Weeks 4, 5 and 6

Wow! Is it really week 6? It seems like just yesterday I was lamenting over week 3. So why haven't you hear from me since week 3? That's easy: I'm stinking busy!

The past three weeks have been a balancing act and in some respects, I seem to be on the losing end. I have 20 students between two sections for College 3 and it seems as if the workload is heavier than it was last time I had 20 students. The grading for this class is extremely time consuming and at times, tedious. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do for this class. It's just that when I'm in a time crunch, it's hard to enjoy the process.

Meanwhile, only about half of my English 1102 class is on board. This keeps grading at a minimum, but it almost seems harder to work with fewer students. I put so much mental energy into re-orienting myself to what's going on in the class, only to have a few assignments to grade.

There's been quite a learning curve here, even though I've been teaching online for five years at other colleges. The actual course I'm using was laid out differently than how I typically put classes together, which perhaps makes a difference in how students approach the class.

For example, typically I organize the class by week; whereas, this class is arranged by projects. It seems like a no-brainer to enter each project and complete the steps, and yet, it isn't happening. I think some of this may be because if a student gets behind, he or she gets lost. I thought I headed this off with an "Assignments" tab that lists all the assignments that need to be complete, but since I'm not seeing the results I'm expecting, I have to take into account that students might not be getting it.

Another thing I'm considering is that at College 1, online classes are a way of life and students tend to take them every term, so they have more experience. At College 3, I'm working with masters-level students, so they're just more academically mature.

At College 2, however, it seems like most of my students do not have experience with classes that are exclusively online. Couple this with the fact that most are transfer students trying to get the class "out of the way at the local community college," and that pretty much equals: Care about this class? Not so much!

I sent out an email last week expressing my concerns about the lack of work I was receiving and magically those blessed green boxes started to appear in the grade book, so it's becoming apparent who is serious about the class and who is wasting tuition money.

Summer school is tough.
Shortened classes are tough.
Online classes are tough.

Combine the three: crazy/tough.

We're all hanging in there together. There are a lot of things I'd do differently next time.

Related Links

Week 3 for English 1102 on Blackboard

Week 2 for English 1102 on Blackboard

Using Google Alerts to Enhance Research

Week 3 for English 1102 on Blackboard

Well, we're a third of the way through the class already. Summer is sure flying by. I'm used to teaching in 10- or 12-week chunks, but 8 is pretty crazy.

And yet, I'm feeling pretty lonely this week when it comes to my online class.

As I look at the curriculum, I wonder if there are just too many short assignments and if the workload from week to week fluctuates too much. When teaching online, consistency from week to week has been the key to success. If students know that every week will involve a reading, a discussion, and an assignment, there should be no problem. Right? This class takes on a different approach than anything I've ever taught online before.

As I elaborated on and tweeked the course shell I was given for the class, I naively reminded myself that anyone who registered for this class should understand that the six hours a week they're not spending inside the classroom should be applied to their own schedule online throughout the week.

I think the class is intuitively laid out. Students are brought through the course item by item, so you'd think they'd just move through the curriculum and not miss a beat. Yet there are so many outstanding assignments, it's hard not to be discouraged. Where are my students? Why aren't they online six hours a week?

How is a student supposed to function within an online class unless they're, well, online. Student's attend class through their participation, and so while the traditional large chunks of time that a shortened, face-to-face class demand (like Tuesday and Thursday morning from 8 AM 'til noon, and no, there is no bathroom break), an online class demands shorter chunks of time with greater frequency of attendance (say, 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week--and that's just being online to participate in discussions.)

I've had the entire week to think about this as I also wondered if students my are gauging the point value of this week's assignments with the value of the overall class. As an educator, it's annoying to think that students are cutting corners and not taking in the depth of my knowledge and preparation, which undoubtedly, if taken advantage of, will yield a group of excellent writers ready to tackle any research project, paper, or essay exam that comes their way.

But then I think of my own college days, when I'd look through the syllabus to see how many classes I could cut without being penalized and weigh that against the busy lifestyle of the 21st century college student, who likely works more hours than I did and may possible have kids and other distractions/obstacles or whatever you want to call them interfering with their ability to get everything done.

After all, as a mother of two little kids who is teaching five classes at three different colleges this summer and maintaining two blogs, how can I not relate?

And that's education in the 21st Centruy . . . and week 3 of my 1102 class.

Leadership Future: Are Students Entitled to Good Grades?

I read this great post on Leadership Turn's website. To give credit where credit is due, I must say I was originally pointed to this article from the Teaching Online blog.


This article brings up some great points about an overall student sense of entitlement. One of the three colleges I teach at has a huge problem with student entitlement. Check out the below links to read more about my encounters with student entitlement.


Miss Pre-Med at TV Commercial University
I Quess I'll Have to Repeated the Course
Book-Ended by Bull--it
End-of-the-Semester Excuse Makers Strike Again

Teaching Online Blog is a Good Read for Online Instructors

I found this great blog, Teaching Online. This week's post asks for student excuses. Like I don't have any of those stories. I'm pressed for time, so I posted a recent blog link: End-of-the-Semester Excuse-Maker Strikes Again. If you haven't had a chance to read it, check it out. And check out Teaching Online.

As for this week's Highs and Lows:

Highs

1. My first online class at College 2 launched on Monday. I got just enough students to be paid the full three-credit hours, and 10 out of 13 students have checked in. Not bad for the end of day 2.
2. College 3 just scheduled me for two additional classes starting at the end of June. I'm able to afford a babysitter for the two monkeys for 2 days a week so I can get all my work done and enjoy the other 3 days during the week with them. The alternative: stressing all week and being a Nap Nazi, i.e. making sure we're home by 12:30 to put Miss Chattyshoes down so I can work.
3. College 1 online class is at its halfway point. So far, no major problems, which I'm thankful for since last term was such a nightmare.

Lows

Absolutely none. I'm having a great teaching week.

I Quess I'll Have to Repeated the Course

Notes from students I dared to fail:

Miss Quess: "I was wonder was my grade that i receive was correct for last semester. This was the only class that its showing didnt pass to get my diploma."

Me: "Your grade is accurate."

Miss Quess: "Ok i quess i got to repeated the course in order to graduate."

Me: "Yes, you got to repeted the course in order to graduate. But I quess there are colleges out there that will give you a diploma in spite of your atrocious spelling."

**********

Email with commentary in italics

Hello how are you doing? Not so great. I'm being cyber-stalked by students scrambling for a passing grade that they spent ten weeks not earning.

I have a really quick question regarding my last quarter and my grade. Make it quick. I'm feeling impatient.

I know that I hardly tunred in any work due to the fact that I was not able to log in for the first 4-5 weeks and that caused me to fall behind. This is true. You hardly TUNRED any work in, but your Internet problems are not mine, especially since you didn't communicate them to me earlier.

So my question to you is, would it be possible for me to turn in my missing assigments and my grade to change at this point. Are you kidding me? No, due to the fact that I don't want to dedicate any more of my time to you now that we're after the fact.

This class is the only class that I would need to graduate, and if possible I would like to be finished instead of attending another 10 weeks of school. If only you'd thought of that 10 weeks ago.

So if you can let me know if it is too late I would gladly appreciate it. Thank you. Enjoy summer school.