Natalie Umphlett and George Limpert from the High Plains Regional Climate Center and SNR will present. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a significant part of course instruction has shifted online to remote synchronous learning. It is a safer option for delivery of instruction but presents challenges for maintaining student focus and engagement during lectures. For the December and January mini-sessions, remote synchronous instruction is the only mode of content delivery and it is important for student success to ensure this is done effectively during the shortened semester. We will present a number of strategies that we used for instruction during the fall 2020 semester and discuss the successes and issues associated with each of the strategies. These will include our experiences and recommendations for effective use of breakout rooms, in-class exercises, and the use of online polls during classes to mimic the instructional benefits of clicker use. We intend to present this in the form of a discussion where the audience is encouraged to share their experiences and any unique strategies they have employed for remote synchronous instruction.