Specific apps I have been using in my recent courses are Padlet, Skribble.io, and the breakout rooms feature in zoom. Skribble.io feels like a fun game because it is set up to function similarly to pictionary, but you can make your own word bank and center it around your academic language or other concepts, and students draw it out. This helped us have such a fun class where the students could joke with each other while also reinforcing the academic functions they need to practice and show mastery on. 

Padlet is great because it works like an interactive pin board, where students can all work simultaneously and see each other's posts on one ‘wall’. We used this recently to do a scavenger hunt where I asked students to find images, resources, and media to exemplify our vocabulary terms for the current unit. Not only does this engage every single student, but they all get to make a post and share their thinking, then respond and see their peer's work too. This has been a game-changer for class community. 

The breakout room function in zoom has been something I was underutilizing in my class. I had a negative outcome at a different school where students were completely silent and did not respond in their groups to each other. I pushed my hesitancy aside and the breakout rooms have been really helpful, but specifically for working through assignments or sharing progress and resources on larger projects. Instead of leaving them to run a conversation, I simply had to give them an objective goal. 

In turn, my response have been improving, there have been more of them, and students are sharing much more than before. I have even had students tell me they prefer that type of structure in class.