Once More into the Breach

I tried a Google Site for education/teaching stuff this past year and hated it, so I'm migrating the teaching posts I put there here.

posted Jan 27, 2015, 6:28 AM by Karra Shimabukuro

So we're in week three of our semester here and I admit to still feeling off-balance. Last week we had a two hour delay that cancelled class, then didn't, so that was weird. I'm prepping a new class- Revising Milton, so that's more work that I've had to do, but it is also my ONLY class, so I'll shut up.

I started with a three ring binder for class. I've already moved it to a simple folder.

However, I tried something new with students this semester. Their first week assignment was to email me and tell me one thing after the first week they were interested in, and one question they had. Now, whether it was this approach (or my rocking first day lecture that reviewed the syllabus through memes) I have no received a single question that could be answered with the dreaded "It's in the syllabus."

Here are other tips for the start of your semester (which you can implement at any time):

• Use a Google Form to get students to sign off on using their work
• Schedule a library tutorial so your students have the skills they need to succeed in your class
• Don't answer work emails at night or weekends. It sets a bad precedent. Start fresh and it'll be easier to avoid the stress of this all semester.
• Choose a set of office hours that would work with your schedule. Then have students vote for which work best.
• Make attending office hours 1% of participation.
• Make your online materials (Blackboard, Moodle, whatever) a dynamic site. Make sure your students see it that way. Also, make sure there's instructional design to your course layout so students can find things.