Teaching from Home Strategy: Online Faculty Meetings

To help teachers and administrators handle the stresses of teaching from home, consider adding a social emotional component to your online faculty meetings. Here are a few tips!

By Momentous Institute | May 01, 2020
Online Faculty Meetings

We know that in this age of working remotely, teachers are not only juggling teaching students and interacting with parents, they’re also continuing the behind-the-scenes role of teaching – lesson planning, grading, uploading documents and of course engaging in team and faculty meetings. While much of this work is stressful, meetings don’t have to be.

Consider adding a social emotional component to the start of your next online meeting. How? There are tons of simple ways. Here are a few ideas, or come up with your own!

  • Start with a simple breathing practice by asking everyone to mute their microphone and close their eyes (they can also disable their camera). Then lead everyone through a short mindful moment, asking them to breathe in and out slowly, or call attention to a sound or particular feeling in their body. Then slowly ask them to re-open their eyes and begin the meeting.
  • Start with a quick prompt that everyone on the call answers in two sentences or less. This can also be done using the chat feature for larger groups if time is a concern. For example:
    • If you had to pick a color to describe how you are feeling today, what color would it be and why?
    • Choose five words to describe your feelings today
    • Name one positive and one challenge about working from home
    • Tell us the highlight of your day yesterday
  • Lead the group in a physical mindful movement such as stretching or a breathing activity paired with movement. This is particularly helpful if the meeting is in the afternoon or takes place after you know everyone has been seated and working for a significant amount of time.

These are just a few quick ideas for how to start meetings but feel free to tailor to your setting. The ultimate goal is that everyone feels a sense of calm and connection during this time. 

For more teaching from home strategies, click here

Related