Year: 2021

butterfly on flowers

What insect would you ride?: The value of icebreakers in the virtual classroom

Very quickly it became clear that the virtual classroom operated a bit more clunkily than an in-person class. Classes were missing the chatter or just the noises of people inhabiting a room together that precede in-person classes. I love starting each semester with a silly icebreaker, and this fall was no different. I asked students if they shrunk down to the size of AntMan, what insect would they want to ride and why? Answers ranged from terrifying bugs to scare off predators to riding monarchs to see the world during their migration. In both my undergrad and grad classes, studentsContinue readingWhat insect would you ride?: The value of icebreakers in the virtual classroom

Jamboards: Collaborating Together Online

After a long time away (and the year of all years), I’m happy to reenter this space to reflect a bit on some of the teaching tips and tricks that have gotten me through this past year, and especially on those that will continue to be useful after we’ve returned back to in-person teaching (or some type of hybrid teaching). One of my favorite tools I’ve adopted this year is Google’s Jamboard. Jamboard provides a collaborative digital whiteboard platform, with tools to add sticky notes, text, images, and free-form drawing. It’s free to use, and just requires a Google accountContinue readingJamboards: Collaborating Together Online

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