Create an exercise for students to complete as they wait for class to begin.

• Consider giving students something to think about/begin to respond to in the chat, such as:

  • A phrase or quote to think about.

  • An image to look at.

  • A url that you posted for them in the chat that takes them to a short video for them to watch.

  • A question about the material you asked them to read in preparation for class.

  • A question that you plan to discuss in class that day.

Students can use the chat function or a Google doc to suggest discussion questions about the reading they were assigned.

Students can use the chat function or a Google doc to record any ‘muddy’ points that you can use to start the class.

Play music!

Welcome all your students (again)!

• (Re)introduce yourself.

• Ask students to (re)introduce themselves.

  • This might be an opportunity for students to:

    • Share questions they have about the course.

    • Feelings of anxiety they are experiencing.

Have a discussion about using cameras and recording sessions.

Use the phrase/quote/image/question that you posted in the chat and/or any responses you received from students to start a discussion.

Address any ‘muddy’ points that students listed in the chat to clarify and review topics.

Use polling software to start the class.

• Use polling to ask a question about the pre-class-chat exercise.

• Ask students’ opinions about the day’s topic to spark interest.

Share with students:

• What the day will look like.

• What constitutes participation.

Look straight into the camera, so that you’re talking directly to your students. It will help them (and you) feel more connected.

Be inclusive, try not to call on the same people.

Tell students that it’s okay for them to turn off their cameras, but they must participate.

Have students take turns monitoring the chat.

Do metacognitive checks, e.g., questioning, short benchmark check-in, quick write.

• Can ask students to write their answer in a Word doc or in the chat and then share (helps with engagement.)

Weave material together.

• Link concepts and give students opportunities to make connections.

• Link comments that students make to content and ask them to do that, as well.

Explore the answers and consider drilling down on some of the topics raised by the class or in individual group discussions.

For lectures, group work, discussions, and presentations:

• Use break-out rooms.

• Use Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Quizzes.

• Gamify! e.g., Jeopardy, Kahoot, matching game for definitions of terms, etc.

Review (revise, if necessary) ground rules.

Decide who will facilitate the discussion.

• Invite students to take turns moderating the chat function, facilitating discussions, etc.

Invite students to engage in a private chat with another students in the class to discuss the question before the larger discussion takes place.

Using real-time writing while in class.

• BEFORE the discussion: Ask students to take two minutes to respond to the discussion question by writing their position and reason(s).

• AFTER the discussion: Ask students to revisit the position and reason(s) they had before the discussion and respond to whether their position has changed and why.

Use a poll to ask the contestable question before the discussion begins.

Invite shyer students to post their position(s) and reason(s) in the chat box.

Consider asking students to track the discussion, summarize the discussion at strategic points, i.e., when there are multiple positions to track, etc.

Share your ground rules for discussions (by type).

Invite students to help co-create ground rules and best practices for discussions.

• Students can record their ideas in a document asynchronously or on a slide during the class as they are being created.

When should we use a whole-class discussion vs a small-group discussion?

Should students be muted/unmuted? (synchronous)

Should everyone be required to participate?

Will students be required to raise their hands in Zoom? Should students nominate one another? (synchronous)

Create evaluation criteria.

• Consider asking your students to create these criteria as a whole class or in small groups using Google Docs.

• How do I know if I’ve contributed in a meaningful way, in-person? online?

• What are the criteria for students’ posts and the replies to other students’ posts?

• What should be included to make it a great post?

Offer students a choice of discussion prompts to respond to.

For asynchronous discussions, allow students to choose the way they reply to the prompt, i.e., written, audio, video.

Use alternatives to online discussions like using Perusal to annotate a document or Google docs to share their thoughts.

Fact-based questions that have an easy answer are closed questions, and are not really great discussion questions.

Think about contestable questions that can help students think about two (or more) sides of an issue.

These can often be crafted by starting with the word ‘should'.

• For example, ‘Should Corporation A have made the strategic move it made?’

Require students to offer their position/claim AND support the position or claim with evidence/reasons.

At the end of the discussion, facilitate a meta-analysis of the discussion. You can ask the group:

• Did everyone participate?

• Did we offer positions and support them with reasons?

• Did we follow the line of inquiry?

As a class, create follow-up strategies for future discussions and revise the ground rules, if necessary.

Share ground rules (or co-create them with students).

• Should students turn off their mics?

• Should students raise their hands using the function in Zoom?

• Should students type their questions into the chat box? Should someone moderate the chat box?

Scaffold presentations by sharing key elements of a successful presentation and inviting students to practice in break-out rooms.

• Suggest that students embed a poll in their presentation.

Assign mini projects and have students give 2-3 minute presentations.

Invite students to create a presentation rubric.

If you want everyone to see the presentation, you can:

• Ask students to do their presentation ‘live’ using Zoom either in break-out rooms or to the whole class.

• Ask student to record their presentation and share the link. Students can use their cellphone cameras.

Give students specific protocols to follow during the presentation. Whether whole-class or in break-out rooms:

• How much time will each student get?

• Who will keep the time?

During presentations, give students a concrete task.

• Whether in person or recorded, ask students to use a rubric to offer feedback.

• Ask students to make connections between the presentation and the course content.

Ask students to reflect on what they’ve just learned or read.

• They can respond to prompts such as:

  • “Analyze a key idea from today’s reading.”

  • “Contrast a key idea from today’s reading with one from last week’s reading.”

• You can ask students to record their responses in an individual Google doc or create a video response.

• Use polling to end class.

  • You can use the polling feature in Zoom, Poll Everywhere or Google Quizzes to create an exit slip.

  • You can ask questions, such as:

    • ‘What did you learn today?’

    • ‘What would you like to know more about?’

    • ‘What was the ‘muddiest’ point?’

    • ‘What grade would you give yourself for today for participation? Explain why.’

Assign students to break-out rooms and give each group a different problem to work through. Then, reconvene the class and ask each group to share their solutions with the class.

Ask the class a contestable questions and ask students to begin their discussions in small groups. Then, have a whole-class discussion during which everyone shares their (group) perspective.

Present an issue or ask a question with multiple parts or ‘angles’. Assign a different one to each group or ask each group to choose one. Have each group discuss their issue/question and then share their positions and supporting reasons during the whole-class discussion.

Encourage students to use white boards in Zoom break-out sessions to work on problems, record perspectives and positions, and list evidence or reasons.

• They can share their solutions with the whole class when you reconvene the class.

• They can meet with each other outside of class and use Zoom to work through problems, etc., with their peers.

Students can use Zoom to role play an interview, a client meeting, etc.

Students can create Zoom sessions using their own accounts and meet to do a group project, to have a study session, etc.

Regardless of the format, always provide specific protocols and a specific outcome.