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 am

  💬 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.

• Casandra Silva Sibilin (she/her/hers)

  Member

  June 4, 2024 at 6:49 am

  Hi @deborahgreenblatt – I’d love to hear more about how you use bitmoji for your online classes. (I regularly teach an online sync class and always looking for ways to connect with students more.) Thanks! 🙏
  Casandra Silva Sibilin (she/her/hers)

  Member

  June 4, 2024 at 6:51 am

  Hi @cmonchik – I’m curious… how do you use Blackboard for this? Is it through the discussion boards?

  One variation I’ve done is sharing hints about fun facts… then other students have to guess what the answers are. (e.g. a hint about a kind of pet I have)
  Casandra Silva Sibilin (she/her/hers)

  Member

  June 4, 2024 at 6:58 am

  I’m with you as I love games! I do one too about guessing favorite activities and sometimes even guessing first names. (This specially works well if I haven’t read the roster and I can guess along with the peers.) Your idea of integrating a hangman-type game now got me thinking!

  I imagine these activities go a long way in helping students feel more at ease and really breaking the ice. ⛏️🧊😃
  Casandra Silva Sibilin (she/her/hers)

  Member

  June 4, 2024 at 6:59 am

  “Think-Pair-Share” is the best!

  Any advice for doing think-pair-share for online classes? Thanks!
  Casandra Silva Sibilin (she/her/hers)

  Member

  June 4, 2024 at 7:01 am

  Also – another online-related question from a thread below… Thanks!
  Simanique Moody (she/her)

  Member

  June 13, 2024 at 8:11 pm

  Even before my courses begin, I try to connect with students to find out more about them and their interests. I record an upload a video in which I introduce myself to my students. I also ask them to complete an intake form that asks questions about them, including their academic and other interests, their learning goals for my course, and their goals in life in general. I introduce myself to students again in class and give them the opportunity to ask questions, which many students do. This gives them the opportunity to learn more about me and the path I took to becoming a professor. I also ask students about what motivated them to take my course. Whenever possible, I try to incorporate students’ interests into my lessons through readings, examples, case studies, and discussion topics, and I show students how the course content is relevant to some of their scholarly and non-scholarly interests.
  J. Elizabeth Clark (she/her/hers)

  Participant

  June 15, 2024 at 9:43 am

  Hi Deborah,

  I wasn’t familiar with app book or Gholdy Mohammad. Thank you for those resources! I’m really excited to read more about Genius Boards!
  J. Elizabeth Clark (she/her/hers)

  Participant

  June 15, 2024 at 9:45 am

  +1 to this. I think students like to learn about their professors as well. I think it’s important to participate in “getting to know you” activities because it communicates the idea that the professor is part of the community!
  Miriam Briskman (she/her/hers)

  Member

  June 21, 2024 at 12:44 am

  On the 1st day of classes, we spend the first part of the lecture on introductions: I start by introducing myself as the instructor to the class: I tell them what my name is, what degrees I earned (and that I earned them from Brooklyn College <3) and that I am a PhD student now. I also let my student know that they can reach out any time: during class (by raising their hand) to ask questions, after the lecture is over, via email, during office hours, and through the Computer and Information Science department’s office phone.

  Afterward, as part of a fun icebreaker, I ask every student to introduce themselves to the class by saying what:

  1. Their name is,
  2. Their academic year is (Freshman, Sophomore, …, 2nd degree, etc.,) and
  3. One of the following questions (chosen randomly for each class I teach):
     1. What is your major, or, if undecided, what courses/subjects/topics/areas are you interested in the most?
     2. What is your dream job/profession?
     3. What topic from those listed in the course’s schedule, or even those not mentioned in the schedule but you heard of before taking the class, are you looking forward to learning about in our course the most?

     More types of questions might be added in the future 🙂

  [BTW: CUNYfirst lists the majors and academic years of all students enrolled in a class, yet the reason I am asking this question is that establishing even the most simple conversation/discussion with the student will increase the student’s confidence, and make the student feel welcome in the class, regardless of the student’s major or year.]
  Elizabeth Klein (she/her)

  Member

  June 21, 2024 at 10:19 am

  Dear Deborah,

  I love these ideas. I use Bookcreator for a long-term project, but did not think of it for the getting-to-know you activity. I love the idea of Genius Boards.
  Elizabeth Klein (she/her)

  Member

  June 21, 2024 at 10:32 am

  Dear Casandra,

  Thank you so much for adding these. I like the idea of a guessing game, but all the ideas are great.

  Best,
  Liz Klein
  Elizabeth Klein (she/her)

  Member

  June 21, 2024 at 10:41 am

  There are so many good ideas on this discussion board. In the beginning of the course I either have student post a short video using their method of choice (Prezi, Loom, etc.) to introduce themselves and tell something unique about themselves or I use Padlet. If we are meeting in person we can also repeat the same exercise, so students can connect with the class. I tell them about myself and usually upload a video using Prezi or the Padlet video. I use Snag It! for asynchronous courses as its got some more tools on it.

  I have also integrated icebreakers into most sessions, which I call warm-ups. Usually, the warm-up is related to the topic of the day. Since I teach students studying to be elementary school teachers we do some of the fun things like sing nursery rhymes, read poetry and draw. I am careful to try and call on volunteers or sometimes when we sing on Zoom, I’ll tell everyone to unmute at once. It really gets everyone excited because they work with students all day. It helps them to unwind.

  For my asynchronous courses this summer, I think I will make the Genius board an option. I think most of them will choose video, but this may work well for my hybrid courses. Thank you Deborah for that suggestion of usiing a Genius Board.
  Seth Lehman

  Member

  June 24, 2024 at 4:00 pm

  Hi Elizabeth,

  I like the idea of a warmup/icebreaker for each session throughout the semester! I would like to incorporate more of those fun activities as a way for students to get comfortable and connect with each other in my classes this semester.
  Sarah Wolf (she/her)

  Member

  July 16, 2024 at 1:49 pm

  I have the students write a “letter to my teacher”, in essay format and submitted on BB, where they introduce themselves, major, career goals, responsibilities (jobs, caring for children or other family members), commute time, what they are excited about for the course, nervous about, anything else they want to share etc. I respond to each one individually. However, this doesn’t help much with them getting to know one another and sadly I sometimes forget what they have written before I am able to put the name to the face. I also do some icebreakers and in class intros but they could be better. So, I am definitely interested in some of these other ideas.
  Olga (she/her)

  Member

  July 17, 2024 at 2:26 pm

  I have a Google form called the Art Experiences Questionnaire (I used to give out a printout on the first day of class), and I ask students to describe their previous experiences with art, such as studio or art history courses in high school, trips to art museums or galleries, self-taught creations, and relatives with art. In class, students share the same things, and I take notes on them (but the form helps to keep more accurate records). I’ve been doing it for years, and I’ve amassed some interesting data on the lower amounts of art exposure in recent students. Fewer and fewer kids take art courses in high school because they are not required, and those who do take them end up focusing on art-making and technical skills rather than history. I would love to visualize the data and show these dwindling statistics to students.