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2.8 Discussion Board III: Relationships (Required to earn certificate)
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Posted by CUNY Mindset Initiative on March 11, 2024 at 10:57 amđź’¬ Discussion:
In your course(s), how do you get to know your students? Share an activity you use, or plan to use, to learn about students’ personal information, interests, &/or goals.
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In the course I teach, I will start by posting a warm welcome letter on BB before the semester begins. During our first class, I will introduce myself by sharing my professional background, personal interests, and goals for the semester. I will also allow each student to introduce themselves, share why they chose their major, and discuss their aspirations for the semester.
After reviewing the workshop readings, I consider integrating the discussed value systems into my teaching approach. I want my students to understand that teaching this course is vital to my life. Additionally, I aim to create a space for students to explore the connection between their personal lives and the course material. This approach will cultivate a sense of community, purpose, relevance, and value, ultimately motivating students, increasing engagement, and leading to progress and success in the course.
At the start of the semester, I have a Discussion Board in Blackboard where I ask students to introduce themselves and tell the class and me about their interests. After reading through the module, I am going to make my question a bit more purpose-oriented and ask what specific things they hope to get out of this class. Even if the class is just a prerequisite for classes they might be more interested in, I will try to show why the content covered in my class will help them understand those other classes.
In one of my classes, students have the opportunity to write a research paper on any cell biological topic. Some students don’t know what topic to choose, so I try to show them how cell biology is relevant for them. It can be as diverse as understanding the cell biology of a rash they got from poison ivy or understanding the mechanism of action of a treatment a family member is undergoing for a certain disease. This is an assignment students really enjoy as a result of seeing its relevance.
One of the projects I assign asks students to develop a research question and use themselves as a research subject to collect data. That way, they get to use course material (statistical methods in psychology) to learn something about themselves and hopefully recognize the relevance of the course to their personal and professional lives.
In the first week of class there are several opportunities for students to introduce themselves to their classmates and to me. I model several of these tasks by giving information about myself. In one early writing task, students write a letter of introduction to me. This assignment allows them to be direct and honest with me about who they are and what they might need. In this letter I ask them to tell me what is important for me to know about them: essential information or background about who they are, what their major is, what their interests are, and what their future plans are. I also ask them to tell me specifically and honestly why they are taking the course–all honest reasons are valid. If they are working, they can tell me about their job. If they have a family, they can tell me a little about them. If they are taking other courses, they can tell me what they are. I also ask them to highlight at least one detail about themselves that they think might make them unique from other students in the class. I also ask them to complete a survey that asks about to share other information, like comfort/experience with online classes, possible barriers to their success in the class, etc.
In your course(s), how do you get to know your students? Share an activity you use, or plan to use, to learn about students’ personal information, interests, and/or goals.
I have students write about themselves, and I learn about them from our discussions as well. Their first writing is about their experience in English class; in this way, I learn about what challenges students have had in the past and get ideas about how to help the more insecure students gain confidence about their capabilities. Their first essay is about a challenge they’ve overcome. I find students very open in these essays, some really discuss trauma, though I tell them they can write about light or heavy things; it’s up to them. In the last two years, many students have written about their loneliness during the pandemic. This inspired me to do more get-to-know-you exercises. They interview, introduce, and write about each other.
Like many others posting to this board, I try “icebreaker” activities that help me learn the students names and their interests (and each others’ names and what they have in common). Since I teach media studies, my “getting to know” you questions tend to involve your favorite movie, TV show, favorite when you were a kid, preferred source of news, stuff like. I often share with these students that when I was first working as a teaching assistant way back in 1997, I once asked students returning from winter break the last movie they had seen — every single one of them said Titanic (well, not me, but that’s another story). Nothing like that has ever happened since, in a media environment where choice of platform and quantity of content have ballooned exponentially in the intervening years. Now, in a class of 30 students, you can get 30 different answers when you ask a question like that (though it’s likely that there’s some overlap), we don’t share as many cultural referents. So I’m able to move from an informal conversation about our media consumption habits to a more formal passage about the structure of the industry, and back again. I also think it’s important to ask students about their career goals, though I often do that privately as an ungraded question on a quiz or something like that.
First day ice-breaker – I share my own undergrad experience taking the course I am ‘now teaching’ – and ask why they are taking the course; and what their interest are beyond the course. I invite them to my drop-in hour (aka office hour) to discuss their goals – recognizing that not all students want to share with the entire class.
We begin by introducing ourselves in Spanish on the first day of class. Each student shares their name and country of origin. I start by providing my information and showing them a map highlighting my country and city. As they mention their countries, I mentally note each one, which will help me incorporate cultural examples throughout the semester. I also share anecdotes about my studies and how I studied in Arkansas before moving to New York. The students enjoy learning about their instructors, and this personal connection helps to build a bond.
I use ice-breaker activities such as finding something in common in a small group, and sharing with the whole class their interests and what they are passionate about through using some photos/images.
This discussion board is such a valuable resource! I have to say I struggle with getting to know my students on a personal level due to the nature of the course I teach (Biology lab). The course usually requires covering and performing experiments under a designated timeframe, which is difficult to deviate from. This is why, I tend to host extra training sessions for students in person, during these sessions, I get to know students on a personal level. However, I plan on implementing some of the ideas that were shared for better connection:
- Share my personal information in person with more in detail in Brightspace.
- Create an online form to ask them the following questions
- Name and preferred name
- Major
- Why are you taking the course?
- What do you wish to learn from the course and from me as an instructor?
- Do you have any current fears from the course? what are they?
- Are you struggling with certain study habits?
- Are there current personal situations that you believe will hinder your performance in class?
- Fun fact about yourself
- Since students have to work in groups of triplets, I will design an icebreaker for students to get to know their groups. (Still unsure about the format and content)
- Would really love to explore Genius Boards suggested by Deborah!
I ask. However, it is important to note that I also tell students that they do not need to share personal information because it is personal. As Michael Stipe said in an interview somewhere in the early ’90s, when asked about his sexuality, ‘Unless you are sitting on my lap, it’s none of your business.’ I agree, and since no one in my college setting is welcome to sit in my lap (or however you want to make that a metaphor), no one has any right to or business with any aspect of my identity. I think we over-share, we very unreasonably insist that students state their identities, and we assume that this is showing students that we are aware of them as individuals and that we are being inclusive. I don’t think this is how this is perceived. Rather, students often feel (because they have told me this) that we are putting them on the spot and demanding information about their identities. They also explain that they are afraid they are going to be judged based on what they say. I have had quite a few students say in course evaluations that they appreciated that I did not make them state their identities.
That said, I ask them about their purpose, why they are in this course, what they hope to get out of it. I invite them to refer to their identities if they feel they are relevant and if they are inclined to do so. I tell them, also, my philosophy on personal life, that I will share very little of my own, because it is personal, and that they should feel free to follow my model, or not, as they feel most comfortable. Purpose, however, is something students consistently feel comfortable speaking to. Sometimes they will address why they have or have not liked their classes in a discipline in the past, and this allows me to address what they might be able to get out of a class.
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