This document is an example of how I use the Weekly Announcements for the primary communication with my students in my course ADHE 328 (Adult Education). They know to expect one announcement each weekend that sets them up for the week ahead (this is one way I aim to establish a sense of rhythm and structure). -Kari Grain-

Good Morning Everyone,

This is your first Weekly Announcement to prepare you for the coming week (I will post one every weekend of this course to keep you on track).

Your work from Week 1

You’re off to a strong start having completed Week 1 of our 4-week class (that was quick!). I have enjoyed watching (your videos) and reading (your written) introductions to yourselves. What a diverse and richly-experienced group we have. I have also been impressed by the quality of conversations you’re having in the discussion forums in relation to our readings. In particular, I’ve enjoyed reading responses to Prompt D, which asked for specific examples from your own professional lives on where and how you’ve seen workplace education approach racism and discrimination. A few examples that stand out:

[Student name] shared experiences of workplace “celebrating multiculturalism” approaches and articulated a much needed more directed approach to fighting systemic discrimination;
[Student name] shared experiences from the army and how they have begun to educate through workshops against discrimination, and through a “sentinel program” where selected soldiers can identify and support people facing mental health concerns.
I also appreciated [Student name]’s example of a major restaurant chain that offered a “hastily prepared, indecisive, and tone-deaf seminar” on racism (this is an example of how poorly done this work can be, and how much work needs to be put into doing it with thoughtfulness and through listening to / taking the lead from BIPOC).

What you can expect for Week 2:

I’m preparing two things for you for Week 2, which will be posted in the Week 2 module by Sunday evening:
- A video that summarizes themes from your discussion posts this week and some upcoming content for our Week 2 readings, and
- A set of discussion/activity prompts for your Week 2 readings (from which you will choose two to post on, as per your weekly assignment)
Your first group project is due July 15^th. This is the in depth proposal of your final group project and I look forward to learning about what you’ll be preparing for an online lesson delivery. Remember that your topics need to have strong ties to the content of this course and some of the key literature on adult education (but connections can be made in many arenas).
Recorded Interview with [expert in the field] (asking YOUR questions): This will be posted in Week 2 and is a required material for your consumption / viewing pleasure. Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing [guest speaker] who authored two of our readings from last week. I affectionately refer to him as one of the grandfathers of adult education J I compiled your questions for those of you who chose Prompt C in week 1, and I asked most of them (but we couldn’t get through all). He was so impressed by your engagement with his work, and he also said that you had sent such thoughtful and insightful questions (bravo!).
Readings: Our readings for this week are diverse and expansive. I am unabashedly a “fan girl” of bell hooks and her writing and philosophy of education. She wrote,

“I celebrate teaching that enables transgressions – a movement against and beyond boundaries. It is that movement which makes education the practice of freedom”

Although you’ll only be assigned one short reading by her this week, I encourage you to pick up the books, Teaching to Transgress or Teaching community: Pedagogy of Hope for some inspiring writing on how to be a liberating educator, to remain committed to love, and to fight systemic discrimination.

Planning ahead – one of you had asked in our first/only synchronous session if you could access the content in advance of each week. This is an asynchronous course that you can do at your own pace, but there is also a level of responsiveness each week (to students, current events, and discussion threads) that the prompts are based on, so those will still be posted on the weekend leading up to the week ahead. Having said that, you do have all of the readings for each week, so I encourage you to read ahead if you’d like to get a head start.

Just to reiterate your groups (which have been posted in the Intro module), I am listing them below here for you. I have assigned each group an individual BB Collaborate virtual lounge in which you can meet one another for group projects. I’ve added your group collaborate link below.

Thanks for all of your thoughtful engagement this week. Looking forward to hearing about your projects and receiving your proposals this coming Wednesday. As always, please reach out anytime.

Kari

Group	Names	Virtual Lounge Link (specific to your group)
1	[names]	https://ca.bbcollab.com/guest/0a983d5b4cc84dd2bd2fbf05ede4f8f7
2	[names]	https://ca.bbcollab.com/guest/2c4ea33ace054997a7552a05c3773ce1
3	[names]	https://ca.bbcollab.com/guest/03aa797112024a0ba444beb50e6dfd3a
4	[names]	https://ca.bbcollab.com/guest/0ae348b628dd467c83c266f5690adbd7
5	[names]	https://ca.bbcollab.com/guest/177191cc2962434fabff837c70f80c52
6	[names]	https://ca.bbcollab.com/guest/6c204488c93d499b95aa6d61ff81491e