Course prep work starts way before the start of the semester. Attention to relationality details set a tone of expectations and accountability. Students not only learn of the expectations I hold for them, but they also start to build relationships with me by understanding what they can expect from me. Here are a few samples of how I start to establish presence, stability, accountability, and trust with my students as they embark upon their online learning experience. 

Setting up Courses

  • Create a syllabus and Canvas site that mirror each other. My class modules are represented according to categories of content and are further granulated according to week and lesson. Dates are included and links are all verified.​
  • Create a welcoming Home page with a photo of me and a bit of my story. Sometimes I include a photo of me and my animals, other times, it is of professional work. I personalize that area according to the topic of the class. I want them have a humanizing experience as they enter their learning space. I want them to get to know me according to my geography.

ORIENTING Students

  • Draft an orientation email and include the syllabus as an attachment . In that email, I include a link to an orientation cloud video for students to learn how to access our class from the college's main page and then how to navigate the class. This helps learners to feel less lost and starts to familiarize them with my communication approaches.
  • Personalize videos. Not all of my videos or classes are in the recorded same space. Often I will record from my living space, the corral, the field, or even my back yard (the Chuska Mountains). This depends upon the lecture and activities. I minimize distractions such as recording during times my children are not sharing the same space, or my sheep are out grazing, or my husband is not tractoring. Geography is so important to my teaching, research, and writing content and I expect learners to explore their own geography.

Module 0: Course Treaty

  • Create an activity that introduces expectations and allows students to accept those terms. This takes place in Module 0, a module they must complete prior to the start of class content. We study treaties of all kinds throughout a variety of my NAS classes, from animal treaties in time immemorial to the federal Indian law. In the spirit of sovereign entities, I set treaty terms for my classes in an activity called, Course Treaty: Learner and Facilitator Agreements. In this activity, learner soak in expectations and accept terms as learners, and learn of the terms I accept as their facilitator, including all the accountability that comes with registering for and agreeing to lead an online class. If there is a term they are unable to accept, they have space to negotiate and/or decide if this learning environment is the best for them.

Welcoming Students

  • Make time for introductions It is so easy to just jump into content. But I intentionally pause and remember to remember relationality. I create an assignment for introductions
  • Require introductions before moving on with content. For my fully online, asynchronous classes, I have introductions as a requirement in Module 0. This means that the class will not open up for that individual unless they contribute something. 
  • Let the students be creative. Instead of the standard, write out your introduction, I let students use what every tool they want - audio, video, photos, poems. 
  • Respond. I respond to EVERY introduction. For those who are clan relatives, I make note of our relationship and then continue for the rest of the class with that relational connection. 
  • Encourage class relationship forging. I add options for students to respond to their peers as extra credit. This places the co-stewardship of class relationship building at their hands. They do not have to dialogue, but if they do, they can start to find clan relatives or just general points of interest with other students.