Free Range Learning

I’m proud of my ability to remember names.  I learned long ago to match faces to names, and then gaze at the person while I say their name in my head five times.  It works!  Not only do I remember names and faces, but I retain them in my memory for quite a while.  People love to be remembered.

But now I’m teaching a course online.  And the only ‘face’ I have to go on is a tiny square photo — if that.  Some students don’t even give me a big smile to gaze at in their photo, or some curly red hair as an identity marker.

So, dear students, in your introductory posts, do your poor old professor a favor: give me something to hold on to.  The one student whose name and person I remember best was the one who shared that she (yes she!) is part of a Christian motorcycle band.

Now that I can remember.

Maybe you live by the post office — you can introduce yourself as Post Office Joe.  Or maybe you work in a coffee shop.  You can be Coffee Annie, or Poodle-owner Kate, Montana Jake, or Work-At-A-Bank Steve.  Of course, these identity markers don’t capture the breadth and depth of who you are, but they are a start.

Whatever it is — give me a sign!  Who are you?  It’s too easy for me to communicate with you online without ever actually identifying who you are.  As I type my responses to your often thoughtful and even profound postings, I am embarrassed to ask myself, “wait, to whom am I responding again?"   Who am I talking to?