ZOOM FOR EDUCATORS HOW TO NAVIGATE, EDUCATE, AND INSPIRE IN YOUR NEW VIRTUAL CLASSROOM
Created with love by Cassie Harden Scott, a former special educator with over five years experience training teachers around the world using Zoom!
A virtual classroom?!Â
I can't even. Deep breaths. Even if you're not the "techsavvy" teacher, you have an opportunity to explore a new way of thinking and teaching in a virtual classroom! Be patient with yourself, and use this guide (created by a teacher for teachers) as a reference for getting started with the virtual meeting platform, Zoom!
getting started
TIP ONE | Don't be scared of Zoom, it's uh-mazing. Teachers you get this for free now, which is incredible! Start by going to zoom.com to create a basic (free) account. If your school has already been pre-approved and your Zoom Basic account is linked to your school email address, you’ll get a notification when you log in. If you didn't get this notification, tell your school to contact Zoom!
TIP TWO | Prep your students. (Or they'll cry "technical difficulties!" all month) Students are not required to have a Zoom account and can join classes using the links sent from the teacher (I'll tell you how to send links in this review). But, for the best experience, every user should download the Zoom application on their preferred device Mac, Windows, iOS, or Android.
TIP THREE | Create a virtual "circle time" for grown-ups! Ask 3 - 5 friends to be your practice classroom. Why not host grown-up "circle time" with some friends and see how it goes? Even if you're teaching them how to make a margarita or discussing the last season of Game of Thrones, do a practice run and ask for feedback!
TIP FOUR | Be confident... even if you're faking it. Your students will be patient and understanding... for about a minute. You need to "walk" into your virtual classroom with the same confidence you have in the real one. Repeat after me, FAKE IT 'TIL YOU MAKE IT!!
STEP ONE
HOST a meeting Once you've logged into your Zoom account, look in the top right corner and click "HOST A MEETING" to make your classroom live.
OR schedule your class in the Zoom application for your desired date/time and copy the invitation details to send to your students.
First Pop-Up!
Second Pop-Up! Zoom wants to know how you'll be speaking and listening, so be sure to click "JOIN WITH COMPUTER AUDIO" You will see an option to test your microphone in this pop-up if you wish!
After clicking "With Video On," you'll see a pop-up asking if you would like to open the meeting in the application. Click "OPEN ZOOM MEETINGS" If you haven't already downloaded the Zoom app to your device, you will be prompted with instructions to do so at this point.
STEP TWO
INVITE the class There are two main ways to invite others to join your virtual class. Either: 1 | Send them an email directly from the live Zoom meeting or 2 | Copy the URL link (from live or scheduled meeting), then paste it into an email, or your Google Classroom as an announcement. Don't forget to list the date and time!
This is my preference! You get to be in control of the messaging!
LOGGING-ON tips!
start early But not too early ASK FOR HELP
Log in, host your meeting, and get into your virtual classroom about 20 minutes early. This way, you can troubleshoot before students login.
Email the link to students 15 minutes before it starts so they're not searching through old emails looking for it. And 15 minutes is early enough they have time to get online!
Ask a student or maybe a supportive parent to be ready to reach out to anyone who isn't on the call, and make sure they have the link ready to send! Be sure to create an attendance plan before you start class.
STEP THREE
MANAGE "ARRIVALS" As students or attendees join your class, you, as the host, have the control over the environment. Start by clicking "MANAGE PARTICIPANTS" at the bottom of the screen, then click the "more" down arrow.
I would encourage you to mute participants on entry!
Also! In the "more" down arrow in the chat window, you can control with whom students are allowed to chat!
Welp, they're all here...
NOW WHAT?! Can virtual classrooms really be engaging, exciting, and participatory? Actually, virtual learning can be more exciting in many ways if you know how to use the technology. Zoom has countless features you can use to help your students own their role in class and engage in new ways! In fact, you may find that students who are hesitant in a room full of peers are more eager to speak up in a virtual class!
STEP FOUR
MEET THE FEATURES Remember the "grown-up circle time" I suggested? Explore all of the Zoom tools with your friends and play around with these features! From whiteboard doodles to virtual backgrounds (yep, you can teach from Hogwarts this year) a virtual classroom may be just the highlight of your year.
CHAT POLLING ATTENTION TRACKING WHITE BOARD BREAKOUT ROOMS VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS
Zoom is one of the only platforms giving entire control to the host!
CHAT POLLING ATTENTION TRACKING WHITE BOARD BREAKOUT ROOMS VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS
Who's steering this ship-show?!
the captain The first features you need to master are all about encouraging and managing the participants. With whom they talk, when they participate... you can even see if they're pretending to participate. In other words, master these tools; you're the captain.
CAPTAIN TOOLS
set IT UP! First, while logged in, click "My Account" in the top right corner. Then, on the left panel under Personal, click "Settings" Finally, click "Meetings," where you discover options to activate the CHAT and POLLING features!
LIVE CHAT Enable the chat feature to consistently engage, check in, ask questions, and encourage attending.
POLLING Once you've enabled polling, you'll need to create polls ahead of time in your scheduled meetings.
CREATING A NEW POLL Go to the Meetings page and click on your scheduled meeting. If you do not have a scheduled meeting, schedule a meeting now. From the meeting management page, scroll to the bottom to find the Poll option. Click Add to begin creating the poll. Play around with options! You can make it anonymous, multiple choice, many choice, or anything you want really!
*IMPORTANT* You will need to have a poll already created for the scheduled meeting. You CANNOT launch a live poll in the moment.
LAUNCHING A POLL Start the scheduled Zoom meeting that has polling enabled. Select the Polling option in the menu bar. Select the poll you would like to launch. Click Launch Poll.
ATTENTION TRACKING Y'ALL. You can see if your students are ignoring you and viewing other browsers while you're screen-sharing.
Whether it’s a video, a powerpoint, or your desktop, if Zoom is not the app in focus on a student’s computer, you will see a clock indicator next to their name in the Participant box In the "In Meeting (Advanced)" section, click the toggle to turn it and see if it works!
Note: the attention tracker only works when you're sharing your screen. If you're teaching a lesson using screenshare or whiteboard, you'll see a little clock icon by the students ignoring you!
Make me a bicycle, CLOWN!! CHAT POLLING ATTENTION TRACKING WHITE BOARD BREAKOUT ROOMS VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS
kEEPING IT FUN! When you're leading a virtual classroom, you can't just stand up front and do a Chewbacca impression when you want to get their attention... But you do have some tools in Zoom which can be fun and entertaining if you get creative!
ENTERTAINING TOOLS
SET IT UP! Make sure you've enabled the Whiteboard feature in your settings under "In Meeting (basic)" You can enable Breakout Rooms in "In Meeting (Advanced)" and then you'll see a four-quadrant square in your toolbar. For now, let's get started with the Whiteboard feature!
This screen will actually be your camera. I just thought we could pretend we're at a baseball game in the spring... just for a minute.
WHEN YOU CLICK SCREENSHARE You'll see all of these "screens" you can share with your class. Click Whiteboard to open the virtual whiteboard -- which is perfect for writing out math problems, drawing, or whatever you fancy in the moment!
AND, you can save all of your beautiful creations! Just click "SAVE" in the top right corner of the Whiteboard toolbar and email your lessons (or the 9-legged cat you drew) to your entire class!
BREAKOUT ROOMS Breakout Rooms allow you to split your Zoom meeting into as many as 50 separate sessions!
Once you've enabled it in your settings, you'll see this icon on your toolbar during the live class.
The meeting host can choose to split the participants of the meeting into these separate sessions automatically or manually, and can switch between sessions at any time. Up to 50 breakout rooms can be created. Breakout room participants have full audio, video and screen share capabilities.
From here, follow the prompts – but try this with friends before class! There are many options to explore and you may want to play around with it!
VIRTUAL BACKGROUND
SET IT UP! The virtual background feature allows you to display an image or video as your background during a Zoom Meeting. If you have a green sheet you can hang behind you, even better! You can also upload your own images or videos as a virtual background. There are no size restrictions, but you may need to crop when you set it up!
HOST WITH FRIENDS FIRST
EMBRACE ZOOM WITH LOVE
FINAL tips!
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Zoom was designed to connect remote teams working in large-scale corporate environments. You have an incredibly innovative tool in your hands; love it!
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FAKE IT TIL YOU MAKE IT
HAVE FUN WITH IT!
Don't tell your students you're bad at this... Own the learning curve and show them what it looks like to step into challenge and changes – powerfully.
This is a challenging time for everyone. Make it fun, try some new ideas, and see where it takes you. This is your chance to be Miss (or Mr.) Frizzle!!
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BE PATIENT, LOVING, AND KIND
LOOK FOR THE CHANGES 3
I'm telling you: a grown-up circle time would be SO MUCH FUN and will give you a chance to play around with everything you're hesitant to test in class.
Don't miss what's possible by focusing on what's predictable. Sure, some students may act out in this time, but others will shine in the virtual classroom – who is coming out of their shell in this new setting?
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Starting with yourself: We don't know what's ahead, but we know that we're in this together. You're taking on A LOT here. Don't forget to thank yourself for being a freaking superhuman and for changing the actual planet right now.
don't forget... Everything you'll ever need is in settings, or here in your toolbar. CLICK ON EVERYTHING and see what happens!
HERE I AM BEFORE QUARANTINE. You know what I like to do now? Start my calls with video off so they see this picture... then switch to 'video on' to reveal the quarantined behemoth that I am today.
Ju in y ed
MORE INFO There are countless articles in Zoom's blog with more detailed instructions for how to use the many tools available in your account. Just get started and embrace this opportunity to learn and teach in a whole new way.