Jacqueline Sanchez

I think it's interesting that this section was called 'non-technical skills', since I teach the English course online. Communication, time-management, motivation, and online citizenship are all concepts that I discuss throughout the course, but especially at the start of each term. 

I have taken online classes in the past, and the one that stood out the most were the ones that include my instructor's voice. So, in the weekly announcements, I always include a video lecture, which I record on Zoom. I walk students through the weekly slides, assignments, and concepts, but I hadn't considered the aspect of disabilities. It gave me the idea to add Closed Captions to my Video Lectures. 

I teach composition, so feedback is especially important to me and to the flow of the class. I also have always used and explained the 'sandwich' method, but making the feedback easier to digest sometimes takes me too long. Instead, I tell them what's wrong, how to improve it or provide a revised example. 

I remember the Learning Plans; I've practiced creating one for a 'dream' course in a "Future Faculty Program" at CGU. What stood out to me was the connection to Bloomy's taxonomy. I hadn't thought about them in a long time, and it was interesting to connect them to the Scholar vs. Facilitator conversation. 

I was lucky when I first began working as an adjunct, because in my graduate program, I was given composition and pedagogy courses. So I had the opportunity to learn how to how to facilitate GE classrooms, but it's very different in a specialized or trade school. I had to pivot my approach to the facilitation of the class, since had a different set of priorities. 

I like the idea of Reusable Learning Objectives, and I think I will look into them. I already have my own list of videos on Youtube and a folder of saved documents that I often refer to. It's similar to the Instructor Collections, which I might model my own collections after; my folders are organized by classes, but might be more productive if organized by assignment? 

I appreciated the seven principles of good undergraduate education, as they are good reminders for online education and I teach Gen-Ed. Since I teach writing, I don't know about designing laboratories, but I do like to record videos to help guide students through lectures and activities. 

College students often struggle with writing and thinking critically because they may not have been taught how to reflect deeply on their work or analyze it in a structured way, especially regarding their unique writing process. I like to use past student examples, and break them down for students. I thought that students might feel overwhelmed with too many examples or resources, but they often appreciate them more. 

I teach both a/synchronous Gen-ed classes, and I'm always trying to develop ways to make both classes more engaging. While the asynchronous model is more flexible, making it easier for students to balance other commitments, I worry that it still isn't engaging enough.