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3.10 Exploring Sense of Belonging in the Classroom(Required to earn certificate)
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Posted by CUNY Mindset Initiative on March 11, 2024 at 10:56 amCreating an Intentional Welcome to the Semester
Part 1: Record the Audio (Required to Earn Certificate)
- We are asking that you record a 2-to-3-minute introductory audio note for your students. The purpose is for you to explore your own voice and consider its cadence as well as what it may communicate to others. (You will not be asked to share your audio.)
- This is an opportunity for your students to get to know you before they’ve even met you. It would most likely be included in a welcome message or posted on a course website at the start of the semester. In creating your audio recording, we encourage you to take a moment to consider the following:
- What would help your students feel like they belong even before they meet you or the rest of the class?
- What would you want them to know about you and the course before ever meeting you or reading a syllabus?
Part 2: Reflection on Your Experience (Required to Earn Certificate)
- Describe the process you went through to create your audio welcome.
- What did you find difficult and why?
- What did you find easy to do and why?
- Take some time away from your audio note. Then, return and listen to it.
- What do you notice about your voice and its inflection? Did you know that before?
- Would you want to share this with your students? Why or why not?
- Please share your experience recording and listening to the audio introduction to the Discussion Forum thread here by replying to this post.
Part 3: Responding to Peers (Not Required to Earn Certificate)
- After submitting your reflection take a moment to respond to one of your peers.
Kindness Reminder:
- Let’s remember this module is about a sense of belonging, how can you be kind and welcoming to yourself AND your peers in this experience?
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Yes, I too found it difficult to decide what to say! The first time I created a welcome video for my students (similar to this audio note assignment), I wrote out a script and reviewed it to make sure it contained all the GPS elements – growth mindset, purpose and relevance, and a sense of belonging. This might be a good framework to determine is most important to share with your students.
Hi Victoria, I’ll insert some growth mindset here and say that I’m sure your recording improved with practice! It is interesting through this exercise to listen to our own voices as a student might experience them.
And I have to ask: what do you define as the platinum rule of communication?
The process: I have been recording introduction videos for some semesters now, since taking the “Motivating Learners” course. This was different because I didn’t prepare a script and it was just audio. I improvised based on the previous ones I made but tried to make it a bit more personal since that was something I often left out.
Difficulties: I find it difficult to talk about myself and am not quite sure how much to share.
Easy: Providing some key questions we will explore in the course and trying to frame them in a way that could be meaningful for them.
Things I noticed: The cadence and volume vary a lot. Maybe that is normal, but I want to be more aware of it and use it to emphasize the key parts of the message.
@carriegheith @deborahgreenblatt Yes and some platforms can also generate a transcript. I use Loom and it has this feature but I think it’s part of the paid subscription. (I ended up paying for it because had ran out of videos.) I wonder if there are other free ones that generate transcripts.
I use Loom too! Yes I don’t think it has a way for students to respond with videos. They can respond with emoji reactions during the video and with comments but I believe that is about it. I’ve been considering flipgrid. Any pros/cons?
It wasn’t difficult to record myself, but I struggled when listening to the recording because I really dislike the sound of my recorded voice. To me, my voice sounded had an unusually nasal sound and the inflection sounded unnatural. At first, I thought of writing a few notes to use during the recording to keep myself focused, but then I decided to just speak from the heart. As I was recording, I found myself trying to sound like other podcasters that I have heard. I never like how I sound, but I particularly didn’t like the fake-sounding “hello” that I used to begin my recording. I welcomed the students to our course, but I didn’t know what else I could do to make the students feel like they belonged. I introduced myself and encouraged students to introduce themselves in writing or via video or audio. After telling students about the course, I let them know that they should feel free to take ownership in the course by asking questions, suggesting resources, volunteering to lead discussions, finding case studies to discuss, and so on. I kept wanting the recording to be perfect. Each time I paused too long or stumbled over a word, I stopped the recording and started again. I probably wouldn’t share this recording with my students, but I would record a more polished version of it to use for my class.
Most faculty aren’t professional actors and don’t have training in recording audio/video. So we have to cut ourselves some slack. (Full disclosure: that WAS my background, so the online transition was an easy one for me. I began it well before the pandemic.) That being said, we do “perform” in the classroom. And just like studies have shown that having cameras on increases belonging and student success (in addition to being good training for the job interviews, etc. they’ll be doing online), our online presence helps our students succeed. And that presence doesn’t need to be perfect.
Whenever I taught voiceover audition technique to kids or adults, the first thing I usually said was “yes, that’s what you sound like; it’s nice; let’s move on.” Our students aren’t perfect, and we don’t have to be, either. (I think a professional ad should be, but have you seen some of the ads today?) We all look how we look and sound how we sound. I think students appreciate our quirks and the mistakes we might make in our videos. And I think it’s totally OK to acknowledge those errors and move on. Fancy editing is great if you have the time, but that’s not your job. Camera-off classes and meetings have been shown to be less effective, and I’ve never respected actors who “don’t like to watch themselves.” I disagreed with the designers of this program in allowing this section to be audio-only instead of audio with video. We don’t hide in the in-person classroom, and modality is not supposed to make a difference. I believe our students need to know who we are just as much as they need to know who their classmates are in order to know that they belong in the classroom.
I don’t want this to be interpreted as being harsh. You are not alone in “not liking how you sound.” But you are probably your harshest critic. You belong here. And I hope you share your recording with your students.
Dear Deborah,
I love that idea. I use it for another project, which is having my students create a children’s book.
I think this is one that could work with the collaborate feature, which I have not tried yet.
Best,
LizIt is very important in an asynchronous course to project a sense of warmth and receptiveness. I also believe that approachability is key. I did the exercise and broke most of the rules, using Snagit and making a video instead of an audio and going over the time limit (to 4 minutes). I mentioned a few things within the context of the overview that let them know that I value choice, creativity and that I want to hear their thoughts on the content right away.
What I found most difficult:
– Talking about my professional and personal self. I did not know how to fit it in the 2 min. timeline, so I reverted to talking about the course overview. I also have somewhat of a hard time talking about why I want to teach the course in 2 min. I did say what I envisioned for the course, but not my real vision for the course or for what they can do with the learning itself.
– Finding a quiet place to record. I have jealous and vocal parrot.
– Not repeating things. I tend to do that because of my role.What I found easy:
– My voice and expressiveness, use of humor and thinking on my feet. I used to have a podcast, so I’m comfortable with audio.
– Thinking about speaking slowly and articulating well. On the second try I don’t think I had any ummm’s in the speech. I also had a beginning, middle and end.
– I purposely chose Snag-it because I used it last summer and for some reason, I was a little afraid of using it. I’m glad that I did.Will I post it? I posted it already. It was way better than the one I did in May, although after writing this reflection it needs some improvement. If I had to do it over (and got Calypso to be quiet), I would talk much more about my professional and personal self.I’d save the overview for another clip.
I created an audio video welcome for students, which was a new experience for me. It was quite challenging to strike the right tone in my delivery. I aimed to be enthusiastic while ensuring that the welcome came across as genuine and not overly polished. The time constraint of 2-3 minutes added to the challenge, as I wanted to provide a snapshot of the course while emphasizing its key points. On the other hand, expressing my passion and dedication to the nursing profession, a passion I hope to share came naturally to me.
After reviewing the video, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my voice inflection was well-suited for my intended message. In the past, I had reservations about creating audio content for students, doubting whether my voice or accent would be easily understood. Before sharing the video with the students, I plan to adjust. I missed highlighting some essential aspects of the course and think sharing some personal background would help establish a stronger connection with the students.In the past, I have made introductory/welcoming videos in which I introduce myself to students, tell them what they will learn in the course, and just end with saying that I look forward to meeting them. After going through the modules, I wanted to add to my typical introduction the fact that in addition to getting help from me over the course of the semester that they can look forward to being a part of a campus community that is interested in supporting their academic achievement. I also wanted to highlight some of these resources (such as the tutoring center and other learning resources/study tips I put on Brightspace). After listening to my first video, I thought I should write out a script so that I can give all the information without it being too long or coming off as if I’m rambling. However, when I prepared a script, I think I sounded too formal. For me, I think I will have to practice to get the right balance between being too casual vs too formal/unnatural by following a script.
What I did find easy was speaking clearly and audibly and dealing with the file and knowing how to upload it into Brightspace. After teaching remote courses during the pandemic, my ability to make and remake videos has improved tremendously. Before the pandemic, I never made videos of myself, but now it is very easy for me to make one, revise it, and then remake one until I’m happy with it.
I had to learn how to record on my phone, though when I do this for my courses, I’ll have to use Brightspace, of course. I didn’t find the content difficult because a few years ago I made the decision to be extremely affectionate and friendly on the first day of class. This really elevated the positivity in my classes! I say I am very proud to teach at BMCC and that I find them interesting people. I say I believe teaching is a privilege and I am fortunate. The recording itself, how my voice sounds was a little challenging, there was more “uh” in it than I’d like. I could share this with my students, it’s good enough, and I think very kind and friendly, but it’s not as smooth as it could be, so I believe I can do better.
Since there were times during the pandemic when I recorded introductory videos — and even short lectures — I am used to making these kinds of things and not too uncomfortable with it. In an intro video, I want to keep a fairly informal affect (though I tend to introduce myself to students as Professor and using my surname, not my first name) and highlight what I like about the course we are about to begin, why I like teaching it and hope they will get out of it. Like many others, I am sometimes frustrated if I find I am interjected “umm” or “uhs” or otherwise misspeaking, so I tend to write up what I’m going to say and use my screen like a teleprompter while I record. It can also be hard to remember to look at the camera in order to make [virtual] eye contact with students watching the video. But in the end, occasionally going off script can convey enthusiasm, spontaneity, warmth.
As a result of teaching online during some part of the last few years – posting a video and written message before the first day of class, does help students feel “welcome”. Giving them an overview of where to find the course materials in the LMS (visually) has also proven to be helpful in case they do miss the first day of class. Like others have mentioned, a “script” was useful in getting the message across clearly.
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