This site provides examples of instructional resources created in the Humanizing Online STEM Academy, a professional development program funded by the California Education Learning Lab and administered by the Foothill DeAnza Community College District.
I love interacting with other humans. Creativity and spontaneity are among my strengths but I can come across as unorganized in- person. I never thought of myself as tech savy but with the pandemic I threw myself into problemsolving and learning - in pursuit of connection, creativity and meaningful learning for my students. I've come to recognize that "humanizing" is one of my strengths, but I wanted to learn more from others, as well as to create community with other online instructors. One of the unexpected dividends of teaching online is that I can appear more organized and intentional for my students. I want to leverage this and I figured this course might help. I also wanted to learn more about making my content accessible and I'll always be striving to make my courses more equitable for minoritized students.
I'm feeling more comfortable with what I offer my online students and yet my appetite for growth continues. I appreciated experiencing a few new tools with this course. I'm lamenting that I didn't have more time for the course because I know I would have gotten more out of some of the tools. I reallyyyyy struggled with the communication in this course. I'm wondering if my ADHD is getting worse with age because it is hard for me to rely upon written words for communication. I had other contributing factors such as my back and other communication barriers. It made me wonder which of my students might experience something similar in my courses. I'm so exahusted that I'm a bit delirious but I hope to someday share the tale with my students about my experiences with last-minute work and how I feel I shortchanged myself in terms of my "return-on-investment" in this course :)
I felt very validated in many of my "made up" approaches. They seem to be aligned with many of the suggestions in this class. I hope to continue to grow - especially in my ability to provide warm, wise feedback, in the accessiblity of my courses, and in my abilities to support minoritized students. I look forward to further exploring Adobe Express. This course has helped me put labels and handles on things that I didn't know were "things" :) I hope that makes sense, and thank you for that!
My liquid syllabus lets me share aspects of myself and my teaching style with my students before we start working together. It also gives them insights into my expectations of myself and my students, along with many details of the class. The bottom offerns an explicit series of steps for their first week, and directs them to the key resources.
I love for my students to see themselves as scholars. I try to offer ways for them to identify/feel represented within the infrastructure of the course. My course card is an effort to do this as well as to communicate some fun or excitement about the course. (This image is actually an improved version of the one I used for my Sandbox course)
My home page shares humor, light, warmth, beauty, math, etc with clear direction as a regular starting point for students. Ir also has some very important links, like the modules link, the syllabus link, my zoom room etc. It also includes my image because I want them to be keenly aware of my proximate presence - despite the "distance education" platform.
One of my classmates summarized that the student survey serves as a "way for students to individualize themselves." It helps me tailor the course and it is the first in my many efforts to personalize diaologue- and to value their voices. This allows me to get to know them without obliquely bombarding them with questions like "what motivates you?" "How can I help make this course appealing to you?" etc etc
It also helps them reflect a little and to hopefully start to recognize how much I value their authentic voices.
I grew up tightly engaged with perfectionism so it was revolutionary when I noticed that I can make more "progress" if I in fact acknowledge the "movement" I have already made!? I love to celebrate my students and for them to celebrate themselves. Of course they naturally celebrate each other as well. With the Bragboard Discussion they often bond over (previous) struggles as well. They celebrate triumphs - some of which are shared. It elicits a different kind of vulnerability and engenders "a sense of belonging by connecting students with each others' real-world experiences. When I first started using it I didn't know those words/labels for what it was doing - thank you!
This video helps students know that they don't have to give up on the class just because they missed the first due date. It also directs them to a recovery tool that they are encouraged to use throughout the course. It reinforces some navigation tools for the course.
Solving Absolute Value equations calls upon some fundamental techniiques that we use for other topics throughout Math 116. It specifically addresses Objective #5.
I was so releaved to watch "How to Optimize Digital Microlectures" because the principles it endorses resonate with me. I had judged myself for not engaging in some trends towards "flipping" that didn't include these principles. Primarily - I struggle to feed students who aren't hungry yet (aren't 'activated.') Preaching to them in a non-engaged mondirectional video was something that didn't seem to fit for me.
This video show my own productive struggle and it is particulalry slow or calm, relative to my general excitement and charge. This was intentional because I've learned more about the value of balancing consistency and calm with more dynamic components.
This site is by Alison Damoose and is shared with a Creative Commons-Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 license. Creation of this content was made possible with funding from the California Education Learning Lab.
