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Between the World and Me

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Hi Everyone,

I am late for this conversation, but I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts. I have a lot of thoughts on equitable teaching practices in the classroom because of the themes and readings that I focus on. I am curious to see what happens when a class migrates to an on-line setting.  To me, the biggest challenge of any class is establishing a warm, safe classroom culture that makes students feel connected.  I have stolen Ta-Nehesi Coates’ book title (which he stole from Richard Wright’s eponymous poem) because I am struck by the challenges that we face as instructors who strive to break the perpetual loop (and for some, this loop is traumatic) that students encounter in formal school settings.  Putting pressure on the phrase, which appears again and again in critical race theory, I think that “between the world and me” captures the challenge of online teaching, specifically equity-minded on-line teaching practices. Here are just a few of my thoughts on Woods’ presentation and the reading.

On-line intrusiveness and performance monitoring:  I understand the idea that we need to intervene before students fall too far behind, and often do that with my students f2f. It’s easy to pull someone aside before or after class, but I’m wondering how one does that online? What are some creative ways to be intrusive?

Empower students: I think that group projects and discussions are a great way to empower students, especially when the group is diverse and students come from different subject positions. Equity-minded practice can simply be showing students how to turn their lens on their everyday life, bridging the gap between what some people have called high and low culture. One way of doing this is to teach culturally relevant texts paired with other texts to show students how each writer is thinking about a similar issue. For example, I have taught William Wordsworth with Tupac Shakur and Eminem. It’s an interesting pairing and makes for a lot of spirited discussion.

Not everyone is a computer geek: One thing I appreciated from the reading is that students need to understand that they do not need to be technical experts to succeed in an on-line class. That point resonated with me because of my own hesitation over migrating on-line. (I tell myself: you don’t have to be a computer programmer or an expert on technology!!!)

Make lessons universally inclusive and accessible: Right now, I have a challenging situation where my current student underwent two neurosurgeries and has significant deficits. I check in with him regularly and am intrusive, but I don’t always feel effective in the classroom. Interestingly, I discovered that communicating with him online is better and more successful. I think that it is because he can take extra time to process his thoughts and reread material. (He can’t move at the same pace as everyone else.) Working with him has made me appreciate what an online teaching environment can offer.