Learning
online can be isolating. To promote student interaction, it is
essential to establish a welcoming environment right away to encourage
the student to participate in the online class. Psychological Safety is
an important component of getting the student to bond with the teacher
and succeed in the online classroom. When students feel safe to say
whatever they want, they are more willing to take risks, and they are
more creative. To promote an atmosphere of Psychological Safety in the
online classroom, I do the following:
A) I foster a culture of
respect, openness, and inclusion by encouraging my students to agree to
disagree. I allow all my students to say how they feel when we interact
in the forums.
B) I actively listen to the students when I
reach out to the students during 1st week by calling all my students on
the phone and I listen to their needs and ascertain what areas of
improvement they need to make in their writing.
C) Besides the
telephone, I also actively listen to students when I reply to student
emails right away to show that I care. It is showing that you care and
making students aware that you care for me is the most important
component to getting students to trust the teacher.
D) I
create a growth mindset in the classroom. I give constructive criticism
to my teacher feedback that shows students areas of improvement in their
writing. I teach students for instance the proper way to write a thesis
statement and if a student gets a low grade, I call them on the phone
and tell them how they can improve their grade and I tell the student
not to get bummed out by the low grade because if they follow my
feedback advice, they will be guaranteed a better grade. The trick is to
not have the student give up just because of a low grade. It is all
about getting better and having a growth mindset.
E) I
encourage questions and open discussions in the forums. I relate the
core concepts of the class to the real world. As I told Gordon recently
about a student who got promoted in her job because her boss noticed a
vast improvement in her writing and communication skills. The student
was thrilled that she could apply what she learned in her ENGL 101 class
to get promoted and get a raise in her job.
F) I teach
students to value diverse perspectives by encouraging students to learn
about different cultures and to get out of their comfort zone.
G)
Most importantly, I build trust with my students by creating a sense of
not just Psychological Safety, but I also develop a sense of belonging
in that classroom. Building Psychological safety in the classroom
promotes learning, creativity, and trust.
For me, the
most rewarding aspect of teaching is the bond between student and
teacher and the feeling that I've made a positive difference in a
student's life.
No comments:
Post a Comment