Last week, I participated in a workshop about addressing social-emotional learnings (SEL) and cultural awareness issues in the classroom. One of the articles the facilitator had written about was building confidence in teachers. It made me think about how we build confidence in our students.
I have had many students express frustration with a lack of support from faculty and supervisors in the past. I have often reminded students that they will get through the academic process and everyone else in the course is also going through the academic hurdles for the first time. I thought maybe an ounce of prevention would be more effective and reduce student stress levels. I have watched my own college-aged children struggle with the “new normal” of a difficult academic year for many.
Often, faculty are difficult to get ahold of, and both of my own children have had faculty not respond to queries. We need to make sure we are responsive to student emails, calls, and other queries. Beyond that, we should be proactive and available to students. A good practice is to ensure your university email and phone messages are forwarded to your phone so you can respond to students even when away from your desk.
I created a simple two-question survey after the first session of my courses this semester. I asked students for three things I could do to assist them in order for them to be successful and confident of that success in the course. Secondly, I asked if they had any questions about the course that were not answered in the first session. I responded to those issues by posting an announcement in the LMS addressing all the issues raised for each course. However, responses to the first question are more generalizable.
Baule’s scholarly interests focus on online student engagement, educational technology-- particularly the impact of 1:1 implementations, social-emotional learning, and the history of education. Baule led several efforts to improve student emotional health and reduce discipline issues prior to moving into higher education. He also writes on aspects of early American history.
Baule has held memberships in the American Association of School Administrators, the American Library Association, the American Association of School Librarians, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the Consortium for School Networking, the International Association of School Librarians, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Staff Development Council, and many of their state affiliates. He has served as a consultant in the areas of educational technology, facilities design, library program development, team building, and communications.