Bethany Berkowitz

I have always believed that connection and relationships with students are key in the classroom, now that we may have to teach virtually I need to make sure that these connections are grown right off the start because motivation is key for student success and without motivation a class will probably be like pulling teeth.  Make the students feel welcome and important to the class and they will want to be there and learn.   

This section brought to my attention the different type of learners and the characteristics that each type may display.  I will try to determine student types in the beginning of the course so that I can use the techniques that were suggested in this module.  

I liked the clear explanations between synchronous and asynchonous discussions.  I love how asynchronous pulls all students into the discussions and allows students time to prepare what they actually want to contribute to the discussions.  I will be for to plan for time in the beginning to socialize and get to form relationships with my students instead of just the nitty gritty.  

Students trust educators more when they know about the educator.  This also works in the other direction of the teacher taking time to get to know their students just as if they were in a classroom face to face.  I like the student/teacher bios in the first week of class to get to know each other.  I plan on using this if we have to teach online.  

Teachers might be very confident in their course content, but if they can not prove to their students that they are comfortable in the technical aspect of online teaching they will win over their audiences approval.  This being said I plan to take the extra time this summer not taking familiar content loaded pds, but to focus more on our schools online platform trainings that will be more beneficial if we do have to go back to a virtual classroom this next school year at some point.