Putting a bow on fall 2020

I process things deeply.  It's just how I'm wired.  I've learned that to move on from something I often need to give myself permission to "feel all the feels."  Journaling is a great method to do this.  Please indulge me as I process through fall 2020 in this post.

Proud:  this semester offered quite a bit of challenge on so many fronts.  

*We survived.  I had to create a lesson plan that allowed for half the time face to face than my students should have had.  Boo.  Don't get me wrong--this decision wasn't made to be mean to me personally.  It was made to allow for social distancing in our classroom.  I will readily agree that this cohort model was better than telling students who had enrolled for a hybrid class that they had to move completely online.  I just regret that it had to happen at all because pedagogically speaking it wasn't excellent.  In hindsight I'm not 100% at peace with the way I designed the flow of the class.  However, hopefully I'll never have to do it again.  My biggest regret is I didn't include enough culture.  We had just enough time to practice grammar sufficient for the quizzes and tests, but so much was left out.

*We thrived.  Even with the wonky lesson planning and despite students having to miss class due to quarantine for covid or exposure to covid or forgetting what day it was (more than 1 student honestly said that was why they missed class) they thrived.  Grades were higher in my classes than they were in the same sections a year ago.  I call that a huge win. 

In my honest opinion I'll say it's because the curriculum I'm using now as opposed to a year is better.  It's easier to understand the concepts and it's also much easier to navigate online.  This is an enormous win as an instructor that I recognized that while excellent with content my old curriculum was clunky online and confusing.  Ain't nobody got time for that.  (That's my attempt at being hip--I hope it came across that way).  

Also, in my online sections my organization of Canvas was improved from a year ago.  I've read books and implemented suggestions that have been hugely helpful to students.

In my hybrid sections, I used the flipped classroom which was hugely successful because students read the book before coming to class and practiced the material in class.  They reinforced the learning after class.  Hooray!  Flipping the classroom isn't easy and I'm still working out how to really do it well but this semester was much, much better for students than a year ago when I was still teaching using the lecture method.  Students are now taking ownership of their own learning and I thrilled to see that they're learning the material at a deeper level.

Nervous:  who knows what the future will bring.  I went back to my office today for my label maker.  I didn't have it last spring when I wasn't able to go to my office and I really missed it.  I don't want to go all online in January, but if that decision is made I need to be ready.  Somehow having the label maker makes me feel ready for anything that may come my way.

Tired.  I made lots and lots of videos this semester.  The making of the videos follows these steps:

*prep the slides.  I love the teaching slides from Connect (my curriculum) because they are a bare outline of concepts and not overwhelming to look at.  I add an intro slide that has a picture of something that connects to what we're learning.  I often also link to the mind map that shows how the concepts we cover relate to each other so students have a frame of reference.

*videotape.  I use screencastomatic.com to videotape myself.  I do screencasts mostly but sometimes I do full head shots if I'm telling my online sections something that doesn't require visuals.

*upload to YouTube.  I have a YouTube channel but all my videos are unlisted because there are crazy people out there that I just don't have time to mess with.

*link the video in Canvas.  I link these either in announcements in Canvas (I make a short video every week for my online sections) or in the modules sections if I'm teaching concepts.

*edit the CC.  Yuck.  This is a laborious process that is the bane of my existence.  Any time I speak Spanish the automatic CC leaves blank space so I have to go back and type what I've said.  I've gotten much, much faster but this is a vital step because many students rely on this.  Every word has the correct accent and I'm meticulous about i being I.

As you can see, this is quite a process.  I've budgeted my time this semester so that the videos needed for the spring are already uploaded into my master classes in Canvas.  YAY!  I love the phrase "be nice to your future self" and this is an excellent application of that sage advice.

Lonely.  I haven't had much interaction this semester with other instructors.  I listen to podcasts a lot and have gained a significant amount of knowledge and ideas through listening.  However, I wish I had more of a sense of community with others.  We have Zoom meetings with my dept monthly but that hasn't left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling.  I miss the sense of community I felt when I taught in elementary.  I truly felt like part of a team and I really enjoyed that.  My co-workers are nice and my office is located near a few faculty and other members of the staff that are enjoyable to chat with but I don't have another Spanish instructor to go to and say "hey, I just wrote this final and I'm afraid it's too hard.  Could you look it over and tell me what you think?"

Hopeful.  I'm going to wrap up on an upswing.  A way I'm going to make 2021 better for students is to have more synchronous sessions with my online classes.  I don't make a huge point of these because I asked my online students in a survey and many are beyond burned out of Zoom.  If I'm at my house I have spotty access with Zoom so I don't like using it if I'm at home.  Many of them have the same experience.  However, I want to offer a better pedagogical experience to my online sections to provide them with live guided practice (or access to a recording).  I'm exploring ways to make this successful in the spring.

I ask students to fill out feedback surveys at the end of the semester just for me.  I had a wonderful suggestion of helping students get together to make study groups.  I had never thought of that but I certainly could facilitate that with very little effort.  Many online students applauded that my due dates are always Thursday night at 11:59pm.  They could count on them not changing and budget their time accordingly.  Others liked how I used Quizlet in my live classes to help students review material in a fun way.  Others loved that I brought my guitar and we sang songs.  (Sadly only twice due to the fast pace of the semester).  Others loved my puppets that I use to help teach grammar and cultural differences.

One student thanked me for being kind.  That made me very proud of this semester.  Yes, it's been a challenge on so many fronts and I worked very hard to meet the needs of my students.  I made being kind a top priority and I'm so glad I did.  Grades are important but not as important as the human beings that entrust me with their education.  I'm glad I didn't let them down.