Category Archives: teaching

November 22 Day 259: Just a Little Jealous

I am just a little jealous of the men in my house. My husband, while having tons of grading to do, has a week long respite from teaching because of his University’s Thanksgiving- pandemic schedule. My youngest son’s high school is the same. So here I am working late into the night on Sunday, tryingContinue reading “November 22 Day 259: Just a Little Jealous”

November 21 Day 258: There’s a Light

The end is in sight. For some it is already here. Those clever administrators that decided to start the Autumn semester early so that their students could conclude the term before Thanksgiving are probably pretty thankful. Now it is a race to get the students home before things become worse and shut down further. MyContinue reading “November 21 Day 258: There’s a Light”

November 18 Day 255: Not Exactly Hump Day

When teaching a Monday/Wednesday schedule, Wednesdays feel more like Fridays than a typical “Hump Day“. Teaching is over for the week; yet the work never stops. There remains endless report writing, agenda setting, meeting attending, meeting facilitation, class planning and of course, grading. So does that make Tuesday the new Wednesday? And Friday the newContinue reading “November 18 Day 255: Not Exactly Hump Day”

November 17 Day 254: A World of Worries

There is plenty to worry on each day. Health and safety of family, friends, students, and me. Managing workload. Missed adventures. Long term impacts of the pandemic on careers, productivity, and life experiences in general. As I started to write about these concerns, I realized the stories are not mine to tell. And many areContinue reading “November 17 Day 254: A World of Worries”

November 13 Day 250: Quintessential Remote Learning Question

My late night habits are catching up with me. In this afternoon’s faculty meeting, I dutifully zoomed in; I listened to the initial updates. I knew I was tired—so much so that I did not turn on the camera. My “resting zoom face” looks like a scowl and I didn’t want speakers to think itContinue reading “November 13 Day 250: Quintessential Remote Learning Question”

November 8 Day 245: Comparison

The last group oral assessment I administered required 10.5 hours (21 groups of 2-3 students each for a 30 minute time slot) plus another hour or so for uploading comments. That might seem like a lot but for comparison consider today—I have been grading the individual online assessment from last week. I’m about halfway doneContinue reading “November 8 Day 245: Comparison”

November 7 Day 244: Creative Challenge Unlocked

On November 4, I promised my students an alternate path to success that did not require them to complete this week’s timed online assessment because, let’s face it…this was quite a week. Tonight I finally wrapped my head around my promise and came up with four options: Becoming Sal KhanI assigned a variation of aContinue reading “November 7 Day 244: Creative Challenge Unlocked”

November 4 Day 241: Affirmations

I thought the first day back after Election Day might be challenging for me and my students. So I started the day by sending them this announcement through the course management system: Title: The morning after… Body:…and its not over yet. Tensions are high with the election results pending on top of COVID isolation andContinue reading “November 4 Day 241: Affirmations”

November 2 Day 239: What’s Happening?

Dear Student, I know there is so much going on in the world that my class is insignificant to any number of things you are dealing with. The stress from midterms, politics, caretaking, or health issues may be weighing on you heavily, preventing you from being present with your classmates, the material, and me. IContinue reading “November 2 Day 239: What’s Happening?”