Employed...once again

After a nearly seven month process of training and mentoring. I have been officially hired by the University of Phoenix to be an online instructor in their Axia College program. I am breathing a huge sigh of relief about the whole thing. I'm glad to be done with having the mentor looking over my shoulder! :)

I had a friend ask me the other day how I felt about online teaching on a scale of 1 to 10. I think her experiences with online learning made her think my expectations and feelings would put my rating pretty low on the scale. But it is actually quite high. I told her an 8 or a 9.

There will be things about a real classroom that I certainly did and will miss. The smiles, the instant interaction, the ability to know students more as people. But surprisingly, I felt like I got to know my online students I just finished teaching in interesting ways. We reveal a lot I think through what we write and don't write. My students online still tend to be creatures of habit. Axia allows for late work up to so many days after the assignment is due, and the students who turned things in late tended to be more habitual about it. The students who were serious and hard working were obvious. The students who would struggle were also quite clear.

I found my first crop of students to be quite gracious, and many of them were willing to work hard and give their best effort. Many of them are juggling work, family, and school, and I have great respect for their efforts. I am not necessarily personally a huge fan of distance learning, but I really do believe it fills a niche for a certain segment of the population who would like to continue with their education. If this allows me a greater opportunity to stay home with my children and continue to work in this capacity, then I am very grateful. It is a true blessing.

There will be much figuring out for me to do as I juggle finding time to work from home while managing my family and church responsibilities, but we'll figure it out. Here's to a new path in life!