Prepare students for online lessons
1 - Before starting the online lessons, make sure the students have the connection link and they know when to connect. Ideally, prepare for them an email with the info and a simple tutorial for the first connection.
2 - Share your teaching philosophy. Highlight how responsibilities and expectations are different online. Underline the values that you think are necessary (e.g. autonomy, diversity, participation, honesty) and the behaviours that manifest those values. Get students to collaboratively develop other specific rules for governing the online classroom.
3 - Model the right tone, be it written or oral communication. Talk, ask, answer in a kind way. Be aware that, sometimes, the style we use in written communication might be read as imperative, especially when it includes CAPITAL LETTERS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!! It is like someone is yelling at you, isn’t it?
4 - Make space for everyone. Even if you have “a way of doing things” that you think is right, the way you will have the most engagement is by giving options and encouraging participation in diverse ways. The online environment offers a multitude of options for everyone to have a word. The shy ones can write their answers in the chat. As the lessons progress, the more safe they will feel, the more they will participate.
5 - Show your human side and teach by being a role model. “Be sure to model the engagement, curiosity, respect and motivation that you are looking for from your students. Be responsive and thorough when students ask questions. Check in to make sure your responses were helpful, and ask clarifying questions when needed to help students ask clear and useful questions.”(4)
6 - With younger students, you might need to underline that you are the same person in the online environment as you are in the classroom.
7 - “Zero unnecessary stress” policy. Underline that if the internet is not working or is slow students should take it easy. Underline the “honesty” value, though - freezing your screen to escape the lesson is not what we mean by problems with the internet. Normalise nervousness - it is ok to feel it, but we will work towards feeling more and more comfortable in the online environment. Encouragement words, constructive feedback, appreciation for the effort are needed, especially considering that body language and gestures are minimal.
8 - Safety in the online environment - make sure you know your institution’s policy and aim at giving the students key info related to their online safety and privacy. Talk about recording (if the case), photos, the policy related to sharing images and videos of the online lessons. As much as possible, bring the “what we discuss here remains here” principle in the online classroom.
9 - Explore and test the tools with your students: introduce the tools you will use, one by one. Give enough space for students to test the tools, even play with them, so that they become confident in using them. Show them how to use the tools and where they can get support or more info. It might happen that some of the students know more about the tools than you - give them space to show you and the other students how to use them. You don’t need to know everything, and more than that: it is IMPOSSIBLE to ever know everything.
10 - Last, but the most important rule: choose carefully what is compulsory and what is negotiable. You might win your students' respect with “compromises” more than with strict behaviour rules. There are teachers that request proper dressing and teachers that allow students to show themselves in their pyjamas. Teachers that allow students to eat or stand up / move during the class, and teachers that forbid it. Don’t forget that your main goal is making students interested and motivated to participate as much as possible. Be curious to find out students’ point of view, and explain your reasons as well. But ultimately - be strict only with what interferes with their learning process.
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