Our final meeting of the fall semester was mellow. Nothing to read or prepare beforehand. We simply used the first half of the meeting to share the highs and the lows of our experiences teaching online this semester, and then we dedicated the second half to looking ahead at the next semester, specifically on how to design community-oriented and relational activities during early on.

We enjoyed a rich exchange of cool ways to facilitate first week experiences.

Watch an archive of the discussion:

Questions and topics we explore:

Which of your core pedagogical values are expressed in Week 1 activities?

How do your Week 1 activities reach out to and equip

• new online students?
• new college students?
• students of color?
• working students?
• students who might feel intimidated by English coursework?

How do your Week 1 activities introduce students to experiences with skills, concepts, technologies, routines, etc. that are important to your course?

Can you draw a direct line from the experiences your Week 1 activities offer to the outcomes you hope to see performed in your mid- to end-semester assignments?

Review our notes from the meeting and more resources from our S2019 FLEX Week Workshop on Early Semester Assignments