Adventures in "Simultaneous Teaching"

by Sarah Logan

When my elementary school brought students back for face-to-face instruction for the full length of school days, the specialist schedule was a huge challenge.  We needed students at school to have specialists fact-to-face to provide teacher prep time, and we still wanted students to have the same time with specialists as they would in a regular 5-day school week.  We also knew that dropping community spread meant our schools would soon move to a 4-day in-person school week, so whatever solution we chose would be temporary.  We agreed to try "rooming and zooming," or simultaneous teaching.

No matter what name you give it, teaching students both face-to-face and in a virtual setting like Zoom presents a challenge.  Teachers must divide their attention between the students in the room and those in the virtual space.  For those in the virtual space, technology glitches and Internet speeds are as much of an issue as during fully remote learning.  For those in the classroom, social distancing guidelines and mask mandates mean school doesn't look the way it used to.  For the teacher, juggling so many things at once is exhausting, frustrating, and sometimes feels impossible.

When you add the relatively short class time for elementary specialists and book circulation into the mix, it just gets a little crazy.  After the first two days, I was ready to give up--but instead, I told myself it was temporary and I could find a solution.  Here are some suggestions from someone who has been there.

1.  Take time to reconnect.  Do not "room and zoom" the first time students are back in the library.  Both Teacher Librarians and students need at least one library class to connect as humans and orient to the new way of doing things.  Adding Zoom students into the mix while you instruct in-person students on safety protocols, how to find the restroom, and book selection just does not make sense.  Prepare an on-demand lesson for students to do at home while you focus on the face-to-face students their first time back in the library.

2.  Get everything set up in advance.  You will need to test out your setup well in advance of teaching a class.  Figure out the sound settings you need, especially if you want the face-to-face students to be able to hear their classmates at home.  In my library, I use my laptop to see faces of the students who join in Zoom.  I use the built-in microphone, but some teachers in my district are using conference room mics so that students can hear their face-to-face peers.  I use the television monitor, extended from my laptop, to project our lesson slides and for my speakers.  I share that screen with students in Zoom.  I also have an iPad that joins the Zoom meeting as a guest (but does NOT join audio--if you join audio there will be feedback).  I make the iPad a co-host, and use it to let students into the Zoom.  It became obvious the first day that students would be late or would get "booted" and need to rejoin, and I did not want to have to move my cursor between the shared screen and the zoom screen.  My iPad fixes that problem--I just tap "admit" while I continue teaching.  I can also, if I choose, turn on the iPad camera and show the students at home different areas in the library, anchor charts, or the whiteboard.  My entire lesson goes more smoothly if I have everything set up and ready to go before students enter the library.

3a.  Plan for remote learners.  Use an engagement tool, such as Pear Deck, as one way to include remote learners.  I have found that students in the library do not need to join the engagement tool (and getting them all connected takes valuable time).  They can still see the shared screen on our television monitor.  However, having students at home join in accomplishes two things for me.  First, it gives students at home an easy way to join in our conversation by responding to questions in the slides.  Second, it allows me to create customized extensions for students at home to complete independently while students in the library find books and check out.

3b.  Have a routine.  For younger learners, having a consistent routine for what you will do after a read-aloud or lesson is key.  My youngest students have booklets response pages for each of the Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award nominees (THANK YOU WCCPBA COMMITTEE).  On their "remote" days, students know that after our read-aloud they are supposed to complete the booklet page.  Students in the library are "excused" from the page so they can find books.  On weeks when our read-aloud is not a nominee, my most successful independent at-home activities have been read-aloud related drawings  from the YouTube channel Art For Kids Hub.  These kid-friendly art tutorials are almost always a hit.  If time allows, you can move the Zoom window to the television or projector so the students at home can share their art with their classmates.

4.  Remember that this, too, shall pass.  Simultaneous teaching in 30-minute blocks where half of the class also needs to find and check out books is not ideal.  You will not be able to do the things you would do in a "regular" year.  Focus on the things you CAN do, and know that right now, giving students back the ability to choose their own reading material is one of the most valuable things we as Teacher Librarians can do.

A word about checking out books--another Teacher Librarian in my district suggested "mobile check out."  I was skeptical, but having tried it, I am in love.  Here's how it works for me:

1.  Students get hand sanitizer,look for books, and return to their assigned seats with their books.

2.  Once I have assisted as needed with book selection, I take my laptop (on a wheeled stand) with a scanner and seating chart (with student barcodes in each space) to the student seats, where I scan the student barcode from the seating chart and and then scan the books.  Students have started lining up books, barcode-up, at the edge of their table for me.

While I'm doing that, students are able to read their books from their seats.  This has created such a wonderful,calm environment during book check-out that I will likely keep this procedure even after safety protocols are no longer needed.  While I do have to get within 6 feet of students to check out their books, I was just as close to them at the circulation desk, and then I had to try to manage the socially distant line while scanning books.  I find this faster and easier.

What tips do you have for Teacher Librarians trying to teach both face-to-face and remote learners at the same time?  Anything you're doing that you will keep?  Share your ideas in the comments!

--Sarah Logan is the current Chair of WLA's School Library Division