Make notes to yourself about areas that you may need additional professional development and support. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to an IU1 Professional Development team member. You can find a staff directory listing within our Curriculum Department Staff Directory 

Common Best Practices to follow are:

1. Communication to Students and Parents. Set clear goals and objectives. Help parents understand the objectives.
2. Be mindful of Social-Emotional Needs. Check-in with how students are feeling. Be attentive and provide timely follow-up.
3. Organize Materials and Sequencing Instructions. Be clear and specific with the requirements you have set for the students.
4. Keep a Reality of Time. Consider that assignments done at home may take twice as long due to various factors. Focus on what is absolutely essential.
5. Keep in mind the needs of Diverse Learners. Utilize Accessibility for Students guides.
6. If you working with the K-4 group, design content for the caregiver instead of the student.

Investigate and become familiar with specific accommodations for Special Education, English Language Learners, and Gifted Support. It is important to offer a Free and Appropriate Public Education that includes all learners and that you meet the needs of all of your learners - even when you move to teaching virtually. Please review this supplemental fact sheet was released from the U. S. Department of Education regards to FAPE.

Identify your "warehouse" or learning management system for online learning, and become familiar with the platform. Your school may have already adopted a popular platform such as Moodle or Google Classroom. Consult with your district on the location you are expected to put your lessons/materials for ease of access to students. In the absence of a school selected tool, we recommend either of the aforementioned online classroom environments. The IU1 Fusion Cyber Solutions and Fusion Flex programs utilize the Moodle platform and we will be happy to discuss our offerings with you.

Build your lessons utilizing the designated planning tool of your district. You may choose to use the Online Wayfinding (OREO) document in best practices and/or share a Weekly Overview document of your choosing with students. When you plan activities out, be sure to consider how you will change face-to-face instruction to online by looking at effective ways to communicate. Online communication venues like Zoom and Skype can be very handy.

Now you need to think about the tools needed to move to online instruction. The Intermediate Unit 1 has a great online learning management environment with our Fusion and Fusion-Flex For All Cyber Environments. There are a number of environments that can be found on our additional resources home page. If internet access and bandwidth are a concern, utilize this Bandwidth Immediacy Matrix as a guide.

Maintaining communcation channels with parents and students is critical during this time of virtual instruction. Be sure to check with your school district administration on what communication tools can be used.