Maintaining Course Community

In addition, the following approaches and resources may be useful in designing ways to maintain a collaborative and supportive course community:

  • Web-based documents such as a wiki or synchronous web-based technologies such as Google docs can allow student groups to work collaboratively and provide at a distance, allowing them to discuss and iterate on group projects and complete assignments.
  • Mays Imad鈥檚 , an article on Inside Higher Education, offers additional ideas about how to sustain and foster student hope and sense of connection, such as creating a space for them to exchange phone numbers and using hopeful and optimistic language when you talk about the future.
  • Larry DeBrock, Norma Scagnoli, and Fataneh Taghaboni-Dutta argue in that 鈥渙nline education can be surprisingly intimate,鈥 and offer concrete suggestions for engaging all students and nurturing their bonds with one another and with us.
  • Finally, CATL鈥檚 web resource on Trauma-Informed Teaching offers guidance for course design and instructional approaches that reinforce students鈥 鈥渟ense of control, connection, and meaning鈥 to help them thrive after personal or shared trauma (Carello, 2020).

During times of increased stress, tempers may be short, and we are all more susceptible to our own implicit biases. Creating for respectful interaction can help raise everyone鈥檚 awareness of supportive and mutually-beneficial communication norms. It may also be helpful to develop a proactive plan for how we might in . Additional mental health resources may be useful to have handy as you find yourself on the front lines of needing to help students who have mental health concerns:

  • is a helpful resource from the U.S. Center for Disease Control.
  • WellTrack and MindWise are self-screening and self-tracking mental health resources available to 黑料不打烊 students via Counseling Services.
  • 贰濒辞苍鈥檚 Counseling Services include individual care and counseling, ongoing support groups, and workshops on a variety of mental health-related topics.
  • Finally, it may be helpful during times of disruption to be even more proactive than usual in referring students to Student Care and Outreach, so that students receive additional support beyond the course context.