• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Tech Savvy Mama

Parenting in the Digital Age

  • About
    • Affiliations & Honors
    • Contributors
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
  • Technology
    • YouTube
    • Social Media
  • Lifestyle
    • Parenting
    • Travel
    • Safety
  • Education
  • Causes
  • Gift Guides
  • CONTACT
    • Work with Me

5 Teacher Tech Essentials for Simultaneous Teaching

March 25, 2021 By Leticia Leave a Comment

This post is sponsored by Logitech

When coronavirus closed schools last March, teachers transitioned to emergency schooling then reimagined teaching spaces for virtual learning in the fall. This spring many school systems are preparing to re-open and educators are rethinking instruction again.

The setups we created at home worked for all-virtual instruction, but the requirements have changed. We have to consider what teacher tech essentials for simultaneous teaching will make us seen, heard, and understood by every student.

Also called the concurrent teaching model, simultaneous teaching involves managing groups of students who are in the classroom and virtual at the same time. Classroom tech essentials for simultaneous teaching differ from setups teachers left in their classrooms when schools closed last year. They’re also quite different from what we’ve set up in our homes.

5 Teacher Tech Essentials for Simultaneous Teaching

The technology in our classrooms always should address student needs and power meaningful learning experiences. Getting a simultaneous or concurrent classroom setup right is important to creating an effective teaching space for you and your learners.

If your school is preparing to reopen with a simultaneous teaching model, here are some practical tips to keep in mind. Keep reading for 5 teacher tech essentials for simultaneous teaching of virtual and live learners as you shift to this new way of instruction to end the year.

Be Seen as You Move Around the Room

When we were teaching at home, we were pretty stationary but being back at school means freedom to move around the classroom. This means you’ll need a camera to capture your every movement to keep virtual learners engaged.

My Logitech C922 HD Pro Webcam was an essential tool in my virtual classroom. The wide angle and ability to capture sound makes it one of my teacher tech essentials for simultaneous teaching.

In my teaching from home space, I tried a couple different cameras but like the crisp clear image captured by my C922. It features a 78-degree field of view and full HD at 1080p. The lens captures a razor-sharp image of me to ensure I can be seen when teaching from my desk or in the classroom. The autofocus ensures that my virtual students will always have a clear picture of me when I’m back in the classroom.

I can screw my C922 to a tripod to put it in a spot that works best. The long cord gives me flexibility to position it to capture most of my classroom. I also plan on using blue painter’s tape on the floor to indicate an area where I should stand to be in the C922’s range.

Make Sure Your Virtual Students Can Hear You and You Can Hear Them

Making sure students can hear is critical to staying connected to the classroom. We have to be sure they can hear clearly so they can follow along to get the instruction they need.

Since the CDC recommends we double mask and some teachers are considering face shields in the classroom for extra protection, there could be a lot of layers to be heard through while moving around the room to provide instruction.

Amplify your voice by placing a USB microphone like The Blue Microphones Snowball iCE. This is an easy way to get crystal-clear sound your virtual learners can hear.

The quality is far better than a built-in computer microphone. The Snowball iCE features effortless, plug-and-play setup for both Macs and PCs. Just plug it in to your desktop or laptop’s USB port. It will work with any software to provide great sounding results in your classroom.

I plan on testing my Snowball iCE USB Microphone when I’m able to get back in the classroom to determine where I can put it within my painter’s tape box to capture the best audio. I’ll also have to tinker with the audio on my Promethean board to make sure I can hear my students over Zoom from inside my computer lab.

Keep an Eye on Your Virtual Students While Helping Those in Your Classroom

Teachers are the ultimate multitaskers, but simultaneous instruction requires us to take this to the next level. Simultaneous teaching requires us to teach our lessons in person, keep an eye on students in the room, and monitor our virtual learners and chat room for questions.

During virtual learning, teaching was easier with multiple devices and windows open for different applications. Simultaneous learning is making me reconsider my teaching workflow and what devices I’m going to be using in my classroom.

In addition to school-issued laptops, Chromebooks, and desktops, some of my colleagues are using tablets too. This allows them to teach from one device while monitoring virtual students on a portable device as they move around the room.

Having an iPad as a secondary device during lessons is a great idea, especially when housed in a Logitech case. The Slim Folio Pro makes it easier to keep an eye on your virtual students to provide timely assistance from your classroom with your iPad. The durable case helps protect it while moving around a socially distanced room.

Be Flexible and Be Portable

One big question teachers in my school system have is how much technology will be provided for us. We don’t know what we might need to bring from home or buy for our classrooms with our own money.

We’re also not quite sure about plans to share classroom space with colleagues. In the past, I shared the computer lab with other teachers. My middle school is working hard to minimize shared space in the building, but I also know I’ll have to be flexible. Socially distanced classrooms means fewer students to a room in buildings where space is already at a premium.

As I think through my teacher tech essentials for simultaneous teaching, I know my setup might not be the best for my colleagues who could be using the space for live instruction the next day. Ease of setting up and breaking down tech is another big consideration as part of my return to school planning.

While a corded C922 webcam and Snowball iCE microphone will provide a better learning experience for my virtual students than wireless ones, my mouse can be wire-free.

I’ve been using various models of wireless mice, like the Logitech M585 Wireless Mouse, at home for years. A wireless mouse like the M585 provides freedom for movement, tends to be more compact than traditional corded mice, and helps reduce the clutter in my workspace. I love not feeling tethered to my classroom desktop and it’s easy to tuck my M585 mouse in my closet at the end of the day or stash it in my laptop bag to bring it home.

Throughout the past year, we’ve all done our our best to deliver the most effective instruction to our students online. We’ve been creative problem solvers who have used technology in innovative ways.

Now as we get ready to make another shift, this transition may feel daunting but any one of these teacher tech essentials for simultaneous teaching can make your return to the classroom a bit easier.

For more tips and resources, check out Logitech’s Teach From Home portal.

Logitech provided products to facilitate this sponsored post. This post first appeared on TechSavvyMama.com. If you are reading this post on a site other than TechSavvyMama.com  this means the website you are on is violating copyright laws.

Related

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: distance learning, in-person school, Logitech, simultaneous teaching, teacher tech essentials, teaching, virtual classrooms, virtual teaching

Previous Post: « What My Biracial Teen Wants You to Know About Anti-Asian Racism
Next Post: How You and Your Kids Can Stop Asian Hate »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

about sidebar pic_profile pic

Welcome! I'm Leticia, founder of Tech Savvy Mama and a DC Metro area dwelling mom with a tween and teen. With a background in classroom technology integration and school administration, I use everything I learned from teaching children, teachers, and principals as a professional blogger, social media strategist, and freelance writer.  Read more...

TechSavvyMama logo board_sidebar divider

AFFILIATIONS & HONORS

_YouTube Parent Panel

_top50momblogger

TechSavvyMama logo board_sidebar divider

Subscribe

Never Miss a Post!
Name: 
Your email address:*
Consent*
Yes, I consent to being emailed
No, I do not want to be emailed
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
No spam, ever. Promise!

Tech Savvy Mama on YouTube

<<< View More >>>

TechSavvyMama logo board_sidebar divider

INSTAGRAMMIN’

techsavvymama

DC area blogger & middle school computer science teacher focused on edu, family tech & teens. ❤s= 🚀 #STEM 🏃 w #StJudeHeroes 🏝 #Haiti

Leticia Barr (she/her)
This year seems like the year of a million first d This year seems like the year of a million first days of school but today has been the best one yet! 🎉 Being in person with my 8th graders who elected to return to school felt amazing. They all said being in school was far better than being on Zoom! 👩‍💻 After not feeling like I had closure last year when schools closed and stayed closed, it is so nice to end the year this way before my students become high schoolers! 🎈
#monday #mondaymood #teacherlife #teacher #teachinginapandemic #teachersofIG #school #middleschoolteacher
18.30 {Sunday afternoons} Sunday afternoons are fo 18.30 {Sunday afternoons} Sunday afternoons are for baseball! ⚾️ We thought last fall would be the final season for his team that has been together since 2nd grade but I'm so glad they're back together this spring! Sitting in the sun watching my guy play baseball is one of my favorite ways to spend a Sunday afternoon! 🧢 
#sunday #baseball #everydayphotoaday #aprilphotochallenge #bccbaseball #swing #fromwhereisit #ballparks #lovethisgame #playball #batterup #hit #homeplate #love #baseballmom #baseballfan #momlife  #youthsports
17.30 {Treat yo self} I always think about buying 17.30 {Treat yo self} I always think about buying bagels on Saturday mornings when I wander by post-workout but the honest truth is I'm starving and just want to head home and stuff my face and caffeinate. Today there wasn't a line so I felt like the universe was telling me it was a good day to treat myself to a bakers dozen and a tub of candied salmon cream cheese! 🥯 Even if your treat isn't carbs make sure you do something for yourself today!
💕
#saturday #saturdayvibes
#everydayphotoaday #aprilphotochallenge #treatyourself #bagel #callyourmotherdeli #freshfarmmarkets #dtss #dmv
#ad There have been times where I’ve struggled t #ad There have been times where I’ve struggled to comprehend the news over the past year. 📰 As a parent and teacher, I want my own kids and students to be news savvy but it’s difficult when not all the headlines, photos, and stories in the daily newspaper or on news sites are right for them. Fortunately, I was recently introduced to The Juice Interactive News Digest! The Juice provides fantastic unbiased content written by credentialed journalists that teaches kids in grades 5-12 about current events in an age-appropriate way. 🌎 Stories are the real deal and provide multiple opinions so kids can use critical thinking and media literacy skills to develop their own opinions. And as a bonus, The Juice’s multimedia content is highly engaging and keeps kids wanting to learn through videos on topics they’re interested in. 🎥 For more information, check out the link in my bio. ⤴️
#news #media #currentevents #medialiteracy #criticalthinking #teaching #learning
14.30 {Selfie} Fun fact: I used to be awful at sel 14.30 {Selfie} Fun fact: I used to be awful at selfies but practicing over the years, and watching friends who are masters, has definitely helped! A few tips:
➡️ If you feel like you're never looking in the right place, sunglasses can help. They hide your eyes and can take the pressure off. 🕶
➡️ Figure out what hand you're most comfortable using to snap photos. I'm right handed so usually take photos with my right hand but every once and awhile I switch. 👋
➡️ Find your best angle. Pro tip- higher is better. Go above your eye level. 👀
➡️ Stretch! Hold your arm out as far as possible. I'm short so my arms are short but somehow I make it work. 😂
➡️ A Pop Socket is your friend! Having something to hold on to definitely helps me stretch and get the best angle with less worry that I'll drop my phone. 
➡️ Practice! Get in the photo! You'll get more comfortable with your selfie skills. I promise! 
📸
#wednesday #selfie #everydayphotoaday #aprilphotochallenge #selfietips #sanfrancisco #visitCA #latergram
13.30 {6 o'clock} This morning we were awake st 6 13.30 {6 o'clock} This morning we were awake st 6 am- much earlier than we have been in a long time because it was SAT day! 📝 SATs are hard enough in a normal year but during a pandemic, they've been scheduled, cancelled, and rescheduled and that can really mess with a teen. Surviving this day of testing was really about so much more so why not celebrate with cake! 🎂 And as you can see, Goldie thought she should get some too! 🐾
#tuesday #cake #everydayphotoaday #aprilphotochallenge #GoldenRetriever #Labrador #puppy #dogsofinstagram #dog #rescuedog #labrescue
12/30 {Today I} Today I remembered I forgot to pos 12/30 {Today I} Today I remembered I forgot to post yesterday!  Perhaps that's because I was busy outside which just happened to be yesterday's #everydayphotoaday prompt. 😂 I expected it to be a rainy weekend but overnight storms made for a gorgeous weekend. ☀️ The first baseball game of the season was cancelled due to soggy fields and as much as I was looking forward to watching my guy play again, it was nice having the gift of time. 🕚 My husband and I had time to take Goldie for a long walk and swim and appreciate these gorgeous cherry blooms along the way. 🌸 How was your weekend? I hope you feel recharged for the week ahead! 💕
#monday #mondaymood #optoutside #everydayphotoaday #aprilphotochallenge #cherryblossom #spring #bloom #blossom
10.30 {Saturday morning} I got up to start my day 10.30 {Saturday morning} I got up to start my day at Orange Theory but someone wanted to stay in bed! 😂🙄😂
#Saturday #mornings #everydayphotoaday #aprilphotochallenge #Labrador #puppy #puppylove #labstagram #doglover #dog #dogsofinstagram #rescuedog #labrescue #petsofinstagram
9/30 {Rule of Thirds} Chincoteague's Main Street i 9/30 {Rule of Thirds} Chincoteague's Main Street is like a step back in time and their library is always so charming! 📖 Even though the library is closed, volunteers decorate the windows each month with seasonal decor. 🌷Another favorite spot is the independently owned @sundialbooks which has stayed open during the pandemic. If you're planning a visit to the island, grab a pair of plastic gloves at the entrance to browse an amazing collection of new and used books. It's one of our favorite places to shop while in town! 📚
#everydayphotoaday #aprilphotochallenge #library #ruleofthirds #chincoteague #chincoteagueisland #civa #architecturelovers #smalltown #scenicvirginia #loveVA #esva
8/30 {Not a #TBT} Yes, friends, today was my first 8/30 {Not a #TBT} Yes, friends, today was my first day of school and it was so nice to be back teaching in person! 🎉 
I am incredibly grateful to be:
💉 fully vaccinated 
👩‍🏫 teaching such a hard working and patient group of middle schoolers
🐴 working with an incredibly talented set of colleagues
🏡 part of a community who cares so much about us as teachers. ♥️ 
I may have only had 1 student today but it was a start! I look forward to seeing more of students when the rest of my middle schoolers return in a couple weeks! 💕
#everydayphotoaday #aprilphotochallenge #teachinginapandemic #teacher #school #middleschoolteacher #STEMteacher #moco #mocomd
If you’ve ever judged someone for what appears b If you’ve ever judged someone for what appears behind them, then you know it matters! Today I’ve partnered with @corninggorilla to share 4 ways you can improve the background of your video calls. 🖥 Spoiler: 1 of the ways includes entering to win a @razer Kiyo Pro webcam designed with Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3! 🦍 Known by gamers everywhere, Razer makes amazing accessories that gamers of all ages love but their products aren’t just for your teens! I took this photo with my Razer Kiyo Pro that is the envy of my middle school students. 📷 Yup, this teacher mom just won major points with her own teen and 8th grade students and you can too! Visit my post to learn how to enter to win 1 of 10 Kiyo Pro cameras and don’t tell the gamers in your life but 3 lucky individuals will also win the highly coveted Razer Iskur chair! Link in bio.
#bgshowdown #teacherlife #entrepreneur #worklife #workfromhome
7/30 {My happy place} This was the best thing that 7/30 {My happy place} This was the best thing that happened to our family during the pandemic! 💕 We've always loved to travel but when COVID cancelled last summer's plans, we decided to head to Chincoteague, a place we've always loved that feels like a world away from the DC 'burbs. 🏖 We had thought about buying a house in Chincoteague for years and suddenly it just seemed right. 🏡 This year we've taken advantage of being able to work and learn remotely to spend time making much needed repairs while visiting the beach, taking Goldie out for canoe rides, and enjoying all the sunsets! 🌅 Where is your happy place? Leave a comment and let me know! 🙂
#everydayphotoaday #aprilphotochallenge #chincoteague #chincoteagueisland  #islandlife #esva #civa #scenicvirginia #loveVA
Load More... Follow on Instagram

TechSavvyMama logo board_sidebar divider

SAVVY FINDS

Footer

Tech Savvy Businesswoman

Check me out across my social media channels for examples of how I can help amplify your company's brand, product, or cause!

_YouTube Parent Panel

Everywhere


techsavvymamasquarelogo_techsavvymama square logo

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Looking for Something?

Search by category…

or by date

DISCLOSURE POLICY

Copyright © 2021 Tech Savvy Mama · Designed by Hustle & Sway · Log in