Hi, friends! This week, I'm sharing a short training on the first steps towards having your students, of any age, be independent during their lesson. This helps with lowering their frustration level so they concentrate more on learning concepts and skills instead of sitting feeling frustrated that they can't find a certain tool. I'm also sharing a FREE gift to my community this week. Keep reading to learn more about it. 😊
The first thing I do is to talk a little bit about the tools to those students who have no experience with them. This involves first teaching them how to find the tools. I find it best to do this through visuals. I use the whiteboard to draw a meeting bar for them to use as a visual to find their own meeting bar. Then, I guide them to find the word "options". It's ok if they don't know how to pronounce the word. Looking for the "o" is enough for them to find it. 😊
I like to use some "computer confetti"🎉 to celebrate this step. The kids love this! Next, I tell them to click on it so a menu drops down. Again, this is where I explain what a menu is, if they need that explanation, and that it's similar to a menu at a restaurant. I also draw a "menu" on the whiteboard so they can continue to follow along on finding what we are looking for.
Finally, I have them look for the word "an". I bring in my favorite part of teaching at this point, movement. The students move their hands to alert me that they have found this word. 👋 I talked more about movement during lessons HERE in this blog post. After they find this, I continue my explanation of the meaning of this word by telling them it is part of a much larger word called annotation which simply means marking up. Students will press this button to mark-up or draw on the screen. Their toolbar should then show up for them.
Even though this is a step that many of you will skip because you teach older students, it is still good to know strategies to introduce this to those, of any age, that are not familiar with it. In my coaching calls, I have some teachers who are new to Zoom and need to learn all that Zoom has to offer them and their students.
I hope you enjoyed this training video. Look for more trainings to come in the near future. 😊 Comment and let me know what areas you are struggling with. I'd love to help you through a future video training.
I know school is starting back up and many of you are teaching virtual again. Because of all of the struggles teachers may be facing at this time, I decided to offer FREE 10 minute coaching calls to all of you. Sign up HERE for the complementary 10-minute call. Scroll down to the FREE CONSULTATION and click to book. I can't wait to speak with you! Spots are limited, so book today!
Have a great week!
Michelle