CUNY Academic Commons

Hi. Based on some of the readings I have been doing as part of these modules, I am seriously considering setting up peer pods this coming semester. I have tried in a bit half-hearted way doing this previously but I think I will try full on to see how it goes!

• What was your college experience like? In what ways did you feel like you belonged in the greater campus community? Who or what do you think was mainly responsible for that? If you didn’t feel like you belonged, what do you think could have been supportive for you?

I went to a commuter school in Chicago, so didn’t live in the dorms. I didn’t r…[Read more]

As much as possible, I try to make assignments relevant and specific to students’ lives. For example, in my public health class, I ask them to assess how healthy their own neighborhoods are from the standpoint of the built environment (including walkability, air quality, pedestrian fatalities, etc), population health indicators, and access to…[Read more]

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…[Read more]

For most, but not all students, I think their answer to the question of the purpose of higher education would be related to being able to choose a career of their interest and to be economically secure. This seems to be true now more than ever. As others have said, taking courses outside of their major opens up their minds and worlds and broadens…[Read more]

I incorporate several of those mentioned here in some of my classes, including ungrading, scaffolding  and allowing multiple submissions of the same assignment.

I was advised by a mentor to use metacognition and self-assessment activities as a way to promote self-reflection and I think these  contribute to a growth mindset. I ask a series of m…[Read more]

I will show a video or some other module to my students introducing the growth mindset concept, maybe the Pearson one we viewed. I will also incorporate more growth mindset messaging into my intro video, first class, and throughout the semester. I will continue to tell students that we learn together and from one another, and that we all have…[Read more]

This past semester I taught a writing intensive class (or writing across the curriculum) for the first time. I decided to make it “ungraded” and had students set their own goals for what they wanted to accomplish related to writing during the semester. This was helpful because they were all starting at different levels of writing skill, English…[Read more]

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…[Read more]

I am a fairly new instructor making lots of mistakes and learning, learning, learning from my students and my mistakes. If I didn’t have a growth mindset, I would have had to throw the towel in after my first week of class!

I’m still teaching some courses for the first time and I always let my students know when it is the first time. I am open…[Read more]

Thanks for this. I totally agree. I include a line about “how we all learn from one another” and that we learn together and everyone has something to contribute in my syllabus. However, I have not yet truly created an environment that cultivates this type of learning. It is something I am “growing” toward.

Casandra, thanks for this reminder. It’s been many years since I was in school so I find it a bit tough to remember when I had a hard time with different types of reading and assignments. This module serves as a good reminder to search my memory and/or to do some “creative” remembering about different types of school related tasks I struggled with.

Just joining this. Hi all! I’m Sarah and I teach public health and personal health at Brooklyn College. I’m glad to be here and I’m looking forward to incorporating what I learn into my Fall classes.

It seems like students are so full of anxiety in general and of course terrified of failure, especially if the failure is public. So much so that…[Read more]

Never mind! Found it!