Virtual Teaching Resource Hub
Managing Behavior
Planning an engaging lesson requires effective instructional organization and student management. Having your lesson slides sequenced in advance will take care of much of the organization. Your scope and sequence will help you determine which new skills to focus on, and your observations from previous lesson will help you know which skills need review.
To manage your instruction in a virtual environment, we recommend some key strategies:
- planning and organizing your lesson activities carefully
- beginning each lesson with a checklist, which serves as an advance organizer,
- clearly stating behavioral expectations and reviewing them often, and
- using frequent behavior-specific praise.
Check out this recent article by Valentina Contesse and Holly Lane: “Tips for Supporting Students’ Behavioral Needs During Virtual Reading Instruction”
The Power of Persistence
Struggling to keep your students engaged? You’re not alone! Even the most seasoned teachers sometimes experience challenges maintaining their students’ attention during a virtual lesson. Watch the video below for a lesson featuring a less-than-focused student and a more-than-persistent teacher who pulls out every tool in her toolbox to draw her student in. Commentary by faculty from the UF Literacy Institute.
Student Response Practice
Teaching students different ways to respond during a virtual teaching lesson
Virtual Stickers
Setting Clear Expectations
Using a visual schedule at the start of each lesson serves as an advance organizer for you and your students. The visual schedule can be used as a completion checklist throughout the lesson. Use this template to create your own virtual visual checklist for your instructional lessons!
Visual Schedule Template (PowerPoint)
Visual Schedule Template (Google Slides)
It is important to establish and teach positively stated behavioral expectations for your virtual reading instruction. Reviewing and reinforcing behavioral expectations throughout your virtual lesson helps students consistently engage in appropriate behaviors. Keep these expectations as clear and concise as possible. Some students may benefit from visuals for these expectations. Use this clipart as a visual support when teaching and reviewing expectations with your students!
Expectations Clipart (PowerPoint)
Expectations Clipart (Google Slides)
Teacher Modeling
Teacher Modeling Examples
While giving students directions, it is important to include explicit teaching modeling of new activities or routines. Check out this video that provides an example of a teacher modeling two instructional activities.
Materials, Schedule, and Expectations
Check out this video of a teacher reviewing the schedule of instructional activities and behavioral expectations before the start of a lesson. The video also includes an example of helping students gather materials needed for a specific lesson.
Reinforcement Activity Ideas
- Movement activity or dancing
- Playing a virtual game
- Lunch Bunch with the teacher
- Virtual spirit week
- Choosing a song for the group to listen to