Session Planning 

Greet each student as they arrive: Learning names can be tough, but your students will feel very welcome in your sessions if you can remember their names and greet them as they come in each session. For your first couple of sessions, try to incorporate a fun icebreaker so that you can learn your students names and a little bit about them.

Come prepared: If you plan to do an intricate game, or go over a practice exam with your students; make sure you bring enough materials to accommodate your whole session. Remember, it's better to bring too many handouts than not enough.  Use your office time to plan ahead and gather materials. 

It's ok to be nervous at first: For some of you this may be your first semester as an SI Leader for in person sessions, or your first experience speaking in front of others. At first it can be difficult to find your voice, but remember your students are coming to see you because they trust you.  You'll find your footing quicker than you realize, and your SI point person and peers are here to help!

Don't be afraid to call the session to order: Sometimes sessions can get loud and out of hand if there are a lot of students, and an exam is coming up. If your students are broken up into collaborative groups, they'll unknowingly be trying to talk over each other and it may get loud. If that's the case, don't be afraid to call the session to order and ask for the volume to turn down.

Stay in touch with the students-  From time to time, ask your professor if you can make an announcement to remind students of your SI sessions. Provide students with an overview of what will be covered in SI.  Sending a newsletter style email each week through Blackboard can be helpful too.  

Talk with the students- If you are engaged with the students, they will more likely be engaged with you.  In an online format, engagement is difficult. Use the SI techniques of checking for understanding and redirecting questions to other students to encourage engagement.  

Be yourself- Use warmth in your conversations, i.e “Thank you for your work in this session, I know this material is difficult to manage.  Just a reminder to take the class quizzes to help you be more successful in the class.”  Or “feel free to bring your questions to SI, this is where we will all work together to solve any problems.  Your questions could help others too.”

Look for ways to improve- Ask students how you can improve an SI session, share information and content with other SI Leaders in your discipline.  

Turn on your webcam and encourage other attendees to do the same! If you do not have a webcam, we can requisition one for you.

Have all students mute their microphone- To avoid feedback or unexpected noises in the background.

Show up for the SI session- Combat feelings of isolation and increase motivation by having a regularly scheduled session, and synchronous sessions that are organized and inviting.

Schedule time to plan- Use your current office time to schedule what to go over in your SI sessions.  Plan your sessions to scaffold the content using easier content first and going into more complicated content.  Organize intuitively.

Post announcements or send emails- Provide students with an overview of what will be covered in SI.  Review from a past class, or covering topics from today are good ways to do this.   

Utilize a question/answer document- Share the document with the students so they can ask questions whenever they have a question.  Work together with all the students to answer these questions in your SI session. 

Talk with the students- If you are engaged with the students, they will more likely be engaged with you.  In an online format, engagement is difficult. Use the SI techniques of checking for understanding and redirecting questions to other students to encourage engagement.  

Be yourself- Use warmth in your conversations, i.e “Thank you for your work in this session, I know this material is difficult to manage.  Just a reminder to take the class quizzes to help you be more successful in the class.”  Or “feel free to bring your questions to SI, this is where we will all work together to solve any problems.  Your questions could help others too.”

Be human- Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.  Do not feel that you have to be perfect to hold the online study session.  Students appreciate seeing your face or hearing your voice.

Create visual appeal- If referencing material, share your screen so everyone can follow along. Provide opportunities for students to add to visuals as well such as submitting questions or drawing on a virtual whiteboard.

Look for ways to improve- Ask students how you can improve an SI session, share information and content with other SI Leaders in your discipline.