Although I can see why some of my colleagues would choose to work on something new for a book, finishing my dissertation (almost ten years ago now!) was like giving birth to a first child, so I wanted to see that project grow and mature beyond infancy. But I also had a lot of work to do.
This semester, many of us will be returning to teaching in person for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. We’re excited to see our students and colleagues in person, and at the same time nervous and unsure of what to expect. For this blog post, we asked BMCC colleagues who have already been teaching in person to share their experiences.
Ultimately, I want students to walk away from my class having had a positive experience in which they have learned things that stick with them on some level. My experimentation with ungrading is helping me and the students I teach shift our thinking away from grading toward learning.
Patrizia Comello Perry and Berenice Darwich, both professors in the Modern Languages Department, discuss how they adapted their department’s annual colloquium to the circumstances of the pandemic, giving voice to BMCC student experiences.
In our early childhood curriculum classes, pre-service teachers engage in collaborative hands-on learning experiences with dance, music, theater, and the visual arts. Our classroom is stocked with materials to inspire creativity and exploration. How to translate that to a remote learning environment?
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.
