A Multiple Gigs Online Teaching Guide for Adjuncts: (Almost) Everything You Need to Know to Do It Right

The more schools you represent the more deadlines, responsibilities, and events—and if you are not organized you can quickly find chaos, panic, and discombobulation surrounding you. Not only will this make for frustrated and unhappy students, but your supervisors won’t exactly be thrilled, either. The answer to this is simple: stay organized by using whatever method(s) suit you best—jotting down all on a daily reminder pad, using any one of the many free online reminder sites, program reminders into your cell phone and/or computer, and/or keep a running master list (in Excel or a doc file) on your computer. You’ll be happy you did.

It’s one thing to wait for something—anything! —in an online class to come due before you take care of it, but it’s quite another when you have multiple such items from multiple classes in multiple schools—they will quickly bowl you over! So, know what you need to before long before you need do it: some of these items will work much better if you have the time to think them through or plan them out, others won’t be such a surprise to leave you scrambling—and thus usually resulting in not your best response. A big part of planning ahead is looking through every nook and crannies of your courses before they begin. The more you know about them the better prepared you will be.

Beyond being organized comes a checklist of what must be done for each school, each day; add to this list any personal items you need do that day (go to the bank, dentist appointment, lunch with mom, etc.). This list will always keep you on track. Also: whether it be an old-fashioned pad or an online page, keep something handy to jot down the “unexpecteds,” students requests, and other tasks to do for your schools that pop up daily—and be sure you have a heading for each school so you never get these “to do” items confused.

If you know when each assignment is due for each school, you can plan for each assignment: the time needed to assess them, additional info for students prior to the assignments being submitted, e-mail reminders to students who are still late with previous assignments, etc. And here’s a neat time-saving trick: if your course is set up where students have a draft of an assignment then a final keep the draft date set, but let the students have until two weeks prior to the end of the course to turn in any final—this gives you staggered submissions, and thus not block after block of many assignments to edit and grade (especially helpful when teaching for more than one school).

Constant communication in a timely manner with your students is crucial. The umbilical cord connecting you to them and them to you is the computer, and thus it must be “fed” constantly with your words or info, insights, and reflection … and in an enthusiastic, motivating manner. As for the “etc.,” more faculty are now also using Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites, but constant communication applies here as well. Yes, ongoing communication with students is a “duh, of course!” element of any course, but it becomes especially important with multiple schools where you have many more students to keep happy and engaged and different requirements for which these students are responsible.

The fewer questions you get from students where the questions could have been prevented, the more time you have to handle your courses; thus be sure each item in your syllabi is correct. This would include all dates, pagination of readings, special reminders (such as an upcoming break, an online library tour, when to register for final exams, etc.) And if you have one or more syllabus supplied from your school, do not merely copy the wording into another syllabus you are creating: you are plagiarizing another school’s work!

Many online faculty forget about this, but it can go a long way in helping you in your interactions with students, supervisors, administrators, and support staff for each school where you teach. For example, one school may have a very conservative, don’t-use-too-much-creativity, be-very-strict-with-your-students approach, while another may have a more flexible, it’s-okay-to-bend-the-rules-when-you-think-appropriate, use-creativity-to-engage-the-students policy. You must fit within the personality umbrella of each school, for all facets of the school—including your online course and your long-term association with the school—fall under this umbrella.

This is a very cool tip: quickly learn which students in each of your classes are especially adept at computer technology, have a solid understanding of all parts of the class (e.g., course delivery system [Blackboard, eCollege, etc.] and syllabus), appear to have a better understanding of the class subject, et cetera. Ask these students to help out other students when they have basic problems with the items mentioned. This not only saves you time but also is a surefire way to keep more students actively engaged in your class. (Of course, be sure all is posted in class so you can check for accuracy, language, etc.)

There are many of these: WebTycho, WebCT, Blackboard, Angel, eCollege, and others schools purchase, as well as those designed by individual schools. The more familiar you are with each the easier your class times will be: time saved, questions quickly answered, and shortcuts to take. And if you have any interest in teaching for additional schools, knowing more than one course delivery system is always a plus.

Again, one suggestion that seems obvious, but it is quite easy to overlook something important in one school when teaching for more than one. A suggestion: have a separate “rules and regs” file for each school, and copy and paste all important info for each school; from this develop a checklist of what you do and when to do for each school—this way, you will always be on top of all requirements for each school. Also: constantly check for e-mail from each school for updates to rules and regs.

This is crucial: by getting to know your weekly due dates of all assignments, postings, etc. in each school you can work out a weekly schedule that gives you “the most bang for your buck.” As an example, if School X requires you post to discussion 4 days per week, and School Y mandates you post 3 days per week, rather than do your postings so they overlap work it out so you do one school on a day you don’t do the other. There is also a flip side to this: do your postings for all schools at the beginning or end of the week—if you have that option—to allow more time for other duties, such as grading assignments. Whatever works best for you, it is important you work out a weekly schedule that is not overwhelming to the point of drowning you!

Each school that employs you pays you … and you are getting paid because you are expected to give that school your all—so do it! You were the one who decided to teach for more than one school online, yet each school must get your full attention—as if that school was your only employer. And a key thought to remember: never have a mindset that you are only teaching for the money. Hopefully, you are teaching because you have a true passion to help others effect positive change in their lives—and perhaps the lives of others—through increasing their knowledge and improving their critical thinking. You are the one they depend on to do this—and do it well, so whether two schools or five schools or more, always give each school your best effort.

Students want to know the progress they are making in your course, and thus they look for your feedback and grades to tell them this info: be sure these are on time. It can be easy to mix up due dates of when you need return student assignments—and many instructors can quickly become overwhelmed with a large number of assignments to grade. This goes with the territory, however, of deciding to teach for more than one school, so it is mandatory you work out a schedule that allows you to return all papers—with detailed feedback—in a timely manner.

While having preset comments for feedback is helpful when teaching for one online school, it is a must when teaching for multiple schools—these save you time while allowing you to give each student the in-depth feedback he or she expects. But if you are teaching the same subject yet at multiple schools, pay attention to any differences (e.g., APA vs. MLA, one economic theory vs. another, etc.) and don’t confuse these in your comments. And always be sure your comments are up to date (if applicable), and don’t hesitate to add personal text to fit your school’s needs.

This is important for any facet of our life, of course, but it becomes especially necessary when teaching for multiple schools, as the pressures of deadlines, daily tasks to complete, and—at times—7-days-per-week work schedules can bring on major doses of stress. A host of approaches to relieve stress can be found on numerous online sites—but just doing something that interests or relaxes you works just as well (if not better).

Depending on your school, you may find your class(es) in one school comprised primarily of older adults, another might have more fresh-out-of-high school students, and a third could focus on military students—each of these might require a different level of writing, different teaching strategies (to match different levels of learning), and varied amounts of course information. Know these well, as confusing one school’s student demographics with another can make for unhappy and unsatisfied students—something you never want.

Most schools offering online courses have orientation programs for new instructors; presented in these is extensive information on how to teach and facilitate online, on learning theories and strategies, etc. For the most part, this is valuable—save all, for what is offered from one school might help you at another. This also is true for workshops, readings, and professional development courses offered by these schools. Finally, be sure to keep an ongoing list of what you can change, what you can strengthen, and what you can add to your courses based on experiences from all your courses: use these to better teach your next round of courses for all your schools.

Your computer, desk, chair, and surrounding environment should all work to help you have as relaxed, smooth, efficient, and enjoyable time as possible during the many hours you spend teaching online. If your chair is not the best you could have back problems. Keep your desk uncluttered and neatly organized. Be sure your computer is working optimally (especially available memory, anti-virus programs, up-to-date software programs, nice-sized monitor, and back-up software, as well as a good printer—and, if possible, fax machine and scanner). Have the environment set up to relax you. The more you focus on your “office” the more enjoyable will be your experience of teaching multiple courses at multiple schools.

This may sound obvious, but it’s crucial you eat well (the more fatty foods the more sluggish you’ll feel: never good, but especially when you need spend more time in front of a computer because you have multiple teaching gigs) and eat at the right times (i.e., eating a full meal late at night can equate to weight gain and feeling tired the next day). And when you snack and/or drink at your computer keep your snacks light, don’t overdo the caffeine and sugar, and leave behind any alcohol.

Remember: A juggler succeeds because of excellent planning, coordination, focus, and practice.