At the very time that technology allows a single user to broadcast synchronous and asynchronous learning options at a countless number of students simultaneously, I find it interesting how small group instruction is becoming increasingly important. Our preschool teachers, for example, have broken their teaching blocks into smaller groups. Instead of having 20 students in a classroom setting simultaneously, they spend 20 minutes with smaller groups of 6-7. It’s the equivalent of digital centers.
Two of my own children, a set of twins in prepa (in Costa Rica it’s the grade level just prior to 1st grade), have been the benficiaries of this approach. Having the smaller groups allows the teacher to more directly and individually engage with students in a synchromous learning setting. My kids are talking and conversing back with the teacher and other students with much greater frequency. Plus, by dividing screen time into shorter 20 minute segments, my little people are only on-screen for 1 hr – 1.5 hrs each day, which makes me feel much better as a parent who is concerned about the heightened screen time all of our kids are experiencing during distance learning.
Of course small groups get exponentially more challenging at the secondary level, where groups of students cycle through classrooms period after period. For schools on a straight set of six or seven daily classes, 25 students in a classroom quickly equates to well over 100 students on a daily basis. Even for schools on a block schedule where daily loads are cut by a third or more, finding structures to accommodate small groups can be a challenge. A lot of our teachers are finding success with office hours and flex schedules one day a week to allow for small group instruction to focus on students who may be struggling with the material. These more flexible blocks of time allow students the opportunity to sign up for additional support and instruction. The benefit of distance learning is that teacher help is no further away than a text message or phone call during specified time blocks.
I’m curious to see how other teachers are leveraging the digital environment to incorporate more small group instruction into their day to day teaching. While some platforms allow for breakout groups and small groups within the same class, I have not seen that being used as much on a class to class basis. Part of that reason I believe has to do with limitations of software. While Zoom, for example, has always allowed for breakout groups on their platform, some of the other platforms like Google Meet and Teams have been slower to adopt the feature. In some cases, it felt like teachers had to choose between enhanced software features and the safety concerns that were inherent in using Zoom – especially during the first weeks and months of physical school closures. Hopefully with time as safety features and small group breakout options both become stronger on the software side, teachers will become increasingly familiar and comfortable using them.