I am a full-time online math instructor

    Whenever I meet people at conferences or even in ordinary social settings, I feel weird explaining exactly what it is I do for a living because I'm not a "brick and mortar" classroom teacher anymore. (I did that for three years, more on that later).

    I am a full-time online mathematics instructor.  Specifically I am the supervisor and instructor of the AP & College-level math courses at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth's Online programs JHU CTY Online, for short.  CTY is an enormous international gifted and talented program for K-12 students which includes sleep-away summer camps, family day-trips as well as a robust online selection of courses.

    I go to work every day at a nice office in Mt. Washington, Baltimore (M-F, 9-5, though I often come in early and stay late, just like any other teacher).  Presently I supervise eight completely off-site instructors who teach AP Calc AB & BC as well as Linear Algebra.  I teach a section of each class I supervise which includes roughly 60 total students at any given time in AB & BC Calculus, linear algebra, ordinary differential equations, and multivariate calculus.  I interact with all of my students and staff using technology -- phone, skype, email, virtual meeting software (Adobe Connect ROCKS!) and very rarely, in-person meetings.

    My supervisory duties involve making sure all orders & policies, etc. from my higher-ups are communicated and followed by my staff of (amazingly awesome) instructors.  I also determine how administrative details within my set of classes are handled such as how to organize email and calendars, writing tests & grading rubrics, syllabi, and making sure everyone is being a positive and proactive communicator.  Because my staff is pretty much on top of everything, my supervisory duties are relatively easy. I use Google docs... often.  Recently I've taken to holding "Meetings" where I outline a few bullet points and have everyone leave their comments and thoughts over a day or two.  Often I'll use Google Docs to store FAQs, templates for various documents, and updates on policies and procedures.  I even have an "errata" doc where the sharp-eyed instructors will neatly alert me of any typos or other mistakes which crop up every now and then.  I use Google sites to neatly organize all of these documents for my instructors so that they only have to bookmark one website for all their up-to-date FAQs and reference docs.  It's a pretty sweet system, and I'm proud to say that the idea and execution of it is largely my own. :)

    My instructor duties involve answering emails, grading papers with meaningful feedback, and holding individual review sessions, often via virtual meeting room (Adobe Connect). I have made communication a top priority with my students.  I also built a google site specifically for my students which lists tons of free online resources for AP & College math as well as a LaTeX starter guide and a huge list of graphing software to help supplement the materials already provided at CTY.  Even though I never actually meet many of my students in person, I feel like I have a really positive rapport with them and that they are learning how to use technology to sharpen their mathematical communication skills (visualizing, analyzing, writing better proofs, etc.).  It is a real joy to build this rapport and watch them dive into math which interests and challenges them. :)

    My hardware setup is pretty nice -- I have a 24 inch monitor, a writing tablet and stylus for grading papers and drawing, a mic and headset for voice chat, and a really sweet ergonomic keyboard + mouse.  I spend a great deal of time in front of the computer but I feel like I get to travel the USA and the world because my students are from just about everywhere!  It's a great job and I love what I do.

    I hope this clears up what it means to be a full-time online math instructor. In my next few blogs I'd like to talk about some of the tools I use (hardware & software) in my day-to-day as well as my philosophical views on teaching mathematics and education in general.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to tweet or email me.

    Thank you for reading!