It is important to think through all types of learners when getting ready for a class and more important for online lectures. In addition, as faculty we need to prepare before and practice our lectures and demos limiting to 5 to 7 steps. 

The first class, including introductions, experience, and humanizing yourself as a faculty member sets the tone for how the students will feel about the class in general. Providing the students as many details about the expectations for the course is so important. One take away I really liked is to make a list, so you don't forget anything that you want the students to know. It's easy to get distracted, especially the first class. 

The importance of course objectives and ensuring they are well written so they are easily communicated and then how to really focus on the “instructor as a person” so I am approachable yet able to hold the students accountable. Finally, the effort to reduce as many distractions as possible before starting the first class in order to create the best learning environment, being thoughtful about that especially for online courses. 

My biggest take away from this lesson was the 5-C's. They are all so important on their own but when put together the class really comes alive through you as the faculty member. 

5 "C's"- be Credible, Candid, Compassionate, Committed and Clear

In this module, I reflected on the my student's response to my level of enthusiasm. We know that excitement is contagious, and that is true in the classroom as well and furthermore it will help engage students. The other refelction was that as that excitement turns into engagement it's like a snowball that rolls into the ability for the students to want to take risks becuase they feel cared for and finally can transend the message into application. 

I really enjoyed this section. Reminders that as faculty we need to recharge and focus to ensure excitment about our cotent is important. In addition, I really liked the idea of a mid-course inventory to learn what the students are retaining. This could help inform the second half of the course. 

What I learned from this section is that being yourself as a faculty member goes a long ways in retention. Providing the opportunity to students to also do the same by remembering their name, always having greetings, asking about their professional experiences, all go to creating a relationship and rapport with the student which will go along ways through out the course and the student's degree program. In addition, I liked the video and understanding that sometimes the course won't always go as planned and that's okay. 

From this section I learned more about our students and who they are. The most interesting part fo rme was the student's fear, specifically that they were concerned their peers would look at them as not being successful. In the 'online' classroom it's easy to forget the peer to peer social fears that students still feel.