Previous Monthly Tips

How can we use different online features to be inclusive, engaging, and awesome?

• Importance of movement breaks: Can you sit for an hour without getting restless? I know I can't, and many of our students feel the same way. The average attention span is typically between 10-15 minutes. Breaking up lessons or activities with a movement break can help wake up the kids who are falling asleep and re-engage the ones who are watching YouTube. Adult participation in movement breaks encourages even our most hesitant students to get involved. They may not turn their cameras on, but when they see the adults up, moving, and being silly, it's more likely they'll participate on the other end of the computer. Encouraging and modelling how to modify movements for varying physical needs is important too. I can't jump because of my back, so I talk to the kids about ways I can still participate. It's great for us too! 

• Google Meet Poll feature: Need a quick check for understanding? Polling the class for their preferred Blooket mode for the next game? Using the Meet Poll feature is fast and sends the results to you! It will arrive in the Google Meet email that provides the Sheet with who was in the Meet that day. There will be a Sheet with the Poll results for your perusal when it's convenient. Within the Meet itself, you can't see who voted in the Poll. But the Sheet will tell you who responded.

How can we use different online features to be inclusive, engaging, and awesome?

• Google Meet Reactions: These can be a huge distraction during class time. Students (and staff!) love to rapidly click that reaction button for the explosion! We get it, it's fun! But the reactions can also be used as an engagement tool, a quick check for understanding, and a means of communication for our students who do not want to unmute or may experience difficulties typing in the chat. 
  
  

• Google Meet Chat: Students have varying communication needs. Many are not comfortable on camera or unmuting in front of their peers. The Meet chat provides a way for these students to participate and communicate understanding. Sometimes the chat gets off topic or online etiquette goes out the window. Take a minute to turn off the the chat. Redirect and remind expectations before turning the chat back on. Keeping the chat closed limits the participation of anxious students, situationally mute students, and others.
  
  

• Daily Feeling Check-Ins: At the start of the day or even after lunch, you can present a slide with a range of emotions characters with associated numbers. Students type in the chat which number they're feeling today. Maybe you create a weekly Google Form for an emotions check-in at the start or end of the week. This check-in is great for us to see how kids are feeling but also provides an opportunity for discussions around identifying tricky emotions and strategies for navigating them.