EDUC-761: Creating Collaborative Communities in E-Learning
First Week
Below are first communications I would have with students to help introduce them to the course and build community among learners. The first communication would be a welcome email. The second communication would be the first discussion topic and my initial response. As an online educator early communication that opens dialogue with students is essential.
Welcome Email
Hello and Welcome!
I would like to introduce myself. I am Rebecca Brink and I will be your online teacher for Math 7.
I am excited to get to work with you this year. Our course will officially start on Tuesday, September 1, 2015. You will have access to the course in Haiku on Monday, August 24. It will be helpful for you to log into the course prior to September 1 and familiarize yourself with the tools and sites available to you. If you have any concerns or difficulties navigating do not hesitate to contact me.
Speaking of contacting me, it is important that your messages are easily identifiable to me, so that I may quickly respond. Please format your emails with M7(LastName)subject. Example: M7(Brink)Trouble Logging In. In order to practice this procedure, I ask that you reply to this email, changing the subject line to include your last name and the subject of Welcome. In the body of the email please share one thing you are looking forward to this year.
Please be mindful that all contact should go through your school email accounts. I will not be able to contact you at a personal email address. It is important that you check your school issued email account regularly so that you don't miss out on valuable information.
Looking forward to the year,
Rebecca Brink
[email protected]
(Phone)
Reply Email
Thank you for your response. We have many exciting topics ahead of us including number sense, proportional reasoning, geometry, and statistics. I hope that you will find that our content is applicable to your daily life as we will be learning how to make choices by our mathematical reasoning skills.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Introduction Prompt
Welcome to Math 7 online. We will be working together for the year and getting to know each other is vital to the success of this course. The first step for you in starting this course is to introduce yourself to the class. In order to do so I would like you to post four different numbers that are of relevance to you and what they mean to you in our introductions topic in the discussion board. These numbers should reveal something about who you are and not your statistics like height, age, birthday, etc. Make sure to include what your number reveals about you in detail.
Instructor Response
Rebecca's Numbers
1996: This would be the year that I started my Math 7 class. I still remember sitting in Mrs. Koglin's classroom, the shirt I wore on the first day of school and making mixed tapes from the radio with my friends.
2: The number of kids of my own that I have. I have a son, Jaxun who is a first grader and is adamant that "his occupation will be an excavator driver." He loves to read about construction vehicles. My daughter Ellee will be turning three soon. She loves idolizing her big brother and trying to be just as tough as him. I enjoy spending my free time building legos, going for bike rides, and making crafts with my children.
26: The number of states I have spent at least one night in. I have driven through more, but only count if I spent time overnight and visiting a landmark in them. I love to travel and look forward to adding in the other 24 states with my children as they grow up. I also enjoy international travel and have visited six other countries and will be adding a seventh in a few months.
9: The number of years I have taught. Every year is exciting in its own way and I look forward to our journey together this year.
First Week
Below are first communications I would have with students to help introduce them to the course and build community among learners. The first communication would be a welcome email. The second communication would be the first discussion topic and my initial response. As an online educator early communication that opens dialogue with students is essential.
Welcome Email
Hello and Welcome!
I would like to introduce myself. I am Rebecca Brink and I will be your online teacher for Math 7.
I am excited to get to work with you this year. Our course will officially start on Tuesday, September 1, 2015. You will have access to the course in Haiku on Monday, August 24. It will be helpful for you to log into the course prior to September 1 and familiarize yourself with the tools and sites available to you. If you have any concerns or difficulties navigating do not hesitate to contact me.
Speaking of contacting me, it is important that your messages are easily identifiable to me, so that I may quickly respond. Please format your emails with M7(LastName)subject. Example: M7(Brink)Trouble Logging In. In order to practice this procedure, I ask that you reply to this email, changing the subject line to include your last name and the subject of Welcome. In the body of the email please share one thing you are looking forward to this year.
Please be mindful that all contact should go through your school email accounts. I will not be able to contact you at a personal email address. It is important that you check your school issued email account regularly so that you don't miss out on valuable information.
Looking forward to the year,
Rebecca Brink
[email protected]
(Phone)
Reply Email
Thank you for your response. We have many exciting topics ahead of us including number sense, proportional reasoning, geometry, and statistics. I hope that you will find that our content is applicable to your daily life as we will be learning how to make choices by our mathematical reasoning skills.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Introduction Prompt
Welcome to Math 7 online. We will be working together for the year and getting to know each other is vital to the success of this course. The first step for you in starting this course is to introduce yourself to the class. In order to do so I would like you to post four different numbers that are of relevance to you and what they mean to you in our introductions topic in the discussion board. These numbers should reveal something about who you are and not your statistics like height, age, birthday, etc. Make sure to include what your number reveals about you in detail.
Instructor Response
Rebecca's Numbers
1996: This would be the year that I started my Math 7 class. I still remember sitting in Mrs. Koglin's classroom, the shirt I wore on the first day of school and making mixed tapes from the radio with my friends.
2: The number of kids of my own that I have. I have a son, Jaxun who is a first grader and is adamant that "his occupation will be an excavator driver." He loves to read about construction vehicles. My daughter Ellee will be turning three soon. She loves idolizing her big brother and trying to be just as tough as him. I enjoy spending my free time building legos, going for bike rides, and making crafts with my children.
26: The number of states I have spent at least one night in. I have driven through more, but only count if I spent time overnight and visiting a landmark in them. I love to travel and look forward to adding in the other 24 states with my children as they grow up. I also enjoy international travel and have visited six other countries and will be adding a seventh in a few months.
9: The number of years I have taught. Every year is exciting in its own way and I look forward to our journey together this year.