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MCC Daily Tribune

TCC: Tip of the Day - The benefits of cell phones

For the next few weeks, we are inviting our faculty to share stories and images from their virtual classes. What is working well? What are you learning about teaching, teaching online and your students?

Today's highlight comes from Tony Yiannakos, who teaches math in ESOL/TRS.

I have had a great deal of success via phone. My students know they can text me with a question and I will answer it during my Zoom office hour. No matter what the computer skills of my students, they all use their phones easily. I have two Zoom meetings with my class, one at the regular class time, and one an hour later, which I call "Office Hour". In between, students text me problem numbers from the homework that they re stumped on, and then during office hour Zoom session, I go over the specific problems. It's like a one-on-one tutoring session that they are certain will be there at a specific time. If I know there is a student who is not comfortable with the Zoom technology, I answer his question by text, taking a picture and adding it to the text for him/her to see. Many of my students have taken advantage of it. In addition, I have sent out an email pretty much daily as a reminder of what has been covered, what is about to be covered, and what assignments are due and when. I found that students respond to emails much more readily than announcements in Blackboard. Except for two students, grades in my class have pretty much remained constant or actually improved lately, so I am happy. I especially recommend the frequent emails. it shows the level of involvement offered and expected.

If you would like to talk about what's happening in your classes join the daily non-judgmental conversations about teaching during COVID-19. These happen daily from 9 - 10 am and 3 - 4 pm.

https://monroecommunity.zoom. us/j/672991431

Meeting ID: 672-991-431

1-929-205-6099

If you have a story to share, email Gena Merliss: emerliss@monroecc.edu.

Eugenia Merliss
Teaching & Creativity Center
04/23/2020