Teaching in Crisis

Guidelines for Flexibility when Teaching in Crisis 

(some are adapted from the aforementioned practical guide)

No late penalties for late assignments

Leniency on deadlines, including quizzes and tests

• Note: If it takes you 20 minutes to take a test, it could likely take your students an hour, but in a crisis given various physical and emotional distractions we recommend extending the time beyond what is normally allowed. 

Reduced workload

• Limit the introduction of new concepts during the crisis

• Reduce expectations for rigorous student study habits

Conduct review sessions for students so they can catch up

BMCC Faculty should be made aware that many students received computers on or after the recalibration period

Tech savant fallacy: There’s an assumption that because many students are young that they are savvy with technology. This assumption ignores structural inequalities that limit access to technology. Don’t assume students are tech savants.

Students may be sharing computers with multiple family members, who may all be competing for computer use at the same time.

Students may not have high speed internet/wi-fi and may have interrupted service

• Note: Forced completion tests that automatically submit privilege students with functioning internet. Avoid forced completion/auto submit tests.

Students’ computers may not have the memory to download large documents and programs

There is a learning curve for students not only with regard to new hardware but also new software and platforms that are being used for learning. Some students have noted that they are learning 5 new platforms for instruction at once. 

If faculty are allowed on campus, faculty should consider including their college mailing addresses on syllabi and on blackboard for students who may need to print and mail assignments

If you are not using blackboard for your medium of online instruction, please minimally leave directions on your blackboard page that describe how to access your modality of instruction

Alternate platforms that do not sell student information for advertising

·      Google talk

·      Remind

10 Strategies Advocated by Inside Higher Ed 

(all bullets are quoted material from the above IHE article)

1. Email your students to remind them that you are still there for them.

2. Tell them how you are shifting your schedule to deal with the new situation and that change is part of life. Humanize yourself and make it casual and lighthearted. For example, you might talk about how, in between reading their discussion posts, you decided to start your spring cleaning, which you’ve been putting off forever.

3. Reflect on the notion of rigor and continue to challenge and support your students. As instructors, we often must balance rigor and support, and this situation might be one where students will need more support than rigor. Establishing continuity doesn’t mean you increase the amount of work required of them. I say this because I worry that some of us might be fixated on the rigor of the materials presented. Let’s face it -- the rigor may suffer, and that’s OK considering the situation.

4. Repeat some of the lessons you taught in class. Especially for those students who are missing the classroom environment, this will probably help activate their memory of being part of a community and remind them that they are still part of one. For example, in your email you can say something like, “Remember when we talked about this and …”

5. Use hopeful and optimistic language, such as, “When you come back this fall …” This will help students look forward to coming back to the campus. 

6. Offer students an opportunity to exchange phone numbers and, for those who are interested, help them create a WhatsApp chat group. It can sometimes be difficult for a student to ask for a classmate’s phone number.

7. Don’t ignore the elephant in the room. If possible, talk about COVID-19 and fear. This is an opportunity for you to remind your students to consider the sources of their news and to beware of the large amount of misinformation.

8. Remember that students have left behind more than just their classes and academics. On both residential and commuter campuses, there are important spaces where students meet and talk about their nonacademic lives -- sports, upcoming concerts, recently discovered shows and so on. Consider creating a community discussion board for them to share what is happening in their lives, especially given the stress, fear and strains in these uncertain times. 

9. Let your students know that you are there for them and that if they need help to reach out to you. Let them know that you are (I hope) in touch with counselors or mental health experts that can help them should they need to speak to someone.

10. Most important, ask each of your students how you can help them. The Persian poet Rumi says, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” Likewise, in times of uncertainty and unknowing, we can create a space where our students’ voice and insights can illuminate the path we are carving out for them -- and us.