I’m Teaching a Hybrid College Writing Course

What I’ve learned so far

I am one of the only professors in my Communications department at a community college who opted to teach hybrid writing classes this fall 2020 semester, during the COVID-19 pandemic. All the other instructors wanted to teach online only, and now I understand why.

Teaching hybrid classes is tricky.

I meet with students one time per week, instead of two times, like in a normal semester. The students are doing most of the work online, and have email access to me and access to an online office hour.

I didn’t make in-person class attendance mandatory, not wanting to penalize them if they didn’t feel safe in the classroom.

Our classroom is limited to 12 students, and the seats are at a 6 foot distance. Still, if they were afraid, I didn’t want to force them to attend. But I did tell them that it would be more difficult doing the class online only, since technically it’s not an online class.

It’s been a struggle.

In any given class, between 2 and 6 students show up. Some of them are in quarantine. Some of them have never attended. But, most of them are doing fairly well in the class and I have about the same retention that I have during a normal in-person semester.

Here are some things I’ve learned teaching a hybrid class, and adjustments I’ve made:

1. Make sure the assignment instructions are simple. Usually my paper assignments are about a page of text. For this hybrid class, I needed to make it shorter and more streamlined. One half page, with bullet points. Include a short rubric also.
2. Make the course easy to navigate. Separate essay assignments into modules, and include all necessary materials, so they can find and access them easily. Modules help keep projects together.
3. Have strict email parameters. Choose certain times during the weekdays that you respond to email. Don’t respond on the weekends. Don’t respond to them if they try to email you with assignment questions an hour before they are due. Emphasize that email is not texting. Students need to read directions first before sending emails. If the question can be answered by reading the directions, send them back to the assignment or syllabus.
4. If the class goes fully online, have at least some synchronous learning, and have them display their video (unless your campus allows them not to). But, if their video is off, don't assume they won't be asleep or out of the room.
5. Check in with them often. Email those who don't email you, just to see how they are doing, unless they come to class on a regular basis.
6. Send out weekly reminders or announcements. Each Monday, I remind them of the week’s tasks, even though they can access the assignments. Here is where I make clarifications and remind them of due dates. They need lots of reminders.
7. Stick to your due dates and policies. If you let one person turn in late papers, then you must let everyone. I don’t accept papers that are turned in even one minute late. They need to learn you are serious about your policies.
8. If you use readings, keep them relatively short. Unless I can go over them in class, I limit the readings to three or four pages at a time.
9. Use well-captioned videos, if you use videos as sources. I like TED talks. Choose videos that are between 10 and 30 minutes. This semester we are exploring environmental topics, such as alternative energy, electric cars, plastic waste, minimalism, food production and sustainable clothing. I find the students enjoy these topics and can relate to them.
10. Get them to talk to you. It’s hard enough getting college students to speak up in class, but with masks on it makes it even more difficult. Encourage them to speak. Ask them a question and then give them the space to answer. You may be standing there for a full minute waiting for an answer. Eventually, one of them will speak up because they don't like the silence.

This pandemic is forcing teachers to change the way we deliver information and interact with students.

It’s a struggle, but if we are open-minded and patient, our students can still be successful, and we can still enjoy our classes.