A second class

One of my goals for 2025 was to try things that are "new & uncomfortable". I can definitely say that teaching my first class fell into that category!

While I wish I could say that it was the easiest thing I've ever done... it was most certainly not. It was a rocky start, as the calendar invite I received from my employer had the wrong Zoom link in it. By the time we got that straightened out, I was 5 minutes late for class. And then, the audio on my setup didn't work. I had practiced several times, but tech glitches... Ahhhh, so much fun! The actual class was okay, and I was happy to see the student surveys, as they were generally positive, with a couple of folks complaining about the same thing I dislike - we are required to use Zoom for the class (fine), but we run all of the in class engagement using Slack. It's clunky & requires a lot of switching back & forth, which is disruptive on all sides. Hopefully I'll get better at the switching, and/or the program will figure out a better option.

I spent about 15 hours over the last week getting ahead of my class prep, organizing all of the resources, watching recordings from other professors, and really getting into the modules. I will practice the tech prep again before class (the monitor, having three windows up, and the back & forth Slack engagement). Fingers crossed. 

My hourly rate for this class is quite low, as I like to be very prepared. If I end up teaching it again, I think it would get much easier on every session, as the first one is the one that requires all of the prep work. 

Fingers crossed that tonight's class goes smoothly!