Welcome to Learning Unboxed Special Edition! This is our series of relevant episodes during the COVID19 lockdown. We thought we thought we’d discuss the topic of working collaboratively in virtual school environments. Our guest today is Jeff Schneider, STEM Coordinator and online learning coach at PAST Foundation.
Jeff, or Slim as we call him at PAST) has been working in Applied STEM education the PAST Foundation both in rural South Dakota, and here in Columbus, OH. In 2015 Jeff and his Wife Mary taught for a year in a hybrid teaching program that was a partnership between Armour City Schools and PAST Foundation. In this program, Jeff, Mary and our Ohio Math Teacher, Heather, collaborated on building out collaborative teaching lesson plans. These plans would be planned jointly, but delivered in class by Jeff, who covered classroom management and science topics, with virtual assistance from Mary, who covered ESL topics, and online support from Heather, here in Columbus. Heather covered all Math topics. Jeff later went on to get his master’s degree at South Dakota State university in STEM Education. Jeff knows a thing or two about the unique challenges and benefits of working collaboratively. He is currently teaching online courses on the topic here at PAST Foundation and online.
Topics Covered:
Setting expectations
Creating a productive workspace
Setting boundaries
Family time versus work time
Perks of this format of working