Digital Learning Resources

Digital Learning at the National Parks

Spring 2020 really sent teachers, students, and the world an unexpected curveball. Even though we couldn’t access our classrooms, teachers pulled together and created a supportive learning environment for our students. I think that we can all agree that our emergency digital learning was not able to meet the excellence that we expect from ourselves in the classroom. But, we put forth our best effort and encouraged our students to engage in science through digital learning. Pat yourself on the back!

Each week, I released a FREE video highlighting a different national park. In the videos, students saw pictures, the location marked on a map, and learned information about the featured national park.

The national park videos serve as an introduction to the anchoring phenomenon for each week. Students can participate with and complete activities throughout the week guided by the anchoring phenomenon.

Anyone is welcome to use the videos for FREE with their students. You can use your own activities with the videos or access prepared supplementary activities available at the Teacher on a Trip TpT store.

Although originally created for distance learning, these digital resources offer positive supplemental activities for in-person learning as well. I spent time brainstorming how to use these activities in class and here’s what I came up with:

• Supplemental activities for NGSS aligned storylines
• Review of major concepts
• Sub plans!
• Alternative activities for lab make-ups
• Absent work

I’ll admit, this is an adapted version of how we engage face-to-face in an NGSS classroom. But, we did the best with the cards we were dealt and now we have great supplemental activities!

Create Drag-and-Drop Assessments

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How am I going to assess student learning if we aren’t taking grades? Well, through these interactive drag-and-drop assessments. The best part, get this, they are created in Google Slides! If you have a Google account (seriously, who doesn’t at this point?), you can design drag-and-drop assessments for any content.

Many of us have transitioned to teaching remotely and this is a great tool to assess students’ learning. Creating drag-and-drop assessments are a good use of your time as they have longevity in the classroom beyond the remote teaching time. They can supplement already established assessments or be utilized as a review.

One of the most uplifting things to come out of this unusual experience is seeing communities of teachers come together and support each other. We’re all in this together.

Let me know if you want to access future NGSS and/or distance learning resources by completing the form below. Welcome to the Teacher on a Trip community!

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