Hearing From Our Students

As we approach the end of the first quarter of the 17-week semester and the middle of the 8-week semester (yikes!), I’m thinking a lot about how my students are doing and how they’re engaging with the reading and their writing.
 
A couple weeks ago in my asynchronous ENGL 202, I posted a short video of me talking about “critical thinking,” and below, I embedded this google doc asking students to share what comes to mind when they think about “arguments.” At the end of the week, I embedded a wordcloud generator that asked students to share “where you’re at” as they wrapped up the week.
 
This week, I’m reading and responding to the first set of essays submitted in my asynchronous ENGL 100. One category in the rubric asks students to respond to my comments after I’ve graded their essay. I don’t mark that category until they respond. When they do, they get 10 more points, and I get a chance to have an asynchronous conversation with them about their writing.
Hearing from my students in these different ways–sharing their knowledge as I introduce a new topic, sharing their confidence and uncertainty at the end of a busy week, and sharing their questions and goals about their own writing in response to my feedback–not only fosters a sense of comradery and belonging in the class, it allows me to value my students as collaborators and leaders in our shared learning experiences and writing processes.
 
So, how are you hearing from your students right now in Canvas, in Zoom, and in other ways? Below are a few ideas to consider, and if you would like, please share more tips and tricks here.
 

Hear from your students

This is a great moment in the semester to check-in with our students to get the pulse of the class. How easily are students finding things? Is the pace of assignments nuts, too easy, or intriguingly steady? Is there anything are students feel we could be doing that we aren’t doing yet to make participation more accessible and engaging?

Share the results

Hearing from our students is so valuable to our teaching. Sharing back what we hear from them with the class can be equally valuable to their learning.
 
Embed Stuff
Most tools offer an embed code option with the < > symbol. If they don’t, you can use this html code to embed just about anything, even editible Google Docs! To embed the results of Google Forms, you can follow this dorkey tutorial.
 
Curate Stuff
Many of us create class playlists from the content students share. Make a regular place to spotlight student generated conctent in your weekly announcements, your instructional content, and your Zoom meeting activities.
 

Listen, lighten, and illuminate

Creating and managing formative feedback loops in my composition classes is THE ultimate goal. Sometimes these channels of communication are critical to the work of revision, and some time they are just plain necessary to helping each other get through challenging moments.
 
Incentivize Responses to Your Feedback
Create Ticket-out Activities (totally stole this from Chad)

We’re Establishing Routines

At the end of Week 2, as I finalize my rosters and settle into the emerging rhythms of another weird but promising semester, I’m thinking about how an asynchronous, classroom culture is forming and what I and my students are doing to shape it.
 
I’ve spent much of my time this week communicating with students. I’m messaging students who have missed a routine deadline or an important assignment with a quick, “Hey Susana. Did you intend to submit this assignment? Would you reply to this comment or email me to chat about how the class is going?” I’m using Canvas’ Rubric tool to grade early assignments quickly. I like to change the title of that 0 column from “No Marks” to “Please Resubmit” and sometimes “Please Email curry.” That way, there’s an invitation to a positive action communicated along with that low grade.
 
I’m also taking 15 minutes per class to identify student generated content from the week to showcase in my next Weekly Announcement. I’ve created an equity-minded roster that lets me promote students who are already showing signs of feeling overwhelmed or who may seem intimidated by writing or whom I identify as a student in a disproportionately impacted group. I begin the announcement celebrating an idea, a phrase, a structure, or connection to what we’re studying to honor that student’s knowledge and language and value their contributions. I keep a record of students whose work I have not yet promoted, so by mid-semester, everyone gets that spotlight.
 
Many of us do these sorts of things already; here’s a few great ideas from Mary, Chad, and Jade! These early interventions help us to cultivate a class culture and establish the routines we and our students will respond to going forward. Below are a few ideas to consider, and if you would like, please share more tips and tricks here.
 

Assignments You Value = Assignments Your Students Value

We all have certain assignments and policies that we tell students are important, and then we have certain assignments and policies that we show students are important. This is the week when students start to realize what they need to prioritize and what they can let slide based on what we grade, call out, ignore, put off, and simply forget. So which assignment or policy has the greatest potential value to your student writers and readers? What can you do at the beginning of next week to show students this value?
 
Policies
  • Meeting deadlines
  • Resubmitting revised work
  • Visiting office hours
  • Seeking Campus Resources
Assignments
  • Low-stakes Reading Responses/Quizes
  • Discussion Posts and Replies
  • Active Participation in Zoom
  • Essay Drafts
  • Metacognitive Reflections

Spotlight Student Work

We know the most powerful ways we can increase retention is to foster real, meaningful connections with our students. We have the chance this week and next to do that proactively and with equity. Who in your class right now could use a boost? For whom would a simple positive message or shout-out of their work make the difference? We know there is something to celebrate in every students’ work–an idea, a phrase, a structure, a reflection, a triumph. Let’s get into a routine for doing that this week and next.
  • Shout-out students by name or by their work in your weekly announcements
  • Start Zooms session with “What’s Great from Last Week”
  • Integrate student generated content into your assignments and instruction

Turn Around Time

Quick, encouraging communication with students this week and next can be the thing that alerts them to take action within their abilities to meet your expectations and succeed in your assignments. We all want to provide comprehensive, formative feedback, but maybe what students need this week and next is a simple encouraging check-in. How can we be more efficient and timely in our communication with individual students?

Welcoming Our Students

We’re less than two weeks before the start of the spring semester, and I’m thinking about how to welcome my students.
 
I emailed my ENGL 100 students yesterday, and I am planning to email my ENGL 202 students tomorrow. I’ve put together a Google Site page with information about the course, which I can send to enrolled and waitlisted students. Having this info has helped make the add/drop process a little more manageable. If you’re interested you can check out my welcome letter for enrolled students, waitlisted students, and my course info page.
 
Many of us do this already, and many of us also offer our students some kind of syllabus quiz or course scavenger hunt during Week 1. This initial course assessment–in addition to community building, ice breaker activities–can help clarify expectations and build confidence.
 
Below are a few ideas to consider, and if you would like, please share more tips and tricks here.
 
Introduce 2-3 important things about your course
  • Introduce yourself
  • Describe your course theme or question
  • Provide links to the textbook and/or important apps or software
  • Screencast a brief tour of your Canvas course
  • Provide a list of important Week 1 due dates
Chunk your syllabus
Highlight the key policies, resources, and expectations
  • Student Support Services and Resources
  • Participation, Late Work, and Extra Credit policies
  • Major assignments with a breakdown of grades
  • What to expect in Zoom meetings (including accommodations for voice and video participation)
Include a link to an orientation to online learning
 
Our friend, Jim Julius facilitates 1-hour workshops for students planning to take online classes.
 

The Online Education Initiative group created asynchronous tutorials that help students prepare for online course work. Topics include “Getting Tech Ready,” “Communication Skills,” and “Online Reading Strategies.”

At the end of Week 1, assess your students’ expectations
  • Send out a brief survey
  • Assign a low-stakes “syllabus” quiz
  • Assign a muddiest-point discussion

The information we share to welcome and encourage our students is important, and equally (if not more) important is how our students receive and interpret that information. A quick, low-stakes assignment at the end of the first week can give you and your students an opportunity to clarify expectations, increase confidence, and even collaborate over how best to participate in your course.

Mental Health in Online Teaching

Happy end of the semester, Letters colleagues!

In my last Writing with Machines professional development workshop as your interim Technology Coordinator, we had a great discussion about supporting mental health and wellness, for both ourselves and our students, in our online classes. Please check out the Zoom recording and Google slideshow below to hear your colleagues’ great ideas about how to support student mental health through pedagogy and practice, as well as how anti-racist work promotes mental wellness. You are also invited to to add comments and share your own ideas on mental health and wellness online. 

Thank you for your time, participation, and support this semester! Have a restful, safe, and healthy winter break. See you in the spring!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dXRU1oZcdwCzzP-bOSqnpIgRgqP5fnFw28pOkwbhcKY/edit?usp=sharing

Anti-Racist Labor-Based Grading and Feedback

Do the terms “anti-racist” and “labor-based grading” make you a little nervous? Not to worry! Our most recent Writing with Machines professional development workshop spotlights pragmatic and successful implementations of both praxes. Check out my Google slideshow as well as the Zoom recording with your fabulous colleagues! Feel free to respond with your thoughts and/or examples of effective grading and feedback practices.

Culturally Sustaining Feedback and Equitable Grading

Hello, Letters family!

If you missed the Writing with Machines professional development workshop on culturally sustaining and equitable feedback and grading of student work, check out the following Google slideshow with embedded readings, videos, and other resources, as well as the recording of the Zoom session. Add your own ideas and questions to the comments!

Whiteboards, Huddleboards, and Gallery Walks in Online Classes

Some of my favorite in-class teaching tools are now gone as we head into an online fall semester….or so I thought! I use the whiteboards, huddleboards, large sticky notes, and computer screens all the time when I teach. We’re constantly in groups working on something that we want to display for others to see or spreading out around the whiteboards in the room to make notes about characters in a novel. I’ve also become very accustomed to using the whiteboard in the class as a place to make quick notes, demonstrate concepts, or validate student responses by writing them down. Now that we’re online, these physical, tangible tools need to be replaced somehow. The two best ways that I’ve found so far are the Padlet app and Zoom annotations

Here are links to two of the Padlets I referenced in the video if you’d like to see more:

Criminal Justice Reform Padlet

Riff Off Activity Padlet

Check out the video below to see a few examples of how I use these tools:

Sawubona (I See You) – Decolonizing Research Methods and Practices

Inspired by the Zulu greeting, Sawubona (I see you), and this week’s Black Lives Matter Training by awesome professors Bruce Hoskins, Shawntae Mitchum, and Edwina Williams, I have been reflecting on what I’ve done and what more I can do to make research projects more inclusive of diverse epistemologies, voices, and histories. Check out my video for more, and please let me know if you have recommendations or want to share any of your research practices, especially in online classes. Thanks!

Imposter Syndrome and Affective Care

Last week, for our CSP Reading Group, JahB selected an episode from (Re)Teach, a podcast written, produced, and hosted by our very own Dr. Bruce Hoskins. If you weren’t able to listen and join in on the conversation last week, I encourage you to check out this episode before our fall semester starts. The focus of the episode is imposter syndrome and how it impacts our students. Bruce discusses imposter syndrome with two MiraCosta students–Susy and Melissa–who each share their imposter syndrome stories and experiences. Here is the episode link and you can also find (Re)Teach on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Sticher, etc.
 
 
If you’re anything like me, imposter syndrome is a very real, very challenging issue. If you have not experienced imposter syndrome yourself, trust me when I tell you that many if not most of our students are probably feeling it when they sit in our classes. I think all of us probably feel some level of imposter syndrome at some point in our lives. For some of us, though, it can be chronic and even debilitating. Operating from a place of fear can be motivating, as I’m sure we can witness in ourselves and our students, but it is also tremendously exhausting and demoralizing. When we aren’t able to channel our fears into motivation, we get all up in our amygdala by fighting, flying, and freezing. My wife, a certified emotional intelligence counselor, says this is called the “Amygdala Hijack.” Fear overwhelms us and causes us to react in ways that might seem like strange behaviors. Often, we’re doing less fighting and more flying/freezing. When we fly, that is when we don’t show up the second week of class. When we freeze is when we don’t turn in an essay even though we got an A on the last one. When we fly, we might “ghost” you over email (this, right here, is a big one). When we freeze, we might seem fine even though we’re so tired we fall asleep in class. When we freeze, we sure as hell aren’t talking in the class (or a meeting) even if we enjoy the subject. When we fight, we might get mad about an activity. We fight by refusing to do something that might seem like a simple assignment/prompt/activity to the teacher. We’re not mad, we’re running, hiding, and yelling because we’re operating from a place of fear.
 
This fear has it’s roots in feeling like we don’t belong and constantly worrying that what we’ve earned, what we worked for, will be taken away eventually. Surely the application committee, the hiring committee, that interviewer, made a mistake. They’ll call any minute to say “oops, wait, actually, there’s an issue with your application.” Or, more to the point for classroom faculty, “If I answer this question, if I’m honest, they’ll know right away that I don’t really belong here.”
 
As I said, anyone can fall victim to imposter syndrome. But it absolutely is more likely to occur in students who come from historically marginalized backgrounds or backgrounds that don’t have a lengthy history of earning higher education degrees. Obviously, we teach in an institution where our students have a high likelihood of having imposter syndrome. From my own experience, you might be more likely to see imposter syndrome manifest in students who are preparing to transfer to a 4-year school or students who are starting to apply for scholarships, internships, summer programs, or anything else that might feel like a “reach” (even if we know somewhere that isn’t in our amygdala that we are capable).
 
For about the last 10 minutes of the podcast, Bruce asks the students “what would you want your teachers to know” to help first gen, historically marginalized students deal with imposter syndrome. We get a chance to hear directly from students what small changes would make them feel more comfortable in our classes and ultimately more comfortable in school. You have to listen to see what they say, no spoilers here. Just from anecdotal evidence, though, I feel pretty confident that a lot of us tend to the affective side of our students’ lives. As we head into the fall, I encourage you to spend even more time on activities and conversations geared towards making students feel welcomed, seen, and invited in to your class, especially early in the semester. I know personally that a lot of the affective care that I give to my students often happens in little conversational tangents while teaching or during a mini-lecture or even just chatting before/after class. It is organic, fluid, unplanned, and frequent. When these spaces are all of a sudden missing or at least significantly changed as a result of distance education, we have to be more intentional in how we make affective interjections. We’ve already seen some excellent examples on this very blog from Mary, Chad, Jade, Curry, Tony, and Jim. All I ask is that you be intentional and don’t take it for granted that your students will eventually feel comfortable. They are in a new (digital) environment, a new social/intellectual space, and for some of them, they are absolutely, 100% going to be all up in their amygdala.