2020 has The years when the COVID-19 pandemic began and following have not turned out the way that anyone imagined. Many of us continue to experience anxiety due to the uncertainty of the coming months. Neither you nor your students is sure what happens next. A variety of experiences are producing or re-activating trauma, including senseless deaths, loss of the a Spring semester that we envisioned in 2019, loss of the pre-pandemic world, perhaps loss of loved ones. So responding to ourselves and our students using trauma-informed teaching and learning practices can help.
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Using these principles can support you as you build courses and respond to students.
As faculty think about building their courses, building in these five elements can encourage students to build resilience.
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- Use the "announcements" feature in Blackboard for your class. Tell your students that you plan to use this feature so that they check the announcements regularly.
- Use post-it notes for yourself. If a student asks a question that you need to check on in order to respond, write the question down. Then return to it in a future clasclass, showing the students that they can trust you to return to their questions.
- "Sandwich" your course modules. Begin with an overview; provide the content/learning experience; end with a review. Clearly connect information from overview through content to review.
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