https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005706806-Using-annotation-tools-on-a-shared-screen-or-whiteboard 

This Zoom Help page breaks down step by step how to use the chat function. 

Basic Steps: 

1. While screen sharing (for a guide on screen sharing, please view the “Screen Sharing” guide on the For Teachers page) use your mouse to hover over the green “You are screen sharing” bar that is somewhere on your screen. 

The following menu should appear: 

2. Click the “Annotate” button. 

The following menu should appear: 

3. Click “Draw” to freely draw on the screen. Click “Text” to type text boxes on the screen. Click “Mouse” when you want to return to regular mouse functionality. To erase any annotations you have made on the screen, click “Eraser” and click-drag your mouse across the parts you want erased.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203435537-Muting-and-unmuting-participants-in-a-meeting#h_01EN90AKAMENETHE3Q0155C376 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAMzRkD6NAc&t=108s

Basic Steps:

1. Hover your mouse over the participant window who you wish to mute. Click the blue “Mute” button that will appear in the top right corner of their window. 

2. You cannot immediately unmute a participant who is muted, but you can ask for them to unmute themselves. Do this by hovering over the participant window and clicking the blue “Ask to Unmute” button that will appear in the top right corner of their window. A notification will appear on their screen that gives them a quick way to unmute themselves.

Understanding the “Chat” tool 

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203650445-In-meeting-chat 

This Zoom Help page breaks down step by step how to use the chat function. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-P51CzaJeU

This video visually demonstrates what it looks like to use the chat function as a host. 

Basic Steps: 

1. Create your Zoom meeting. 

2. Click the “Chat” button.

The following “Chat” window will open up on the right side of your Zoom window. 

4. There are two types of messages: private and public. Private messages are seen only by the sender and receiver. Public messages are seen byeveryone in the Zoom meeting. You can tell whoyou are sending a message to by looking at the blue tab. Click on it to change who you would like to chat with. 

5. You can tell when a participant in your meeting is sending you a private message because it will say “Direct Message” above the message. When a message is sent to Everyone in the meeting, it will say “to Everyone.” 

6. To see the chat while screen sharing, use your mouse to hover over the green “You are screen sharing” bar that is somewhere on your screen. 

The following menu should appear:

Click the “Chat” button. The chat window will appear on your screen. 

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206476313-Managing-Breakout-Rooms

This Zoom Help page breaks down step by step the breakout room tool, including things such as:

• Creating breakout rooms
• Moving yourself (the host) between breakout rooms
• Broadcasting messages to breakout rooms 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbPpdyn16sY 

This video visually demonstrates what it looks like to create and manage breakout rooms. 

Basic Steps:

1. Create your Zoom meeting. 

2. At the bottom menu of your screen, click the “Breakout Rooms” button. Sometimes this button does not appear when your Zoom window is too small. In that case, click the “More” button, and select the option “Breakout Rooms” from the menu that appears. 

3. The following menu will appear: 

To have participants assigned to rooms randomly, select “Assign automatically.” To decide which participants are in which rooms, select “Assign manually.” Then click “Create”.

4. The following menu will appear. If you chose “Assign automatically,” move on to step 5. Click on “Assign” to manually select which students should be assigned to which room. Once you are happy with the breakout room compositions, click “Open All Rooms.”

5. Your participants will receive requests to join their respective rooms. You can communicate with participants in other rooms by clicking “Broadcast Message to All.” To recall all participants to the original room, click “Close All Rooms.

Troubleshooting and General Tips

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/common-problems-with-zoom-and-how-to-fix-them/ 

Gives troubleshooting options for problems including: 

• Audio/Video not working
• Echoing during a call
• Zoom lagging or freezing
• Can’t screen share

A student cannot see the screen being shared, but the rest of the class can. 

This is an occasional occurrence that is almost always fixed by simply stopping the screen share and doing it again. When a student says they cannot see the screen make sure to first ask if the rest of the class can. If no one can see your screen, the problem is on your end. 

There is a loud echo or piercing sound when one of the students speaks.

It is possible this student has joined the Zoom meeting on two different devices (a phone with a laptop for example). Ask the student to remove one of these devices from the meeting. 

A student has a lot of background noise that is disrupting class. 

Ask the student to mute when they are not speaking because of the noise, or mute them using host controls and quickly explain why you needed to to the student. 

Tips

https://www.tealsk12.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/RemoteBestPractices-TEALSProgram.pdf 

• Number one reminder is to make sure you are speaking slowly and clearly. As ESL teachers this is already key, however being heard through speakers of varying quality further emphasize the importance of diction and proper pacing. Consider typing the important parts of what you are saying on the screen with annotations as you say them. 

• It can be easy in an online format to let a lesson slide into a lecture. Make sure the students are given opportunities to actively take part in the learning. Ask yourself, “Could I let a student read this without sacrificing class understanding?” 

• Make sure you are calling on students an equal amount. Open the participants window and go down the list of names for answering problems if you cannot just remember who needs to be called on. 

• When you need to mute a student, either quickly say something to them or send them a private message explaining why they were muted. 

• Don’t be afraid to depart from the page of the lesson plan (whether it’s Google Slides, Powerpoint, etc.) to delve further into a word or concept a student mentions or is confused about. With the internet so easily accessible in an online format, it can make for a productive tangent. 

• Online format can make it more difficult to provide special attention to a student who is struggling, since everyone is seeing the same thing on the screen, and thus must be focused on the same activity. If one student is far below the fluency level of their classmates, have them partake in parts of the activity acclimated to their abilities, without slowing down the class’ pace too much (for example, having the student read the sentence, but another student conjugates the verb for the activity).

• For longer classes, give students a break of at least 10 minutes.

• Online learning takes away an element of natural conversation that is part of students sitting next to each other and interacting at their desks. Try to recapture this naturalistic conversation at the beginning of the lesson, ask students how they are doing and what they have been up to.

• Be animated! Online learning can be draining, but it’s important to try and approach it with energy, the students will mirror it.