Trend Micro Philippines Secure Learning Series: Shifting Gears To Cyberspace Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the face-to-face education across the globe as we all shift to
distance learning. During these unprecedented times, creating a virtual learning experience for
students is no easy feat. Currently, most educators struggle with one difficult question: How can
they keep their students engaged in a virtual classroom and ensure that they retain what they learn?

The answer is first and foremost to improve myself as a facilitator of learning. It is because we se are
considered as the 2nd parents of our students, therefore we should help them to uplift themselves
from this present situation.

Diagnosing Students' Comprehension of Informational and Narrative Texts

The reading experiences, attitudes, and perspectives of students determine the ways in which
they perceive the purpose of reading and value its benefits. Instructional practices to
promote students' motivation to read widely include:

 providing daily opportunities for students to read both self-selected and teacher-and
peer-recommended texts; and

 providing frequent opportunities for both student- and teacher-led discussions of what
students are reading.

 organizing cooperative learning groups in which students can discuss what they read,
help each other choose the strategies that are most appropriate for a specific text;

 encouraging students to read so as to learn about a concept or topic that is

meaningful to them;

 involving students actively in reading-related activities;

 encouragement for students to read independently; and

 opportunities for students to choose from texts that reflect different genres and
reading levels.

Early Literacy Diagnosis: Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses in Decoding:

Insights:

1. Analyze the child’s decoding errors

2. Teach specific reading strategies
3. Provide alternative phonological awareness skills
4. Teach relevant phonics patterns and high frequency words
5. Create opportunities for the child to read and re-read as many texts as possible.

Identifying Students' Reading Levels: A Reading Diagnostic Approach

Teachers assess students in order to collect information about how much knowledge and skill the students have learned
(assessment as a measurement tool). Teachers also use assessments to gauge the students’ level of learning (assessment as an
evaluative tool).

There are two basic types of assessments: formative and summative.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS are assessments FOR learning

Journaling, conferring, observation, self-assessment, portfolios, etc.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS are assessments OF learning

Unit assessments, standardized assessments, portfolios, etc.

Diagnosing Numeracy Foundational Skills in the Early Grades

The seminar has indicated that there is a lack of strong evidence on the efficacy and effectiveness of literacy and numeracy
interventions in the early years of schooling. Yet, there is evidence that many of these interventions incorporate evidence-
based general principles of effective intervention derived from research in early literacy and numeracy. A number of the
interventions embed principles derived from the wider research literature, although the effectiveness of specific components
of these interventions is often assumed, rather than subject to independent monitoring and evaluation.

Only a small number of the specific interventions reviewed have a reasonably strong evidence base about their efficacy, that
is, their positive impact on student learning. While that information is clearly important, such studies provide only part of the
picture that school leaders, systems and sectors need when making decisions on which interventions best meet the needs of
individual students as well as groups of students. This is in addition to the need to consider resource and budgetary issues
associated with the choice of interventions. Conclusions about the effectiveness of most interventions are difficult to draw
because little detailed information is available on the resources they require and their costs, and there are almost no
systematic cost-effectiveness studies available.

Profiling Students: A Learner's Background Diagnosis

The Benefits of Knowing Students as Learners  

Teachers ought to learn about their students, but right now we would like to put forward the benefits teachers
will reap from this inquiry. Developing an in-depth understanding of each learner enables teachers to:
1. Create a psychologically safe environment for every learner.
2. Determine each student's readiness for learning.
3. Identify multiple access points to the curriculum to increase engagement and success.
4. Develop and demonstrate greater emotional intelligence in the classroom.
Teachers can build data gathering right into assignments and activities, which not only helps them to know
students better but also helps students to know each other.

Practical Home-Based Activities To Diagnose Students Social and Emotional Skills:

The practical ways to diagnose students social and emotional skills are as follows: read books about friends, cooperation,
helping each other, emotions, and empathy. Practice sharing and turn-taking during routines (snack, lunch, group meeting
time). Ask children to help or complement one another during the day. Model this behaviour and ask older children to assist
younger children with tasks. It is important to maintain the balance in their holistic growth. At a time when the importance of
education to individual fulfilment and economic success has focused attention on the need to better prepare children for
academic achievement, the research literature suggests ways to make gains toward that end. Parents are relying on childcare
and preschool programs in ever larger numbers. We know that the quality of the programs in which they leave their children
matters. If there is a single critical component to quality, it rests in the relationship between the child and the
teacher/caregiver, and in the ability of the adult to be responsive to the child. But responsiveness extends in many directions:
to the child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical characteristics and development.

Developing Assessment Tools for Decoding Skills of Young Learners:

What I have learned?

An assessment that examines a student's decoding skills looks at a child's reading accuracy. One example of this type of
measure is to have a student read a passage of text as clearly and correctly as possible. The teacher records any mistakes that
the student makes and analyses them to determine what instruction is needed. Another example of an assessment of decoding
skills is to present a student with isolated words and ask them to read each word aloud (Wren, 2004).

Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) is a sample of assessment measures to test decoding skills.

Creating of Diagnostic Assessment Tools for Listening Capacity:

Diagnostic tools provide data to assist educators in designing individualized instruction and intensifying intervention for
students who do not respond to validated intervention programs. Diagnostic tools can be either informal, which are easy-to-
use tools that can be administered with little training, or standardized, which must be delivered in a standard way by trained
staff. Teams may find it helpful to initially consider using more informal and easily accessible diagnostic tools and data to
avoid loss of instructional time. Standardized diagnostic tools, which require more time to administer and interpret, may be
required for students who continually demonstrate a lack of response or who require special education.

School-Based Entry and Exit Assessment Tools for Each Learning Key Stage
It’s a challenge to make evaluation an important part of the regular math instruction. It needs the preparation of new ways of
using tasks and conversations to find out what students are doing and not knowing.

It also needs teachers to be able to handle responses from students. Merely detecting when students are wrong is relatively
simple compared to knowing the reasons behind their mistakes.

Step 1: Clearly define and identify the learning outcomes

Each program should formulate between 3 and 5 learning outcomes that describe what students should be able to do
(abilities), to know (knowledge), and appreciate (values and attitudes) following completion of the program. The learning
outcomes for each program will include Public Affairs learning outcomes addressing community engagement, cultural
competence, and ethical leadership.

Step 2: Select appropriate assessment measures and assess the learning outcomes

Multiple ways of assessing the learning outcomes are usually selected and used. Although direct and indirect measures of
learning can be used, it is usually recommended to focus on direct measures of learning. Levels of student performance for
each outcome is often described and assessed with the use of rubrics.

It is important to determine how the data will be collected and who will be responsible for data collection. Results are always
reported in aggregate format to protect the confidentiality of the students assessed.

Step 3: Analyze the results of the outcomes assessed

It is important to analyze and report the results of the assessments in a meaningful way. A small subgroup of the DAC would
ideally be responsible for this function. The assessment division of the FCTL would support the efforts of the DAC and
would provide data analysis and interpretation workshops and training.

Step 4: Adjust or improve programs following the results of the learning outcomes assessed

Assessment results are worthless if they are not used. This step is a critical step of the assessment process. The assessment
process has failed if the results do not lead to adjustments or improvements in programs. The results of assessments should
be disseminated widely to faculty in the department in order to seek their input on how to improve programs from the
assessment results. In some instances, changes will be minor and easy to implement. In other instances, substantial changes
will be necessary and recommended and may require several years to be fully implemented.

Using Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Checklist for Preschoolers:

The Philippine Early Childhood Development (Phil. ECD) Checklist is designed for service providers like teachers, rural
health midwives, child development and day care workers, parents/caregivers who can easily administer after a brief training
period. By using the checklist, they will be able to determine if a child is developing adequately or is at risk for
developmental delays.

This Checklist is NOT intended to be used to 1) make a medical diagnosis; 2) determine a child’s intelligence quotient or IQ;
or 3) gauge his academic achievement. It is only the first of several steps in a comprehensive assessment process that a child
at risk is expected to go through so he can get the help he needs as early as possible.

The Checklist consists of a Child’s Record, divided into two parts: Child’s Record 1 for children aged 0 months to 3.0 years;
Child Record 2 is for children aged 3 years and 1 month to 5 years and 11 months. The items in the Checklist are grouped
into seven domains: 1) gross motor, 2) fine motor, 3) self-help, 4) receptive language, 5) expressive language, 6) cognitive,
and 7) social-emotional. The Child Record 2 will be utilized for the kindergarten learners of the Department of Education.

Managing Student Discipline while Learning at Home:

Based on my experience, when teaching online, we must learn to do without many of the classroom management strategies
we have become accustomed to. No stern glances. No flicking lights on and off. No detentions.

The first step is to forget about all the things we cannot do online. Instead, think about what is possible. And take advantage
of the opportunities that online instruction presents.

To teach effectively online, we need to see ourselves as leaders, rather than managers. Traditional classroom management
focuses on getting students to follow directions. ‘Everyone in their seats. All eyes on me. I’m waiting for silence.’

There is nothing wrong with asking students to follow directions. It is common sense. You cannot teach a room full of
students who are running around and shouting. The problem is that it is easy to overuse these management strategies.

Students need to understand the reasons behind our directions. And they need to feel that they have a voice in creating
classroom norms. Demanding compliance without buy-in reduces intrinsic motivation (our internal desire to do well). And
the more we rely on extrinsic motivators (rewards and punishments), the more we erode students’ intrinsic motivation.

Every veteran educator has experienced the diminishing impact of classroom management tricks. They work well at the
beginning of the year, but by January you need newer and better tricks to keep students orderly and attentive.

Unless, of course, you have focused on creating buy-in from day one. That is the idea behind PRESTO: start with extrinsic
motivators but build trust and ownership before your students become desensitized to the tricks.

Social and Emotional Learning of Students at Home:

Social-emotional learning is the process of developing and using social and emotional skills. It’s the skillset we
use to cope with feelings, set goals, make decisions, and get along with—and feel empathy for—others.

People with strong social-emotional skills are better equipped to manage daily challenges, build positive
relationships, and make informed decisions. SEL helps students and adults thrive in school and in life. And the
skills can be taught and learned from preschool all the way through adulthood.

That’s important because your students aren’t born knowing how to manage emotions, solve problems, and get
along with others. These kinds of skills have to be developed, and you can work to help your students learn
them.

Practical Ways to Creatively Establish Positive Learning Conditions at Home:

A positive learning environment is one of the keys to students’ academic, emotional, and social success.

A supportive learning environment is one of the most important aspects of a competency-based classroom in
health education. If you value participatory teaching and learning, and when there is trust and partnership
between students, and between yourself and students, a positive learning environment is established.

To create confidence that leads to true participation and learning engagement, you must first set the stage by
creating a learning atmosphere in which all students feel respected, safe and supported.

The students feel protected both physically and emotionally. We see the classroom as a place where they can be
themselves without judgement and share themselves and their ideas.

Students know they are valued and respected, regardless of other factors such as capacity, gender, age, race ,
ethnicity or religion.

Creating Learning Routines in a Non-Scholastic Environment:

As a senior high school teacher, I have my personal routine before, during and after my classes. These practices
can be used as well in creating learning routines in an online way of teaching. First and foremost, the teacher
should exemplify the 3 essential qualities: Competent, Commitment and Compassion. Competent means that the
teacher should update him/herself on his/her field of expertise by a non-stop reading and learning by attending
seminars/webinars and if possible, finish graduate and post-graduate studies. Commitment means that we should
have the guts to be of service of others, not just for our students but for others as well. Lastly, Compassion, it
means that we should be aware of the limitations of our actions both inside and outside the teaching profession.
Be able to identify reasons why students observed repeated mistakes such as absences or not doing homework.
These 3 essential qualities are keys to a successful teaching profession.

Positive Discipline at Home through Executive Functions Development:

Tips to students on how to maintain positive discipline at home:

1. Take a step-by-step approach to learn/study.

2. Rely on visual aids to get organized.
3. Use tools like time organizers, computers, or watches with alarms.
4. Make schedules and look at them several times a day.
5. Ask for written and oral instructions whenever possible.
6. Do not hesitate to ask questions

Preparing Visual Icons for Students Responses During Live Online Sessions:

As teachers, we all know that most of our students are visual learners. This means that they most learn by the things that are
tangible. As a millennial teacher, we should be of trend like the students for us to get in their flow of learning. One way to
prepare visual icons is through Infographics. This is a visual representation of a certain idea or what is inside the box. The
example of an infographics is the sign of no parking. By looking at it, we already know what it means. Another example is
through Charts. Charts help learners to visualize about a certain numerical or conceptual idea. We, teachers should exemplify
this by adding pictures in our PowerPoint presentations. These make learning fun and interactive!

Guiding Students to Gradually Assimilate the Cognitive Landscape of Modular and Online Learning:

The seminar has given me an understanding that acceptance is the key to change. Because, we oftentimes regret
something that will make us suffer. Another insight is “Focus on what you can, and not on what you cannot.”,
this means that we should explore more on the things that we are capable of. We should not compare ourselves
to others. We are all different. We are all unique in nature. We should be thankful on what we have right now.

The Dos and Don’ts of Learning at Home:

The following are the do’s and don’ts:

Give them a corner which should be free from any clutter and well-lighted. There should not be any noise of
other family members, especially when an activity is going on.

The parents can ensure the screen time with the help of great quality learning resources which are now easily
accessible at home with platforms.

No one should visit to see the child's activity; only one person should sit with the child to mentor him.

Timetable and routine can help students stay focused. Morning and evening routines are primed for success as
they help achieve more, think clearly, and do work that matters. They keep you from stumbling through your
day and make sure you get the most important things done. Simple things like getting up early, getting ready and
making the bed can also help achieve a sense of achievement. It is all about the small things; hence help your
child follow small routines every day.

Many educators are using platforms for allocating homework and sessions with the help of Hangout and Zoom.
Teachers can talk to the child amicably and lovingly while interacting to facilitate the child's participation. The
parents should encourage the child to focus during the interaction. In between the session, the child is guided to
do the assigned activity with interest and to perfection.