When UTA moves to remote‑only operations due to winter weather, your teaching doesn’t have to pause. Snow days create opportunities for connection, flexibility, and creativity—especially with the strong digital teaching ecosystem available at UT Arlington. Faculty have long noted that CRTLE, OIT, and CDE resources, Canvas tutorials, and Microsoft Teams tools helped them adapt quickly during previous rapid instructional pivots.
Here’s how you can make the most of a remote‑only snow day—and keep your students supported and learning.
Tips for Remote Teaching on a Snow Day
1. Keep It Simple: Provide Essential Continuity and Online Support
On a snow day, clarity and simplicity are key. Students may be dealing with weather disruptions, limited internet, or family responsibilities.
Try one of these quick approaches:
- Post a short announcement in Canvas with today’s essential task(s). You can also do this as a scheduled announcement or do more than one.
👉 How do I add an announcement in a course? – Instructure Community - For asynchronous classes: convert your original plan into a single and manageable activity.
- Hold a brief optional check‑in using Microsoft Teams if your class is asynchronous.
👉OIT Knowledge Base – Microsoft Teams Resource Guide | ServiceNow IT Service Management - Encourage students to reach out for help by sharing this video: Tips for Online Learners #5: Reach out for Help.
- Provide the link to students for the Online Student Success Guide: Online Academic Success Guide – Division of Student Success – The University of Texas at Arlington
Past UTA faculty feedback shows that simple tools—Canvas Conferences, Teams meetings, and short tutorials—were the most helpful during sudden transitions.
2. Tap Into UTA’s Teaching Support Ecosystem
UTA has a deep set of instructional supports that you can lean on today or any time:
Center for Research on Teaching and Learning Excellence (CRTLE)
CRTLE offers evidence‑based teaching ideas, microlearning resources, and teaching‑with‑AI guidance.
Center for Distance Education (CDE)
CDE provides Canvas tutorials, step‑by‑step guides, and support for online course design.
OIT: Teaching with Teams and Canvas
Canvas resource documents: Canvas Resource Documents – Instructure Community
These resources are ideal for finding quick ideas to strengthen today’s remote lesson.
3. Try a Snow‑Day‑Friendly Learning Activity
Here are easy activities that work well in any course:
A. Microlearning Moment (10 minutes)
Record a short video or audio clip (Teams, your phone, or Canvas Studio), then post:
- A guiding question or journal prompt
- A short resource (reading, video, PDF)
- A single reflection prompt or quiz question
- Using LinkedIn Learning to Enrich Your Snow‑Day Teaching. Another powerful (and often underused) UTA resource available to all faculty is LinkedIn Learning, which provides thousands of high‑quality, short, skill‑based courses you can explore on a snow day. You can quickly find content related to something useful for your students, even it’s related to career focused learning. Consider browsing topics that connect to your subject or a career focus. LinkedIn Learning’s modular structure makes it easy to watch a single 5‑minute lesson or dive into a full course. You can also share selected videos directly inside Canvas or Teams to enhance the student learning experience.
- 👉Access via UTA: LinkedIn Learning – Office of Information Technology – The University of Texas at Arlington
B. Real‑World Reflection
Ask students:
“How does today’s reading or concept connect to something happening around you today?”
This is low(er)‑pressure and high‑connection.
C. Low(er)-Tech Submission
If students don’t have access to a laptop, invite students to use their mobile device to upload a photo of handwritten notes or a quick paragraph in the Notes feature of their phone. Encourage them to use the Notes feature on their phone or mobile device, if that is all they have access to for today’s snow day.
This is especially supportive if power or Wi‑Fi is unstable.
UTA faculty previously shared that flexible, human‑centered approaches helped reduce stress during remote switches.
4. Communicate With Compassion and Transparency
CRTLE Faculty survey feedback emphasizes the importance of clear and timely communication during disruptions. Students can feel confused when information changes rapidly.
Consider posting a message like:
“Since UTA is remote‑only today, here’s the one task to focus on for [class name]. If you’re experiencing weather‑related challenges, please let me know—flexibility is built in for today.”
This builds assurance and trust.
5. Use the Day for Your Own Professional Growth
Snow days can also serve as mini professional‑development days.
Here are options you can explore:
Teaching in Higher Education podcast
This podcast focuses on quality teaching.
EDUCAUSE On‑Demand Learning
Explore teaching innovations, AI‑in‑education trends, and digital strategy.
CRTLE Pedagogy Next Blog (Various Topics for Faculty)
Find quick teaching tips and inspiration.
Also, check out these short videos (from COVID!):
Spending even 15 minutes exploring a new tool or idea can energize your teaching for the rest of the semester.
6. Reflect, Reset, and Re‑Align
Unexpected downtime offers space to think:
- Are there bottlenecks in your course that could be simplified?
- Could a quick check‑in survey help you understand student needs?
- Might a microlearning or AI‑supported teaching strategy help later in the semester?
Reflection aligns your teaching with UTA’s 2030 themes of student success, community engagement, and forward‑looking innovation.
Final Thoughts
Let us know if you need any support as you navigate remote teaching!
Email us at: CRTLE@uta.edu
NOTE: This post was co-authored with Microsoft CoPilot.
What is the best way to display hand written lecture notes to the students in remote/online settings?
Best Ways to Display Hand‑Written Lecture Notes in Remote/Online Teaching. Be sure these are accessible.
1. Use a Document Camera (or a Smartphone as One)
Most effective for live teaching (Teams):
Place your handwritten notes under a document camera.
Share the document camera feed in Microsoft Teams as your “camera.”
If no doc cam is available, use your smartphone on a stand pointed downward — Teams allows joining with the phone camera as a second device.
This gives students a real‑time view similar to being in the classroom.
2. Write on a Tablet or iPad and Share Your Screen
If the instructor prefers writing digitally:
Use OneNote, PowerPoint ink, or Whiteboard.
Screen‑share the app in Teams or record a quick video walkthrough.
UTA’s online‑teaching guides emphasize Teams + screen sharing as a supported instructional workflow.
3. Share Scanned or Photographed Notes
For asynchronous teaching:
Snap photos of handwritten notes using a phone scanner app (OneDrive, Office Lens, Notes app on iOS).
Upload to Canvas as PDF.
Optionally annotate them in OneNote or PowerPoint for clarity.
This gives students a stable reference document.
4. Use Teams Whiteboard During Class
UTA’s Teams support documentation highlights real‑time collaboration tools for remote instruction.
These allow:
Writing diagrams or solving problems while students watch.
Saving the board afterward for posting in Canvas.
5. Record a Short Video Showing the Notes (Most Flexible for Online Courses)
Many UTA faculty record quick lecture videos with slides or screensharing, where they recorded lectures + visuals.
You can:
Hit “Record” in Teams or Canvas Studio.
Share your document camera or tablet screen.
Upload the recording to Canvas.
Students appreciate being able to pause and replay handwritten explanations.