Mini-lesson Expectations
Mini-lessons are essential for ensuring continuity in student learning, even when students are absent from a session. Fullmind expects educators to deliver a mini-lesson in any scheduled session where students do not attend. This not only ensures you are compensated for your time, but also provides a valuable opportunity to reinforce key concepts, model effective strategies, and leave students with actionable learning points.
A mini-lesson is required for all sessions when a student is not present. As long as the session(s) are listed on your schedule, educators must attend and leave a mini-lesson to be compensated for their time. A Fullmind mini-lesson must include direct instruction or explicit teaching techniques for the majority of the 15-minute mini-lesson. Mini-lessons should be performed at the end of a class.
What Should a Mini-lesson Include?
A Fullmind mini-lesson must primarily consist of direct instruction or explicit teaching techniques. This 15-minute session should focus on clearly explaining a key concept, demonstrating how to approach a problem, or guiding students through a critical skill. By structuring your mini-lesson this way, you ensure that students can revisit important content that is aligned with state standards and tailored to their grade level.
- For educators in services such as Virtual Suspension Room or Homework Help, mini-lessons should focus on general topics that are relevant to the grade level and subject area. Use your professional judgment and experience to craft a lesson that is both accessible and beneficial for all potential attendees.
Best Practices for Mini-lessons
Plan and Be Ready to Record
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Focused and Achievable: Align your lesson to a key concept or skill and ensure it is achievable within the time frame.
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Targeted Modeling: Demonstrate strategies or thought processes that students should use.
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Think Aloud: Highlight potential misconceptions and guide students through difficult areas.
- Check for Understanding: Use quick checks such as multiple-choice questions, open-ended responses, or prompts like "show your work" to gauge understanding and adjust your instruction accordingly.
- Sessions are programmed to end automatically if there is no educator present for over ten minutes. So please do not leave the session, or allow your computer to go into sleep mode! If your session ends early, please contact Customer Support via Live Chat!
Mini-lesson Recording Process
To record a mini-lesson, unmute your microphone, turn on your camera, and start teaching! All sessions are automatically recorded, so as soon as 20 minutes remain in the session and no students have joined, you can begin.
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Plan for a 15-minute lesson following the guidelines outlined (teach, model, practice, connect).
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Use videos sparingly: Any video clips should be limited to 5 minutes or less and should not take up the entire lesson time.
- Stay for the duration: Ensure that you remain in the session for its entirety, even after delivering your mini-lesson.
Showing videos for an entire mini-lesson is not acceptable and is considered a breach in policy.
- To record a mini-lesson, simply unmute your microphone, turn on your camera, and start!
- All sessions are automatically recorded once you enter the classroom, making it easy for educators to facilitate their lesson immediately when 20 minutes are left in the session!
- Begin recording your mini-lesson in the last 15–20 minutes, if no students have arrived.
- Create a 15-minute lesson (MINIMUM) following the guidelines outlined (teach, model, practice, connect).
- Any video clips used should last 5 minutes or less.
- Remain in the session for its entirety.
Post-session Communication
After recording the mini-lesson, follow up by messaging the student through the internal LMS messenger system. Provide a summary of the lesson content and remind them of the next session date and time. This communication is crucial for maintaining student engagement and keeping them informed about what they missed. By following these guidelines, you help maintain the academic progress of your students and ensure consistent delivery of quality instruction. This also promotes professional engagement and demonstrates your commitment to student success.