Teaching my first course this summer!

[adel9216]

Hello!

I'll be teaching my first class this summer. Precisely on my expertise. I'm happy but it'll be online instead of in-person teaching! I'm happy regardless. I loooooooooooooooooove public speaking and teaching and mentoring.

[polly_mer]

How's that course prep going?

Have you lined up teaching mentors so you can get feedback on the course materials before it goes live?  Talk with those teaching mentors regarding the huge differences between  teaching and public speaking or mentoring.

How are you advertising your course so you can be sure it makes?

What have your research mentors advised regarding progress during months when you will be focused on course prep and then the demands of students during a short term?  Teaching your own course is a distraction from your
dissertation.

[Morden]

Congratulations. If you have institutional resources for how to set up an online course, take advantage of them. As Polly says, teaching a class is a lot different from public speaking or mentoring (esp. in an online environment), and there's no need to reinvent the wheel.

[downer]

So it is a summer course, higher level? How long does it last?

Teaching short classes can be a mixed bag!

[Parasaurolophus]

Well done!

Unsolicited advice: start prepping ASAP! The summer semester moves very fast, and it's hard to stay on top of all that material at the accelerated pace. And don't give yourself too much marking!

[the_geneticist]

Welcome!
As others have said, better start prep ASAP.  If possible, get at least a syllabus if not all of the course materials from someone who has taught this course before.  It's way easier to adapt something than to create it from scratch.  Also, see if you can get access to the Course Management System NOW.  There is a really steep learning curve for putting classes online.  If you're used to creating a quiz or putting the finishing touches on your lecture in the 20 minutes before class, that is simply not going to work.  Assume it will take you 3X as long to do something online simply because you have to figure out how to do it and then do it.  Finally, do not give long lectures!  Try for 5-10 min max before you give the students something to discuss/solve.  And decide NOW if the class is going to be synchronous or not.  You aren't being paid to teach the same lesson twice - either record it in advance OR teach it live.  Don't do both.

[adel9216]

How's that course prep going?

Have you lined up teaching mentors so you can get feedback on the course materials before it goes live?  Talk with those teaching mentors regarding the huge differences between  teaching and public speaking or mentoring.

How are you advertising your course so you can be sure it makes?

What have your research mentors advised regarding progress during months when you will be focused on course prep and then the demands of students during a short term?  Teaching your own course is a distraction from your
dissertation.

It's been going well. I've already secured all my guest speakers for the term and I have been in touch with previous lecturers, and they were immensely helpful. I already got an email from a student more than a month before the course "Will there be exams?" lol

[adel9216]

Well done!

Unsolicited advice: start prepping ASAP! The summer semester moves very fast, and it's hard to stay on top of all that material at the accelerated pace. And don't give yourself too much marking!

I started preparing as soon as I got the job offer hehe :P

[Charlotte]

Wanted to check in with the OP and see how the class went/is going! Are you enjoying it?

[adel9216]

Wanted to check in with the OP and see how the class went/is going! Are you enjoying it?

It went very well, many students told me it was their favorite class! (and it was online!) thanks for asking

[apl68]

Congratulations, then!

[lightning]

Wanted to check in with the OP and see how the class went/is going! Are you enjoying it?

It went very well, many students told me it was their favorite class! (and it was online!) thanks for asking

Congrats Adel! Make sure you archive your work, throw out what didn't, and make some tweaks for improving it, while everything is still fresh in your brain. Keep that documentation from students (emails, course evals, discussion boards, etc.), that your class was their favorite class. You may need it in the future. You had some genuine enthusiasm for teaching the course, and that always comes across to students, and the students probably liked you, in part, just because they felt like you were enthusiastic about being around them regularly.

[adel9216]

Thanks! The more daunting part is correcting papers haha

[Parasaurolophus]

Well done!

And yeah, that gets faster, but it doesn't ever get better (unless they're grad students, maybe).