Dr. Gill is still recording. The video runs about three minutes, walks through the rhythm of the semester, and ends with his standing advice for teachers who are trying to take a graduate methods course while running a full classroom.
If the video does not load, refresh the page or try a different browser. Captions are on by default.
Before you touch a graded assignment, the site itself is worth learning. The hunt has ten questions, each one pointing you to a specific page where the answer sits: the syllabus, the policies, the assignment list, tech support, or one of the module overviews. You get two attempts, and the points are completion credit, so the goal is reconnaissance. By the time you finish, you will know where most of the answers live for the rest of the semester.
Launch the Scavenger HuntWork through these in order, and budget about ninety minutes for the whole sequence.
Put two hours on your calendar at the same time twice a week and treat them like a class period you would not skip on your students. Online graduate courses tend to fail in the cracks between teaching and grading and parenting, so the only defense is a recurring block other obligations have to schedule around.
Most of the assignments in this course ask you to apply theory to the students sitting in your classroom, and the rubric rewards specificity over invention. The work goes faster with a lesson you already taught, a student who already exists in your roster (with the name changed at submission), and an assessment already in your gradebook. Examples in front of you beat examples imagined every time.
When you set up your Canvas profile, turn on email and push notifications, because announcements, grade postings, and assignment changes flow through the channel and an unread notification often becomes a missed deadline. The Canvas mobile app catches notifications the desktop browser misses after you have closed the tab and walked away.
Every assignment prompt is worth reading the day the module opens. Close the tab afterward, and let the question sit in the back of your mind for two days while you teach. By the second drive home you will already have half an answer in your head, and the first draft becomes a matter of getting it onto the page.
Email: gilld@uncw.edu
Put "SEC 507" in the subject line. I try to return emails within 24 hours on weekdays. If you haven't heard back by then, send a follow-up.
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