I've been trying to figure out how to work grammar into my summer course. The way I do it during the semester is to include a mini-lesson every week--when I know I'm going to come up a bit short on my lesson plan for the day, I take 5-10 minutes to teach a simple grammar/revision rule or trick. I'm not quite sure how to do this online. I love the idea of having 6 modules for 6 weeks; it makes a part of me incredibly happy--the same part of me that loves to pack a car, I think. But with such singular modules, how do you fit in the extra stuff--if I wanted to stretch the car packing metaphor precariously thin, I could ask: Where does the oddly shaped _____ fit?
(The only think I could think of for that blank was "Bag of Hangers", which is not something I usually pack into cars, but something that I once had to pack into an already full car that caused great distress for the compartmentalizing section of my brain.)
So could I use 5 modules that build on one another, with a sixth module running concurrently throughout the entire course? Like a free radical module? I'm thinking about a module stacked with grammar and revision advice that I encourage the students to work through on their own time, bit by bit, that will be assessed in its entirety at the end of the course as part of the final. I'm imagining a quick lesson followed by a quiz that they can take multiple times if they'd like. And maybe 10-12 lessons. So if they want, they can do 2 a week. Or they can do 6 one week and then take a couple weeks off.
This would work, right?
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Friday, May 2, 2014
Teaching Presence
I depend pretty heavily on my level of Edutainment for the first couple of weeks. I know that I'm teaching courses that students don't want to take and I know that I have enough New-Guy Sheen to get up in front of class and flap some jazz hands and get students engaged. I also know that song-and-dance won't keep the engaged for ever--but getting them on board is one of the most important parts of teaching general ed courses that they wish they didn't have to take.
I'm hoping that video will replace some of that, but it's also nice to be reminded that my presence is required throughout the six weeks.
One of things that I do (and pride myself on) is learn all of my students' names on the first day. This proves to be more difficult as the first week goes on and my list of names goes from 20 or 35 to 105, but I've found that students appreciate the effort and if I can get them to appreciate my effort that will translated to them working for me later in the semester. In fact, I just had a student in an end-of-the-semester what-I-learned letter tell me that he was still impressed that I learned their names. This will obviously be easier with 6 students than 20+, but the thing that will be more challenging will be finding a way for them to get to know each other. I rely on small group work regularly and I usually let them work with the same people all the time--I find that it's more important for them to develop a relationship or two, then to work once with everyone in the class. I know they're not always talking about the content, but that's fine--in fact, if I didn't think they'd leave the topic to never return, I'd probably encourage that. Anyway: Online that task seems a bit more daunting. I've been brainstorming activities similar to the icebreakers that I always had to do at camps or youth rallies growing up--just something for them to get to know each other a bit more, so that we can all know each other, so that we can all stay more engaged over the six weeks.
I'm hoping that video will replace some of that, but it's also nice to be reminded that my presence is required throughout the six weeks.
One of things that I do (and pride myself on) is learn all of my students' names on the first day. This proves to be more difficult as the first week goes on and my list of names goes from 20 or 35 to 105, but I've found that students appreciate the effort and if I can get them to appreciate my effort that will translated to them working for me later in the semester. In fact, I just had a student in an end-of-the-semester what-I-learned letter tell me that he was still impressed that I learned their names. This will obviously be easier with 6 students than 20+, but the thing that will be more challenging will be finding a way for them to get to know each other. I rely on small group work regularly and I usually let them work with the same people all the time--I find that it's more important for them to develop a relationship or two, then to work once with everyone in the class. I know they're not always talking about the content, but that's fine--in fact, if I didn't think they'd leave the topic to never return, I'd probably encourage that. Anyway: Online that task seems a bit more daunting. I've been brainstorming activities similar to the icebreakers that I always had to do at camps or youth rallies growing up--just something for them to get to know each other a bit more, so that we can all know each other, so that we can all stay more engaged over the six weeks.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Blended Learning and a Poll
I had a meeting yesterday--maybe my first meeting on campus that wasn't associated with a job or New Faculty Orientation (which are sort of connected anyway, right?). It was a meeting about offering a blended version of my Core 180 class. The idea actually came from Jason Lief. He was trying to come up with a way for his Core 150 students--all 50 of them--to have fewer corners in the classroom to hide in. So we got to talking about it and he threw out the idea of blending a class, so that half the students came on Tuesday and the other half on Thursday and they did the day they were missing online. I'm pretty excited about it--I often have students in my 180 that I think would speak up if the group was slightly smaller. I polled one of my 180 classes this semester with the statement: I would be most likely to speak up in a class of... a) 10 or fewer students, b) 10-30 students, c) 30+ students. Twenty of the students chose 10 or fewer and while splitting a 180 is not going to quite get their physically, in introducing an online element, I think I may be able to split up the halves once or twice more for online discussion groups. Five students chose 10-30, which reinforces my idea that there are some students that would speak up more often in a smaller class. Seven students chose 30+, which was surprising until I realized that I usually have about 7 students per semester that run the discussion.
All this to say: I'm excited that teaching this class now is already leading to opportunities to enhance other classes, including traditionally face-to-face classes.
And! I hope Dave has a good poll tool for us. If you haven't checked out polleverywhere.com, you should. It's super easy to use, it's free up to 40 answers, and it's a great way to start class--in my experience, if I give students the opportunity to use their phones right away it's almost as if the urge gets flushed out of their system and they're less likely to, as someone once put it, "Look at their crotch and smile".
All this to say: I'm excited that teaching this class now is already leading to opportunities to enhance other classes, including traditionally face-to-face classes.
And! I hope Dave has a good poll tool for us. If you haven't checked out polleverywhere.com, you should. It's super easy to use, it's free up to 40 answers, and it's a great way to start class--in my experience, if I give students the opportunity to use their phones right away it's almost as if the urge gets flushed out of their system and they're less likely to, as someone once put it, "Look at their crotch and smile".
Friday, April 11, 2014
Here We Go
I've got a digital stack of 70 papers to get through. And then 90 more coming in the next two weeks. What happened to this semester?
But the thing that's most intimidating? Organizing a class that I've been teaching for 4 years into modules.
I love the idea of modules; particularly the idea that they should make my class scheduling more fluid. (I'm totally someone who freaks out about having to switch from a MWF schedule to a TTh schedule.) And I do like to organize things: I used to work at a coffee shop/laundry mat/video rental place and organizing movies was my favorite aspect of the job. I like a good spreadsheet. I love index cards (see the bottom of the page for a great Anne Lamott take on index cards). In fact, I'd like to map the course out with index cards, but I left my trusty pile in my desk and I'm in Grand Rapids at the Faith and Writing Festival (ducking out at lunch to blog).
The actual sitting down and doing thing is what I'm not looking forward to. But the time is here, right?
"I have index cards and pens all over the house—by the bed, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, by the phones, and I have them in the glove compartment of my car. I carry one with me in my back pocket when I take my dog for a walk. In fact, I carry it folded lengthwise, if you need to know, so that, God forbid, I won’t look bulky. You may want to consider doing the same. I don’t even know you, but I bet you have enough on your mind without having to worry about whether or not you look bulky. So whenever I am leaving the house without my purse—in which there are actual notepads, let alone index cards—I fold an index card lengthwise in half, stick it in my back pocket along with a pen, and head out, knowing that if I have an idea, or see something lovely or strange or for any reason worth remembering, I will be able to jot down a couple of words to remind me of it. Sometimes, if I overhear or think of an exact line of dialogue or a transition, I write it down verbatim. I stick the card back in my pocket. I might be walking along the salt marsh, or out at Phoenix Lake, or in the express line at Safeway, and suddenly I hear something wonderful that makes me want to smile or snap my fingers—as if it has just come back to me—and I take out my index card and scribble it down." -- Anne Lamott
But the thing that's most intimidating? Organizing a class that I've been teaching for 4 years into modules.
I love the idea of modules; particularly the idea that they should make my class scheduling more fluid. (I'm totally someone who freaks out about having to switch from a MWF schedule to a TTh schedule.) And I do like to organize things: I used to work at a coffee shop/laundry mat/video rental place and organizing movies was my favorite aspect of the job. I like a good spreadsheet. I love index cards (see the bottom of the page for a great Anne Lamott take on index cards). In fact, I'd like to map the course out with index cards, but I left my trusty pile in my desk and I'm in Grand Rapids at the Faith and Writing Festival (ducking out at lunch to blog).
The actual sitting down and doing thing is what I'm not looking forward to. But the time is here, right?
"I have index cards and pens all over the house—by the bed, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, by the phones, and I have them in the glove compartment of my car. I carry one with me in my back pocket when I take my dog for a walk. In fact, I carry it folded lengthwise, if you need to know, so that, God forbid, I won’t look bulky. You may want to consider doing the same. I don’t even know you, but I bet you have enough on your mind without having to worry about whether or not you look bulky. So whenever I am leaving the house without my purse—in which there are actual notepads, let alone index cards—I fold an index card lengthwise in half, stick it in my back pocket along with a pen, and head out, knowing that if I have an idea, or see something lovely or strange or for any reason worth remembering, I will be able to jot down a couple of words to remind me of it. Sometimes, if I overhear or think of an exact line of dialogue or a transition, I write it down verbatim. I stick the card back in my pocket. I might be walking along the salt marsh, or out at Phoenix Lake, or in the express line at Safeway, and suddenly I hear something wonderful that makes me want to smile or snap my fingers—as if it has just come back to me—and I take out my index card and scribble it down." -- Anne Lamott
Saturday, April 5, 2014
The Trouble with Online Anything
In junior high, we were required to keep a daily planner with all of our assignments marked. I always failed. I could do the assignments (usually late), I generally paid attention in class, and I was a pretty low maintenance student otherwise (I was a little goofy, but I don't think I was on the Ben Franklin Junior High Most Wanted list). It's no wonder I spend a good chunk of my time writing fiction now--I've always been someone who lived most of the time in my own head. So remembered what was due and when has always been a bane for me.
Fast forward: Now, I'm the teacher and, though I married a wonderful woman with stellar calendar skills, very little of that skill has rubbed off on me. In a face-to-face classroom, on a day-to-day basis, I still have trouble remembering what's due and when--and I'm the one assigning the work. What I'm hoping for most in this new adventure into online teaching is that I'll be required to focus more on the pre-teaching and curriculum development and that that planning will help me maintain a consistent schedule in my classroom--both online and, in the future, in the classroom.
My fear, I suppose, links back to my own personality. If I have trouble remembering to pay attention to the world that I'm actually walking through, then the digital world has even more potential to slip my mind. One of my goals over the past year of teaching has been to outline the each class's schedule before class even starts; just writing it in the upper left-hand of the board is a good way to let them know what's coming and remind me what I'm supposed to cover. The nice thing about online teaching is that part of the pedagogy seems to be built in. Now it will just be a matter of remembering to walk into the digital classroom. That Dr. Ragan piece was a particularly helpful reminder that I'll need to be present in the classroom, that online courses don't simply run themselves.
Fast forward: Now, I'm the teacher and, though I married a wonderful woman with stellar calendar skills, very little of that skill has rubbed off on me. In a face-to-face classroom, on a day-to-day basis, I still have trouble remembering what's due and when--and I'm the one assigning the work. What I'm hoping for most in this new adventure into online teaching is that I'll be required to focus more on the pre-teaching and curriculum development and that that planning will help me maintain a consistent schedule in my classroom--both online and, in the future, in the classroom.
My fear, I suppose, links back to my own personality. If I have trouble remembering to pay attention to the world that I'm actually walking through, then the digital world has even more potential to slip my mind. One of my goals over the past year of teaching has been to outline the each class's schedule before class even starts; just writing it in the upper left-hand of the board is a good way to let them know what's coming and remind me what I'm supposed to cover. The nice thing about online teaching is that part of the pedagogy seems to be built in. Now it will just be a matter of remembering to walk into the digital classroom. That Dr. Ragan piece was a particularly helpful reminder that I'll need to be present in the classroom, that online courses don't simply run themselves.
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