FIRST WEEK
The following is an ice-breaker and my response, as well as an introductory e-mail for an online course called Communication on the Underground Railroad.
Changes I made from the original ice-breaker:
Changes I made to the Welcome email:
Ice-Breaker Question: First, tell us your name, and what you prefer to be called in this class. You have signed up for a class on communication on The Underground Railroad (UGRR). A key component of the UGRR was getting from point A to point B without getting lost and in one piece. When you travel by car to an unfamiliar place, what is your preferred method for directions to get there? Has this method ever failed you and caused you to become lost? Are you a keep-driving or stop-for-directions kind of person?
My Response: When I travel, I prefer to have a GPS, a map quest or google search, and a good old fashioned Rand-McNally Road Atlas as a back-up just in case. Before the age of GPS, I actually got lost on a very rainy, very foggy night about 1:30 in the morning. I was coming from North Carolina to Pennsylvania, and somewhere around the DC/Baltimore area, things went from bad to worse. I took a wrong turn and ended up in a parking lot with a uniformed man with his hand on his holstered gun, knocking on my window. I had ended up in the Pentagon parking lot! Needless to say, I was scared to death. He eventually sent me on my way to the correct freeway, with a warning to pay more attention to where I was going. I am DEFINITELY a stop and ask directions person after that experience.
Welcoming e-Mail
Dear Students,
Hello. My name is Patti Morlock, and it is my pleasure as your instructor, to welcome you to the online course, Communication on the Underground Railroad (UGRR) . We will have fun discovering interesting ways of communicating, learning how to use textiles to create our own means of communication, delve into issues such as slavery and freedom, and look at the network called the Underground Railroad and some of the remarkable people who made it possible for hundreds and thousands to escape from slavery to freedom.
I am a mom of two teenagers, I love to read and quilt, and my husband and I love to travel when we get the chance. He likes to trust his "sense of direction", while I like to have a definite plan when we travel. It makes for some interesting trips. I also love to do something with my kids called geocaching. It's like a treasure hunt, only you use GPS coordinates to find the "cache" that someone has hidden and sign the log book. The key is to not let anyone see you when you find it, so you can hide it safely again for the next person to find. There are "caches" all over the world! Interested??? Ask me more in the Coffee Shop during the first week of class and I'll get you started in your own neck of the woods.
I am best reached through email at [email protected] and will check it twice a day, once first thing in the morning, and again early evening. I will not check email on Sunday, as this is my Sabbath day of rest. I can also be reached on my office phone 614-604-8000. M-W-F 6-7 PM EDT, T-Th 9-10 AM EDT. Please try to use email for most communication as it will improve your writing skills and require you to think through what it is you need.
Looking forward to an exciting learning experience with you. See you in 2 weeks.
Patti Morlock
Changes I made from the original ice-breaker:
- Ask the student to give their name and preferred way to be addressed
- Make the connection between the ice-breaker and the course. It seemed obvious to me, because it has been in my head for so long. I've discovered that sometimes that which appears obvious may need to be spelled out a bit.
Changes I made to the Welcome email:
- Again, something obvious but overlooked. Put my name in the first line instead of the second, so that the email wouldn't be ignored as spam or junk to be deleted.
- Gave a way to be contacted in the email
Ice-Breaker Question: First, tell us your name, and what you prefer to be called in this class. You have signed up for a class on communication on The Underground Railroad (UGRR). A key component of the UGRR was getting from point A to point B without getting lost and in one piece. When you travel by car to an unfamiliar place, what is your preferred method for directions to get there? Has this method ever failed you and caused you to become lost? Are you a keep-driving or stop-for-directions kind of person?
My Response: When I travel, I prefer to have a GPS, a map quest or google search, and a good old fashioned Rand-McNally Road Atlas as a back-up just in case. Before the age of GPS, I actually got lost on a very rainy, very foggy night about 1:30 in the morning. I was coming from North Carolina to Pennsylvania, and somewhere around the DC/Baltimore area, things went from bad to worse. I took a wrong turn and ended up in a parking lot with a uniformed man with his hand on his holstered gun, knocking on my window. I had ended up in the Pentagon parking lot! Needless to say, I was scared to death. He eventually sent me on my way to the correct freeway, with a warning to pay more attention to where I was going. I am DEFINITELY a stop and ask directions person after that experience.
Welcoming e-Mail
Dear Students,
Hello. My name is Patti Morlock, and it is my pleasure as your instructor, to welcome you to the online course, Communication on the Underground Railroad (UGRR) . We will have fun discovering interesting ways of communicating, learning how to use textiles to create our own means of communication, delve into issues such as slavery and freedom, and look at the network called the Underground Railroad and some of the remarkable people who made it possible for hundreds and thousands to escape from slavery to freedom.
I am a mom of two teenagers, I love to read and quilt, and my husband and I love to travel when we get the chance. He likes to trust his "sense of direction", while I like to have a definite plan when we travel. It makes for some interesting trips. I also love to do something with my kids called geocaching. It's like a treasure hunt, only you use GPS coordinates to find the "cache" that someone has hidden and sign the log book. The key is to not let anyone see you when you find it, so you can hide it safely again for the next person to find. There are "caches" all over the world! Interested??? Ask me more in the Coffee Shop during the first week of class and I'll get you started in your own neck of the woods.
I am best reached through email at [email protected] and will check it twice a day, once first thing in the morning, and again early evening. I will not check email on Sunday, as this is my Sabbath day of rest. I can also be reached on my office phone 614-604-8000. M-W-F 6-7 PM EDT, T-Th 9-10 AM EDT. Please try to use email for most communication as it will improve your writing skills and require you to think through what it is you need.
Looking forward to an exciting learning experience with you. See you in 2 weeks.
Patti Morlock