I am an educator at a Community College. One of the best things about teaching adults is that you find many different wonderful people in your classes from all aspects of life and professions. Some are in careers and wishing some fresh knowledge in a subject they love, some are looking for a career, some seek a new life path.
This past week I experienced a most enjoyable office hour that had me in the flip version of what I always expect my office hours to be. I was the student to the three of my students who Zoomed in to see how I was doing. They were not only checking in but really taking time and space to see if I was resting and getting some non-work time in. They know that I’ve been very active in all of the classes that they are in even though we are distance learning now. It’s a lot more work for a teacher to convert a face-to-face classroom and though I was fully prepared with our learning management system as my courses are all tech-enhanced, this did not change how much more time I spend online now with my students and to translate our usual hands-on, lab section of the audio courses into meaningful labs that go beyond the academic learning. Many people who gravitate to the fields of audio and video are kinesthetic learners. The hands-on labs are essential for those “Ah-ha” moments.
With the Canvas learning management system, faculty receive push notifications to our various devices when there is a message in the inbox or a student has submitted an assignment or taken a quiz. Naturally, I want to check to see if whoever has taken the time to write a message to me is:
- Okay as in safe and healthy.
- Needs to report a change in status for their ability to commit to the course.
- Has a question about an assignment.
- Needs to talk.
I’m responding to students every day and though this is not the norm, we are required to respond within 48-hours, we are all living in a truly difficult time right now and I want to be there for them.
This week, they were there for me! They asked soft questions about what I’m doing that isn’t related to work. They wanted to know if I’m getting out for walks and such. They asked about my swimming in the Bay which has been curtailed for over a month when our club closed to maintain social distancing. For the entire hour, we just talked about life and they wanted to be sure that I’m taking time for Dana. Wow. I’m tearing up a bit now writing about it because it made the remainder of my work week that much better. I must admit that I feel truly grateful to not only have a job in these trying times but to have one that is so incredibly fulfilling in myriad ways.
