Google Meet Tips for Teachers

With schools closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, many of us are faced with a new “normal” of distance teaching and learning. We’ve recreated our classrooms at home, and are teaching our students virtually. But it’s so NOT the same as seeing them in real life. Their laughs, their stories, their interruptions of your read aloud to tell you that their hamster is brown… nothing’s the same. A lot of us are turning to video chatting platforms to see and talk to our kids in real time, and it brings the joy back for a few moments! If you’re using a video chatting platform like Google Meet to talk with your kids like I am, here are some of my top Google Meet tips for teachers.

Tip One

Sign on early incase some of your kids get there a few minutes early: I logged on about 10 minutes early, and kids logged on early during each session. It was nice to have some time to chat one on one with them [and I also didn’t want groups of kids logging on early and not being monitored]… I did find this article about how to keep kids from logging on to meets before you’re there and rejoining once you’ve left, so I’ll definitely be trying this out next time!

Tip Two

Give your kids a few minutes of talk time at the beginning: I let everyone chat for the first 5 minutes as kids were signing in to the meet. They mostly said hi, showed everyone the teeth that they lost, and pointed out their crying siblings. It was nice to see them look in awe at their friends on the screen.

Tip Three

Use the mute button once everyone is there and have kids un-mute themselves when it’s their turn to talk: It gets pretty chaotic with all of the background noise, so I muted all of the kids myself. Then, when it was time for someone to share, they un-muted themselves (some needed help from grownups), shared, and muted themselves again. It allowed everyone else in the meet to hear each other better.

Tip Four

Leave a few minutes at the end for students who have anything else they want to share before time is up, even if it’s unrelated: These kids have been missing you and their friends so much, and they have SO much to share! Some kids have waited the whole time to tell you about the stuffed animal in their lap, the seeds that they planted, or the new cowboy hat that they got. Give them a few minutes at the end to tell you.

Tip Five

Start with a small group, not your whole class: Chatting in a Google Meet is much different than chatting in real life, and it’s very distracting! Try it out with a small group (I did 5 meets with 5 students) before you do it with your whole class. I actually don’t think I will ever do it with all of my kids at the same time!

Tip Six

Be prepared with things to talk about or an activity to do, because some of your kids will get really shy: Even your chattiest kids will get camera shy, so make sure you think of questions to ask beforehand or have an activity that you want to do planned out. Parents will most likely be there with their kids, and you don’t want to just sit there thinking!

Tip Seven

Smile and have fun: Show your kids that you are still you, no matter where you are! Let them know that you miss them and can’t wait to see them when it’s safe!

Have you done a Google Meet with your students? Do you have any tips to add? Leave a comment and share with us!