We have all made several transitions within our teaching practice since the start of the COVID 19 pandemic. After time reflecting and re-assessing my teaching pedagogies and practices, I have implemented many new-to-me online teaching tools with the intent to increase student engagement, empower student ownership of course content, and create a supportive online learning community. The two techniques discussed include co-constructing collaborative course policies and expectations and hosting synchronous zoom small discussion groups called, Coffee Talks. These methods have been applied within the scope of a traditionally in-person course that has transitioned to an online synchronous and asynchronous format. These techniques were evaluated largely positively by students and supported the maintenance of student engagement within an online classroom.