Embedded Files
Learning Target
Learning Target
By the end of this module you should:
better understand how to develop a sense of community with your students.
begin to take actions that will help you to form a connection with your students.
Introduction
Introduction
Learning is social and your students shouldn't feel isolated from you and their peers even when you are all physically separated. In an in-person environment, social interactions occur more naturally than they do online. However, strong social connections can still be formed online and in some cases those connections can be even stronger online than in person. In fact, even if you are teaching in-person online communication can still extend and improve your relationships with students and their relationships with each other.
Connections both online and in-person take time to form. Strong connections are not likely to be formed in the first week or two of class but what you do at the start of the semester is critical to forming strong relationships later on. This module will share strategies that can be applied at the start and throughout the semester.
Ice-Breaker Potluck
Padlet Activity
Initial Post
Please post a comment on the following Padlet: https://georgemasonu.padlet.org/jered_borup/edit764
In your comment, share an ice-breaker activity that you have either used with your students or participated in as a student that you enjoyed.
While your comment can include text, the comment must include a video recording. To make a video comment:
Click on "+" in the bottom of the screen.
Click on "..."
Click on "Video Recorder"
Record your video and post it for others to see.
Replies
There are only two times in the course where you are required to reply to others' comments--this is one of them. Specifically, you need to reply to at least two posts. You can reply using text, audio, or video. When you reply be sure to remember to start with your name so we know who you are. If you like, you can even respond to the ice-breaker activity that they shared in their post. This can be a type of ice-breaker buffet!
Explore, Read, and Watch
Explore, Read, and Watch
Community is both an end and a means to an end. In other words, developing a learning community is important in and of itself but it also leads to other important learning outcomes. The Community of inquiry framework shows how the human side of learning (social presence) impacts the academic side (cognitive presence).
The following are tips that help to strengthen the social side of learning that can actually impact learning.
Tip 1. Create a Welcoming Environment
Tip 1. Create a Welcoming Environment
It's important to work early to make your students feel welcomed and comfortable. For instance, maybe before class starts you would like to send notes home to your students like Amanda Irons, a second grade teacher at Lees Corner ES, did below. Similarly, teachers can send personalized welcoming emails. It's probably not a good use of time to create personalized cards or emails if you teach at a high school and have 150+ students. If that the case for you, you may want to create a mail merge to send a customized email to each of your students all at once.
Just as teachers spend time to create a welcoming classroom, some teachers have started to make Bitmoji classrooms. Creating a Bitmoji classroom can be a bit time-consuming but is a great way to share your personal interests while also sharing important information. This tutorial will show you how to create your own if you're interested. Since the Bitmoji classrooms are clickable it's a great way to provide resources and even an Easter egg or two. For instance, in the tweet below check out the Easter egg Donnie Piercey hid for his students to find. This Edutopia article shares more about Bitmoji classrooms, including some criticism.
Some teachers, like Esther Park, are actually creating GIFs of themselves for their Bitmoji classrooms. Esther also made a tutorial if you're interested in doing some thing similar.
Sending personalized notes home and the Bitmoji classroom not your style? No problem! However, at the very least you should create a "Meet Your Instructor" page. It can be as simple as a page on your course website or in your Learning Management System or you can create something like the teacher directory that teachers at Poplar Tree ES created.
Tip 2. Be Social and Break the Ice
Tip 2. Be Social and Break the Ice
At the start of the year, we commonly engage our students in get-to-know-you ice-breaker games or activities. Even if you already know your students, social games such as ice-breakers can still be helpful. In an in-person setting, you naturally have opportunities to have casual social interactions with students. In an online environment, these types of interactions need to be a little more intentional but they can still be powerful. So while you may plan an ice-breaker at the start of the year, you should also plan for social interactions using regular activities such as "warm ups", "lunch bunches", or "share and tells."
Additionally, ice-breakers can be a great way for students to learn how to use tools that they will use for future learning activities. For instance, if you plan on having your students use Flipgrid for learning discussions then it's a good idea to have student play with the tool first by participating in a warm-up activity.
One of the most common icebreakers I've played is "Two Truths and a Lie" because it requires students to post:
an original comment sharing two things that are true and one thing that's a lie.
replies to their peers guessing what the lie is
a final post revealing what their lie was
However, then Schitt's Creek made fun of the ice breaker in the video below and now perhaps we need a new one. Nah, maybe I'll keep it anyway. I think that it just got cooler! :-)
As a side note, here are my two truths and a lie: (1) I've played semi-professional basketball in Europe, (2) I've been on a hike with Lindsay Lohan, and (3) I am the youngest of 24 kids. If you want to know the answer, watch the video below.
Building on the Bitmoji trend, some teachers are having their students decorate bitmoji lockers as an ice breaker activity.
Tip 3. Show Yourself and Be Human
Tip 3. Show Yourself and Be Human
Videos and photos can be a great way to help establish a sense of closeness and familiarity. When facilitating a course, try the following:
Create a "Meet Your Teacher" page with a combination of text and images--both professional and personal.
Show yourself in videos when you are performing your other responsibilities such as announcements, directions, or teaching the content.
If you are using an LMS (learning management system) or other tool that allows you to upload a profile picture, upload one! It takes less than a minute but can make a big difference because that picture will accompany all of your activity in the LMS or tool. In fact, it's even better if you change your profile picture periodically just as you would on Facebook or other social media platforms. Don't let your profile picture be the default silhouette!
When you are making videos, it's common to re-record and re-record until you get it "right" without all of the "ums" and "ahhs". At the same time, and somewhat ironically, students find that little mistakes are actually humanizing. For instance, in the following video Christine McLaughlin recorded a video while in Wegmans to show unit rates in the real world. Notice how she embraces mistakes so that the video can be authentic.
In another example, Christine recorded a Flipgrid video from home and introduced her students to her dog.
Similarly, Bridgette Joskow actually made her pet Gecko part of the course by created a running segment of her course called Gecko Gab. The following video is an example that I recommend you watch for the first minute.
Using humor and being playful is a great way for you to let your personality shine through. For instance, at times Christine creates videos using playful filters such as the video below.
Filters not your thing? There's endless ways to show your personality and humor. For instance, Samantha Cook makes fun videos for her high school math students. Below are four of my favorite. There's a poem, a song, a baby, and the Death Star. Does it get any better than that?
Assignment
Assignment
For this module, you have some choice in what you do. Just pick two of the following tasks to complete. If you've already completed the task(s) recently, you can submit it
1) Meet Your Teacher Page
Create a page in your course or the Google Site portfolio that you created in EDIT 761 (or you can create a Google Slides that can be embedded into your course later, see my example in slide 2 of this presentation) that includes the following:
your professional background
your personal interests
photo(s) of yourself and interests
2) Introductory Video
Create a video that introduces you to your students. It can be an edited video such as this one or a more simple video such as this one.
The video should then be uploaded to a video hosting site such as YouTube.
3) Bitmoji Classroom
Create a Bitmoji classroom that shares personal interests and course resources. This tutorial will show you how. If you choose to include the real you, this tutorial will show you how.
4) Online Icebreaker Activity
Create an icebreaker activity using an online platform that can be done online asynchronously. For instance, you could create an activity using Padlet or Google Slides. You could create a discussion activity in your school's learning management system (LMS). The only requirement is that students need to participate online. You will also need to share it with me so if you create something in a password-protected LMS, you will need to share with me a screenshot.
5) Bitmoji Locker Icebreaker
Create a Bitmoji locker following the tutorial on this page.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse