Carol As Beth said, our thoughts are with you. I would just add two things to what Beth said. This is based on my own experiences in a personal emergency not that long ago.
My first suggestion would be that you be as open with the class as you can/are-comfortable being while maintaining necessary boundaries. You may find that students in the class will be willing to hold discussion periods etc. where the students can gather to discuss and maybe get questions together for you to answer. I was extremely surprised when my students more or less took over the more mundane parts of the course when I was unable to attend for roughly two weeks- even putting together power points, sharing presentation responsibilities, etc. I also had a colleague who went to the classes and served as moderator for a couple of days (It was her suggestion, btw, that I just allow them to do it as they were handling it so well!). But you might ask a friend/colleague if they'd be willing to help with that. The second thing I'd suggest is using one of the web-meeting (webinar- though I hate the word!) programs to have "class" at the scheduled time and place if you can arrange to do that through your IT folks (even the messenger programs can be helpful as you can do pseudo office hours, etc as you have opportunities). I'd ask your web support people if they could set up a camera or at least a microphone for you in the classroom if they can do that (do you have a laptop? That's very helpful. Our college even provides one in such emergencies if you don't already have one.). Our support staff are very limited in number but provided me with unbelievable levels of help and support - I'd contact them for help with this as they know the specific resources available on your campus and those resources and their experience may be more helpful than you'd imagine. You might also contact your publisher to see if they have any extra student or faculty resources that you could post. I often post the power-point presentations for them. The publishers are more receptive to such things than we sometimes think. While I'm at it. Trust yourself. With your experience in the classroom you are probably underestimating your resources right now. If you have any doubts about what to do, please feel free to query the list and/or your colleagues. Again, all our best to you and your family. Tim _______________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Professor and Chair Department of Psychology The College of Idaho Caldwell, ID 83605 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] teaching: intro to neuropsychology; psychopharmacology; general; history and systems -----Original Message----- From: beth benoit [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Fri 1/11/2008 12:48 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] need advice Carol, It sounds like you have a lot on your plate. I'm sure I speak for all in saying we hope things improve for your daughter. In the meantime, how about a tutorial? I can find a tutorial, if you think it would be helpful. But I wonder if, since it's a 300 level class, you might just "run" the course by giving them assignments online, encouraging them to "chat" with each other on topics you could send by having them select the "reply all" and discuss ideas in an email format, and finally have them submit work to you via email? As long as they include you in their "reply all" you'd have a record of participation. I teach 3 courses online using Blackboard, but I have to say, it's a monumental task to set it up. If I were you, I'd toss around the above suggestion. In the meantime, know that we'll be thinking of you. Beth Benoit Granite State College Plymouth State University New Hampshire --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
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