At the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year I became a virtual teacher. I was certain that the virtual teachers would receive training and a step by step guide on how a virtual classroom should look. I was sadly mistaken, and I had lots to figure out that year. I will share a few tips that helped me navigate as a virtual teacher.

Have multiple screens

Be sure to join your video chat platform on multiple devices. Don’t forget to mute and turn the volume down on one. Having multiple screens enables you to see the students and your screen if you are sharing it. In addition, you may get kicked off of one and it is always helpful to have a backup. (Trust me, it will happen)

Prepare your screens to share

Depending on the video chat platform you are using you may or may not be able to pause your screen share. If that is the case it is helpful to have your next share ready or give your students a short break as you transition. You want to make sure you don’t accidentally display information that may be confidential. If using Zoom, be sure to choose the pause share button as you transition. This way the students still see the display until you take off pause and move to the next screen share.

Monitor the Mic

One of the first rules I established as an online teacher was “Keep your mic on mute.” It can be very distracting if students unmute as they choose. Be sure to establish a signal for students to give you if they need to speak. After establishing the signal, have them wait to be acknowledged and then speak. My class used Google Meet before the “Raise Hand” button was available so I taught my class to raise their actual hand then I would call on them. This does take practice. I had students who would raise their hands and immediately begin speaking. Over time this procedure got better and it really helped us avoid chaos and everyone was able to focus during the lesson.

These are just a few tips to help you get started. Happy teaching!