[This week, I start my 21st year at Fitchburg State! So as usual, I’ll offer some previews of the semester ahead, this time focusing on individual moments I’m looking forward to in each class. Leading up to a weekend update on my plans for season 2 of my podcast!]
When it
comes an online-only section of American Lit II, I’m not able to do the kinds
of community-building conversations that are part of the in-person sections and
about one of which I wrote in yesterday’s post. Even after more than a decade
teaching these online courses, I can’t pretend that I’ve fully figured out how
to build community in this alternate space, and I don’t imagine I will ever get
to the point where it feels like the equivalent of an in-person classroom
(which is why I am committed to only teaching these online courses as a small
part of my overall workload). But one thing I greatly respect about the FSU
students who take these online classes is that they take very seriously my requirement
that they respond to one of their classmate’s Blackboard posts each week. I
know that requirement can seem like busy work and lead to very boilerplate
responses (“Good points, I agree,” that sort of thing), but across the board
our FSU students push past that default and offer much more thoughtful
engagement with each other’s work. As a result, I really look forward to
reading their responses each week, making for a continuing positive moment all
semester!
Last
semester preview tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What
do y’all have coming up?
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