It can be pretty nerve-wracking when you find yourself alone in a Zoom meeting well past the class start time. Below are several places you can check to figure out the disconnect.
Have students joined the course yet?
There is sometimes a gap between when you and your students are added to a new course. So it doesn't hurt to check in on the People tab in your Canvas course if you find yourself alone in the Zoom room. If there are no students enrolled yet, or they are all marked as Pending, then they haven't joined your course yet. Feel free to reach out to your pod if you have any questions on when they'll join you, or what to do in the meantime.
Is the right meeting in the Canvas course?
Depending on how your district is set up, the Zoom ID will either be imported into the Zoom tab, or linked in the homepage in the Zoom icon. You check the latter by hovering your mouse over it. Cross-reference the ID number there with the one you were given by PLI, either in your Enrollments in PLI Connect, your Google Calendar invite, or your Subbing invite. If they aren't the same, chances are good your students are waiting in the waiting room of the meeting that's linked to the course. The best approach depends on your situation.
If you're a sub
If you're a sub and you can't start the meeting that is in the course, alert the subbing team by emailing subbing@proxlearn.com.
If you're the new teacher of the course
When you first get the course, it's a good idea to import your Zoom ID. If there's an old Zoom ID in the course, alert Solutions in a chat or helpdesk ticket. Let them know which is the old ID and which is the new one, so they have perfect clarity on which should be removed. And if you're in a pinch and can't wait, you can post an announcement with the correct Zoom link, letting students know they can join you there.
Are there alternate Zoom links in the Announcements?
Sometimes substitutes will post their meeting link for that day in the course announcements. If there's a student who says they aren't being let into the meeting, then chances are good they either clicked one of these old links, or they're using an old link they saved somewhere. In cases where it's just a few students who are missing, you can direct them to the right place/link to join. If it's multiple, it's a good idea to post an announcement with the correct link, or directions on where to go to join you. To avoid this in the future, keep an eye on your course announcements, and delete old ones that show old links.
Is there even school today?
If everything seems to be set up correctly, then there's always the chance that there isn't class that day. Most days that kids have off can be accounted for in the school calendar, which you can check by going to your Job Record and clicking View details next to the course in question. Next to School Documents, there should be an option to download the district's school calendar. If there are multiple download buttons, hover over them to find the school calendar, based on the link that appears in the bottom left of the screen, or just download all of them.
If you discover that school is out that day, you're probably good to leave the meeting. Just let your Teaching and Learning Specialist know first.
What to do if none of these seem to fit your situation:
If you regularly communicate with your facilitator, you can check in with them to see if they have any eyes on the situation. If they're in-person, they have direct eyes on what may be happening with the students' wi-fi, devices, or other issues. If they're virtual, they may have heard from students about what they're seeing. In either case, they can also alert you to other contexts.
You can also start a live chat with Solutions, or put in a helpdesk ticket. Give them all the context you can, including the link to your Canvas course and the Zoom ID of the meeting you're in. That way they can quickly and efficiently assess what is going on, and what you should do from there.