I thought the first day back after a three day weekend might be challenging for me and my students. As predicted, energy and attendance was low. To inject positivity, I asked for help with the following Google slide: Students were asked to share motivational thoughts, quotes, or memes. Not everyone participated but it brightened myContinue reading “May 26 Day 79: Staying Positive”
Category Archives: teaching
May 18 Day 71: Did It!
If you are keeping track—it’s after midnight but I cleared my grading queue to zero. It won’t last long so I wanted to take this moment to celebrate! Now to sleep. Sweet dreams.
May 16 Day 69: To Do
For those of you not familiar with the Canvas Teacher app, the 114 in the red oval represents the number of items in need of grading this weekend. Some are quick check-offs: complete or incomplete. About half are assessments from my mastery-based precalculus course. The rest come from my writing intensive matrix theory course (soContinue reading “May 16 Day 69: To Do”
May 10 Day 63: A Grading Travelogue
It’s the weekend and that means serious grading. Today’s task: the Matrix Theory midterm that I gave on Thursday. Twenty four students, six pages each. I vowed to grade each page in a different location. Before I begin, a kudos to my technology. I downloaded the exams to a folder in my iCloud and canContinue reading “May 10 Day 63: A Grading Travelogue”
May 7 Day 60: Are you my student?
Imagine with me, the best possible scenario for Fall 2020. There are face-to-face classes and no worries about “the curve,” a second wave, or financial repercussions. Faculty and students have adapted new skills learned in isolation to increase access and inclusion in the classroom. We appreciate the opportunities and acknowledge the privilege of our involvementContinue reading “May 7 Day 60: Are you my student?”
May 6 Day 59: Interaction Achievement Unlocked
Online remote teaching days that feel the most successful have lots of positive interaction between me and my students. Today was perhaps one of the best in a long while. My students are agile and moved with me as I switch between technologies. Here is today’s inventory: Google slide where students indicated standards they mostContinue reading “May 6 Day 59: Interaction Achievement Unlocked”
May 1 Day 54: Ask for help. Offer help.
Despite having written these words on March 13 Day 5, I’m not particularly good at asking for help for myself. I’m much better at asking for help for others. A student contacted me saying that they were not going to be completing the online homework for a while and didn’t want to be penalized. AsContinue reading “May 1 Day 54: Ask for help. Offer help.”
April 30 Day 53: Commitment Day
May first is Commitment Day. Tomorrow, college-bound seniors are supposed to have pledged themselves (and their family’s money) to the next step in their educational journeys. It’s exciting to think about new horizons, new discoveries, new friends, and new adventures. That first year of college is a chance to reinvent yourself–to leave your mistakes behind,Continue reading “April 30 Day 53: Commitment Day”
April 29 Day 52: The Beginning of the End?
Some academics are in the home-stretch of their semesters. They already have had or are about to deliver their last classes of the Spring. They are working on finals (or perhaps, forgoing finals altogether). I am always a little jealous of friends on semester systems with early end dates. Being on quarters, I will beContinue reading “April 29 Day 52: The Beginning of the End?”
April 28 Day 51: Slow Bytes Bite
The internet was pathetically slow during class yesterday. My students said I had a robot voice and everything was jerky. It’s hard to le…le…learn m..m…m…math this way. To avoid sounding like Max Headroom, I closed every application on my machine except the absolute necessities, I ran around the house asking everyone else to suspend internetContinue reading “April 28 Day 51: Slow Bytes Bite”
Math Belongs to All of Us 