again on our beautiful campus!

Written by｜Chen Qinli, Wu Yin

Pictures by｜Puxi Campus G4-5 Teachers and Students

Edited by｜Huang Shiyuan, Brie Polette