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.
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