To explain this, I'm going to use this nice infographic I found from dailyedventures.com:
1. They Always Start with the Why
Why did I do this? Simple: it was peer review day. It's the only day they had to go over their drafts with each other before submitting the final in a week. Peer review is far too important to skip, and making margin comments on drafts--even thorough comments--is only part of the process. Being able to actually talk to each other is critical. So I did it.
2. They are malleable and can easily adapt
I had seen this coming by about 48 hours. I knew I wanted to go online--I had to. There's no room in the syllabus to lose a day. I scoured university policies and legal notices, making sure I wasn't doing anything illegal. I wasn't--there isn't a policy that explicitly addresses online classes at all, let alone one about holding one when the campus is closed.
Even so, holding peer review online is tricky. AdobeConnect is okay, but TAs can't move themselves in and out of breakout rooms. That's a big problem. In the past, I've plucked a TA out of a group--mid-sentence--and dropped her into a new group. It's a mess.
So how did I adapt this time? By somehow convincing six former TAs to come in and help. I have no idea how I did this--I didn't beg or sound desperate; I just asked--but somehow they all popped in for one of the classes. I had enough TAs for one to be in each group for all three sections. It was brilliant.
3. They embrace change
Thanks to our class Twitter that I launched this week (@LyraBL101), I was able to tweet about this possibility, and then decision, all weekend. With the right tools and attitude, anything is possible!
4. They share, share, and then share some more
See #3. And this blog. Follow me @lyrahilliard. Add comments on this post. Ask me anything!
5. They think win-win-win
I wanted today to be fun--as fun as it could be, anyway. Had we been in class, I would have brought cookies in; I always do that for the first review. I obviously couldn't do that today, but I brought in special guests! Courtney gave a great Writing Center overview by sharing her screen with us and showing us the website. And then students had 40 minutes with a TA (or me) and their peers. I think students appreciated it. I hope so. I know that some had connectivity problems, and my own connection cut out in my first class. In my last class, I accidentally rearranged all of the groups, which was an epic disaster. But we survived (see #2).
6. They are extremely thorough and think two steps ahead
I had already called this on Saturday. I knew campus would be closed. If I hadn't had yesterday to plan, I wouldn't have thought to ask former TAs to help, and then none of this could have happened. We held a brief Google Hangout last night, TAs sent out an announcement, I got into AdobeConnect early this morning to test settings...it all worked. It all totally worked.
7. They actively care
Believe me, I wouldn't have minded a day off! But there was no way. This wasn't a "theory" class; it was a "practice" class: hands on, working with the writing class. Students can't lose this class--that's not fair. Or right. I asked my TAs what they thought--and what they thought students would think. "You should mention that it's optional," one said. "No--you shouldn't mention that it's optional--then no one will come." "I don't think anyone will come, anyway." "Yeah but it's peer review. They should understand that it's important." "Yeah but will they?"
Apparently, they did. About 75% of each class showed up. Not bad for a snow day.
After the last class, I asked D if he thought it worked. "You made the right call," he said.
What would you have done? Would you hold class online on a snow day?
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