Tips for Zoom HS Style

Why this resource?

Students join live sessions to connect — honor that in the first five minutes!

Learners don’t come to school—especially in virtual settings—already knowing how to behave or what to expect. We have to teach them! We do this by explicitly modeling and teaching appropriate behaviors and effective use of technology tools. It's never too late to start, and multiple touchpoints are a good idea!

classroom management 101

Use what you've got — Zoom’s moderation tools are worth a peek!

Classroom management is a shared responsibility — empower students with a class contract

Click the for details.

Consistent use of instructional routines keep learners active and focused.

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Stategic Pausing

Give them a Signal

Minimize Distractions

Post & Review Expectations Daily

TIps & Tricks

Partner with CTs and LCs

All of these have been used with success here at CCA. Click the for details.

Reinforce Postive Behavior

Model what NOT to do

Back

Brain Breaks

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PD follow ups!

Break out Rooms 101

Resources to Bookmark

Next Level Management

Want more ideas? Reach out to your instructional coach via their bookings link!

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Coaching Support

Click each image to expand to full screen

Brain Breaks

According to research, every 20 to 30 minutes of work for middle and high school students needs a 3-5 minute break.Some ideas:

• Drawing - on a padlet sandbox or even using Zoom annotate tools, finish the drawing
• Scavenger hunt - find something in their surroundings that matches a description (find something that is blue, etc) Most creative wins!
• Show and Tell - learners can show their favorite (pet, food, sibling, etc) on camera)
• Breakout room free chat - put students in breakout rooms for a few minutes and just let them talk
• Calm breathing

More ideas!

Signal options to let students know When it is time to chat or listen

Use verbal cues: "If I say the word “taco” I need everyone to take their hands off their laptop" • "When you hear the word “squirrel” it means you all are distracted and it is time to refocus." • "Everyone post an emoji that shows us you are on task" Use visual cues: Place a traffic light in your presentation to let the learners know what they can chat about.

Signal options to let students know When it is time to chat or listen

• If I say the word “taco” I need everyone to take their hands off their laptop! • When you hear the word “squirrel” it means you all are distracted and it is time to refocus. • Everyone post an emoji that shows us you are paying attention!

Use stategic pausing and take back control

When students are off-task in chat:

1. Pause your instruction.
2. Let them notice and self-correct.
3. Calmly say, “I’m just waiting for us to be ready to learn.”

Do not get upset with them! Just correct them.

Resource list

Here's a list of all the resources used and referenced in this Genially!

Brain Breaks

Zoom Tips

Communication Resource

PD Portal

First Five

Instructional Routines

PD Calendar

Breakout Rooms 101

Use stategic pausing and take back control

When students are off-task in chat:

1. Pause your instruction.
2. Let them notice and self-correct.
3. Calmly say, “I’m just waiting for us to be ready to learn.”

Do not get upset with them! Just correct them.

Other Options:

1. Pause your instruction.
2. Turn off the chat.
3. Calmly say, “We're getting off topic, so we're taking a chat break. I'll turn it back on in a few minutes once we're refocused.”

zoom tips

Other phrases to use to keep learners focused:

• Let's refocus back on the topic.
• I love that you are passionate about ___, but let's focus back on _____.
• Oh 6-7? My mom is 67 years old! (Then back to the topic)

Reinforce Positive Behavior – ignore “attention getting” behavior

Some students have the need to be noticed but maturity is keeping them from doing it the right way.

• Only call names of students who are focused and participating.
• Avoid giving attention to disruptive behavior.
• After class, send a private message via edio: “I love having you in class! I noticed you were really active today. I’d appreciate your help staying on topic so everyone can learn.”

*Extreme behavior should NOT be ignored and should be appropriately addressed as necessary

Partner with Learning Coaches and Caretakers

Reach out via Edio chat or phone (chat is great for transparency).Keep the tone positive:

• “I really enjoy having [Student Name] in class! They bring great energy. I’m reaching out because sometimes their enthusiasm leads to off-topic moments. I’d love your help encouraging them to stay focused so everyone can learn.”
• "[Student’s Name] brings great energy to class and often has insightful things to share. Lately, though, I’ve noticed that they’ve been quite chatty during times during instruction. While I appreciate their enthusiasm and social nature, it’s starting to impact their focus and sometimes distract others in class".

Avoid reaching out when frustrated—wait until you can be calm and constructive.

Brain Breaks

According to research, every 20 to 30 minutes of work for middle and high school students needs a 3-5 minute break. With the length of our classes, adding in a short brain break in the middle of class supports learning and focus.Some ideas:

• Drawing - on a padlet sandbox or even using Zoom annotate tools, finish the drawing
• Scavenger hunt - find something in their surroundings that matches a description (find something that is blue, etc) Most creative wins!
• Show and Tell - learners can show their favorite (pet, food, sibling, etc) on camera)
• Breakout room free chat - put students in breakout rooms for a few minutes and just let them talk
• Calm breathing

More ideas!

Why coaching?

Have you ever just needed a thought partner? Wanted someone to observe your class to see where you could improve your strategies or management? That's what coaches are for!Your coach can:

• Co-plan
• Co-teach
• Brainstorm
• Observe and collect data

The First five

The First Five is a free resource that provides 20+ new activities and ideas each day that focus on classroom connections, care for others, collaborations, and character. They also have archives of all previous activities. Some are brick-and-mortar-based, but others are easily transferable! Click the image to go to their website.

Need some ideas that have worked for CCA teachers?

• A map padlet to drop a pin where learners live
• Complete a puzzle together
• "Would you rather" or "this or that" using chat or zoom poll
• Joke of the day
• Song of the day
• Two truths and one lie on a padlet
• Find something around you that is...then share on camera (a color, a shape, etc)
• Zoom background challenge - change your background to fit a given theme (favorite food, game, candy, something to do with class, etc)

Why coaching?

Have you ever just needed a thought partner? Wanted someone to observe your class to see where you could improve your strategies or management? Wanted to try a new strategy? That's what coaches are for!Your coach can:

• Co-planning
• Co-teaching
• Brainstorming
• Modeling

Click Here

Pd Opportunities

Interested in learning more? Check out our upcoming PD sessions!

Building Classroom Community Small Group - Want to connect with other teachers about how to build classroom community? Join our 8 week small group series at either 7:30 or 3:30 on Tuesdays starting Oct 7th. Check out the links in Frontline below!

3:30

7:30

Want some targeted sessions on what was in this Genially? Come to our Click, Teach, Manage Series! This series will help you with strategies to manage your guided and live sessions! Click the PD calendar for upcoming events. Dates will be listed soon.

PD Calendar

Set Clear Expectationns Daily

We are teaching students how to be responsible citizens, starting with your class! Remind them regularly of what is expected.

Sample Class Expectation List:

• Be kind and respectful
• Be prepared and on time
• Stay on task and be appropriate
• Do not interrupt the learning process
• Ask for help when needed
• Participate in any way you can
• Hype up your classmates when they do a great job

Some things to Consider

• Create an expectation list as a class, give the kids accountability
• Have expectations on share screen at the beginning of every class
• Discuss what each expectation “looks like” in Zoom.
• Let students help define examples.

EduProtocols

EduProtocols are instructional lesson frames that are designed to engage students in learning through critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. There are multiple lesson frames and books. Books 1 and 2 can be found in the library in Sora! Click the book to find them! Templates can be found a variety of places.Once you have a template, you can use a variety of tech tools:

• Padlet Sandbox
• PowerPoint

Put learners in breakout rooms with the expectation that they will finish their slide!

Templates from the book

Templates from DTT

Use Zoom Tools to Minimize Distractions

Explain why these tools are used; students are more cooperative when they understand the purpose.

• Use Focus Mode to limit distractions.
• Set Chat to Host Only or disable it during instruction.
• Teach students how to turn off chat preview pop-ups so they are not distracted by other students.

Partner with Learning Coaches and Caretakers

• Reach out via Edio chat or phone (chat is great for transparency).
• Keep the tone positive:
• “I really enjoy having [Student Name] in class! They bring great energy. I’m reaching out because sometimes their enthusiasm leads to off-topic moments. I’d love your help encouraging them to stay focused so everyone can learn.”
• "[Student’s Name] brings great energy to class and often has insightful things to share. Lately, though, I’ve noticed that they’ve been quite chatty during times during instruction. While I appreciate their enthusiasm and social nature, it’s starting to impact their focus and sometimes distract others in class".
• Avoid reaching out when frustrated—wait until you can be calm and constructive.

There are 3 types of breakout rooms.

• Automatic: Random Groups and Poll to Breakout Rooms
• Manual: Host Selected
• Choice: Participants Choose (and change rooms)

Types

• Create with learners
• Brainstorm (Padlet, Wayground, etc)
• Create as a team
• Post where learners can see (Classroomscreen, Padlet, etc)
• Revist everytime you use breakout rooms
• Start small
• Give learners a clear task

Norms and Expectations

Hosts of BORs can:

• Move freely between BORs-
• View activity in all rooms
• "Broadcast" to all BORs at once
• Close BORs any time (or add a timer)
• Reuse or "Recreate" BORs

Other Considerations:

• Recordings do not capture activity in BORs
• Participants can only chat within their room
• Participants can "ask for help" no matter where the host is

Manage

Why use Breakout Rooms:

• UDL
• Collaborative Learning-
• Differentiation-
• Student-Led Activities-
• Small Group Instruction-
• Intervention
• Literature Circles-and More!

Why?

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Ask students to demonstrate what not to do in class, then reflect

Zoom Don'ts!

• Chat Chaos – Spam the chat with emojis or random words.
• Mic Madness – Unmute and talk over each other.
• Off-Topic Answers – Respond to a question with something totally unrelated.
• Camera Comedy – Turn cameras on and do something silly.
• Name Switcheroo – Change display names to something goofy.
• Emoji Overload – Use reactions nonstop during a serious moment.

Refelction Questions:

• What made these behaviors distracting or unhelpful?
• How do these actions affect classmates and the teacher?
• What are better choices we can make in Zoom?
• Why is it important to follow digital classroom norms?
• How can we help each other stay focused and respectful?

Class Contracts

Class Contracts help build shared responsibility for managing the classroom. Allison used these 4 questions in her own virtual classroom to guide its creation

Contract Template

1. How do you want to be treated by me?2. How do you think I want to be treated by you? 3. How do you want to be treated by each other? 4. What should we do if someone violates the contract?

After students completed and discussed the Padlet, Allison created a slide summarizing the core ideas to display during the opening routine of each synchronous session. At the start of class, students would raise a hand or post an emoji to show agreement with the contract. Throughout the lesson, they could drop an emoji in the chat as a gentle reminder to uphold the agreement and support accountability.

Didn't start the year with a class contract? There is never a bad time to make one!

Post and Review Expectations Daily

Some things to Consider:

• Create an expectation list as a class, give the learners accountability
• Have expectations on share screen at the beginning of every class
• Discuss what each expectation “looks like” in Zoom.
• Let learners help define examples.

Click here for CCA Examples

Use Zoom Tools to Minimize Distractions

Explain why these tools are used; students are more cooperative when they understand the purpose.

• Use Focus Mode to limit distractions.
• Set Chat to Host Only or disable it during instruction.
• Teach students how to turn off chat preview pop-ups so they are not distracted by other students.

zoom tips

Class Contracts

Class Contracts help build shared responsibility for managing the classroom. Allison used these 4 questions in her own virtual classroom to guide its creation

Contract Template

1. How do you want to be treated by me?2. How do you think I want to be treated by you? 3. How do you want to be treated by each other? 4. What should we do if someone violates the contract?

After students completed and discussed the Padlet, Allison created a slide summarizing the core ideas to display during the opening routine of each synchronous session. At the start of class, students would raise a hand or post an emoji to show agreement with the contract. Throughout the lesson, they could drop an emoji in the chat as a gentle reminder to uphold the agreement and support accountability.

Instructional Routines

Learners don't arrive in school, especially in online classes, knowing how to behave and what to expect. We have to teach them. We do that by explicitly teaching them and modeling behaviors and appropriate uses of tech tools.

An example of this is the talking stick. You may have heard of a talking stick before for large group meetings. How about a "talking emoji"? Choose a fun emoji before class to be the "talking emoji" for the day. Have the learners put the emoji in chat and then say, "You have the bread".

Want to learn more? Click the button below to go to another genially to learn even more about instructional routines!

Routines

The First five

The First Five is a free resource that provides 20+ new activities and ideas each day that focus on classroom connections, care for others, collaborations, and character. They also have archives of all previous activities. Some are brick-and-mortar-based, but others are easily transferable! Click the image to go to their website.

Need some ideas that have worked for CCA teachers?

• A map padlet to drop a pin where learners live
• Complete a puzzle together
• "Would you rather" or "this or that" using chat or zoom poll
• Joke of the day
• Song of the day
• Two truths and one lie on a padlet
• find something around you that is...then share on camera (a color, a shape, etc)
• Zoom background challenge - change your background to fit a given theme (favorite food, game, candy, something to do with class, etc)

Reinforce Positive Behavior – ignore “attention getting” behavior

Some students have the need to be noticed but maturity is keeping them from doing it the right way.

• Only call names of students who are focused and participating.
• Avoid giving attention to disruptive behavior.
• After class, send a private message via edio: “I love having you in class! I noticed you were really active today. I’d appreciate your help staying on topic so everyone can learn.”

Instructional Routines

Recent studies show that teachers typically speak for 55% to 90% of classroom time. In high-achieving classrooms, teacher talk takes up less than 55% of instructional time, allowing more space for student activity, while in low-achieving classrooms, it can consume up to 80%-90% of instructional time.

"Predicatablity Predicts Ability"

"Learning is not a Spectator Sport"

In highly effective classrooms, students are often prompted to respond—every 3–5 minutes.

Choose a few go-to instructional routines—like think/pair/share, chat waterfall, or slow chat—and use them consistently.

• Practice each routine through a low-stakes, community-building activity before applying it to content.
• For example: “Let’s try a chat waterfall. Type your favorite food in the chat, but don’t hit send until I say go!”
• The more familiar students become with the routine, the more they’ll focus on learning—not the logistics.

Responses can (and should) come in variety forms.

• Raised hands & Zoom reactions
• Answer polling questions in zoom
• Chatbox or mic responses in zoom
• drawing or annotating in a supplemental program
• Sorting moveable pieces in a supplemental program
• Responding to peers in breakout rooms or a supplemental program like Padlet