I think of my liquid syllabus as an advertisement for my class. While it isn't a syllabus in the legal sense, it does provide students with a sneak peek at my class. My welcome video and introduction provide students the opportunity to get to know me before they meet me. The other components of the website give students insight into my teaching philosophy, my expectations of myself and my students, and the details of the topics of the class. 

Any student who is trying to decide which instructor to take for a particular class can learn a lot about me and my class before they make their decision.

I have chosen a tropical theme for my Precalculus with support class. My course card has a tropical vibe, but it also conveys the message that they are safe. The life ring that says Welcome Aboard assures the students that they will be taken care of and supported in this class.  

My home page presents all the important information my students need to be successful. The first resource lets them know how to contact me. This conveys the message that I am there to help and that I expect them to reach out when they need to. Lower on the page students will find links to both student and technical assistance, so they know that the college also provides them support. The home page also has some very important links, like the modules link, the syllabus link, and the Zoom classroom link. It's important that these are all on the home page because students use them frequently and need to be able to find them quickly.

The student survey serves as a way for students to individualize themselves. It's like a personal conversation between just the two of us. This allows the student to feel seen as more than just a student but as a complete person.

 By asking students how I can support their learning and asking them how they learn best, I am showing kindness and interest in their academic success. This is one of the first places where the student will experience what it is like to have a humanized STEM class.

This wisdom wall assignment asks my students to reflect on their development over the semester and share some advice with students in my future classes. 

The theme of the activity is "Pay Your Wisdom Forward." Students who have completed my course will share their wisdom and accomplishments with my future students. When my new students see the results of the wisdom wall, they will understand that many people just like them have already completed this course, and they will be enriched by hearing from experienced students some advice for success.

This bumper video introduces students to the idea of the composition of functions where a function is used as an input for another function. This idea requires the students to stretch their understanding of how we work with functions, and many may never have considered that they are "allowed" to use a function as an input for a function. 

This video lays the groundwork for understanding why and how mathematicians compose functions. Plus, it features pizza. 

This micro lecture allows students to discover the concept of the domain and range of a function. Domain and range is a foundational idea that informs much of the remainder of most algebra courses.  The objectives of this activity are to allow students to develop an understanding of domain and range so they will be able to identify both characteristics of a graph, as well as create a graph that meets specific domain and range parameters.

Because the domain of a function involves an interval or collection of many points, it can be hard to teach in a static modality. By using a video I am able to use motion to convey ideas that can't be conveyed in writing.