Week 8
BOLLI/Brandeis Resources
“The difference between a beginning teacher and an experienced one is that the beginning teacher asks, “How am I doing?” and the experienced teacher asks, How are the children doing?” -- Esme Raji Codell
When you finally get the wonderful news from the Curriculum Committee that your course has been accepted, you will be filled with elation! Soon afterwards, a feeling of existential dread may come upon you and you will be filled with terror at the enormity of the task ahead. Do not despair! You have been accepted into the welcoming embrace of the BOLLI community and there are many who will help you on your journey, starting with the Study Group Support Committee.
Study Group Support Committee
This committee consists of a large group of experienced Study Group Leaders whose job is to assist you in any way they can. They already have a website filled with good ideas; make sure you read it. You should also read the latest SGL Handbook which is regularly updated and stored on their website. A few weeks after course registration has started, a Study Group Support Committee liaison will contact you. Don’t be polite and tell them you don’t need help! You can and should send them your syllabus to review, engage them in discussions about how to handle this or that issue, and let them be your sounding board. If you have a problem that stumps them, they will reach out to others to help find the answer. And their assistance doesn’t stop when your course starts. They will sit in on one of your early classes and be available for you to call throughout the semester. If you have developed a good relationship with your Study Group Support Committee liaison, it can be very gratifying to call them on a regular basis during the semester and either vent, or celebrate a good class, as the case may be. The Study Group Support Committee will host three get-togethers for SGLs during the semester: a pre-semester gathering, an Air and Share during the middle of the semester, and an end of semester celebration; be sure to attend so that you can exchange issues and ideas with other SGLs at BOLLI. Check out the Notes from Previous SGL gatherings for some good ideas.
Zoom Co-Host
An entirely new kind of job has recently arisen, that of Zoom Co-Host. A Zoom Co-Host is someone in your class that you designate to help you run the class. At a minimum, that person can mute people in class who have ringing telephones or barking dogs. They can also help alert you to issues, like if you forget to check the Optimize Screen Sharing for Video Clip box, or if Fred has been raising his hand to speak and you haven’t noticed. If you like, you could also ask them to alert you to the time when class should be wrapping up. Co-Hosts can also take attendance by taking a screen shot of the class, and emailing it to you. Your students are supposed to tell you ahead of time if they miss a class, but if they don’t you should call them up and make sure they’re OK. They may have forgotten about class or had computer issues, but there’s a very small chance that the reason they didn’t attend is that they were dissatisfied with the class in some way. This is good news to you, because you can apologize and try to address the issue early on.
If you know someone in the class that you think might make a good Zoom Co-Host, go ahead and ask them if they'd volunteer. The SGSC and/or BOLLI administration can also suggest potential co-hosts for your class. Each semester the BOLLI administration gives a short training class in how to be a Zoom Co-Host. When technical issues arise, and they will, it will be nice to have a helper.
Classroom Feedback
There will be mid- and end of course feedback forms that the class will fill out which may raise issues for you to address. But they may come late in the game. One easy way to get feedback is to tell the class when you wrap up every week that you'll stay on for a few minutes to take additional comments and feedback. It’s also a good idea to reach out to one or two of your students and ask them if they'd consider being a sounding board and offering you advice as you go along. If they accept, you might ask them to stay on after the class is over for a quick debriefing session. In the heat of the moment, it can be hard to know everything that’s going on; having several eyes and ears on the class can be a big help. You should also tell the entire class that you would like them to pipe up if they have any suggestions, either during class or between classes. Most people are uncomfortable making suggestions to a teacher, but a few will often make excellent suggestions that can be a big help to everyone. There are some guides on the SGSC web site about how to use feedback effectively that you’ll find useful.
Brandeis Resources
The most important Brandeis resource is a Brandeis Zoom account. BOLLI strongly recommends that you use a Brandeis Zoom account for your classes, as you will be able to record the classes and share the recordings with class members. In order to use a Brandeis Zoom account, you will need to contact Caroline Cross or Jim Nagel at BOLLI to get a Brandeis Sponsored Account. Basically this will get you an email address in the form of YourName@Brandeis.edu and a password. Once you have your Brandeis email and password, you can follow the instructions HERE to configure and use your Zoom account. We'll talk about this more next week.
In the past, a Brandeis Sponsored account also gave you access to Brandeis library resources, including all manner of online journals, articles and books, by going to the Brandeis library, at https://www.brandeis.edu/library/research/books-articles/index.html and logging in with your Brandeis Sponsored Account credentials. Brandeis library policy has varied over the semesters and as of now, it appears that you don't have online library privileges.
Tech Assistance
Next week we’ll get some practice making a web site, preparing Powerpoints and mastering some of the arcane and esoteric capabilities of Zoom. The SGSC has a web page devoted to building a Google site, complete with two videos. The SGSC will probably run a workshop for SGLs to build a web site; here is the guide which they used last semester. The SGSC also has a web page devoted to using Powerpoint, although if you google “Beginner Guide to Using Powerpoint” you’ll find lots more web sites and videos that can get you started. For Zoom, BOLLI has a whole list of Zoom Guides and Tutorials. But again, you’re not by yourself. If you ever get stuck, call Nicole Grant, Program Coordinator at 781-736-2992 and/or nicolegrant@brandeis.edu and they can help with all manner of Zoom issues. There is also a group of volunteers at BOLLI who are willing to step in and help; your SGSC liaison can put you in touch. As an SGL, you should set up an introductory Zoom get together for everyone in your class in order to make sure they can connect to you as a Zoom host. You should schedule that a week before class starts, that will help put your mind at rest regarding your hosting abilities.
While it takes a village to raise a child, it takes the entire BOLLI community to make great courses. Make sure you reach out to BOLLI administration, the Study Group Support Committee, and various technology resources to assist you in preparing for your class. And remind your class that it’s not your class, it’s their class, and if they take the attitude that we’re all in this together, everyone will have a much better time, especially you!