Here's my instructor's view of this week's "module" of our canvas-homed "Theorizing Religion," as it appeared between the Monday and Wednesday sessions. (I "published" the ones without green checks just before class so they became visible to students only once class began.) Folks aren't kidding when they say this is labor intensive! And it does rather put a damper on spontaneity. (The form it took today was deciding not to do one of the breakout sessions I'd planned; I can see it would be harder to add something than to omit or postpone.) Oh well, it's certainly true that all this forces you to be a much more intentional teacher. I'm already in the habit of telling students why I make the pedagogical choices I make, so at least I know how to do that!What I haven't figured out yet (I asked the students if they had ideas) is how to juggle a zoom gallery, a powerpoint, the class canvas page and an assigned text on the same laptop screen. I've already moved my class notes back into the non-virtual, printing them out before class and then writing on them by hand, and I'll be encouraging all my students to do the same. (It solves the idle hands problem, too.) Printing out the readings (all but one of which are pdfs or websites) is an option, too, though an unappealing one. I suppose I could get a bigger screen, or a second one... though I don't want to do anything students can't also do.
A more urgent question is tracking down the two students who didn't show up today. Don't give up on this: we had an amazing and satisfying time together today, and things will only get better.
