The following is a guest blog post by Joe Moreau. Joe is one of our online Consumer Economics eLo teachers along with being a business teacher at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, IL. Joe also serves as a head girl's soccer coach, DECA Advisor, and the Vice-President of the Girl's Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association. In this post, Joe sheds light toward the general online learning environment. You may follow Joe on Twitter, @JoeMoreau1.
I am in my 13th year teaching online classes--one of the longest amounts of time from any teacher in IPSD 204. I look forward to meeting my new students each semester. As an online teacher, I become familiar with my students differently compared to the face-to-face environment. For example, discussion boards are one of my favorite parts of the course because I enjoy reading student responses along with their reaction to the posts of their peers. E-mails and phone calls are also effective ways for me communicate with my students.
I am fortunate that I may turn to the eLo administration as well as exceptional colleagues that also teach an online course. Together, our conversations have proven valuable along with the past in-service training received. Overall, I have enjoyed teaching online classes the past 13 years. I hope to continue teaching them in the future.