Question to teachers today: Thursday and Friday are the first days of 75-minute classes. How is that transition in planning going so far?

Here's what teachers have said after the abrupt transition to "remote" and "block" both at once:

Smoother than I expected during class with kids. Harder than I expected in planning for it.

Ok! I've learn d that asynchronous work for most (on GoGuardian) while working with a small learning group on Zoom -- that is going to be my default.

I like the 75-minute class period, but I found I planned too much. I need to adjust my expectations for the virtual environment because transitions take longer.

Fine. I over-planned but have adapted. Students preferred the 75-minute classes and time went by quickly.

Again, I wish we could have had some more formal training about this. But, this is so much better than hybrid. This is more instructional time than hybrid, and it provides stability of planning. Please, please, please convey this to the higher ups who are thinking of jumping back and forth between this and hybrid.

My general experience so far has been that I've spent more time figuring out and trouble shooting Zoom, Canvas and other delivery methods than I have on content, which is especially frustrating since I am teaching a new prep. Between the two new things, I'm about as overwhelmed as I've been in 24 years of teaching.

The class periods themselves are much nicer than rushing through an entire school day with short periods. It seems much more civilized.

The feedback from kids has been positive so far when I have checked in with them about how things are going. Many kids indicate that they like the flexibility of remote learning and that they feel less stressed than they normally do at school. Especially the honors students. They do concede to missing being in the classroom, but this definitely could bode well to offering a blended model someday when we aren't living in this nightmarish state.

I love the 75-minutes classes! It gives time to build relationships, introduce concepts, have students apply them, and provide coaching (both collective and holistic). My students are also saying they like the schedule of Block. They feel like they have time to process all that's been taught, get a pause, and then geared up for the next class. Sort of reminds me what is good about college, which is also good for students since we should be working to transition them to a schedule that requires time-management. The only thing I need to adjust for next week is to avoid going over the 75 minutes, to be respectful of their time. (Oops.)