Half Way Point

Oh my gosh -

Besides surviving my year teaching ninth grade religion, this is probably the HARDEST teaching gig I've ever endured!!?

Last week, I sent my mentor a message, full of the pain I was experiencing - mostly at the hands of administrative directives/requirements... it was a quote from Parker Palmer's The Courage to Teach...

"In our rush to reform education, we have forgotten a simple truth: reform [and I'll add really caring and engaged teaching] will never be achieved by renewing appropriations, restructuring schools, rewriting curricula, and revising texts [or gradebooks] if we continue to demean and dishearten the human resource called the teacher on whom so much depends. Teachers must be better compensated, freed from bureaucratic harassment, given a role in academic governance, and provided with the best possible methods and materials... but none of that will transform education if we fail to cherish - and challenge - the human heart that is the source of good teaching...(pg 2)...

This was prompted by an administrative directive that came mid-course that everyone would be required to now use the company gradebook for all assignment feedback - After 3 weeks of inputting data into an Excel spreadsheet given to me by my mentor, with rubrics and built-in calculations that would now have to be duplicated by me into the corporate gradebook...

I was livid and really felt that for the first time in my life, I was going to hand in my resignation mid-contract...

If it wasn't for those students in my charge, I would have done so... A phone call from one of my students, "Sarah", mid-week kept me going - She is a great grandmother, living in the rural South - She drives 70 miles to get to work (WalMart) and got her GED many years ago - She decided to go back to school because, "There must be something more to life..." She doesn't understand the brainstorming assignment or how it relates to the essay outline to follow... It was one of those sacred moments of teaching - an opportunity to help someone - She said, "I know I've let you down by my bad grades - and I can't flunk this course and lose money I didn't have in the first place." What could I do for her? Encourage, explain in simpler terms, build confidence, listen - On the other end of the phone was a person who wanted to understand - so you know - let's do what we need to do to help her get it!! "Sarah" gave me the push I needed to keep going... In online learning, it is easy to forget that there are living breathing people on the other end...

OK, back to my initial train of thought - I was griping about administrative harassment...But to make sure that this blog remains a learning event and not just a griping event...

What tidbits of advice can come from this daily increasingly painful administrative nightmare??

** when we design courses and/or send down administrative directives - consider the faculty members and the students in terms of impact...

** I've already written about designing with balance in mind - will giving good feedback take too much time? So are there too many students? Too many activities needing feedback? What other design can we come up with to balance the equation?

In my case, the design so far has been really fine - well structured and sequenced - a good balance of reading and application... what goes REALLY wrong is the amount of students for the amount of feedback needed by students and required by the company...

IF little feedback will be needed for students success and if little is required by the administrating body THEN you can handle an increased student load....

IF a lot of feedback is needed and required - THEN a reduced student load is required.

Two other situations come to mind...
IF little feedback is needed but much is required... one has to ask, why? this ends up in a vicious cycle of busy work for students and faculty...

IF a lot of feedback is needed and none is required - THEN you run the risk of people taking advantage of the system and students falling through the cracks...

So....

Either design the course so that it cuts down on the amount of manual feedback required for student success (as long as learning doesn't suffer) ... or cut back on the number of students in each class so that faculty can spend a reasonable amount of time helping students through feedback to be successful..

Also, of course....use the technology available whenever possible to cut down on the amount of feedback that has to be done manually - as long as it remains meaningful in terms of learning