Prior to my current role of adjunct teaching with TCC, I
worked as an HR Manager for a local manufacturing plant. One of my favorite responsibilities in that
role was facilitating, planning, and conducting training. I loved the opportunity to get some face time
with employees in a more casual setting than on the production floor, and I
loved the challenge of finding ways to help employees understand and relate to
the information. I wish I had known then
what I know now about teaching strategies, objectives, assessment, and learning
activities. I could have done so much
more!
I am a very interactive teacher. I sometimes struggle through class sessions
where I do a lot of lecture time. I notice that I get tired of hearing my own
voice and I start to think that the students are also feeling that way. So, I strive to build in discussion
questions, debate exercises, and other interactive exercises as learning
activities. I feel that the learning
activities I have planned help students reach the aligned learning objectives. I also feel that the assessment tools do
actually assess the degree to which students have met the aligned
objectives.
I still have some work to do over the next day or so to wrap
up my course, and I hope to create a course that is a welcoming environment to
all students. There are plenty of
unchecked items on the checklist for me, but I know what they are and have a
plan to address each item. I was
parenting solo this week as my husband was traveling, and to top off the fun my
youngest has contracted something similar to hand-foot-mouth and has only left
my hip to sleep. Thankfully, the other “parental
unit” (as we sometimes refer to one another jokingly) has returned home. Thus, allowing my arms a break to do
something other than hold a child. I
should be able to finish up by Wednesday evening.
I have greatly enjoyed learning about online tools,
strategies for building community and positive online classrooms, and getting
to know fellow professors better.
