How to Harry Wong Hybrid Learning Part One: Establishing Routines

Almost every teacher has had to read The First Days of School by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong at some point in their career. Many of us were assigned it in college, or it was given to us as a gift when we landed our first teaching job. It's a book that has really stood the test of time as a great resource for setting up an effective classroom.

But how does Harry Wong work in a hybrid or remote setting?

Let's focus on some of Wong's key tenants of an effective classroom and how these ideas can be applied in 2020. This three-part series will talk about establishing routines, creating relationships, and connecting with families.

Why Harry Wants You to Establish Routines

The goal of your first week of school should always be to establish your routines and procedures. As important as this was for a "normal" school year (What's that? It's been so long.), I think it's even more important for virtual learning because it's a new experience for everyone.

Part of teachers' (and students') struggles when we suddenly transitioned to remote learning was the lack of established procedures. We all walked into the unknown with the blind leading the blind. Personally, I ended up changing routines a couple of times because I was rapidly discovering what did and did not work. However, I made it my goal to make things as consistent as possible for my students. It was exhausting and challenging, but based on student feedback surveys, many of them were grateful that they always knew what to expect from me. Kids need consistency in the classroom; it's a basic, necessary comfort in the strange uncertain times of a worldwide pandemic.

Consistency and procedures help lower anxiety and help your students have a clearer understanding of your expectations. When you are consistent, your kiddos can thrive instead of just surviving. So, let's figure out how to set up procedures and routines so our kids can thrive this year, despite hybrid schedules and remote learning challenges.

How to Harry Wong the Hell Out of Your First Week

My school has not decided if we are starting hybrid or remote, so I'll focus on classroom procedures that work well for hybrid and remote as well.

Start the first week of school with the explicit goal of establishing routines with your students. Don't worry about the curriculum yet. I know everyone is worried about how far these kids have fallen behind, but diving in headfirst into learning this year would be a huge mistake. Start with creating a list of things you need your students to be able to do to function in your classroom. Don't make a massive list! Narrow it down to three to five essential routines. It's okay if there are more routines you want them to learn later; for the first week, focus only on the absolutely necessary procedures to run your classroom.

Here's my list: starting class, participating in group work, and effective class discussion.

Starting Class

When I taught live lessons for remote learning, I always started my Google Meet by projecting a "Welcome" slide. This slide told my students what they were supposed to complete and open while they waited for me to start my lesson. For remote, I put this up in the Google Meet three minutes before our start time, and I started my lesson two minutes past the start time. This gave students time to settle in and prepare for class. I plan to do the same for hybrid learning by projecting that slide through Google Meet to my at-home kiddos as well as on my SmartBoard for my in-class kiddos.

This will mostly be the same every day. To the left is a basic template of my Welcome slide for the fall. I plan to post all of my Do Nows as "questions" on Google Classroom this year. I used to have my students answer Do Nows in their notebooks or in a Do Now packet, but now that my district has gone 1:1 with technology (Thanks, Covid!), this seems easier, less germy, and doesn't kill trees. Also, it will take one second to check that everyone completed the Do Now instead of trying to sneak a peek at almost 30 notebooks.

Participating in Group Work

Ugh. This is the one haunting my nightmares. How am I suppose to get my at-home kids and in-class kids to work together? Better yet, how can I get my in-class kids to work together when they can't get near each other? Well, everybody, we're doing some weird Google Meet breakout room voodoo.

If you are using Zoom, you probably already know that breakout rooms are an available feature, so you're all set. My school ended up banning Zoom (after the Zoom bombing issues) and required us to use Google Meet instead — which is fine except for the fact that Google Meet doesn't offer breakout rooms. Google Meet has breakout rooms listed as "in development" at this time, so hopefully, this feature will be available soon 🤞. In the meantime, there are workarounds you can use to create breakout rooms with Google Meet. One, create a list of your student groups and paste links to separate breakout rooms above each group list. I've included a generic example with fake student names. If you need a more detailed walkthrough, this is just one of many videos other educators have posted to Youtube about this topic. There are also several Chrome extensions offering breakout rooms right now. I have downloaded one, but I have not tested it yet. Once I try it, I will post a follow-up about how it went.

By using breakout rooms, I can group my in-class students with my at-home students for discussion and nobody has to get closer than six feet. If you try this, don't forget to ask students to bring headphones! Otherwise, there will be too much background noise. You can monitor participation by viewing individual breakout groups on your computer. If you want a group to share their information with the class, move your at-home students back to your "main room" to share. Then, your in-class student can be the group speaker or you can project the Google Meet on the Smartboard.

Socratic Seminars & Class Discussion

Coordinating class discussion virtually and in-person really only works if you take a Socratic seminar approach. If you have not run a Socratic seminar before, here is a basic overview from another educator. Give all of your students some time to prepare for the discussion — at least two days depending on the complexity of the topic. Start with your in-class students as the inner circle. They will discuss the topic while the at-home students observe and take notes. Then switch. Project the at-home Google Meet on your Smartboard and allow the at-home students to discuss and extend the conversation, while your in-class students observe and take notes. You can alternate between groups depending on your schedule, so it's not always the same students going first.

After both groups have participated, close out the lesson by allowing students to complete a reflection exit ticket using one of the following questions: 1.) What was the most convincing point you heard during our discussion, and what made it convincing? 2.) Were there any comments that changed your opinion about the topic? 3.) Did anyone say something that you had not considered on your own? Have three to five students share their responses with the class.

For shorter, more impromptu discussions, you can alternate between groups to hear ideas. Pose the first discussion question to your in-class students, and the second to the at-home students. This will also alleviate the pressure of being called on randomly because students have an idea of when they are expected to share their ideas. You could even use this format to complete a debate by having at-home students support one side of the argument and in-class students support the opposite side. The whole thing has to be about balancing the class time between those in school and at home to keep everyone actively engaged.

Got Your Plan? Test It Out!

If you have some colleagues that are willing to be guinea pigs, ask them to run through a routine with you to test it out. As always the biggest challenge with technology is all the unexpected bugs or issues, so the more bugs you work out ahead of time the better. In the few remaining weeks before the school year starts, try to become completely comfortable with the technology you plan to use. In my experience, the more control you have over your routines and procedures the first week, the more likely the students will follow those routines and procedures throughout the school year.

That's It for Part One! Check Out Part Two Next Week

Harry Wong may not have anticipated us having to teach remotely, but we can still use his basic principles to help guide our start to the year. What routines or procedures do you want to teach your students that first week of hybrid learning? How are you planning to overcome the digital divide between you and your students? Let me know in the comments!

Next week, we'll talk more about Harry Wong's belief in the importance of relationship building, and how we can build relationships with our students remotely.