Before you call me out on a typo, please be patient.
Whale Done! is the title of a book written by Ken Blanchard. If you have not read it, I would recommend doing so. Whether you teach for a career, or not, are a parent, or not, or a coach or not, the book has some great stuff in it. Some parts of the book focus on killer whales. The author takes the reader through the process of training killer whales into high flying, audience showering, awe inspiring rock stars performing at amusement parks, notably Sea World.
The main point of this article however, is that positive reinforcement is incredibly powerful. I’ve seen it in the military, in the business world, and also in the educational arena. I’m an educator both on ground and online. I am also a parent and a coach for various youth sports teams. While we may seem to get caught up in all that consumes us, what if a whale flipped out of the water and splashed down right by us? Are we too weary of positive recognition, from the early days of “good job” for walking or talking to adult FB social likes to the LI endorsements to where they lose their polish? I still that it can go a long way with some nice accolades at times.
The power in a name - Hello, My name is…
The thing is everyone is unique and it starts with a name. Maybe some are not too grateful what they were given, but in my case, I like my name and have my parents to thank. Giving students the respect and feeling of importance can all start with addressing them by name. Whether in grading feedback or engaging in discussions using their name shows them a personal interest.
Smart phones are still phones – Let’s talk to students…
Ever call an online student? Absurd? Crazy? Unfathomable? Well I do, in part because one school requires a first week call, but for others it is a gesture I use that might be a strong signal to a student that you have vested interest in their academic journey, or help with a single assignment. Students may read our bios and some may not. All we know is that we have certain power over their life to an extent for a period of time. So why not let them see us also as human enablers? Give it a try, maybe pick a student or two at random, use those rollover minutes and perhaps be a hero for the day.
Focus, focused feedback…
This is probably the hardest part of teaching and rightfully so. Academic institutions, higher learning accreditation organizations and our own country entrust us to do our best in order for students to succeed. Part of that is to praise the positive work something anyone would accept. The other challenge is that dreaded reinforcement, constructive or outright negative feedback. How can we point out less than stellar work – misspelled words, poor grammar, disregard for APA, and other miscues in a tactful yet teaching manner? We all know that it takes more effort and time to correct and grade that work, than the polished variety. That is possibly the single most crucial moment when we have to earn our pay. So along with the mechanics and formalities to provide solid feedback and grading guidance, I might suggest a little “Well Done” infusion to leave the student with something to build on.
I just finished this off the coast of Juneau where the spotting of humpback whales amazed the passengers. It is a little inconceivable to think such creatures of endless domain can be turned into those Sea World stars. But it takes some excellent teaching and positive feedback to get them to center stage. Let’s continue to do our part to turn out stars.
Hills of Life - August 2012
After touring the Badlands National Park in South Dakota, I realized the importance of hills in life. If you have never been there, plan a visit it is awesome.
Children love hills, be they for climbing, playing “king of the hill,” or even sledding or skiing. So please allow me to take you back to Badlands and my recent stop.
Upon arriving after a long drive, without hesitation, my children rushed out of the car and looked to get to the closest hill and show their climbing prowess. As they took on some that were easier than others, the next higher hill appeared in sight. What made that place so amazing was that people of all ages felt compelled to do the same thing. Perhaps they did it for a panoramic view, or to take a picture, or just to explore. I worried that a few not even dressed for climbing would tumble down sustaining bruises or even worse but fortunately, everyone landed safely.
I had experienced the thrill of these hills like most of us do growing up. While playing high school football in Geneva, Ohio, I met a hill that turned into more like Devil’s Tower (another great historical site to visit). This particular hill was right next to the home bleachers at our football field. Our football field was adjacent to a cemetery. So the setting was a little different to say the least. The hill was usually grass covered and probably no more than 25 feet high at an angle of 45 degrees. Hearing that the hill was part of practice made me feel some exhilaration and apprehension. My head football coach, Bob Herpy would have us get into our teams, blow the whistle and “encourage” us up the hill. No one wanted to be last. On some days after it had rained, that hill turned into mayhem of mud as cleats were not enough to keep traction. Grabbing whatever turf we could and leaning forward, we plowed our way up to the top to go back down and do it again. After some tough losses, the cycle was repeated fairly often. But that hill had a purpose then and now. Recently, I took my sons there to see the field where I played and take a run at the hill. We struggled, but managed to get up.
As an online educator, we may not become mountain climbers. However, we may accomplish something more important by helping students take on hills. Classes are like hills whether you are the faculty or student. In some cases, students will charge the hill with zest and vigor to get to the top. I sense this early on when asking openly to the class – “What is one objective that you would like to achieve in the class?” Those who respond with both curriculum content relevant to their career and reach the apex or “A” grade are likely to back up their bold prediction/goal. For those students, we should encourage their motivation and recognize their accomplishments. On the other side, there will be those not yet prepared to get up the hill. Some of the early indicators may be like, “Never had a course like this before,” or “No relevant work experience,” or no grade aspirations.
So just like Coach Herpy blowing the whistle to signal “RUN, DIG, GRAB, SPRINT, CLIMB UP THE HILL,” we have to be prepared to be that “push” in getting students up the hill. How do we push so they reach the top?
Make Time for a Great Summer - July 2012
As an online educator, I fell upon a motivational way to still stay connected and teach, while also enjoying a great, yet rare trip last summer. You might ask where that rare place might be. Why, Phoenix! Yes, the city where the average July temperature is only 102. So what was it that drew me to drive there (and from Ohio no less)? Well that’s where the benefit of our chosen profession comes into play. How many of us have gone to see the fruits of our labor?
Commencement! As an online instructor with over seven years of affiliation with University of Phoenix, I was always invited to attend the National Online Commencement, but never thought about going due to various reasons. But with my ground courses done in May, I took advantage of the time and packed the laptop, cell, minimal essentials and a few gifts and headed west with my son.
It was a commemorative event watching over 3,000 graduates cross the stage waving, jumping, or fist pumping in the University of Phoenix stadium. Tom Brokaw was an inspiring and entertaining speaker and sitting about 20 feet away from him on stage with the other faculty and staff was pretty awesome. I only recognized one student’s name from any of my classes, but a smile came to my face when I saw her name in the program as well as mine under the respective sections. That is one of those memorable moments where we feel important.
What made the trip even more worthwhile was meeting my course scheduler, whom I had only emailed and spoken to by phone. This type of personal meeting is invaluable just to express your appreciation, availability and request other opportunities as they arise. One other interesting stop on the trip was meeting my online faculty manager from another college I teach for who lived in the Phoenix area. This was another unique networking opportunity that may have been totally coincidental, but she was equally excited to put a face to the name.
While so much of what we do may not seem appreciated in our virtual classroom, being welcomed by an online manager, other full time staff, including the important payroll team, the Online Dean and University President made the visit that much more exhilarating. It was also cool meeting online adjunct faculty.
So why not check out commencement dates, size up regalia and hit the road.
Time for a Great Summer - June 2009
The June 2008 Teaching Online Newsletter featured article focused on keeping the interest (yours and your students) during summer courses. For this summer, why not increase the interest and enjoy it at the same time. Vacation plans, holidays and other outdoor distractions that come along with the summer will inevitably impact the focus and time available for teaching.
Using the lean teaching online concepts previewed in the April 2009 article, Lean Teaching for Lean Times, it can be possible to balance both. Lean teaching focuses on some simple, yet effective concepts to educate efficiently, optimize instructional value and enhance your professional teaching edge.
Key Teaching Indicators (KTI’s)
These indicators refer to various aspects of your teaching approach, efficiency and performance. To fully determine KTI’s, course load, program demands and value added tasks need to be assessed. This article presents one of the KTI’s.
Teaching Takt Time
Teaching Takt Time, developed by www.leanteachingonline.com, evolved from the traditional takt time concept used in lean manufacturing systems. “Takt” is the German word for the baton an orchestra conductor uses to set the rhythm. The term was adopted by the Japanese after working with Germany during the 1930s. The word later became the foundation for the widely acclaimed Toyota Production System.
Basically, takt time represents the timing of a process which could be measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days or weeks. How does Teaching Takt Time relate to online teaching? Here is a simple explanation to evaluate your process optimization. Most online Universities require minimum classroom participation, “office hours” and feedback timeliness guidelines. When added up for a course this sum represents Course Teaching Time (CTT). By breaking the course load into weeks, it is possible to determine how much time is needed per week. From this information, the Teaching Takt Time can be based on the desired time units (days, hours, or minutes) to accomplish the required functions of online teaching. Teaching Takt Time enables efficient planning, participation and feedback to students.
Sample calculations and other time capturing tips to improve your educational efficiency are available at www.leanteachingonline.com
It has been reported that Toyota typically reviews takt time monthly and adjusts the system as often as every two weeks. How often should you tweak your system? Only time will tell. The key is finding the baseline for teaching and then working toward a system that results in better educational value as well as time to have a great summer.
Takt Time Resources (n.d.) Retrieved May 22, 2009, from http://www.superfactory.com/topics/takt-time.html.
For more on lean teaching online, email go@leanteachingonline.com or see www.leanteachingonline.com
Essentially students in the online academic world are interested in obtaining the necessary credentials for career opportunities, which is essentially bettering themselves. We add our knowledge, anecdotal experience and intellectual capital along the way in hopes they will be able to apply these learned nuggets in the future. With each course completed, they add new knowledge to the toolbox before jumping into the next adventure/class.
How many of us can claim likeminded accomplishments by teaching the same course over and over again as adjunct faculty? The author is not proclaiming the vast cadre of qualified online instructors becomes mundane in their teaching approach. But what can be challenged is our often demanding focus on administrative and non-instructional tasks associated with accelerated classes.
When faced with posting requirements, office hours and availability as well as grading deadlines, there can be quite overwhelming pressure to keep faculty advisors/coaches, students and, oh by the way, family and employer obligations in balance.
What is the answer when there are only so many hours in a day and so many words per minute humanly possible to type?
The author has adopted an approach quite common in the business world to the online teaching arena to balance the plethora of life demands while routinely teaching four classes at a time. This system is similar to the lean manufacturing or lean value chain systems concept.
Lean systems are adopted from the Henry Ford and refined Toyota Production System models that strive to achieve high quality while delivering exceptional value. Although, it was recently published that Toyota suffered its first operating loss in 70 years, the company has performed well by constantly focusing on value and eliminating non-value activities (cash and time consuming).
So what does lean teaching infer?
Do we adopt an approach to only post the minimum requirements during class? Of course not!
Will we achieve perfection in our teaching delivery and classroom? Of course not!
Do we water down course curriculum and assignments to enable expeditiously posted feedback? Not in a million classes!
Lean teaching utilizes a process of doing more value specific educating activities with less time spent on non-value added activities.
Most online Universities provide guidelines for requirements such as days in class, posts added to the discussion, research-related articles, and feedback time deadlines.
Here are some simple, yet effective, concepts to lean your approach and free up time to expand your professional teaching edge.
Rubrics – Use them as provided by the University to carry over from class to class rather than recreating them.
Folders - Setting up quick retrieval file storage will help save time and frustration.
Follow up questions and closing remarks - Keep these for several discussion questions or content discussion threads to continue and close out sections.
Research and revision – Dependent on the publication year of course material, some information may be on the point of becoming outdated (any AIG success case studies lurking in your text?) – text with profiled companies that no longer exist or practices less utilized, etc. By expanding upon current, peer-reviewed articles and other professional journals, you can keep “the present” (Tweet – NOW) in the class. This does not intend to totally steer away from accredited curriculum. What it does show to your students is the relevance of currents events and trends in the constantly changing world.
Day by day checklist – Just like planning your workweek, why not do the same for your class. Day 1 – Post first discussion questions, Day 2 – Provide update to team assignment. Day 3 -
Professional associations - For keeping current with trends – sign up for industry e-letters and e-magazines to initiate additional, relevant discussion or assignment topics.
What is considered more important, time spent typing or efficiently teaching to bring more value to the students online education experience?
Sesame Street has been teaching 26 letters and 10 numbers for almost 40 years, succeeding with effective teaching programs. The famous educational series has announced a layoff of nearly 20% of the staff due to poor economic conditions. Will the series deliver the same creativity and quality with less? Time will tell.
Can we claim the same?
For more time optimization tips and efficiency gainers, stay tuned…
Educate. Efficiently.™