Many schools transitioned to online learning after the holiday break. Covid is affecting us yet again. With this in mind, I wanted to share how I plan to keep my students learning and on track with Tract. As you may remember, my students have been using the online program, Tract, for the past few months. You can learn more about that here.
Teacher Challenges with Distance Learning
In case you aren’t familiar with Tract, “It’s the first for kids, by kids community for student directed learning. On Tract, kids can learn, create, share, and teach each other in a safe space they own and love,” (blog.Tract.app). Teachers around the world are well aware of how hard it has been to try and teach kids the required curriculum in a virtual of hybrid environment. As someone who spent the beginning of last year 100% virtual, then moving to the hybrid model, I can say first hand that it was the hardest year of my teaching career.
4 Solutions for Online Learning Using Tract
- Built-in Engagement & Collaboration– This is my personal favorite part of using Tract in my classroom. When students are working through a learning path, they can work with other students that the teacher pairs them with. Students can also work with a partner they choose. A learning path is a series of activities students complete based on the topic the teacher or student chooses. Teachers can track students’ progress on the educator’s dashboard.
- Differentiation is a Breeze– The learning paths are labeled as easy, medium, and hard. The teacher and students can filter the projects by skill, subject, grade level, standards, and even by inserting a specific topic in the search bar. Since I’m aware that we could go back to online learning at any time, I created a Google Doc for my students with links to several options. The “paths” students can choose from are based on our current curriculum and standards of focus.
- Self-Directed Challenges– With so many options for the teacher or student to choose from, it’s easy to meet the needs of all students’ learning and interest levels. Again, just another way to offer smooth differentiation that doesn’t require hours of lesson planning. This is taken care of! If you’re looking for something specific that you can’t find, you can contact Tract, and they will create it for you in a matter of days… if that!
- Access & Support from Anywhere with Internet– You may find that you need a lesson on the fly to fill time. As long as you and your students have internet access, Tract has you covered. These days, the majority of secondary students have cell phones. Using phones is always an option if students don’t have other tech devices on hand. Anytime you have questions, you can use the Live Support option on the Tract platform, and a member of their staff will get back to you right away. It’s usually in 5 minutes or less.
Tract Fits in Any Learning Situation
Whether your whole class is online or you’re in a hybrid setting, Tract can be implemented seamlessly. The options are endless. Students can work individually at their own pace, collaborate with students by working in pairs or groups, and they can also interact through comments and feedback. Teachers know their students best, so it’s easy to choose the avenue that would be most beneficial.
You can sign up for Tract FREE by using my the code litwithlyns. Sign up here.
Are you currently teaching in person, 100% online, or using the hybrid teaching model? Let me know in the comments.
