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This semester, I was involved in a teaching trio and was intrigued by a number of tools and techniques:

Tech Tools:

For Assignments in the Lesson pages, I can create the assignment by choosing Add Text and use some of the buttons in the text box to add CUSTOM ICONS (like a video or email icon) for Assignments.Then I can simply add the link to the assignment.

"Recording your Presentation with Google Meets" > Submit work in a shared Google Drive

Engagement and Communication:

Embed Announcements in the Lesson Page (This can help those that don’t check announcements or emails)

Continually try to apply lessons to students’ lives and content they are interested in.

Make learning real - help students make a real impact in their world and do work they can put on their resume

Have specific information about when Laulima is down for maintenance, the Student Code of Conduct, and Minimum Technical Skills in the Syllabus

Sending announcements early that anticipate students questions and needs and help them with the steps to completing large assignments (i.e. what to do to prepare)

Sending announcements and create a Padlet to support mental health (i.e. students post ideas to help each other)

Comforting:

All of us have had more absenteeism in Spring online classes than in the Fall, which at least makes me feel like this problem is not related to me specifically.

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This semester I learned so much from my colleagues. First, having a community to discuss teaching styles, approaches, and tips is tantamount to our success. We are not teaching on our own and having the knowledge that others go through the same successes and challenges is reassuring.  This was my biggest take-away. Thank you for creating this opportunity for us. I look forward to the next round!

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Thanks again to my colleagues for making this a great experience. I got to see great examples of both synchronous and asynchronous teaching and gained some ideas for how to better use some tools in Laulima, as well as for student engagement in a low pressure way for Zoom (and eventually in-person) sessions!

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This semester, I made a number of realizations:

1. As long as we are done by the end of the semester, we don't have to stick to the strict timeline laid out for us for this professional development. Having this flexibility really helped my group to get more out of this program.

2. I am continually impressed by my colleagues' professionalism, care for their craft and students, and desire to continuously improve.

3. A number of the effective teaching strategies my peers' used were similar to my own, which was reassuring.

4. Strategies & Tools that came out of observations or discussion to implement (some of which were reinforced):

• An index of resource by topic for students to refer back to.
• Value of temperature checks.
• Purposefully non-punitive language and allowing students to get help from others during synchronous class sessions.
• Value and ease of low-tech technology, like sharing a Google Doc with permissions set for those with the link to edit...This makes for easy collaboration and virtually zero learning curve for current students.
• Reminder to specifically call on specific students to answer questions.
• Allowing students to determine whether to continue to review or to move to new content.
• Value of Universal Design for Learning
• The value of engaging students through different modalities (i.e. written/oral language translation to art work)

My group members were not able to actually attend my classes this semester, although they did respond to the content of my announcements and my overall Laulima layout. Overall, I had a great experience, per usual, and enjoyed getting to know colleagues I hadn't previously met

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Ideas by: Rose (Health Info Tech), Denise (ED) and Dani (MGT)

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Sharing some teaching tools we shared so far in our collaboration doc.

Have a good start to your week!

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Creating a more interactive learning environment.

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Creating a more interactive learning environment.

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I learned from my colleague how to create more interactive learning environments by utilizing Zoom live sessions. Also, including detailed instructions in the Laulima space to make sure students know where to go to read their syllabus, look up their grades, and how to contact their instructor.

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We had some great discussion about setting a good tone via announcements, how to effectively use breakout rooms in Zoom and other means of having students report/participate (such as assigning roles to students during group work or assigning students a problem to present). Thanks again!

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I learned so much about how to make Laulima more user-friendly from Donald, and got insight on how to make a fun and helpful jeopardy study for the students from Jessie! Very productive this semester!

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Fun ways to interact and provide content

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Fun ways to interact and provide content

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A really great round of Teaching Squares. From Jessie, I learned different ways to use Google Slides, including a cool Jeopardy template. I also really appreciate her use of technology, including virtual field trips and the use of Google Earth to help students "visit" sites. From Taylor, I enjoyed seeing how she used different tolls in her lectures. I also learned about live transcripts and ways to better leverage PowerPoint presentations.

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We had such a good time exploring our asynchronous classes, but my biggest takeaway (that is probably lame) is making my life & my students' lives much easier through Laulima templates. I'm stoked to test it out with my classes for next semester!

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Thank you so much for doing this. This is my first semester teaching online and it was wonderful to see all the different tools other people are using in their classes to keep their students engaged.

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I loved seeing how my group also uses Flipgrid. Inspired me to create more assignments using Flipgrid!

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Wonderful for new ideas
Avatar of Denise Dugan Denise Dugan
7h
Wonderful for new ideas
I found that even though our group was very diverse in subjects taught, there was still much to learn from each other. All of us were working with distance courses and for some it was the first time, so it provided great ideas for our own classes. Plus, we got to know people who we normally wouldn't have a chance to meet! 
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Takeaways from Teaching Squares: Tech Edition, Fall 2020
Avatar of Kelly Kennedy Kelly Kennedy
5d
Takeaways from Teaching Squares: Tech Edition, Fall 2020
I enjoyed participating in Teaching Squares this semester! Here are some of the highlights from our supportive feedback meeting: 1) the pros and cons of synchronous vs. asynchronous modes of instruction 2) the challenges students and instructors with young children are facing due to the lack of childcare this semester 3) the value of short (<6 min.) instructional videos and YouTube's analytics that show how much of our videos students actually watch 4) the tech tool Edpuzzle for embedding comprehension-checking questions in our videos to engage students and encourage them to watch all the way through 5) the value of having students work together to write and submit a group contract as the first step in a group project (credit to Shelly for that tip which I plan to use in the future!). Mahalo! -Kelly
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Great Teaching Squares - Fall 2020
Avatar of Sharolyn Pastor Sharolyn Pastor
14d
Great Teaching Squares - Fall 2020
Aloha everyone, I really enjoyed working with Ashley and Rose for our online Teaching Squares this semester. It is nice that all three of us teach totally different classes (Speech,  Health Technology, Psychology). We had great conversations about how we have been integrating various new technology tools into our online classes. We explored Flipgrid quite a bit since I use it for my Speech classes and Ashley uses it for her Psych classes. We also helped each other by talking about how we organize our Laulima course sites and various tools. Thank you for this opportunity! Much aloha to all of you, Sharolyn
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Wonderful for Online Teaching!
Avatar of Lucille Gilbert Lucille Gilbert
16d
Wonderful for Online Teaching!
Thank you to my team! I definitely feel a little more prepared taking on more online classes. I learned about Pear Deck, Laulima, EMC templates and saw all those in action! I can't wait to try it in my classes to make the classroom experience a more engaging and enjoyable during a weird time online.
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Teaching Squares was a Great Experience
Avatar of Stevy Scarbrough Stevy Scarbrough
16d
Teaching Squares was a Great Experience
I enjoyed learning from my peers in math, culinary arts, and ESL. It was great to see different disciplinary perspectives and how other instructors had set up their online courses in Laulima. I had not thought to send out infographic announcements before and will look into utilizing Canva. Thanks to Darci, Sam, and Abi for a great experience!
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I was glad to be part of my group this term. I learned about culinary arts and all the students need to think about when ordering food from suppliers, the brilliantly organised Math class and the amazing dilligence of the PSYCH students!
Avatar of anonymousAnonymous
19d
I was glad to be part of my group this term. I learned about culinary arts and all the students need to think about when ordering food from suppliers, the brilliantly organised Math class and the amazing dilligence of the PSYCH students!
I will try to create and use a Bitmoji to use on my instruction videos and the CANVA program to create end of week reminders for my students. 
It was again a great experience to work interdiscipinarily with colleagues and see all the different ways to organize online classes.
Sam Hume
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Important insights and perspectives
Avatar of Donald Carreira Ching Donald Carreira Ching
23d
Important insights and perspectives
I learned about different techniques and strategies to engage students (for example, pear deck) and also learned from my colleague's perspectives and insights (organizational techniques, humanizing elements, ways to streamline content). 
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Pear Deck, Laulima EMC templates, presentation tips, etc!
Avatar of Taylor Tashiro Taylor Tashiro
23d
Pear Deck, Laulima EMC templates,  presentation tips, etc!
Along with Anika, I have learned so much from this teaching square experience.  I'm so glad I did this and will definitely be participating in this again in the future since it was so helpful!  I learned things like:
- Using this new application called Pear Deck.  After watching it being used in Anika's class, I HAD to try it out myself!  It is a google slides add-on that engages the students in activities during your lecture to keep the lecture fun, as well as ensuring the student's participation in a fun and creative way.   I HIGHLY suggest it to everyone.
- I had no idea about Laulima EMC templates but after seeing it put to use in Donald's class, I had to get my hands on it.  It made the Laulima site so organized and appealing!  It may be a little late in the game for me to use it now in my current class as I don't want to confuse my students that are used to my current format, but I am for sure implementing the templates for my future classes!
- Lucille, as a communications professor, really was great at what she teaches -- communicating with students!  Watching her lecture and engage the students through google docs during class, or using a "sticky note" trick to stick by your webcam to ensure you're "looking at the students" were such helpful things to discover!  

As a new lecturer, this experience was so helpful since I got to learn and get feedback from seasoned professionals in the game.  I highly recommend the teaching squares and will participate again in the future!
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Social justice, EC, flowing discussions...
Avatar of Anika Gearhart Anika Gearhart
23d
Social justice, EC, flowing discussions...
I learned so much from my teaching squares group this semester! S

# data[].attributes.body
I found that even though our group was very diverse in subjects taught, there was still much to learn from each other. All of us were working with distance courses and for some it was the first time, so it provided great ideas for our own classes. Plus, we got to know people who we normally wouldn't have a chance to meet!

# data[].attributes.headline
Takeaways from Teaching Squares: Tech Edition, Fall 2020

# data[].attributes.subject
Takeaways from Teaching Squares: Tech Edition, Fall 2020

# data[].attributes.body
I enjoyed participating in Teaching Squares this semester! Here are some of the highlights from our supportive feedback meeting: 1) the pros and cons of synchronous vs. asynchronous modes of instruction 2) the challenges students and instructors with young children are facing due to the lack of childcare this semester 3) the value of short (<6 min.) instructional videos and YouTube's analytics that show how much of our videos students actually watch 4) the tech tool Edpuzzle for embedding comprehension-checking questions in our videos to engage students and encourage them to watch all the way through 5) the value of having students work together to write and submit a group contract as the first step in a group project (credit to Shelly for that tip which I plan to use in the future!). Mahalo! -Kelly

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Easily create beautiful interactive video lessons for your students you can integrate right into your LMS. Track students' progress with hassle-free analytics as you flip your classroom!

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Aloha everyone, I really enjoyed working with Ashley and Rose for our online Teaching Squares this semester. It is nice that all three of us teach totally different classes (Speech, Health Technology, Psychology). We had great conversations about how we have been integrating various new technology tools into our online classes. We explored Flipgrid quite a bit since I use it for my Speech classes and Ashley uses it for her Psych classes. We also helped each other by talking about how we organize our Laulima course sites and various tools. Thank you for this opportunity! Much aloha to all of you, Sharolyn

# data[].attributes.body
Thank you to my team! I definitely feel a little more prepared taking on more online classes. I learned about Pear Deck, Laulima, EMC templates and saw all those in action! I can't wait to try it in my classes to make the classroom experience a more engaging and enjoyable during a weird time online.

# data[].attributes.body
I enjoyed learning from my peers in math, culinary arts, and ESL. It was great to see different disciplinary perspectives and how other instructors had set up their online courses in Laulima. I had not thought to send out infographic announcements before and will look into utilizing Canva. Thanks to Darci, Sam, and Abi for a great experience!

# data[].attributes.headline
I was glad to be part of my group this term. I learned about culinary arts and all the students need to think about when ordering food from suppliers, the brilliantly organised Math class and the amazing dilligence of the PSYCH students!

# data[].attributes.subject
I was glad to be part of my group this term. I learned about culinary arts and all the students need to think about when ordering food from suppliers, the brilliantly organised Math class and the amazing dilligence of the PSYCH students!

# data[].attributes.body
I will try to create and use a Bitmoji to use on my instruction videos and the CANVA program to create end of week reminders for my students.
It was again a great experience to work interdiscipinarily with colleagues and see all the different ways to organize online classes.
Sam Hume

# data[].attributes.body
I learned about different techniques and strategies to engage students (for example, pear deck) and also learned from my colleague's perspectives and insights (organizational techniques, humanizing elements, ways to streamline content).

# data[].attributes.headline
Pear Deck, Laulima EMC templates,  presentation tips, etc!

# data[].attributes.subject
Pear Deck, Laulima EMC templates,  presentation tips, etc!

# data[].attributes.body
Along with Anika, I have learned so much from this teaching square experience.  I'm so glad I did this and will definitely be participating in this again in the future since it was so helpful!  I learned things like:
- Using this new application called Pear Deck.  After watching it being used in Anika's class, I HAD to try it out myself!  It is a google slides add-on that engages the students in activities during your lecture to keep the lecture fun, as well as ensuring the student's participation in a fun and creative way.   I HIGHLY suggest it to everyone.
- I had no idea about Laulima EMC templates but after seeing it put to use in Donald's class, I had to get my hands on it.  It made the Laulima site so organized and appealing!  It may be a little late in the game for me to use it now in my current class as I don't want to confuse my students that are used to my current format, but I am for sure implementing the templates for my future classes!
- Lucille, as a communications professor, really was great at what she teaches -- communicating with students!  Watching her lecture and engage the students through google docs during class, or using a "sticky note" trick to stick by your webcam to ensure you're "looking at the students" were such helpful things to discover!

As a new lecturer, this experience was so helpful since I got to learn and get feedback from seasoned professionals in the game. I highly recommend the teaching squares and will participate again in the future!

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Social justice, EC, flowing discussions...

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Social justice, EC, flowing discussions...

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I learned so much from my teaching squares group this semester! Some things I am considering adding to my class include:
- More social justice projects (Donald has an awesome one in his ENG 200 class!)
- Add some additional fun EC topics (Taylor had some cool ones!)
- Incorporate more open, casual discussions into my class (Lucille is amazing at this).

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Teaching and Modeling Persistence and a Growth Mindset

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Teaching and Modeling Persistence and a Growth Mindset

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I learned and observed so many valuable things from my Teaching Square this semester! It was great to be able to observe in-person teaching again, plus visit clear, well organized, inviting Laulima sites!

This semester, I observed how my Teaching Squares partners have taken the best of both worlds (online and in-person learning) to create meaningful, supportive, engaging, and challenging learning environments.

My main takeaway from participating in Teaching Squares this semester is the value of teaching and modeling persistence and a growth mindset. I observed Mónica and Darci achieve this through sticking with questions or problems and working through them with students during class. I observed Taylor accomplish this by providing interactive review sessions using Kahoot and having students complete multiple drafts of a major project. With each draft, students had another opportunity to learn and improve their work using the feedback they received. Overall, I am inspired, impressed, and thankful to work with such wonderful colleagues. -Kelly

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This term's Teaching Squares Team was an inspiration. Learning from Darci, Kelly, and Taylor has added value to my teaching which will directly benefit my students.  In their course sites, perused asynchronously, there was evidence of carefully planning, straightforward communication with students, and a constant managing of student expectations.  All three teachers, in their own creative manners, found useful resources and ways to keep their students engaged through sharing electronic materials such as Kahoots, Quizlets, Instructional Videos, Students' work, among others.  We wanted to look at the strategies we used to engage students across different modalities. It was interesting to see that there is always an element of interpersonal interactions for engagement across all modalities.  Darci created a wonderful space in the Forums for students to add a picture of themselves,  and tell 2 truths and a lie--this proved to be successful as students played along and connected with each other on various levels even outside of the math class. Taylor did it by offering synchronous zoom study sessions before exams and sharing the reviews for students to use if there were unable to make the synchronous meeting.  One of the many ways that Kelly engaged her students and combined some technology with her in-person classes, was sharing some of the student presentations they created in her Laulima site.  My main takeaway is that doing these PDs, talking to colleagues teaching similar student populations, observing each other's work, and connecting through our love of teaching is a way to achieve more success as an educator at LCC.  Together Everyone (really does) Achieve More! :) Mónica

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I learned a lot this semester, including ways to better connect and humanize my courses. I also got a chance to visit a colleagues Laulima site and see how she employs Laulima tools and integrates class material in different ways. From that, I learned about ways to further engage my asynch students. I  got the chance to observe an info session for potential Early College students which taught me a lot about the process and also made me think about new ways to support our students. It was also great to see how one of my colleague's was using video and other media to engage students in the virtual classroom.

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The most wonderful thing I took away from this experience was connection with new colleagues. We learned more about what each other does and brainstormed ways we can collaborate and support one another. I was also able to implement a few of the suggestions made by my peers into my Academic Counseling activities.

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I do teaching squares every semester since I started teaching in 2020 during the pandemic.   Observing the different modalities of diverse classes have been so rewarding.  I learned more of how to use the library as a resource and how to better teach my students how to cite sources.  But most of all, from this semester's teaching squares, I learned how these amazing professors/educators become a valuable resource to their students by encouraging them to get out of their box, and by really pushing them to achieve what they think they can't.  Observing Kelly's, Monica's, and Darci's classes have all been inspiring to me to really push myself to be more interactive with my students and find creative ways to handle a problem.  They're so receptive to advice and are so wise in the words they give.  This was one of my favorite teaching squares.  Thank you for this opportunity!

-Taylor Tashiro

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Every semester I feel like I learn something that will change my classes for the better in Teaching Squares. This semester I was paired up with Erika, Marc, and Melissa. I had some great takeaways from their classes:
1. I enjoyed Melissa's  use of examples problem-solving based lectures that kept student engaged and helped them practice the material.
2. I liked Marc's use of videos to explain concepts and engage his students.
3. I love that Erika has a request a demo feature in her class - students can request a video or demonstration of a skill or concept they don't understand. Also loved the way in which she incorporated peer feedback into her class.
Thanks for a great semester!