through a city college. She was given an award for her design and planning of those classes. I don't know if she will continue doing this, because she does have a full-time job, and she lost her husband recently. She has a lot to do.
She taught music history and music related classes. These were not classes that were an automatic "A." She expected them to do some actual work. It was often frustrating to her that she had to teach English 101 and she had to show people how to research and cite things properly. And that was for the people who did their work, instead of waiting until the last week of the semester, when they tried to come up with creative excuses for doing nothing for weeks and weeks. But teachers will always encounter that.
She came to the realization that many of her students came from a background where education was not the norm and not a priority. Many of them had parents who had not completed high school. Many of them were first generation college students. Many of them had not paid attention to the basics while they were in high school. Some of them were people whose first language was not English. Many of the students did not realize that their advisors, no matter how overworked, were there to help them. She did what she could for these students. If you think this is no excuse, it does make a difference. Some students were grateful for the help.
During the time she was teaching, she was active as a professional musician. She would let her students know if she was giving a recital or concert. Attendance was not required. She was just letting them know that their attendance would be welcome.
I went to some of her concerts. It was interesting to see which of her online students attended. They were almost always the foreign students or ESL students. This is not a judgement. It is an observation.
Teachers, online and otherwise, have to accommodate a wide variety of knowledge and personality types. It is not easy.
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