Continuous Discovery

Teaching really is about adaptation, trying new things, discovering new problems and solutions. Teaching online adds an extra layer to this process - or maybe I should continue using my metaphor of magnification: I've always said that the internet is just a big magnifying glass: all that's in our culture, terrific and terrible, can become larger, faster, wider, farther - extreme-ified (that should be a word).

Case in point: teaching my tech writing students makes me think about verbal register, the types of words and phrasing I use to convey tone. What are the different effects of ending an extended comment to a student with one or another of the questions below:

Do you get what I'm trying to say?
Do you get what I'm saying?

Do you get the point I'm making?
Do you get the point I'm trying to make?

Does this make sense to you?
Does my explanation make sense?

Do you understand what I've said?
Do you see what I mean?
Does my message help clear things up?

I've used all these variations in an effort to get students to let me know they've read my feedback - ending with such a question is my new discovery teaching online this semester. A question provokes or invites or requests or demands a response, and then I know they've read at least some of my feedback.

At least that's my hypothesis, my hope. (How are those two things different? :-)