Alexander Nieves

I already use the gamification concept of tutorials in my math course, however, I do not have a rewards system based on the students being able to complete the task / concept well enough. I would like to try implementing the concepts of guilds and quests in my future term(s), seems like a great way to break the ice between the students as I am a term 1 instructor! 

I myself am the type of employee who shrugs off good feedback due to feeling inadequate of praise. Reading the course opened my mind to the idea that we are all deserving of feedback, whether it be good or bad, so I should embrace the feedback and give my thoughts / feelings on it as well to show I am grateful for the person's feedback on me / my performance. 

Document everything! At ACC I am learning still what is smart to document and what is something I can handle via email with a student, but after this I want to document almost everything I can think of. 

Aside from that, I can agree from the student's perspective that procrastination is always the devil on your shoulder for distance education. I was a college student during Covid, and boy were those classes empty a lot of the time. 

Having your synchronous discussions be with only one student at a time was interesting to me. I was under the assumption that the classes would be synchronous, as that is what I am used to coming from college during Covid-19. All of my courses for a little over 1.5 years were synchronous, so I was under the assumption that for the brain break the answer would be all students. 

Now I notice that it was talking about asynchronous courses and how to deal with students falling behind or just casual check ins, do them one on one! 

The instructor must do their best to create an open learning environment, provide room for growth mindsets, and create a sense of community. These all are things that I would like to incorporate into my residential classes as well. 

Although my course that has been assigned to me is not an online course, I am taking this course to gain knowledge for the "just in case" factor. I am not anticipating my course(s) to be online, but it always good to know about online instruction to be prepared for the worst. 

It is not shocking to be expected to know the CMS like the back of your hand, but I was a bit alarmed to see all of the responsibilities that the instructor is tasked with for the support side of the CMS. 

I need to do my best to keep the various learning styles in mind when crafting lesson plans. No matter how long you have been teaching, each batch of students will be different, so it is like starting over again. What worked for last class may not work for the current one. Which brings up the idea of debriefing the class to see where they stand on comfort and knowledge after each course. 

Remember you are a human as well, meaning try to create a sense of comfort / community in your classroom, the way you wanted your teachers to create when you were the student. Learn names, share things about yourself, talk about why you became a teacher, greet everyone with respect, etc.