Remote Learning Tips and Tricks: Top 5 Tips for Using Team Collaboration to Reduce Parent Stress During Remote Learning

Remote learning requires a great deal of coordinating for families and educational teams. For our students with intensive needs, parents are managing emails, video/phone calls, and assignments from their child’s teachers as well as their related service providers (i.e. OT, SLP, VI, PT, etc). This can lead to a lot of stress!  Today’s Remote Learning Tips and Tricks will provide ideas to reduce parent stress during this challenging time. 

Tip 1: Identify a Point Person

Identify a point person who will communicate directly with the parent. This person can help with fielding questions or concerns, coordinating virtual meetings, and communicating assignment expectations. 

Tip 2: Plan Cross-Disciplinary Activities

Review the student’s IEP goals and collaborate with team members to identify activities that can address multiple goals. Click the image below to access our free handout with ideas for activities which incorporate sensory, communication, and educational/daily living skills. 

Tip 3: Co-Treat

To reduce the number of virtual meetings for a student, consider co-treating with another member of the team. Use the cross-disciplinary activities handout above to find common assignments that can be completed during these sessions. 

Tip 4: Provide Assignments in a Centralized Location

Many of our parents have reported that it is easiest when all of their child’s assignments are in one place. Some districts are using Google Classroom and all of the assignments across disciplines are saved in the same classroom. Some teachers have taken this a step further and created a Google Slide deck like the one below which outlines the student’s schedule and corresponding assignments. Click the images below to purchase this Google Deck.

Tip 5: Provide Options

The world of remote learning allows many opportunities for providing options. Allow parents to choose the mode of learning (packets/hands-on activities vs. virtual). Also, provide flexibility of when assignments are due.

One of the key areas to allow options is when scheduling virtual meetings. Sometimes it can be hard for the parent to make an assigned time work because they have their own work obligations, maybe the child’s schedule is “off”, or perhaps a sibling needs to access technology at that time. Providing the parent with options can make it easier for them to follow through. Let them choose if they want to meet individually with the teacher and related service providers or if they prefer co-treating, allow them to choose how frequently they will meet, and allow them to choose their own time slots. During our recent remote learning panel, one of our panelists shared how Sign Up Genius has increased the success of her virtual meetings. Click the image below to learn more. 

For additional tips and tricks during remote learning check out our previous posts:

Role of Paraprofessionals During Remote Learning

5 Step Plan for Remote Learning