Ninja Online Teacher Skills Detective

The Myth:

• When student go online they disappear and never come back.

Reality:

• The online teacher fights to keep that student alive on line like a life guard saving a drowning swimmer.

• Sometimes the problem is simple. 
• They forgot their password. 
• They lost the mentor teacher's number. 
• The device broke.
• Internet is down. 
• Sometimes it's a sign of trouble
• The student is not progressing. 
• The student needs help and is not asking for it. 

What the online Ninja Teacher knows:

• That if a student is not working- there's a reason. 
• It is nesscariy to  have what we have come to call Spidey Sense. 
• Look for problems before they happen. 
• You get a sense for what questions should be asked at what time. Not asking that question is a sign of trouble. 
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Reflection:

Being an online teacher requires a techie sense. You have to be able to trouble shot and problem solve across many systems. You have to 

Virtual school is not for everyone. Not every virtual school is the same. Our model is an outreadch to homeschooling families where parents engage in teacher planned direct instruction.  

The younger the student the more books and parents are needed. 

Ninja Strategies:

Build that relationship before you have to make a difficult call. It makes the difficult call easier.

• When in doubt, call. Ask more questions.
• Don't wait to respond to parents.
• Use all your tools to detect the answer. LMS reports. Communications logs. You cannot monitor their face so monitoring the data.
• Progress is a huge hurdle for online students. Communication can help.

What are the skills an online Ninja teacher has?

Ninja skill 1:Detective 

                   The myth is that we as online teachers are faceless.

                    The truth is as an online teacher I may not know their face but I know them better academically.
Strategies the Ninja Uses: 

We always have to be on the look out for things that make the spidey sense tingle. Is there a software problem? Is that tech working right? Has the student been online active enough this week? Is that really the student's writing?

Ninja Skills of Online Teaching: techie- ness#mlearning #k12online

Techie-ness 
Definition: the ability to navigate know and unknown websites, systems, apps, devices, and all "things" technology. 

The Myth: Learning online is easy. 
What ninja online teacher knows:

• The LMS or dreaded Lesson Management System is the website where the content, assignments, and assessments are stored ( BrainHoney, Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, Connexus) 
• The SIS or Student Information System is the schools system for enrollment, grades and transcripts. (PowerSchool, Que, MiStar)
• There's an email system somewhere. Sometimes it's in the LMS, Sometimes it's district supplied emails address ( think student google accounts). 
• The online teacher must be fluent in all these systems plus video conferencing ( Hangouts or Adobe Connect) and all google products ( Google Docs, Google Slides. etc.) 

Reflections

• When I first starting teaching the ideal of a new system to learn was daunting. Thoughts like "where's my training?", "where's the manual?", " These kids will know this better than me!" filled my head. The uncomfortable feelings were paralyzing. 
• Then I learned to trust in myself and not expect to have all the answers. Your learning a new system with the students often. You don't have to have all the answers as long as you can find the answers. This is the difference between having knowledge and having the ability to learn. 
• In the future our students face, they will need the ability to learn more than the knowledge you can give them.

Ninja Strategies

• Google is your friend. Search for a topic with PDF if you need directions. 
• There's always a YouTube Video you can watch. 
• Learn from each other. Share your solutions and listen to the solutions of other teachers. They're in the same boat. 
•  Create "Lego" directions. These are my favorite versions of directions. A table with short directions in one column and screen shots in the other. 
• Learn to do screencasts. A quick screen cast of how to do common task will  save you answering many questions. 
• Build a toolkit of FAQ's. Weather it's documentation, videos, screencasts, or podcasts build up a library of commonly asked questions so you have already created resources. Reuse those resources.