Elementary school students may need more support with technology and transitioning from in person learning to a virtual classroom at home. In fact, for many students, the transition may feel abrupt and forceful if they don’t feel comfortable in a virtual environment. Furthermore, depending on their home environment, students may not fully understand how to juggle engaging in a classroom while being at home at the same time. Within this article, we will explore multiple strategies and things you can do to put in your virtual classroom to ensure your elementary school students are effectively learning. 

Writing By Hand

Despite being within a virtual classroom, it is important to make sure your students are still practicing writing by hand. They are at an age where their fine motor skills are still developing along with their handwriting, so by regularly writing by hand, they can refine the skills. In addition to the improvement in fine motor skills and handwriting ability itself, there is substantial evidence and research showing the benefits of writing by hand including better recollection and retention of new information. 

Solicit Feedback 

Not only is a virtual classroom new to your students and their families, but it may be new to many teachers and administrators as well. By soliciting feedback from your students and their families, you can identify their wants and needs while addressing their concerns about a virtual classroom. Simply by asking for input, students will feel empowered in their own learning and education, making them more engaged in the classroom when you implement new ideas. You can even make this process more engaging by allowing students to submit videos of themselves explaining how they prefer the classroom to function on a regular basis.

Having Virtual Visitors

With a virtual classroom, it can be easier to invite visitors to speak to students. From motivational speakers to individuals with different cultural experiences, you may provide authentic perspectives for students to directly interact with others outside of their classroom in a virtual setting. Especially with elementary students, a simple talk from a visitor can inspire them and keep them fully engaged.

Think, Write, Share

This activity is great for the beginning of a class or when a completely new topic is introduced. Essentially, provide an idea, prompt, or topic for the class and give students about three minutes to write down their thoughts about the information you provided. Afterwards, select a few students to share their thoughts. This activity helps students express their thoughts on completely new information while engaging with other students. Moreover, this helps you gauge how much the students know about this topic and how you can specifically tackle the content at hand.

Brain Breaks and Social Emotional Learning

Throughout the school day, it’s good to provide brain breaks for your students. Whether that means providing them with a small break from the computer or a small non-academic activity to relax their mind, it helps them stay focused for the entire school day. With these small brain breaks, you can also introduce social-emotional learning to better help your students understand and process their emotions. 

Elementary students are relatively new to education and the world around them, so with the strategies above, they have the opportunity to be pushed to their full potential within a virtual classroom.