Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1278320
Virtual Meeting Netiquette H A V E Y O U R S T U D E N T S follow simple guidelines to get the most out of Zoom or Google Meet classrooms: • Find a quiet area, free from distractions and busy backgrounds, for your video conference. • When you enter the video call (Zoom, Meet, etc.) always mute yourself. Keep your microphone on mute, if you aren't talking. • Think before you type or speak, just as you would in real life. • Stay focused and engaged. Pay attention to your teacher or other students who are speaking. • Display appropriate behavior and digital citizenship. —Bhavini Patel BHAVINI PATEL Palm Springs Teachers Association Informational technology TOSA for Palm Springs Unified and former fifth grade teacher at Two Bunch Palms Elementary. She is a Google Certified Trainer and Apple Teacher, and has completed National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T ) certification. • For productive Zoom classes, start with teaching "netiquette" (see sidebar) and set high expectations. Students may need multiple opportunities to practice and positive reinforcement for successful online experiences. Break content into smaller chunks, and include multimedia in your instruction, just like in the classroom. • When it comes to fostering engagement, I love that Zoom has the whiteboard feature to annotate on screen share. Zoom breakout rooms allow students to communicate and collaborate on projects. I like how the host (teacher) can jump in among the different breakout rooms during their Zoom session, to monitor student progress and answer questions. • It's important to hold online office hours for both parents and students. Using tools like Google Calendar or youcanbook.me for appointment slots makes the scheduling easy. It's imperative to check in with students for their social and emotional needs. Parents can schedule appointments to discuss their own needs — including support with technical aspects or to discuss strengths and weaknesses their child is facing in relation to remote learning. • Build relationships. Make sure kids have a way to communicate with you and feel supported and cared about. Sometimes online, we tend to make every lesson about content or subject matter, but we should also have fun together. Zoom can be their time to be social together. Ask them to "check in." Play games with Quizizz or Gimkit. • Have an organized delivery sys- tem, whether you are using Google Classroom or another learning management system. I use a weekly planner on Google Slides so I can lay out the scope of the week for students and parents. It avoids chaos when students can see what is expected during the week, and it helps teachers stay organized, too. • Keep it simple. You don't need to make it grandiose or complicated. Find that happy place where kids know what to do. There is a temp- tation to do full-on project-based learning. But ask yourself whether stu- dents have the resources at home to do that. Do they have a parent to help them? Keep it real. With online learning during a pandemic, there may be limitations. "Sometimes online, we tend to make every lesson about content or subject matter, but we should also have fun together." " Students may need multiple opportunities to practice and positive reinforcement for successful online experiences." 27 A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0