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, students
Brain Breaks and Birdhouses: What I Learned from 1st-2nd Grade Virtual Maker Camp
If you asked me six months ago how I envisioned summer break, I’d probably have told you about swimming at pools and lakes, hanging out with my kids, and, best of all, the days my kids would be spending together at summer camp. Thanks to #covid19, most of that isn’t happening. Instead, my 7-year-old has been doing a virtual KSU iTeach Makercamp this summer, and he’s had fun making things like birdcages and musical instruments and robot claws (and 2yo has had fun building his own versions too). So what can we learn from a virtual summer camp for kids
Seven Great Resources for Moving Your Class Online
I’ve written a couple posts about keeping it simple and thinking about equity as we move our higher ed classes online due to COVID-19 closures. But I wanted to take a few minutes to share a few of my favorite resources I’ve found that I think are great for helping consider the logistics, ethics, and pedagogy of moving courses online. I’ll list a few of my key takeaways from each “Your Suddenly Online Class Could Actually Be a Relief” by Alexandra L. Milsom use as few tools as possible and go easy on yourself maintain community as best you can
Keep it simple, y’all – moving your class online
As we all face down the likelihood of moving courses online this semester for the covid-19 outbreak, it’s easy to get caught up in the overwhelm of hundreds of pedagogical options and the glitter of new tech tools. Our passion for teaching drives us to constantly innovate, to make our classes better and more engaging. After all, Pedagogy Playground is born of this impulse. But truly innovative, engaging online classes take weeks or even months to develop, and we don’t have the luxury of that right now. On top of the time crunch (and for many of us still, the
Small Changes, Big Impact
I’ve long been a huge fan of James Lang‘s since I read his book Small Teaching in a book group a few years ago. He calls us to make small changes to our teaching, one change at a time, rather than feeling obligated to overturn our syllabi and start anew. This practical approach of learning tools and tricks that I can implement immediately at any point in the semester has been fundamental to my thinking about pedagogy. Lang regularly writes for The Chronicle, and one of my favorite pieces is “Small Changes in Teaching: Making Connections.” In this piece, Lang articulates the
