Since the success of our departments depends on the crucial work of part-time faculty, we need to create a space where their concerns about their careers are heard and validated. Our hope is that other departments develop initiatives similar to the English department's Graduate Student and Early-Career Support committee, which supports graduate students and early-career adjuncts.
In the first insallment of this blog post, we introduced the Makerspace community and showcased the ways in which students and faculty have been using the BMCC Makerspace. In this second installment, we introduce the online BMCC Makerspace resources and highlight some activities that can be done at home using commonly available materials.
Did you know that BMCC has a Makerspace available to all faculty and students? A Makerspace is a place meant to encourage people to create, experiment, and develop ideas. Makerspaces are part research lab, part classroom, part studio, and provide tools and lessons on how to use them. Read on to find out how this space can be used in classes across disciplines.
Like most faculty at BMCC, I was a newbie to synchronous online teaching when classes suddenly went remote last March and had little idea how to “Zoomify” my Spanish classes. Thanks to the hive mind of the Internet, YouTube, and my BMCC colleagues, I’ve learned a few ways to push back against the virtual “wall” of Zoom so that more student-to-student exchanges can occur.
In this video tour of her class, Christina talks about how she builds community and helps students be successful in a completely asynchronous class taught in Blackboard and the OpenLab.
In this video tour of his class, Tim talks about how he stays connected with students and builds community using tools such as Remind, Google Docs, Perusall, and Loom.
Teaching about vaccines and COVID19 is not just biology. I believe it is our responsibility to provide students with accurate information, and to add context relevant to the courses we teach. Most disciplines can add to the conversation around the pandemic and vaccines and provide much-needed context to students.
You know what I miss most about being on campus? I miss bumping into a colleague in the hallway, walking and talking on the way to class… There is no perfect substitute for in-person conversation, but CETLS is offering an informal, alternative that we hope can help as we move forward with our off-campus lives. Introducing our “BMCC Faculty” workspace, via SLACK.
Teaching is a lonely experience in this COVID reality and it is equally challenging for students. But give freshman 101 students a real-life writing assignment with facts and history and their voices sound in the main room and breakout rooms of live sessions.
I firmly believe that if an instructor is self-aware and takes the time to reflect on how to practice compassion, the act of being present for students may encourage the student to keep on trying rather than giving up. How you show up for your students makes all the difference.
