Running a Synchronous session for students can be a daunting task. Planning can go along way in making a session run smoothly. Prior to the session draft a timeline for the session. Have all presentation materials available for the session. If a presentation is inappropriate you may want to share an illustration that shows the intended learning objectives. In your timeline your be sure to provide opportunities for students to engage with you and each other. Use the outline to guide your session. Using the chat and screen share feature can quickly share content. Links to Google Drive items are easy to share in the chat box. Consider giving the students a simple task if you need to make any technical transitions, it could be a question in the chat box or a reflection on an assignment. Using groups in your sessions can break things up, consider this in choosing your synchronous session tools.
Above all relax. Being in an online synchronous session is fundamentally not that different than being together in a classroom. Missteps happen and items need to be retaught and students guided.
