Social, Emotional, and Academic Components of Comfort in the Classroom

Topic 2: Social, Emotional, and Academic Components of the Classroom

Why is it important for instructors to understand the social and emotional needs of their students? In order to establish positive learning environments, instructors need to be mindful of what their student’s needs are, what they are expressing through surveying ((See more in chapter blah blah blah)) Classroom environments that students are able to experience consistent positive interactions with their instructors will

Frequent positive interactions with their teachers, and are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning process, significantly contribute to their engagement in classroom tasks.

Positive classroom environments can facilitate our learning and enhance our academic potential. We all want to do well in our classes, and we understand that we have responsibility to attend classes,

Strategies that enhance social connections in the classroom:

• Learn your students’ names
  • We understand that some instructors have hundreds of students in their lecture halls. We do not expect you to learn each and everyone one of our names. Most large lectures have discussion sections. These discussion sections can be a way for Teaching Assistants to learn students’ names. When students’ have their names known it makes us feel valued and influences attitudes about your class! We feel more invested in your class and feel much more comfortable and willing to interact and seek help from you. These behaviors are positively correlated with academic performance, confidence, and self-assuredness (Bauer, 2023).
• Provide opportunities for connection
  • Informal conversations are a way to promote connection between you and your students. Sharing something about you beyond what you are teaching, researching, or projects you are working on with other faculty.
  • Share about yourself! Discuss your personal connections to course material or non-academic information such as hobbies, or what you like to do in your free time. Maybe add pictures of your pets! It is a great way to demonstrate your willingness to connect with your students.
• Foster a supportive campus
• Seek out opportunities to serve and support
• Incorporate “welcome rituals” at the start of class
  • Before class starts, engage in informal conversations with your students, as us how we are doing! Ask us about events that may be on campus or something good that has happened to us recently.
  • Playing music before class or at the time class starts. You can also allow students to suggest songs to be played before class through an ongoing discussion post for song recommendations.

Topic 2.1: Inclusive Teaching and the Inclusive Classroom

Classrooms are full of a variety of individuals and those individuals have a variety of needs. These classrooms can be filled with different types of learners such as: auditory learners, visual learners, students with disabilities, and so on. All students in your classroom will learn the same information but the way in which information is presented and processed will look different from student to student.

Inclusive teaching strategies is a variety of teaching approaches that address the needs of students with a variety of backgrounds, learning modalities, and abilities. Inclusive teaching strategies contribute to the overall inclusive learning environment in which all students are perceived to be valued and can succeed.

Benefits of inclusive teaching include but are not limited to:

• Instructors can connect and engage with a variety of students.
• Students connect with course materials that are relevant to them.
• Students feel comfortable in the classroom environment to voice their ideas and questions.
• Students are more likely to be successful through activities that support their learning modalities, abilities, and backgrounds.

Topic 2.2: The Trauma-Informed Classroom and Trauma-Informed Teaching

A trauma informed classroom cannot be developed until you engage in trauma-informed teaching. Trauma-informed teaching starts with an understanding of how trauma can impact a student’s learning and behavior. This may look like a student struggling to complete tasks and taking longer to complete assignments, papers, discussion posts, or lab work. Incorporating trauma-informed teaching into your classrooms can show students that their professors, instructors, and teaching assistants care and can provide support.

Support can be given in a variety of ways depending on the comfort level of the professor. Some professors may not feel comfortable in such situations, and that is very okay! It is important to acknowledge one’s limits. Being aware of your own comfort level is a way to self-assess what feels plausible for you.

Thankfully there has been an increase in student support services within the University within the past few years. Student Care and Assistance (SCA) is a great entryway to providing support to students depending on their needs. University Counseling Service (UCS) is another great way to support the mental health of students.

**SPACE HOLDER FOR PARAGRAPH – STILL WORKING ON**

Suggestions for trauma-informed responses:

• Be mindful of power dynamics between you and your students.
• Be empathetic, open, and flexible. (see chapter blah blah blah)
• Provide content warnings when applicable.
• Remind your students about on-campus resources.
• Engage in your own self-care and be mindful of compassion fatigue.
  • You can’t be your best self for others if you are not being the best for yourself!
  • (see chapter blah blah blah)

Topic 2.3: Active Learning

Active learning methods allow students to engage in course material in a variety of ways. Active learning allows students to demonstrate their learning by thinking, discussing, investigating, or creating. Active learning environments invites all students to practice skills such as: complex problem solving, grappling with complex decisions, suggest solutions and explain their ideas and what they have learned through an assortment of active learning methods.

Examples of active learning include but not limited to:

• Individual reflection about what the student has learned or what questions they may still have.
• In class participation such as the traditional small group collaboration or discussion boards for students.
• Low-stakes quizzes to check understanding.

Techniques that foster active learning include but not limited to:

• Student-generated test questions
  • Letting students group together to create test questions that correlate to the material they will be assessed on. This can be done in discussion sections, the TA can collect student generated test questions and pick one or two that will be put into the quiz or exam.
• Minute papers is a technique where the instructor asks their students a question or provides a prompt that will engage in critical thinking.
• Post-exam reflections
  • Have students reflect on how they studied for an exam, how they feel about their performance on the exam, and what they might do differently next time (see chapter blah blah)

Topic 2.4: Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

What is UDL?

Similar yet different from universal design (UD), universal design for learning focuses on the accessibility of learning itself in conjunction to one’s learning environment. UDL assesses and addresses the needs of all students. UDL is a way to offer students options for study, which leads to increase of motivation in course work and offers additional choices to students’ learning processes (Sherwood, 2012, p. 125).

The three principles of UDL include:

1. Provide multiple means of engagement
2. Provide multiple means of representation
3. Provide multiple means of action and expression (CAST, 2018)

We All Benefit

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that reasonable accommodations be made for both faculty and students with disabilities. Developing an inclusive environment from the start would eliminate the need for faculty and students to request most accommodations (Sherwood & Kattari, 2021, p. 126). Currently, students are required to self-identify their disability to receive accommodations. This can be a long and costly process. To receive accommodations most students need to prove that they have a disability. Some disabilities are not visible and may require psychological testing which poses a challenge to find a psychologist to perform multiple tests and assessments. Testing can last for hours and over the span of multiple months. Some insurances do not cover for psychological testing, and those insurances who do cover for psychological testing can have costly deductibles or copays. This can cause additional financial stress for students.

There can be anxiety for students when disclosing their disability to their educational institution, as well as sending and discussing their Letter of Accommodation (LOA) to their professors. Students may fear judgment among their instructors and worry that instructors have predisposed thoughts and attitudes towards disabilities. We want our professors to understand that we must continue to advocate for ourselves each semester and sometimes multiple times throughout one semester to be sure we are receiving the support and accommodations we need.

There are concerns that accommodations for individuals with disabilities are receiving “better” treatment in comparison to their peers. This is not the case at all! Accommodations are not an advantage, accommodations level the playing field for students with disabilities.

Designing your classes around the needs of all learners would not only benefit individuals or varying abilities, support, and accommodations but also to the students with various cultural backgrounds, nontraditional students, students with family obligations and so on (Sheerwood & Kattari, 2021, p. 127). This can benefit you and other faculty as well! “…having to be less responsive to cases of adapting classes (as is happening currently with the COVID-19 pandemic), and for faculty who have disabilities themselves, and may have specific access needs” (Sheerwood & Kattari, 2021, p. 127).

Ways in which faculty can begin to create accessible and comfortable classroom spaces with universal design for learning in mind:

• Pay attention to different learning styles!
  • Offer assignments that engage students in different ways. This could look like offering a choice between writing a paper or creating a video. To demonstrate the student’s learning and knowledge development on course material. Allowing multiple ways to complete an assignment allows students to develop self-agency when it comes to their learning!
• Design PowerPoints, Word documents, handouts, with an easy-to-read font style and font size.
• Use image descriptions on PowerPoints.
• Be mindful of the language you use during your lectures.
  • Use intentional language! Move away from assumptions like “as everyone can see.”
• Use creative participation points to honor that everyone participates differently.
  • Everyone has varying degrees of comfort regarding participation. This can look like visiting office hours, engaging in small groups, speaking up in class.
• Embrace flexibility within attendance policies.
  • Build in allotted time for when a student must miss a class.
  • Have virtual options to attend classes when students are ill, have childcare needs, or students who may be taking care of a loved one in need of assistance.
• Center check-ins around students (and even faculty!)

We understand that some students may need accommodations that are structured for their own needs such as reading and writing literacy software, scribes for essay exams or scantrons, etc. Those students should still receive those accommodations. “…faculty being proactive and designing their courses using the UDL principles from the outset, rather than waiting to provide accommodations later when requested. Faculty can draw on ideas from the students themselves or the disability services offices toward the goal of nondisclosure and privacy for all students and faculty” (Sheerwood & Kattari, 2021, p. 127). UDL is not an accommodation, it is a way to implement your classroom and course material to be accessible to most individuals regardless of SDS accommodations. We all benefit from UDL.