Archive of Teaching Ideas
Remote Teaching Tips
Keep students engaged on Zoom by using games to introduce and review concepts.
Lots of educational games you played in person can be played remotely (Kahoot is a great one, and here are a bunch of templates to build review games)
More ideas here: Ideas to Make Your Synchronous Online Classes More Fun - Faculty Focus
Reflect on your teaching
Tell students to switch to “gallery view” when you’re not sharing your screen to mimic the natural focus on one person at a time. Suggest that students hide the self-view, to remove at least that source of overstimulation/ distraction. Give “screen breaks” every 20 minutes, and tell students to shift their eyes away from the screen and look around their room (looking at their phone doesn’t count!)
More ideas on how to balance your zoom day:
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200421-why-zoom-video-chats-are-so-exhausting
Reflect on your teaching
As we learn more about what works for our students each week, take a few minutes to record your reflections after class, or at the end of each week. Reading these notes will provide helpful details as you prepare to teach again – next week, next year, remotely, or in person.
Set the tone for class by playing music before class starts, while students are working on a writing prompt or other independent task, or during breaks. Choose the music to match the mood you want to set.
Or, make your favorite album cover your zoom background - ask students to do the same and spark an icebreaker discussion
Or, use the music as a timer – for example, let students know that when the music stops playing the break is over (especially good for if students leave the room during breaks to tend to children, get a snack, or just stretch)
Ask students to take a photo over the week of themselves doing something related to self-care (this could be exercising, snuggling with their kids, decompressing with a favorite snack or beverage, walking their dog, binge-watching Tiger King, etc.) – whatever helps them relax and unwind in this difficult time. Be sure to offer examples of what you are doing, as well! They can screen share their photo during class, or you could give them a Google Slide to add to.
Self-care resources to share:
COVID-19 Self-Care: 7 Ways To Indulge Yourself Without Breaking The Budget (from Forbes)
Self-Care: 12 Ways to Take Better Care of Yourself (general self-care tips)
Record on Zoom and upload to your course on D2L. Learn how in this 3 minute video:
https://nl.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=004f86f5-8df7-4bb6-a133-ab8a0148befc.
Starting and Ending Strong
Get to know your students at the start of the term
Student interest surveys - First Day of Class Activity: The Interest Inventory, sample Google form interest survey for students (make a copy and customize your own!)
#Mood icebreaker activity: Have students find an image that represents their mood today (photos, memes, etc.) and add their image to a Google slide deck you share with the class (with their name!). Students can volunteer to briefly explain their choice to the whole class, but you’ll have all of their images either way! Don't forget to share your own!
First-Day Tips from John Frech, Chair of the Business program in UGC
IDEA Blog article about connecting with students early
Cult of Pedagogy post 4-Part System for Getting to Know Your Students
Wrap up the term
Other teaching strategies
Browse below. Questions? Wondering how to make this work for you students? Contact LMantis@nl.edu
Interactive Lecture ideas
Keep students engaged during direct instruction
Interactive Lecture ActivitiesDiscussion to increase understanding of text
Help students break down challenging texts through discussion with their peers.
Working document: Collaborative Learning- Text-based discussion strategies- Fall 2018Student-Led Discussion Strategies
Looking for ways to get your students talking? Here are ways to encourage them to lead the conversation.
Student-led discussion strategiesSupporting English Language Learners
Many of our students are multilingual; here are some tips to on how to support and honor them!
Handout - ELL Classroom Best Practices