Something went right

August 28, 2020

I almost always send “just-the-facts” types of emails to those on this list. But a longtime colleague at Baruch sent me the following appreciation of his or her first class this year. Heading into the first weekend of this unusual semester, I found that I wanted to wanted to share it with members of this community. (Don’t worry this will not become a habit.) I have “anonymized” our colleague’s remarks and disguised the department, but otherwise reproduced (with permission) the words of the “Something went right” email I received

I gave my first lecture today and only 3 students out of 38 were absent. I did not mute the students on entry; they chose to mute themselves. I had read about having a professional look to the teaching space, but I explained that I was in my bedroom and those were my clothes hanging behind me. A few more turned on their video. And my [pet] got on my lap. I explained that I am not recording anything because I’ve put the PowerPoint slides with audio on Blackboard. The students seemed quite comfortable. I asked them to email me a description of themselves and their aspirations together with a photo; this would help me when it came time to write a recommendation or eventually to meet them in person. Many have done so already, and they also included photos of their cats and dogs. The other good thing is that I get to reply to what the students wrote and tell them about courses that might interest them, about faculty from the same country, and even compare notes on travel.   

So maybe online won’t be as impersonal as I feared. I have never been so connected on day one.  [DS emphasis]

 I taught last spring and it was a mad scramble to put PowerPoint with audio online and redo various exercises. I hadn’t a moment to make the course personal. [Now] I have created a much fuller explanation of the subject in the context of what was and was not known.

Taking some time in these early days of the semester to give students a sense of who you are and to learn something about them might lead to a better teaching and learning experience for all.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Dennis Slavin, PhD
Associate Provost and Assistant Vice President
Baruch College, CUNY
dennis.slavin@baruch.cuny.edu
https://provost.baruch.cuny.edu/about-us/leadership/