Reflecting on our group experience, what was most useful in your breakout discussion? What was something that resonated with you? Was there a new idea that stood out for you? Feel free to give a shout out to community members from your session who influenced your thinking.

This is not meant to be a lengthy reflection. 2-3 sentences, or what you can manage in 5 minutes.

Reflecting on our group experience, what was most useful in your breakout discussion? What was something that resonated with you? Was there a new idea that stood out for you? Feel free to give a shout out to community members from your session who influenced your thinking.

This is not meant to be a lengthy reflection. 2-3 sentences, or what you can manage in 5 minutes.

[Olena Zhadko]

I feel like sharing our own story on belonging and asking students to share to the extent they feel comfortable would be very helpful to our students.

[Nina Bannett]

I like the idea of sharing more of my college experiences (under grad and grad) with students.  I am a CUNY alumni which I do share with students, but I think I could share more of the challenges that came up. Maybe also share a reading with students on imposter syndrome?

[Carolyn Stallard (she/her/they)]

What Casandra shared about launching icebreakers *before* the semester starts was helpful. I used to do that but somehow forgot, so I will definitely be bringing the concept back to my classes.

[Alison Abreu (She/Her/)]

I enjoyed reading about the ways in which others help create opportunities for students to feel comfortable upon the start of the semester and beyond.

[Joshua (He/him)]

I think it was most helpful to hear about the video intros that others use. It is easy to prepare before classes begin and gives a face for students to become familiar with.

[Mélida Sánchez]

Our students go through many of the experiences we had. So, let’s share with our students how we overcome difficulties. That can help them.

[Sandra Ribeiro (she/her)]

Hello Melida,
I agree with you that sharing our personal experiences and ways to overcome difficulties is a very good way to start helping students by providing a source of support and invitation for further communication. Thank you. Sandra

[Rebecca L. Salois (she/her)]

I like the idea of being human and vulnerable with my students. It’s important that we let them know that we’re not perfect, that we have failed, that we’re learning just as they’re learning. I think having a save space in the classroom is important but also establishing one beyond the classroom as well.

[Lianna Scull (she/her)]

I felt like we were “just getting started” (given that the breakout was on the short side, as noted by the leaders). 🙂 However, there are belonging-related activities that I had began to develop and apply in past semesters (that admittedly I’d dropped off on a bit in the last semester or two), and these sessions really help “spark” my commitment again.

[Samantha Sheppard-Lahiji (she/her)]

While I’ve always been open to sharing my college experience, I usually do this upon student prompting rather than openly sharing the information with students. I think there may be a benefit to leading with these stories for students overall since the longer I teach, the less “accessible” I seem to become amongst students in a large introductory class.

Some things that stood out were highlighting overcoming challenges students had prior to starting the class so that it can be revisited as the semester progresses. And making larger strides to reach students who may have a harder time engaging with their instructors so that we can support that sense of belonging.

[Gabriel San Emeterio (They/elle)]

The importance of developing critical thinking skills and how learning a new topic, even if unrelated to major, may be helpful

[Sandra Ribeiro (she/her)]

In reviewing the topic of the sense of belonging, the areas that resonated the most is that the idea of connecting through technology, personal connections through sharing of personal information, and ways to communicate and provide a “not alone” or “think about your own experience”. The new idea was to consider providing an introduction activity before the start of class. This will expedite and provide a start to the communication. I do think that providing an ongoing activity for connection will ultimately provide a sense of community and foster on-going communication. I enjoyed the sharing and listening of ideas. Thank you.

[Jaime Woody (She/Her)]

In the main space before going into breakout, I can’t remember the speakers name (forgive me), but she spoke about the P in GPS. The sharing of her story about being in honors BIO as a senior and needing to pass the class. I had a very similar situation, but for my language requirement. Knowing that I had to pass the sequence of courses or I’d extend my already extended time was terrifying and motivating at the same time. The fact that the presenter knew that she could advocate for herself to see if the degree requirements could be replaced, and successfully get it done, to then get into a course that has had a lasting impact on her life and how she sees her community resonated with me.

[Lee Schere (he/him)]

It was helpful to hear how CUNY professors and staff are approaching mindset. I appreciated hearing from ASAP staff Liz Stevenson re: NACE compentencies and ASAP’s work in preparing students for college work.

[William A. Casari]

Hearing about participants introduction to college experiences was helpful.  I would have appreciated hearing the breakout room leader’s reaction to her welcoming video and padlet exercises.  Did she feel like doing these actually made students feel more welcomed and increased a sense of belonging?  Was there feedback on that from students? Just curious.

Happily replying to this link actually worked unlike the ice breaker quote. Hearing the leaders experiences a little more first would have been helpful rather than just throwing it out for audience response.  Introductions to the concepts was very quick.

[John Beaumont (he/him)]

Interesting perhaps that no one spoke up about having felt like they belonged in college. Perhaps few due. Most college students out of high school are still developing. I was a mess, haha! But I didn’t know why. Only many years later could I explain why I didn’t feel as if I belonged–and I’m not sure the college at that time could have helped. Belonging is really an important topic as we think more about the college experience–what we can and cannot help with.

[Shawna M. Brandle (she/her)]

This live session really encouraged me to make a fresh welcome video (and make it separate from my “course tour” video, which I should also make!).  I also want to find a way to use the “intro slideshow” I have students make (maybe in a gamefied way, as Cassandra discussed).  I was also very impressed by James, who shared (what I would have felt was a traumatic!) experience about trying to connect with other students that did not go well.  I think it’s amazing that after that, James, nonetheless persisted in college and is now working in the university, attending a workshop on how to help students feel the sense of belonging he didn’t have.

[Steven L. Baumann]

Thanks, for terrific breakout, sorry I had to leave to answer my phone. I do not share much from my own student experience, but see how it could be helpful.
I am having trouble feeling connected in online classes, video and picture discussion helpful.

[Laura Tamman (she/her)]

The idea of identifying critical thinking skills and exposure to a subject as learning objectives makes a lot of sense to me.

[Julia Sneeringer]

I teach fascism and Nazism, so the “relevance” question isn’t such a hard sell for me. But I often talk to students generally who say that *they* love history but their parents would never let them be history majors because they can’t get a job with it. So talking about relevance goes beyond students to our culture at large, I think.

[Cynthia Olvina (she/her/hers)]

I appreciated the multiple forms of ways to help out students gain a sense of belonging. This includes Padlet, Loom, Voice Thread, Snag It and ScreenPal. Though I may have to get my feet wet in those. As I teach an asynchronous course, it was a challenge to get that sense through our students. Using one or more of these tools and suggestions is definitely on my radar. Thank you.

[Joan Castro]

I am grateful to walk away from this sessions with a list of 7 ways to record and share introduction videos with students. It was reassuring to see that I am not the only one having honest, transparent conversations with students about our experiences, sure we made it through college but it wasn’t without some blood, sweat, and tears–in a lot of our cases. As a non-teaching faculty I don’t get as many opportunities to engage with students so I am brainstorming some ideas how I can let them know I am approachable besides having a smile on my face.

[Gordon Alley-Young (he/him/his/il/lui)]

The feelings of being on the outside looking in that folks expressed felt really relevant to what I experienced at different stages of my education. The jokes professors told just didn’t seem funny but everyone laughed. Unless I am in experiences like this I might not share those feelings so frequently. I realize as I reflect here now that I kept myself so busy during college an grade school and how that became a coping strategy for me to keep me from thinking about the overwhelming feelings. I think about the feelings now more in hindsight than I did at the time. Not sure if that is good or bad in the long run.

I liked the idea that folks expressed about providing a lifeline for students who have trouble communicating. I want to think more about this as this has become more of an issue after covid.

[Thomas Michael Conroy]

Good to hear everyone’s comments and challenges. I am thinking that the idea of engaging students in thinking about relevance and purpose is something I am going to want to give more attention to and perhaps have this be a focus as I start the semester with my students. I can prepare a bit of anecdotal info on sociology and social science to make these connections.

[Elizabeth Mazzola]

Our repeated references to critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, curiosity, resilience, leadership, teamwork, and equity point to skills I can emphasize and try to promote in group work and assignments; I’d like to think about devising essay topics which draw on these skills, too

[Qin (She)]

From the discussion, I realized that it’s also our responsibility as instructors to explicitly promote the value and purpose of something (i.e., liberal arts education). It’s something that I take for granted as valuable and useful, but students may be unaware of this point and thus not their fault that they’re not motivated to engaged in liberal art courses. Students are living in an increasingly specialized and practical world, so if something isn’t “worth” their time, why bother. I have to at least present the case that it’s worth their time, connect some dots, and let them decide for themselves.

[Elizabeth Klein (she/her)]

I enjoyed the session. It was good to hear of the experiences of colleagues on this Zoom site.

[Nicolle Valerie Fernandes (She/her/hers)]

I like the idea of group office hours to minimize intimidation that may be felt by some students.

I am thinking I will convert this to course-wise office hours.

[Elaine Thompson]

Teaching at QCC the majority of my students’ primary goal is to graduate and enter a secure career. It is less on electives and overall liberal arts education. Therefore my goal is to help them understand the importance of communication and its role in their anticipated careers.

[Padraig O’Donoghue (he/him)]

Hearing from the group was helpful, all the experiences relayed in the chat as well inform the challenges/successes around belonging. Having human connection with others is key building block and there are many way to do this. Learning is messy was something that resonated, as we aspire to have things go really well but they don’t always work out that way. Things being messy is okay as it can be part of the path to connecting and learning.

[Sarah Wolf (she/her)]

Hi. I was in the Belonging discussion group. I joined very late and I so much regret not coming on at the beginning. I’ll try for the later workshops. That said, I really appreciate the ideas that I garnered to increase belonging. This includes group office hours, setting up peer partners, and speed dating! I first learned about the Mindset modules at the new faculty conference in Fall 2023 and I have been excited to start the modules. The students are so isolated due to COVID and social media and we really need to make the students feel that they belong so that they can feel safe, which is the only way they can learn. I learned some important strategies for helping to create an atmosphere of support and belonging. Thank you!

[Enrique Santiago]

Apologies I finally was able to get in, but I like the idea of sharing our own story with students it gives them a way to associate with what they might be feeling and overall feel comfortable.

[Martine Scannavino]

 Building relevance into what I teach can be easier in some topic areas in nutrition and dietetics and not so much in others. It’s very supportive to know that the relevance issue spans all disciplines and teaching skills/styles.

[Seema Suri (she//her/)]

Thank you for the great reminder that it is the instructors’ job to give students access to information to not only help them feel like they belong in our classrooms but also to give them resources and information about college; Students should understand that a relationship with professors will help them navigate their degree and career questions, support them with interships and recommendations, etc! This is something I wish I knew as a freshman.

I also loved the recommendation of Padlet to begin building community before the semester begins!

I would add that the syllabus should be student friendly, interactive, and be used as a tool to create strong communication avenue for students; with links, it could be used as a central hub for discussions and community building as well as for the academic outline and assignments that way students know where to access all information.

[Katherine Joubin]

I was in the Growth Workshop and enjoyed the discussion on how to make students aware of the importance of a growth mindset. I liked the quick introductory video that was showed and plan to have a section of my Brightspace on learning strategies/resources where I will include this video as part of the strategies for course success.

[Olga (she/her)]

In the Purpose and Relevance group, I was struck by the similarity in comments and concerns for a broader view and student exposure to different skills and academic fields, which I found troubling in my courses, which are Gen Ed requirements. In a two-year college, students come in with a preplanned career path, unwilling to engage or not knowing about the excitement of exploration. Finding ways to open new vistas on personal and academic development is what I hope to develop.

[Charis Victory (She/Her)]

I joined the Growth Mindset group. After the video (which I loved by the way) a professor mentioned the time needed sometimes to promote a growth mindset in students. As an administrator in academic advising, I am grateful for the time we get with students to witness the lessons instilled in their first semester, truly flourish in the final semester.

For me, it’s understanding that it takes a village of faculty and staff to assist a student, who may not have had that type of lesson or support.

[Angela Loguercio (she/her)]

At first, I was surprised and saddened to learn how many members in our breakout room. like myself, felt lonely or as if they did not belong in their college communities.  I appreciate how open members in our group were in speaking or posting about their experiences.  One member discussed a very hurtful situation when other students rejected him when he tried to befriend them.  Another member wrote how he felt like he never belonged.  As I reflect on our group discussion now, I realize that our common feeling of not belonging can actually help us form community.

As a CUNY Instructor, I will communicate to my students the prevalence of feeling like an outsider or imposter at college so they know they are not alone.  I will continue to encourage students to express their feelings and worries about being college students so that they can identify why they feel that way, realize how many of their peers may share similar feelings, and discover ways they can feel more confident as college students and members of CUNY.

[Elaine Thompson]

Introducing students to Communication Courses particularly in modern times is challenging. They tend to favor texting and messaging, while shying away from verbal communication, even in classrooms and business settings. However, the reality is that employers are increasingly requiring strong communication skills from new hires. Highlighting this and making students aware of the importance of communication in most careers is critical to them getting hired and to their overall success. I agree with my colleague from the Purpose and Relevance breakout room who mentioned the need to adapt and teach our content in new ways that are more relevant and engaging to students in order to prepare them for today’s workforce and beyond.

[Careen Purcell]

In the breakout room, our focus was on cultivating a growth mindset. Our discussion revolved around approaching challenges and failures as opportunities for personal and professional growth. As an instructor, I believe it is essential to embody a growth mindset by actively learning from my students during discussions and implementing effective strategies to enhance my teaching methods. By doing so, I aim to inspire students to view failures as temporary setbacks rather than permanent destinations

[Marta Kowalczyk]

I like the idea of creating a space in the course where students can explore and develop a sense of belonging. It is challenging when students have to take a course but are not interested in it. While my college experiences can resonate with some students, not all see things the same way.

[Lucien Smith]

The various techniques people leaned on in their own growth and application of growth mindset to their classroom. Allowing resubmission of assignments, reframing test taking and scaffolding students personal experiences within the framework of the classroom.