You can access Teams through the Office 365 portal by visiting https://www.office.com/ and signing in with your school email and password
Download and use the app where possible as some of the features work better this way. The Teams app also works well on a mobile phone or tablet. This is available for Apple or Android devices. If you are accessing teams via a web browser, it is highly recommended to use Google Chrome
You can use teams for engaging with your pupils throughout remote learning in several ways
Using the video call functions to host live lessons and meet with your classes
Using the chat functions to keep in touch with individuals or groups of people
Posting ‘conversations’ in Teams. This can be useful to share resources for a lesson, web links, further reading or to share important updates to your group
Please note – Teams is the preferred platform for posting classwork. You should be setting Prep on Firefly due to the increased visibility for Parents and HMMs
Create a Team
Select Teams > Join or create a team.
This is where you create your own team, or discover existing ones.
Select Create a new team, and then select Build a team from scratch or select Create from... to build an all-new team or create from an existing group respectively.
Select Private if you'd like people to request permission to join, or select Public if anyone in your org can join.
Give the team a name and add a short description if you'd like.
Select Create.
Add members.
You can add people, groups, or even entire contact groups.
If you need to add people from outside your organization, use their email address to invite them as guests. Add a friendly display name for them too.
When you're done adding members, select Add and then Close.
Create a channel
By default, every team gets a General channel, which is a good channel to use for announcements and information the whole team needs. To add more channels:
Select More options... next to the team name.
Select Add channel.
Enter a name and description for your channel.
You can build a channel around a topic, project, department name, or whatever you like.
Select Automatically show this channel in everyone's channel list if you want this channel to be automatically visible in everyone's channel list.
Select Add.
Customize and manage your team
Select More options... next to the team name.
Select Manage team to find Members, Channels, Settings, and Apps for your team all in one place.
Select Settings > Team picture to add a team picture and give your team some personality.
Overview of Functions in Teams
Enable New Meeting Experience
You need to enable the ‘New Meeting Experience’ under Teams Settings in order to access the latest features and settings.
To do so, first click the MHS crest or icon in the top right corner of the Teams Homepage.
By scheduling a meeting in advance, it will clearly communicate to your pupils when you are expecting them to attend a live lesson. The meeting invite link will then appear in calendars for easy access.
You can also set meeting to reoccur on a regular basis if appropriate, therefore this does not need to be done each time you intend to meet a class.
Doing this will also give you the ability to more easily manage permissions in a call e.g. stop pupils being able to mute teachers in a call.
1. Go to Calendar > Click New Meeting (top right corner)
Tip – if you set the reoccurrence to 14 days, it will keep sync with the 2 week timetable
Note – for most cases, sharing your entire desktop will probably be the default option you go with. You can specifically share a powerpoint presentation, by selecting browse and uploading a powerpoint. This will allow you to still see the pupils in the call while you are presenting.
More useful Settings in a Teams Call
If you want to send some information to a class, such as a web link for reading, or an update about an upcoming lesson, you can create a post in a teams channel.
There are 2 types of post
Conversation –Useful for checking in with groups i.e. does anyone need help with this weeks work?
Use the formatting tools to make your post stand out
Click here to switch between conversation and announcement
Manage who can reply
Announcement – Provides an eye catching headline banner to bring more attention to post
Notify the whole class or a channel
To notify a class of a post, you can use the @ symbol, followed by the team name to send them an alert. This is useful if pupils are running late to a lesson for example.
Teams features a powerful built in instant messaging tool, which will allow you to stay in touch with people more easily.
Using Search Tool to save you time
Switching between different teams can be bothersome and time consuming. Also finding specific documents can be tricky as you may not remember exactly which team/channel they were saved in. The built in search in Teams is designed to help you navigate around the app more quickly and precisely.
Search for a Team to instantly go to that space
Search for a file to open it instantly
Search for an individual to contact them over chat or call them
Q: I do not seem to have some of the setting available that the instructions refer to such as ‘Large Gallery’ and ‘Breakout Rooms’, how do I get these?
A: You need to enable the new meeting experience. Please jump to that section here
Q: My students are able to mute me and this is really annoying! How do I stop this from happening?
A: We have now applied global policy settings to all staff that should prevent this issue happening. This problem occurs when pupils are able to present in a meeting. We have changed the defaults so that only the organizer (the teacher) is the presenter, and all pupils are attendees. For more information about what presenters and attendees can do in a meeting see the table below
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