Post 35: Create a supportive online community in your online classroom.

Best Practice Post 35: Create a supportive online community in your online classroom.

For me, one of the most rewarding aspects of teaching online is my interaction with students in the discussion forums. I enjoy building community with my students by making my forums very interesting. In my English 102 class, for instance I love talking about media bias. We would all discuss what we see in the news and how biased the different news channels are. I would give different headlines for students to analyze whether or not the headline is Pro Trump or Anti-Trump. Then students begin to realize that some news channels broadcast only Trump's accomplishments while other news channels broadcast only Trump's failures. I remember one class day I said that Fox News broadcast recently tax cuts that Trump had made and that we have a robust economy. while the other two channels CNN and MS NBC focus primarily on Stormy Daniels and Trumps not paying his bills to his creditors in his business.  I make sure that my interactions are neutral and that we all agree to disagree. I teach my students to believe in a democracy we all need to have healthy debate. I enjoy seeing what my students think how they think and what makes them tick. Knowing what my students think and how they think helps me create lessons that relate to my students' lifestyles and needs. When the classes are  over, one of the things I miss the most is the interaction I have with the students in the forums because it is that interaction which helps build community. When you build community in your class, you build a bond of trust between you and the students. And it is this bond of trust between you and the student that creates the learning community that is a safe space for students to learn and grow. I always tell my students that my primary job is to support them in their journey to graduate from college in the major of their choosing. I always tell students that I am there for them, and that I am there to support them. Students love it that I create such a professional nurturing environment, so that they can grow and learn. It takes patience, compassion, a nurturing personality, to be an effective teacher not just an effective online teacher. Many of the characteristics that make a good face-to-face teacher translates into what makes a good online teacher. When I teach both face-to-face and online, it is all about building a supportive learning community so that students can trust each other and trust the teacher and feel safe enough to learn, To grow, and challenge themselves beyond their comfort zone in order to learn something new. I always feel gratified when students from previous classes come back to my classes and tell me what a positive experience they had in my class and that the main reason was because we are bonded together as a community. So it is important in an online class especially online being so isolated to build a learning community so that students have a sense of belonging to the classroom and therefore this multiplies into students graduating from your class with a grade A average.