4 Tips for (Online) Teaching in a Pandemic

Practical suggestions from my first year as a higher education teacher

In the Fall of 2020 I logged into Zoom and pronounced the words I didn’t know I could so confidently say: “Hola, clase,” “hello, class!” It was a quiet and sunny morning in New York City, earlier in the year the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, and I was about to start teaching online for the first time ever to a group of Lehman College students at the City University of New York.

I had a dynamic presentation prepared for the occasion and an infinite curiosity to meet my students, to hear them talk and to connect with them — digitally, at least — after we all had been forced into social distancing and quarantine a few months before. I didn’t know then, but it was the opportunity to create a new community centered around collective learning, one of the aspects of teaching that motivated me the most. I see teaching as a two-way avenue where knowledge circulates in multiple directions, among students, from teacher to students and vice versa.

In that spirit, I decided to start blogging to reflect on my pedagogical approach and practices, with the aim of sharing tips on what has worked for me, as well as a way to get feedback and hopefully start a dialogue with an audience beyond the classroom.

My online teaching journey has offered me the opportunity for intense learning. These are four takeaways I’d like to share as tips from personal experience, readings and colleagues’ advice:

1.Design comes first. Think in terms of what will work best for your student population and the medium or format of instruction. Be intentional about choosing technological tools, consider how accessible that infrastructure is for your students, and the goals you want to achieve, to encourage active engagement, interaction, and critical thinking. Be mindful of how the design of those tools impact your pedagogy.

In this article, which I read in my first weeks of teaching, Jesse Stommel, PhD, compares online and hybrid courses with those that take place in traditional in-person environments. “When we teach an on-ground class, — writes Stommel — the room in which we teach has been built for us in advance.” What distinguishes online teaching is the design process: the learning interface (Blackboard, Canvas) where synchronous or asynchronous class discussion will happen, on which virtual site the syllabus and other class materials will be available. Design is also about how you plan to signal one or more pathways for students to achieve your desired learning outcomes.

Also, do not assume that because something has worked once it will work forever. Embrace experimentation as part of your design process, and invite students to share their input so you can really know what they need and how to best deliver it to them.

“The best tools make themselves as invisible as possible, serving not as a distraction but as a way of extending the landscape beyond its bounds.”—Jesse Stommel

2. Allow yourself to be kind. Some believe that to earn students’ respect they must act like an authoritarian, be inflexible, set the same fixed standards for all. Being kind in this context does not mean to be less strict, but to be compassionate and to acknowledge students’ individualities and their humanity. It means you must have tough conversations if needed, and also that deadlines should be met. Just don’t let your position of authority prevent students from asking for your help and flexibility when they need it.

There is a piece of advice I found in Dr. Catherine Denial’s thought-provoking text on Hybrid Pedagogy where she defines her approach to teaching as a “pedagogy of kindness.” As a practice, she writes, it is about “believing people, and believing in people.” If a student tells she can’t attend my Zoom class because her eyes hurt from so many virtual classes, I believe her. The same if they don’t participate in class because they need to take care of an elder relative, a younger sibling or their own children. How can I think about being taken advantage of when I’ve seen their kids briefly appear on camera, and heard them play or scream in the background, while my students participate in class?

I choose to believe them when they say they are struggling in this critical moment.

3. Redefine rigor. One thing I’ve learned from teaching at a public institution during this critical time is that what happens in a student’s personal life, the circumstances in which she/he/they live, what they eat, how they sleep, and a myriad of other external factors also affect their performance in the classroom. Academic rigor is experienced differently by different bodies.

Set reasonable expectations and communicate clearly what the demands are for each assignment. Provide guidance and don’t assume all students have the same skills. Prioritize positive reassurance and promote self-confidence.

4. Don’t take it personally when things don’t go according to what you had planned, or don’t work at all.

Ultimately, your self-worth is not defined by your productivity, or your level of class engagement, or by how elaborate your presentations are. Be humble and allow yourself to learn from your students.