When will this all end? When can I go back to my regular classroom? What does synchronous teaching mean? How can I teach my students like this with no end in sight? How can I keep zoombombers out? What if a student has to go to the bathroom during a Zoom class? What should I do when a student keeps talking? How can I keep their attention when I’m not in front of them in the same room? How can I stay positive when the world is falling apart?
These are the most common questions I have received after my last post inviting your online teaching questions. There is a definite theme of wanting to know when we can fast forward and go back to “normal.” I wish I knew when this would all end. I wish I knew when you could go back to your regular classroom with your students. I wish I knew what the new normal will look like for all the teachers who are missing their traditional classrooms.
We know schools are planning for social distancing and discussing online and blended learning for the fall. We hear scientists talking about vaccines and antibodies. We know that more information is needed to adequately prepare schools and communities for the future impact of this virus. It has become very clear that the only certainty we have at this time is the uncertainty of it all. Despite the uncertainty, we can see overwhelming evidence that humanity still exists even in pandemic times.
A few days ago, I was surprised to find a May Day basket of flowers outside my door delivered by my neighbors. We have neighbors volunteering to shop for the elderly and immunocompromised neighbors. One person is giving away extra toilet paper. Another is making fabric masks and placing them outside her house for others to pick up for free. Families are going for more walks, longer bike rides, and having more movie nights at home together. So while we are eager to get back to “normal,” it is encouraging to embrace the good energy that is surfacing right now.
This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Teachers, we appreciate you and value your dedication. I know you miss your whiteboards or your smartboards or whatever boards that you had in your traditional classrooms. While I do not have a crystal ball to know when you can go back to your old classrooms (or when I can get an actual haircut), I can answer your online teaching questions and also teach you how to use the virtual whiteboards in Zoom.
First, let’s keep things in perspective. In the big scheme of things, especially during a pandemic, do all of your Zooms need to be perfect? So you forgot to turn your mic on. Or your dog barked at the mail delivery person while you were talking in Zoom. Or you forgot how to record or where to go to find the recording. Or your students did not participate very much, or maybe they talked way too much. Or perhaps your students all tried to prank you by pretending they could not hear you, so you kept saying, "Can you hear me?" over and over until one kind student finally nodded.
Hang in there if any of the above situations sound familiar. Read the following tips and tricks for synchronous, live sessions and feel free to share this post with your teacher friends!
Zooming: 7 Tips for Teachers
1. Acclimate Yourself to Zoom
Have a test session with a friend even if you have been zooming for a few weeks. It is a great way to check out the tools that you are hesitant to try during a live class. Also, be sure to join your live sessions a few minutes early to check your connection and video/audio settings. Make sure that there are no lighting issues so your students can see you clearly. Since you are the host, you can choose in your account's meeting settings to mute participants as they enter the session to avoid a cacophony of sounds until you are ready. To avoid zoombombing, you can require a password for your sessions, or you can enable the waiting room feature to only allow approved participants to enter the main room. If you are ready to streamline your Zooming, I have included the most recent list of Zoom shortcuts at the end of this post.
2. Plan for Interaction
Similar to your traditional classroom, you need a lesson plan. And you cannot expect online student interaction to happen organically. You need to plan for lecture time, discussion time, virtual field trip time, activity time, polling time, and more. Be aware of how much you are speaking in Zoom and how one-sided your session may be for students. In addition, remember how important flexibility is while teaching, especially in the online space. While the mute-everyone-but-the-teacher feature has captivated many teachers at first use, remember how important it is to engage your students in the lesson and share their ideas. In case you need it, here is the helpful shortcut for the much loved mute-everyone-but-the-teacher feature: Command+Control+M (Mac) or Alt+M (PC).
3. Use the Interactive Tools
Show your students how to raise their virtual hands to alert you if they have questions (Mac shortcut Option+Y or Alt+Y on PC). Also, show them the reactions and emojis that they can select to show their feelings on a topic or question. You can ask students to type in the chat privately to you or to the whole group. Utilize the whiteboard (click Share Screen and choose Whiteboard) where you can draw or type something for your students or have them do the same. You can now save the whiteboard without taking a screenshot - just click Save on the toolbar. Where do all your saved files and recordings go? Click on Documents and you should see a Zoom folder. Within that folder are all your Zoom files organized in subfolders by date. You can even Zoom with the eels in Tokyo right now. The Tokyo eels are apparently starved for human interaction (sound familiar?), so there is a request for Zoom calls to wave and talk to the eels.
4. Be Aware of Unexpected Guests
While Zoombombing guests can be quarantined in virtual waiting rooms or locked out with passwords, I am talking about a different kind of unexpected guest. In 2008, during my first year of online teaching, my teaching colleague’s husband just happened to walk behind her during a live class. You may be wondering, “So what? That’s life!” Well, I should add that he was only wearing a towel because he had just gotten out of the shower. Her teen students immediately reacted to their unexpected class guest. It is important to know what is behind you. After this incident, the school administrator suggested having a wall behind you when using Zoom to limit the rogue participants. That continues to be a good suggestion.
5. Consider Your Virtual Background
A Chicago teacher messaged that she is teaching from her laundry room during the pandemic and has a beautiful backdrop of her family’s laundry baskets and the washer/dryer combo. Her favorite pandemic tip is that she has started using a virtual background in Zoom to block out the laundry baskets. She now has a backdrop of her favorite city’s skyline. To do this while in Zoom, select Preferences (Mac shortcut Command+comma or Alt+comma for PC) and select Virtual Background. There you can choose one of the Zoom backgrounds or upload your own favorite. This is a great tip, but please remember the virtual backgrounds do not block out unexpected people walking by in towels.
6. Discuss Online Etiquette and Expectations
Just as you likely had some classroom rules in the traditional classroom environment, you should have some for your online classroom. Be clear about expectations such as arriving to class on time. Remind your students to raise their virtual hands if they have questions or comments. Model appropriate comments and reinforce positive behaviors. Ask students and parents to limit background noise (TV, games, music) if possible. You may have parents or siblings listening in during class. Encourage parents to have their children participate independently while also making sure they stay focused during class. And remember to check your own teacher expectations at the virtual door -- this is an unprecedented crisis learning time.
7. Don’t Zoom in the Bathroom
Does this one need an explanation? One teacher told me about a student who thought he could Zoom from the bathroom without anyone noticing. She sent me a message about it and wanted a reminder sent out to everyone Zooming during the pandemic! It should not be assumed that your Generation Z or Generation Alpha students know how to use Zoom without some guidance. Hopefully you do not need this tip, but you may need to remind your students.
Thanks for your questions! Hope this post is helpful. Feel free to add more of your questions to the Submit Your Questions Here page. And see below for the most recent list of Zoom shortcuts for those of you wanting to streamline your Zooming.
List of Zoom Shortcuts
For Mac Users
Command(⌘)+J: Join Meeting
Command(⌘)+Control+V: Start Meeting
Command(⌘)+J: Schedule Meeting
Command(⌘)+Control+S: Screen Share via Direct Share
Command(⌘)+Shift+A: Mute/unmute audio
Command(⌘)+Control+M: Mute audio for everyone except the host (only available to the host)
Command(⌘)+Control+U: Unmute audio for everyone except host (only available to the host)
Space: Push to talk
Command(⌘)+Shift+V: Start/stop video
Command(⌘)+Shift+N: Switch camera
Command(⌘)+Shift+S: Start/stop screen share
Command(⌘)+Shift+T: Pause or resume screen share
Command(⌘)+Shift+R: Start local recording
Command(⌘)+Shift+C: Start cloud recording
Command(⌘)+Shift+P: Pause or resume recording
Command(⌘)+Shift+W: Switch to active speaker view or gallery view, depending on current view
Control+P: View previous 25 participants in gallery view
Control+N: View next 25 participants in gallery view
Command(⌘)+U: Display/hide Participants panel
Command(⌘)+Shift+H: Show/hide In-Meeting Chat Panel
Command(⌘)+I: Open invite window
Option+Y: Raise hand/lower hand
Ctrl+Shift+R: Gain remote control
Ctrl+Shift+G: Stop remote control
Command(⌘)+Shift+F: Enter or exit full screen
Command(⌘)+Shift+M: Switch to minimal window
Ctrl+Option+Command+H: Show/hide meeting controls
Ctrl+Shift+R: Gain remote control
Ctrl+Shift+G: Stop remote control
Ctrl+\: Toggle the "Always Show meeting controls" options in Settings/Accessibility
Command(⌘)+W: Prompt to End or Leave Meeting
Chat Shortcuts
Command(⌘)+K: Jump to chat with someone
Command(⌘)+T: Screenshot
General Shortcuts
Command(⌘)+W: Close the current window
Command(⌘)+L: Switch to Portrait or Landscape View, depending on current view
Ctrl+T: Switch from one tab to the next
For Windows Users
F6: Navigate among Zoom popup windows.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift: Move focus to Zoom's meeting controls
PageUp: View previous 25 video stream in gallery view
PageDown: View next 25 video stream in gallery view
Alt: Turn on/off the option Always show meeting control toolbar in Accessibility Settings
Alt+F1: Switch to active speaker view in video meeting
Alt+F2: Switch to gallery video view in video meeting
Alt+F4: Close the current window
Alt+V: Start/Stop Video
Alt+A: Mute/unmute audio
Alt+M: Mute/unmute audio for everyone except host Note: For the meeting host only
Alt+S: Launch share screen window and stop screen share Note: Will only work when meeting control toolbar has focus
Alt+Shift+S: Start/stop new screen share Note: Will only work when meeting control toolbar has focus
Alt+T: Pause or resume screen share Note: Will only work when meeting control toolbar has focus
Alt+R: Start/stop local recording
Alt+C: Start/stop cloud recording
Alt+P: Pause or resume recording
Alt+N: Switch camera
Alt+F: Enter or exit full screen
Alt+H: Display/hide In-Meeting Chat panel
Alt+U:Display/hide Participants panel
Alt+I: Open Invite window
Alt+Y: Raise/lower hand
Alt+Shift+R: Gain Remote Control
Alt+Shift+G: Stop Remote Control
Ctrl+2: Read active speaker name
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H: Show/Hide floating meeting controls
Alt+Shift+T: Screenshot
Switch to Portrait/Landscape View: Alt+L
Ctrl+W: Close current chat session
Ctrl+Up: Go to previous chat
Ctrl+Down: Go to next chat
Ctrl+T: Jump to chat with someone
Ctrl+F: Search
Ctrl+Tab: Move to the next tab (right)
Ctrl+Shift+Tab: Move to the previous tab (left)
Happy Zooming!
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