Dr. Wendy Ghiora

September 23, 2020

Blog #136

An Idea for Making your Zoom lessons Pop

Teaching via zoom has many challenges; however, it can also provide the opportunity to create some memorable lessons.

It is probable you've been in Zoom events where you've seen many crazy and often fun virtual backgrounds. A good number of these are hilarious, but can also be distracting. Therefore, some educators have disabled this feature for their classroom meetings. However, there are also ways these virtual backgrounds can be used quite productively.

A few examples of using virtual backgrounds include: 

Experiencing a space shuttle from your at home classroom. Website: nasa.gov:   NASA at home Virtual Tours and Apps.  (This is from their site): "Explore our facilities. View our laboratories. Tour the Moon. Enter a clean room. Experience the James Webb Space Telescope-the most powerful space telescope ever built-and more!"

As Thanksgiving approaches, how about taking your students virtual tour of Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower? Just visit: HistoryView.org

Invite students for a virtual tour of one of their favorite authors' lives.  For example, Edgar Allan Poe. Each virtual session is led by a live guide who will share the history of Edgar Allan Poe's life in Baltimore. Explore the poet's mysterious death in 1849, and learn about the poems and short stories Poe wrote while residing at Poe House. Visit: poefestinternational.com

In addition to all the amazing places you and your students can visit, a fun background can also set the tone for your lesson while at the same time possibly hiding a not so tidy room...   

Here is one site for assorted backgrounds: capatilizemytitle.com

Have fun!