First Week Observations.

So... I have all of my classes - four start this week; the fifth one is a second 8wks course - conducting collaborative annotation of the syllabus (editable Google Doc), and when I get passed the fact that some are leaving their comments ON the document instead of in the comment bubbles, it's been a better activity (imo) than a syllabus quiz. They get to see each other's comments, they get to see my responses immediately, and now they can refer to this later in the semester if necessary. Access. Reflection. Feedback.

I'm also using Introductory Slidedecks (editable Google Slides) instead of introductory discussion boards. I like that I can SEE them (they can upload a pic of themselves or a meme or bitmoji, etc.) and their pets, read their intros in a bigger space, and I've been leaving little comments. And now when they want to "see" their classmates (my classes are a combination of hybird, hyflex, and asynchronous online), they can find them on these slidedecks. I don't know if this kind of collaborative/public activity will increase retention, but we'll see. The most important thing is that they all feel like they are part of a little community online, since they might not be IN class with everyone, if at all.

I've had positive responses for the use of the TASKs idea (TASK #1, TASK #2, etc. in the schedule AND LMS) as well as having the schedule formatted like a checklist; the third cool thing has been something I stole from a Twitter educator - listing dates in the schedule as "Do Dates" and "Due Dates."

Here is a link to a sample document of what I'm talking about. And below is a screenshot of what this looks like in a table form - Columns with "Do Dates," Tasks, " and "Due Dates."

Other positive student comments have revolved around my free digital textbook and how I plan to assess them. 

I haven't seen a negative comment, YET. The closest, I suppose, was a f2f student asking me what "white men writing" looks like, since I like to explain on Day 1 that my lens as a reader has been white cisgender men who might've been dead (Shakespeare, etc.). This is in conjunction with my mini-lecture about how writing is subjective. I think I punted the answer to his question, and it definitely made me think...