During her online meetings with students, she virtually takes them to her garden and teaches them outdoors. She encourages her students to utilize online sources to complete their work without having to go outside, such as the Live Hummingbird Feeder Cam. Chaddock also works with the Audubon Society Club on campus, which she introduced to City College in 2014. The club still continues to meet online on Fridays. ?We meet on Zoom because I don?t want them to lose that connection,? Chaddock said. In order to bring some ease to her students with the craziness going on, she introduced a friend of hers to her students. Comfort Bear has been used in the past as an outlet for students in need of a good cry during breakdowns in her office. ?So, Comfort Bear is online now,? Chaddock said. She brings him on camera during class meetings just to say ?hello? and shine some light into students?days. Geography professor Lisa Chaddock uses her garden as a teaching area and tool for her students through Zoom. Lisa Chaddock photo
Calculat ing t he risk Sophia Traylor | Staff Writer rom day one of spring F semester, City College statistics professor Carolyn Thomas brought information to class regarding the now widely known coronavirus, COVID-19. Having followed the case since January, Thomas said, ?I didn't think the semester was gonna start.? Thomas transitioned her MATH 119 class a week prior to the rest of the school, a testament to how serious she knew the infectious virus was. ?I'm really glad we started a week ahead for very many reasons and one of them was just the learning curve,? she said. She also empathizes with students moving a face-to-face class to online. ?One of the things I count on when I teach is to be able to see people?s faces and their reactions, and I can tell if they get it or if
they have questions, and that's gone,? she said. There was also frustration from Thomas when expressing her concerns to faculty and staff from City College. ?It was the week before (transitioning classes to online) that I decided to do a ?come out of the closet? as far as the coronavirus, and I became exceptionally vocal at work and met quite a lot of resistance,? she said. Other than a heavier workload, Thomas? day-to-day life has not changed. She called herself an introvert and states that being quarantined at home with her spoiled cat fortunately has not negatively affected her. Thomas advises students who are doing research on COVID-19 to go to reputable sources like www.worldometers.info/ for accurate graphs.
Statistics professor Carolyn Thomas built a modified document camera to teach at home, using a tripod and an iPad. Carolyn Thomas photo