Discussion Tips and Tricks

Consider asking your F2F students to bring a set of headphones to class and conduct whole group conversations through Teams. This ensures all participants can hear the discussion.
Set norms for group discussions. For example, if a student wishes to speak regardless of setting, you may want them to use the raise hand feature in Teams and wait to be called on. You may also want to consider delegating the task of monitoring that feature to another adult in the room or rotate the task among your students.
When creating discussion (breakout) groups for small-group activities, consider mixing F2F and virtual students in groups. This will ensure students are working together regardless of environment and will help students stay socially distanced in the classroom. Encourage students to use collaborative document tools such as Google Docs, Slides, etc. as needed.
Continue to use asynchronous discussion tools like the discussion board in Canvas.