Finished the first week of Zoom classes for the Spring quarter and I am exhausted. There were some challenges to be sure but for the most part, I am pleased with the students and our “soft start” to the quarter. I’m excited to share my novel use of an iPad in a Zoom meeting (atContinue reading “April 2 Day 25: Novel Zooming”
Category Archives: technology
March 31 Day 23: Thinking Forward
What will teaching look like when our “splendid isolation” is complete? As professionals, we are learning to be more flexible, more forgiving, and more humane.
March 29 Day 21: Full Circle
Everything has been communicated and released to the students—for the first week anyways. There will be a lot of experimentation in our “getting-to-know-you session.” A google doc, a sample quiz with different kinds questions and different ways to enter responses, randomly generated Zoom breakout rooms with assigned roles, and finally a upload assignment for theContinue reading “March 29 Day 21: Full Circle”
March 16 Day 8: Personal Mantra and the Second Wave
Worry less about the integrity of online examinations and quality of online content. Worry more about the people. Assume best intentions. Think about your learning goals: to enable students to be critical thinkers? problem solvers? to have flexible minds and be able to adapt? They will get all that through the experience you provide and more. Will it really matter if your Calculus I class doesn’t get to L’Hopital’s rule or your Calculus II class doesn’t get to partial fraction decomposition? I doubt it. For those that need it, there will be time later. For now, congratulate yourself on getting through the first day (or the first week or planning for a future week) and just
March 14 Day 6: A Different Kind of Celebration
Yes my birthday is on Pi Day but I don’t feel much like celebrating.
March 12 Day 4: No More Black Name Tags, Please
This was my last “teaching day” of winter quarter. The senior seminar again proved to be inspirational. The students modeled how to move forward in uncertainty. They adapted what they knew to this time and place. We had Google slides, Beamer, and PowerPoint, zoomed live or streamed recordings. I am looking forward to two moreContinue reading “March 12 Day 4: No More Black Name Tags, Please”
March 9 Day 1: Where Were the Students?
Reflections on the first day teaching but not in face-to-face classes: Where were the students? Less than half the enrolled students zoomed in. I post the recording online later but still…do they interpret cancelling f2f =cancelling class entirely? Even after I messaged them on Friday and again this morning? That being said, I think thoseContinue reading “March 9 Day 1: Where Were the Students?”
Saturday, March 7. Day -1: It Begins
Written sometime in the afternoon. Posted to MAA Connect Monday March 9, 9:40 am. Yesterday was a whirlwind in Washington State. In-person classes were suspended at many institutions including the entire UW system for the rest of winter quarter. Alternatives to in-class final exams are needed in one week. Thankfully, I regularly use a ZoomContinue reading “Saturday, March 7. Day -1: It Begins”
Math Belongs to All of Us 