Faculty Spotlight - Cobi Seslar

What do you teach at EvCC?

I teach the English Composition Progression which includes English 098 (Introduction to College Writing), 101(English Composition I), and 102(Composition II). I also teach beginner and intermediate Yoga at the college. Occasionally, I teach College 101.

Tell us a little about your professional background.

I previously served as an Outward Bound Instructor and Mountain Guide; also I worked on a climate change research expedition in Antarctica. As a wilderness instructor, I was able to take college students into the wilderness and teach them a series of technical mountaineering skills, so they could tackle peaks successfully. I have also taught river rafting, rock climbing, backpacking, and kayaking. I have always had a scientific mind, and I always question how the landscape was created. I loved the wilderness classroom for teaching field sciences.

I have always been a writer, and I still have all my journals from the age of 18 (material for my eventual book). As an Outward Bound instructor, I offered journal writing assignments. This brought me joy as I was able to share the joy of writing with my students. The nature of challenging themselves physically, mentally, emotionally while climbing mountains, students really opened up their worldview, and grew compassion for others.

College students are very open minded, so I enjoyed teaching this age group. I enjoy creating life affirming and relevant experiences for students. I try to do this now in the classroom through awareness of the world. I want students to understand the importance of writing and expressing their ideas, so they can help make the world a better place.

Why did you choose EvCC?

I have lived in the Skykomish River valley since 2007, and I believe in the mission of community colleges. I went to a Community College myself. Community colleges believe in providing accessible learning opportunities to everyone. For students who may not be able to make it to Everett, East County offers them a space to start their education. Everett Community College serves a wide variety of learners from Running Start Students to adult learners. I love teaching and supporting students in the Sky Valley Community.

How has the pandemic affected you? How are you doing?

I am enjoying the extra time at home. While I am teaching, I am also homeschooling my son who is 12 years old and in the 6th grade. Homeschooling is very challenging, and much more difficult than working online. I am enjoying the time I get to spend with my son. With my free time, I spend time working in my garden and baking sourdough bread. I am also taking a few Yoga classes, and a class on decluttering.

The pandemic has really altered my personal life. I have had three personal trips canceled. But I am still very grateful to be healthy and spending time with my son and husband.

Cobi often attends Zoom meetings while riding her stationary bike.

How have you adapted your curriculum and teaching methods to support students who are learning from home?

I am always thinking of how adults learn, process, and retain information, and I believe in giving students a choice of what they want to write about. I like having students choose their own writing topic, so they view their education as relevant. I really care about how students organize their writing. They can write about whatever they want as long as what they produce is organized and makes sense. I believe that if I give them the structure, they have the freedom to choose the topic. It’s important for students to be invested in their own learning.

In my classes, I have students do peer review. They submit their essay and they are assigned two students who provide feedback. In my English 102 class, 8 people had not turned in their peer reviews on time. I started to wonder, why? I started to think about how I could have given better directions to students. Some students had misunderstood the directions and some were unable to locate the directions for this assignment. I had explained the directions in Module 4. This provided evidence that students are not reading the modules. This let me know that I should present the prerequisites first before detailing the assignment. In an online environment, the organization and delivery of information is critical.

I am always thinking about how to improve small glitches in my system to better engage with students.

What advice do you have for students who are taking online or livestream classes for the first time?

It’s important to log into your Canvas course and explore it. Get familiar with the calendar on Canvas and become familiar with due dates. The calendar feature in Canvas is really critical. A lot of students may not know about this feature, but it helps them plan and organize their time.

I also am a huge proponent of teaching students skills that are important to success in any  classroom. It's important to be an active learner. When you're learning from home, you can still ask questions, get to know your instructor, and seek out e-tutoring.

How do you structure your online yoga class?

This quarter I am teaching yoga online for my very first time. It is interesting, good, a learning curve, and special. I'm teaching both Beginning and Intermediate Yoga (spring quarter 2020). In both classes, I have the students log their time doing yoga videos or my Zoom class; I ask them to do a total of 100 minutes per week of yoga and assignments. I also have a variety of assignments to choose from. Some assignments are anatomy based, or health related, while other assignments are more personal growth and awareness focused. Some assignments encourage creativity, while others look at yoga philosophy. In the Zoom calls we do an hour of yoga together; I post this video for them to watch anytime. But I also accept students doing yoga via any yoga video. But they log the hours and write a little journal entry about their experience.
 
In the Intermediate Yoga class, students will do a choice research presentation. It can be any yoga related topic, but students produce a slide show presentation for the final.
 
I will be teaching Beginning Yoga online this summer and fall.

What is your favorite thing about teaching yoga online?

What I love the most about teaching yoga online is that every week I get to check in with my students, who I know are struggling with stress, anxiety, uncertainty, fear of what the future holds, and boredom. I offer tools to calm their anxieties, I watch their stress melt on Zoom. I get to hear about how a breathing technique we learned in the last class worked throughout the week when a student felt stressed.
 
I'm actually getting to know my online students a little better than when I teach face-to-face and have a large classroom full of students, with few chances to talk. So, I love the student connection, and offering stress management and self-care skills we ALL need right now.

What do you like to do for fun?

My personal health is very important to me. I enjoy working out at home. I have a desk that has a stationary bike, so I am able to take some Zoom meetings while riding on my bike. I have a health coach, and I love hiking and rock climbing. Staying fit is important to me.

What is your favorite snack?  

I enjoy apples with peanut butter, carrots, berries and grapes. I also enjoy sourdough bread with white cheddar cheese. For a low calorie sweet-treat, I will eat sugar-free jello with yogurt. But my guilty pleasure is ice cream.