Techniques to make online classes more active

I´ve searched for ways of making my online classes more active. Here  is a  list  of  some of them. I hope they help you all.

Brain gym – exercises to activate your brain . There are many examples on the internet.

Simon Says – perfect as a break during the class to make students walk a bit.

Wall Dictation -  ask students to put books on the other side of the room.  They have  to look at a sentence, remember it, run and write it in the chat box, on the whiteboard or a word document.

Reading comprehension with T or F - After having read a text. You say a sentence – Students stand up if it’s right, sit down if it’s not. Or a little more complicated: stand up and jump, stand up turn around and sit down again.

After a breakout room: students stand up if they agree / turn their back if they disagree. Teacher can turn on their microphone and they can say what they thought.

If all students are on phones, they can walk for 2-3 minutes from their seats, then switch videos on and comment on where they’ve ended up/describe where they are/display it on the front camera/write about it. This activity could also be used for modals of speculation when you ask other students  to guess where they might be, then turn on the camera and find out whether the guess was correct or not.

Checking wardrobes or the fridge: To review clothes items,  have a competition: Teacher says a piece of clothing and students have to get it and dress it faster. You can do the same about food in the fridge. I was teaching countable and non-coutable, so I asked students to name examples from the fridge. It was  a very funny and memorable activity.