Demonstrating Flexibility: Online Teaching The Night Before Student Turkey Travel

One of these days I'll master a syllabus with an understanding for how the University rolls, as well as my students. There are no classes on Wednesday and most undergraduate courses were empty on Tuesday, as well. Knowing I was coming home from Houston, and that my seniors who take my graduate course had to be out of the dorms by 5 p.m., I opted to go Brady Bunch-style with a ZOOM session, so everyone could call in.

My fear? Well, the sharing of desktops of the two students who had to present, especially one - Joanna - who created a multimodal presentation of her literacy lineage.

Boom! She didn't fail any of us; instead, she navigated between a Powerpoint, a POWToon digital story, and an oral presentation. She kidded the class that she was twice as old as they, so her presentation had to be twice as long. Actually, she did a remarkable job and impressed us all, including this professor who, like her, would go about the assignment in a non-traditional way. She had everything from cartoon-selves, to slides of 80s & 90s music, plutons the remarkable journey her life has taken with family, literature, and raising her children herself.

I didn't want to take the entire two hours, so I let everyone go early. I had other tasks I needed to attend to, plus my mind is where my mother and father's usually is when ever I travel home. I am thinking of Chitunga and sending guardian angels to watch over his sojourn from Syracuse to Mt. Pleasant. I can't wait to see him.

I'm finishing my coffee and then contemplating the meal for tomorrow - prepping as much as I can, channeling Grandma Vera and the heat from her cooking that created condescension on all her windows by the time we all arrived.

Family. It's sad not to be with my sisters and parents, but feels wonderful that my home will be filled with friends and family in Connecticut (although Abu, Kanyea, and Lossine couldn't make it this year)(even so, they will be on my mind, as always).

And it's a day of layering up. Temperatures are crazy low and I am thinking of the Northstars who will have to parade their shine at the Macy's Parade in scarves, long johns, and extra socks. I'm looking forward to seeing the blue and green in the apple!