Helping students feel seen and heard when teaching online - three strategies I'm trying this semester
The lesson begins with numbers.
Jessica is 3
Olivia is 4.5
Chris is 2
Julia is 4.99999
It's not a maths lesson.
I'm asking students to rate how they're feeling today on a scale of 1-5.
In a previous post I wrote about my journey from seeing students as a sea of faces to a "room of seas". Supporting students in an environment where they feel seen and heard is crucial to learning.
There are many benefits to helping those under our care feel seen and heard. This is important both when a class is face-to-face and online; however, when teaching online there is a greater danger of students slipping under the radar. This means that making human connections when teaching online is absolutely crucial.
My class is a “cameras
off” class by mutual agreement. This makes the learning environment more
relaxed. But it also makes it harder for me to know what’s going on with the
students in a given lesson. Instead of just a name on a screen I want to
acknowledge each individual. Below are three strategies that I’ve been
consciously putting into action this semester as I teach online to help me “see”
and “hear” my students and, in turn, also help them to feel seen and heard (which, I believe, is just as important).
1-5
This is the idea at the
top of the post and it comes from Caleb Willow. It helps me gauge students'
mental state in our online classroom. Students simply give a number indicating
how they are feeling (5 means I'm feeling terrific and 1 means I'm really not
feeling great). They don't have to provide a reason for their number, but they
are free to elaborate if they want to. 1-5 not only allows students to express
their emotional status, but also shows that I care about them. This is one low-stakes
addition I've made to my teaching practice this semester in an effort to build
relationships with my students.
"Real talk" discussions
Students go and discuss
a certain question or topic in groups for a while and then come together and we hear ideas from
different groups. Discussion and interaction has
always been something I’ve thought worthwhile in class, but now I’m trying to
be more purposeful about choosing questions that let the students know their
thoughts matter. It is a simple way to allow them to be seen and heard. The
discussion topic is related to the lesson; however, it always allows students to
share their experiences or opinions. For example, when we started a unit on
writing essays I asked the students about their experiences of writing essays
in the past. They shared fears and struggles as well as tips they’d learned. All
of this was useful to me for understanding the learners and planning future lessons, but it also gave students
an outlet for their knowledge and feelings.
In July I took an online course as
professional development. Besides all the things I learnt in the content, the
most important takeaway for me was the human interaction. We could have just
watched the videos, read the articles, and thought or wrote about the ideas but
we were encouraged to interact by posting comments and reading others comments
and responding to what others had posted. It was fun and motivating to be part
of that community, and it was particularly rewarding to have the educators
notice my comments and respond to them, effectively showing me that they had
seen and heard me. My experiences and thoughts were acknowledged. That's what
really MADE the course for me. And that’s what I’m trying to achieve in my lessons
as well. Discussions that let students talk about "real stuff" are one powerful way to hear and acknowledge my students.
Personal messages
In the past, I've
avoided contacting students outside of the classroom in an effort to keep
professional boundaries. However, now that we are separated, texting is THE way
to connect with students outside class time. Checking in regularly with students is not only allowed but encouraged when teaching online. Apart
from responding individually to the writing tasks that students submit each
week, personal messages are also a chance for me to
follow up on things the student may have said or done in class. Some messages
that I’ve sent include:
"It was really nice
to see you participating in the brainstorm today—you have a lot of good ideas!"
"What was that book
you mentioned in class today? It sounded interesting."
If this sounds like extra work...it is. It takes effort to remember little details and it takes time to send messages. But the results are worth it. These little individual interactions outside class help to build relationships with each student. Not only do the students and I gain more by getting to know each other, but I have also seen an increase in engagement in class.
These are three strategies I’ve been trying this semester, but there are many more ways to help students feel seen and heard.
- What strategies have you found help student feel seen and heard?
- What would you like to try?
Comments
Post a Comment