Welcome Students Everyday as They Enter Your eClassroom

We all know that part of building rapport, engaging students, and creating safe and healthy learning environments starts at the front door of our classrooms. But this year, we might not have a physical front door. We will be greeting our students via online meeting. So how can we mimic or replicate the welcoming feeling we create in our physical classrooms in an online space? It won't be the same, but we can do things to make our students feel welcome, safe, and happy!

As always, this post will attempt to provide practical strategies that teachers can use immediately with their own students.

Play Music

In addition to greeting my students at the classroom door, I like to play music as my students walk into my classroom. The students like it because the environment is upbeat and fun. We can do this with our online environments, too. 

Here is what I am thinking. 

1. Open your web meeting 5 minutes before the students are scheduled to arrive. 
2. Mute your camera.
3. Turn on your microphone.
4. Share your screen (I will talk about this next).
5. Play music on your computer or from speakers in your work space loud enough so that your microphone will pick it up.

When students join your meeting, they will be greeted with fun, upbeat music instead of awkward silence.

Create an Infomercial Slide Presentation

This idea supports number 4 from the list above. Create a infomercial type slide presentation on your favorite slide deck application (Google Slides, Keynote (awesome), or PowerPoint). This infomercial can be 3-5 slides long. Here are some slide ideas:

1. A quote of the day (connect it to your lesson or not).
2. School supplies that they will need for the online meeting.
3. Reminders about online behavior and digital citizenship.
4. Birthday celebrations.
5. Important updates and announcements.
6. Fun pictures to share of you, your family, or things happening in the world.
7. Brain puzzles or riddles. 
8. Did you know statements.
9. Calendar events.

How do you share your infomercial with your students? With your camera muted, share your screen. Click present and set your slides to auto advance. Your screen capture should show your slides as they rotate through the deck. As students "enter your class," they will be greeted with fun music and lively presentation slides that have engaging information. Your students will look forward to this every time they join your class. It starts the class on the right foot and sets the tone for the lesson.

Try these two ideas and see what happens. Share more ideas in the comments section or email me directly with thoughts, questions and good vibes. 

Get more practical ideas by following this blog and following @lemasteredu and for all of your reading needs @literacyta and @quindewing on Twitter, Insta, and Facebook.