Preparing Students for Success
Now that the course is created and ready to go, it is important to thinking through logistics.
Participants in my course will need to have individual devices. We currently have Chromebooks. All of the resources will be online in Google Classroom. They will all have login information. Learners will be involved in both individual and collaborative aspects. My students are collaborating on the exploratory math lesson through Google Meet Break-out Groups. Independently the students will create a personal and a math class themed SMART goal. Students will submit all assignments through Google Classroom.
I think that even now, the role of a teacher is changing from a sage on a stage to a facilitator. Especially if we continue on the path we are on, as more activities are shared and knowledge is exchanged, education is moving away from direct teach and toward teaching students how to have the skills necessary to succeed in an online course (organizational skills, perseverance, self-control, self-advocacy, understanding how to help oneself).
Moving Forward
One course that could easily be redesigned into an online course is the Leadership elective I am going to be teaching. Students would benefit from being able to revisit activities and main ideas throughout the rest of the year. It also would be nice to have all of the assignments housed in the LMS so students can work through the information at their own pace.
Another course that could be redesigned into an online course is the ISEE prep. Since I work at a private school, our students take the ISEE test prior to applying for high school. For math, it could be incredibly helpful to make this an online course that students have access to at their convenience. Many students have conflicting extracurriculars and other plans with family that makes it hard to sign up for an ISEE prep course.
Education with Meaning 