Remote teaching in mathematics is better than lots of in-person math teaching. Dr. Andersen has been remote teaching for over a decade. She will be sharing tips and pedagogical techniques for improving your remote teaching skills and conducting active learning in remote sessions with students.

1. Remote Teaching
in Mathematics
Maria H. Andersen, Ph.D.
Core Adjunct, Westminster College
CEO, Coursetune
Twitter: @busynessgirl
Email: busynessgirl@gmail.com

2. REMOTE
is not
ONLINE
REMOTE CLASSES
Mostly synchronous
Meets at scheduled times
Primarily utilizes virtual
meetings
Can be used anytime
ONLINE CLASSES
Mostly asynchronous
Rarely meets at
scheduled times
Primarily utilizes an LMS
(Canvas, Brightspace,
Moodle, Blackboard)
Requires careful
curriculum and
instructional design

3. Remote Teaching Should Be in Your Teaching Toolbelt

4. The Pressure Opportunity to Change

5. Remote
Teaching is
Similar to F2F
Teaching
You can see your students and they can see you
You can have discussions
You can "write on the board"
Students can work in small groups
You can use active learning techniques

6. But what if they don’t pay attention?

7. They might not have been paying attention.

8. General
Structure of
my classes
• Guided Notes to Print
• Recorded video lessons 8-15 min
each (YouTube)
• Technology: Desmos
• Active Learning sessions (remote)
• Problem Sets (written)
• Written Exams (allow guided
notes, Desmos, and formula sheet)
• Oral Exams (15 min, one-on-one,
deep understanding of one
function, allow formula sheet only)

9. What are Guided Notes?

10. Video Lessons (sample)
• Captioned using punctuation
and mathematically correct
language (all proofed)
• Pause and Practice Problems
• Follow Guided Notes
• Tables are read aloud and
graphs are described to make
the videos accessible to the
blind
• A friendly and happy human

11. Free OER for
College
Algebra,
Algebra 2,
and Trig (lite)
https://courses.almyeducation.com/contemporary-algebra-collection

12. 3-2-1-Go
Method

13. What is the slope of
this line?
A) 0.25
B) 2.5
C) 0.5
D) 5.0
3-2-1 GO
TYPE YOUR ANSWER IN
THE CHAT WINDOW
BUT DON’T PRESS
ENTER UNTIL I TELL
YOU TO.

14. What is the slope
of this line?
A)
B) 2.5
C)
D)
SOLUTION

15. Where does the
slope go from
increasing to
decreasing?
3-2-1-GO
TYPE YOUR ANSWER IN THE
CHAT BUT DON’T PRESS ENTER
UNTIL I TELL YOU TO.

16. Where does the
slope go from
increasing to
decreasing?
The slope does go from positive to
negative at about 0.2, but that’s not
what you were asked.
FOLLOW UP

17. Where does the
slope go from
increasing to
decreasing?
3-2-1-GO
TYPE YOUR ANSWER IN THE
CHAT BUT DON’T PRESS ENTER
UNTIL I TELL YOU TO.
TRY AGAIN

18. Where does the
slope go from
increasing to
decreasing?
It doesn’t.
The slope is decreasing where the graph
is concave down and increasing where
the graph is concave up. It goes from
decreasing to increasing, not the other
way.
SOLUTION

19. Engage
students using
old-fashioned
whiteboards

20. Issue a
whiteboard,
marker, and
eraser to
each student
at the start
of the
semester.

21. Create slide
decks for the
“Active
Learning”
portion of
class

22. Check-ins
(you can’t see them all
and you can’t see their
work, so ASK)

23. Graph 𝑔 𝑥 =
𝑓 −𝑥 and label
the three points
and horizontal
asymptote.

24. How are you doing
on this question?
Got it
Right Track
Struggling
Stuck

25. Ask students to share their boards when you’re ready to see their progress.

26. List 5 properties of
𝒇 𝒕 = 𝟓 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝝅𝒕/𝟐 .

27. Tell me how many
you have
(on camera with your
hand or in the chat)

28. Then breakout
groups with
leaders

29. LIST 5 PROPERTIES
OF 𝒇 𝒕 =
𝟓 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝝅𝒕/𝟐 .
• Period: 4
• Amplitude: 5
• Midline: y=0
• Domain: −∞, ∞
• Range: −5,5

30. Small Group
Discussions:
Think-Pair-
Share

31. What is Think-Pair-Share (TPS)?
THINK – Pose a question or
problem for students to think
about, jot down notes about, or
solve on their own for 1-3 minutes.
PAIR – Place students in small
groups or pairs to discuss the
similarities and differences in their
answers and reach a consensus.
SHARE – Ask selected groups or
pairs to share with the class.

32. Synchronous
Documents: For
Sharing the
Assignment to
Groups

33. You be the
grader, but
first do the
problem
[10 points] A population of bacteria grows at a
continuous rate of 8% per hour during an
experiment. If the initial population of bacteria at
the beginning of the experiment is 200, when will
there be 2000 bacteria? Declare the variables and
clearly indicate the model you are using as part of
your solution.

34. Assign the non-camera
students to be the
group leaders/reporter

35. Sample student work in shared doc

36. Tally the
Results

37. Synchronous
Documents:
Brainstorm
Activity

38. Setup Considerations
You should make sure every student has a place to start on
the document without all typing over each other. Suggest
students use different colored text.

39. Setup Considerations
You may want to break students into multiple documents
See Chat Window for Links:
• Last names A-F
• Last names G-M
• Last names N-S
• Last names T-Z

40. Prepare the
Docs Ahead
of Time with
links so that
you can
easily share
in chat.

41. Use a
document
camera to write
questions and
share thoughts
“on the fly”

42. With a
Document
Camera
You can show problems in a book
Walk through completing a worksheet
Share handwritten solutions
Demonstrate experiments
Use math manipulatives

43. Video: To
share or not
to share?

44. Don’t be a jerk. There are plenty
of legitimate reasons students do
not share their cameras
• Bad bandwidth
• People in the room with them
• Feeling ill
• Anxiety
• Don’t want you to see their living space
• Computer doesn’t have a camera (or a
working camera)

45. Nudge students into sharing
cameras if they feel comfortable
• Ask nicely
• Tell them you’re really struggling with teaching to a blank
wall
• Explain that you can’t tell if you’re going too fast unless you
can see some of the students
• Use whiteboards or other props they have to show you
• Ask for nods or head shakes
• Ask for thumbs up when students are done with an activity
• Ask them to give you a hand count (I have 4 properties)

46. How to fairly
engage the
students who
don’t share a
camera?

47. Modified 3-2-1 GO
Non-camera students answer first

48. Modified Think-Pair-Share
Non-camera students are designated as
group leaders / sharers to the whole class.

49. Modified
Whiteboard Work
Pick some aspect of the whiteboard work that is
simple to write to share in the chat window.

50. Co-working
Time with
Student Check
ins

51. Which Group do
you want to be
in?
VIEWERS:
Watch Videos
COLLABORATORS:
Actively Work on Problem Set
(Talk out loud, Use video)
QUIET WORKERS:
Work on Problem Set
(Quietly, Use Chat for Help)

52. Instructor
Help Room
• Pull in students that I need to
talk to about missed
assignments, low grades, etc
• Schedule extra time for exams
• Answer questions from students
• Text MIA students

53. What about
attendance?
• Record the active learning
• Give points for participating
• Students can make up by
watching and sending notes

54. Remote Sessions fail when they don’t actively engage students!!

56. You can do this!
Contact:
Twitter: @busynessgirl
Email: busynessgirl@gmail.com
Curriculum
https://courses.almyeducation.com/
contemporary-algebra-collection

57. Oral
Assessments

58. Primer on
Oral Exams

59. Primer on
Oral Exams