Greta - Thank you for facilitating a conversation on such an important topic as student engagement and relationship building. As an educator new to GCU, this is a great forum to utilize in an effort to affirm my current practices and develop a repertoire of new strategies for connecting with students.

In my experiences of teaching in early childhood and elementary education (grades 1-5) and higher education, as well as in corporate training, One of the practices I have found to work well consistently in connecting with, engaging, and empowering students who seek to enter the field of education is storytelling. Sharing my personal experiences with students can include me providing insight into my successes as well as my failures as both a student and classroom teacher, and even as a parent. I try to be as transparent with my students as appropriate, which at times means I make myself vulnerable to their thoughts and opinions of my decisions. However, I use the opportunities to challenge them to diversify their own problem solving opportunities. During my storytelling, I have seen the most confident of students begin to challenge their own conventions. I have also witnessed the most apathetic of students convey a consistent interest.

Over the years, students have shared their appreciation for my candor and, in turn, are more willing to follow suit in the moment or later. Some of my students have come back to me and said they often have asked themselves, “What would Mr. Hollis do (or have done)?” I have found that sharing my own approaches to situations also minimizes any existing fears students may have about new concepts, future experiences, and expectations. As a result, their confidence builds and they feel comfortable taking risks.

Hello Greta,

Thank you for facilitating this important topic.  I believe that when teaching adult learners, the instructor must have a sense of empathy for the students.  The vast majority of the students in the graduate educational leadership program are working full time.  Many have spouses and children. As we all know, sometimes life gets in the way!  During these difficult times, I have found that showing compassion and empathy goers a long way in establishing a culture of respect.  The difficulty with this is that you must still hold the students accountable.  This balance can be tricky but not impossible. This goes hand-in-hand with being available for your students.  Whether via email, individual forum, or phone calls, I have found personal communications  key in establishing clear expectations while also showing empathy for any student experiencing difficulties. 

We all know teaching is about building relationships.  Often times, a little empathy can go a long way towards this end.....

Hi Greta and everyone,

This is a great topic! I teach Ground and online. I find humor is as important as anything in creating relationships with students. It is a bit trickier online. I am constantly trying to bring some fun into the classroom, even online. I have read studies in this area. From personal experience the best way to bring it in online is through personal short pieces from my life that relate to the material. It seems to be working! 

Nathan, I love the idea of storytelling in the classroom! Some of my favorite teachers and professors were those who told personal stories. It makes us seem like real people to our students. I, too, often weave in a story from my own teaching and leadership experiences. For example, when I teach about behavior management I have tons of stories of crazy stunts pulled by my own past students -- I even still have some notes given to me by my students many years ago that I include in presentations for my college students to read. It brings humor into the discussion but also opens up a more serious talk about how to handle such situations. And, I love that you state you can talk about your failures as well as successes. I often share with my advisees when they are frustrated or having difficulties, my own journey through college to help encourage them. This is a great example of empowerment. Sharing our stories leads to student confidence and courage. Have you ever considered doing research in this area focusing on storytelling in teaching? Might be a really good study. Thanks for contributing to the discussion, Nathan! Good luck with your GCU journey. It is a wonderful place to be.

Sari,

I love that your and Nathan's responses connect so well! Nathan talked about sharing personal experiences through storytelling, and you included humor as important (through sharing your life experiences). Humor is important but it comes more natural to some people than others. I think it is a trait we could learn if we feel inadequate in that area. I have often found it difficult to sit through a sermon, however my pastor keeps our attention the entire time because we never know what he is going to say that will crack us up. He always says, "I make you laugh to make you listen." I would love to share an article (attached) with you called Laughing with the lecturer: the use of humour in shaping university teaching. It is an excellent resource with some great teacher/professor interviews. Thanks for contributing to the discussion. Keep making them laugh. It is a wonderful way to connect to our students.

Mike,

You are so right! We have to remember our students are human beings with a lot going on. When a student tells me they have surgery coming up or something similar, I make a point to write it on my calendar and check on them. If they are late on an assignment, I immediately check on them. That doesn't mean we are not expecting them to be responsible, it only means we care and want them to be successful. If there is a pattern of lateness, poor work, etc. that is another story. I keep referring to my pastor but he has a lot of good things to say - I remember him once saying that just about every person in the congregation that morning (around 2000) had something they were dealing with. He told us to think about this before we judge or question others. Made me think for sure. Same with our students. I like that you talked about balance. It is tough but we can't let down on our expectations. Do you have any experiences where students have tried to take advantage of your compassion?

Greta…

I agree with Sari London’s comments regarding humor in the online area. Another area I include in my classes is the tone that this is an educational journey we are taking together and that I, like the students, can learn as much from their comments and suggestions in the discussion forums as the content relevant material I convey to them.

I also want them to know and understand that I am not omnipotent. I do make mistakes and I am willing to correct and admit them. Just this past week I had a word choice error in the CATS post, a student pointed it out to me and my response after thanking her included “Your instructor had a “Blonde Moment” when posting the Weekly Wrap Up.” This allows students to see and appreciate the human factor of online instruction.

Marti,

You made me laugh so you're obviously doing it right! I agree with you that sometimes students have the idea that we are "omnipotent," and if they only knew, right? Can you think of instances where even family members or friends begin to act strangely toward you after you received your college degrees, especially a doctorate. I have a few times felt like people thought I had some contagious disease, but once I talked to them as I always had or talked to new relationships, usually they came around. It's like you say, we have to be open and let them know that we can learn as much from them as they learn from us and that we are not perfect. If we make this clear, connections are formed and students feel empowered to take risks in our classrooms. Thanks for your comments and for making me laugh today. 

Socratic methods in my view are an excellent way to keep the discussions fresh and moving forward. Also scaffolding regarding forum posts.

Tom

Tom, thanks for your comment about Socratic methods and scaffolding. GCU has some excellent resources (videos, written explanations, and journal articles) about and for using the Socratic method (example: https://cirt.gcu.edu/teaching3/tips/socraticmethod .) I also did a search in the library and there were over 1100 articles/books etc. listed on this method. It is one of my favorite instructional strategies to use in teaching. I'm attaching one of the articles I found in GCU's library which I found to be an excellent source. I would love to know more about your use of scaffolding if you don't mind sharing with us.

Greta, thanks for facilitating this topic. I agree with Nathan, Mike, and Sari... storytelling, empathy, and humor are all important and I try to incorporate each into my presentations and how I treat students. With regard to my face-to-face classes, I try to follow a certain structure... (I hate to say it ... but, I am a structure sort of guy...:-/). I start my presentation with something thought-provoking... for example, in a recent Business Essentials course I started off with a Youtube video about Thomas Piketty's views on income inequality... for the business types, this usually gets the juices flowing. I then present some content (I use a lot from publisher provided sources, but I don't use those materials exclusively) and then follow up with an in-class exercise of some sort. I then repeat this "cycle" two or three times during the class. I find this keeps students engaged. With regard to videos, I also try to pull in clips from movies that demonstrate key aspects of what I am trying to get across. For example, I use a clip from The Blind Side to show how leaders need to treat people as individuals...I used as clip from Remember the Titans to illustrate how leaders motivate followers. I have found students really like this and seem to better relate to the course content. With regard to online courses, I am working with the idea of creating a beginning to end workbook that carries a theme throughout the workbook. For example, I teach a "blended" business statistics course and I am working on a workbook that is centered on the residents in a nursing home. Every new statistical technique that is introduced through the course content will have a practical application involving the nursing home residents. the idea is the workbook will become a story of sorts. Workbooks aren't new but I like the idea of the story as it keeps the students "connected" in a way that is harder to do with a simple collection of problems to work. I am looking forward to follow-on discussions! Regards, Tom

Tom (Roberts),

I love that you use different instructional strategies throughout each class! That really keeps students on their toes and the lessons interesting. I've often used Youtube Videos but I have to be honest, I haven't used clips from movies or other media that I can remember. I remember professors using this technique when I was a student, and actually recall specific ones that have stuck with me, but had forgotten about it for my own teaching. I will definitely start using movie clips in my courses in the future. I love the idea of using clips from The Blind Side and Remember the Titans. Both excellent examples. I also love the workbook idea. Another strategy I had forgotten about. Thanks so much for contributing and sharing these excellent examples that we can take straight to our classrooms!

Tom (Badley),

Current events can be utilized in any subject area and is a wonderful way to encourage discussion. It also helps students be more understanding of our multicultural and global existence and make connections to one another that we otherwise might have missed. I have an assignment in my teacher education social studies methods course where at the beginning of each meeting someone is responsible for sharing a current event. They summarize it, maybe show a video or picture, and share thoughts. We spend up to 5 minutes sharing ideas, feelings, etc. Sometimes it spurs healthy debate which I may allow to go over the 5 minutes. Thanks for sharing!

Greta, another thing I do for some of my classes is to preparea weekly summary of “Leadership Takeaways.” I began this practice with one ofmy graduate classes. The idea was to encapsulate some leadership lessons I wantedthem to “takeaway” from the course. These takeaways may or may not be directlyaddressed by the course-level objectives but they were related to the subjectmatter discussed. The point was I wanted them to take something away that I feltwas important (based on my past experience) to their professional development.These takeaways were passed out the week following… meaning on Tuesday evening(face-to-face) you would get the takeaways regarding the subject matter fromthe previous week. We would spend a few minutes at the beginning of class discussingthe content, which also served as a quick review of the previous week’s subjectmatter.  I usually had these printed upon card-stock… two to a page. Attached is an example of one from anorganizational behavior class I taught earlier this year. As I only had 10students, this was not a “logistical” challenge as a larger class might be. Thecard stock added some durability with the idea being they would clip them alltogether and put them in their desk drawer at work for easy reference. For myon-line classes I post them each week as an announcement. I label them as “LeadershipTakeaways from Week #X”. I’m not sure how well this works… I have not had anyannouncement comments so I’m not sure if they are reading them or not. Also, todate, my online classes have all been undergraduate courses so the professionaldevelop interest may not be there.

Hi all. I have appreciated reading your comments and want to incorporate some of your ideas. I teach exclusively online in the MSN programs. I agree that empathy is critical. I try to share survival and time management strategies from when I was an online doctoral student. In the weekly prayer forums, I try to share verses that are uplifting and have to do with endurance and perseverance. I also believe that students want to feel that personal connection even though they are in an online classroom. Each week I record and post a YouTube video for each of my classes. I review expectations for the week, clarify assignments, and add additional insights about the week's content areas. Also, encouraging students to share personal difficulties and ask for prayers or share praises in the prayer forum has really pulled some of my students together. Occasionally, I still get a section of students that are minimally participative. I then try really hard to tie the content to practical examples of use in their daily professional lives. Usually that will get them talking a bit. 

Tom (Roberts),

I love your "Leadership Takeaways" and plan to use this idea. What a terrific way to connect with your students and for them to connect to one another. I've used exit slips at the end of face-to-face classes, but this would be so much better because there is communication and connections made through discussion and the cards you give them to keep. I can see several ways to use this idea. Thanks again for sharing!

Tom (Badley),

This is an excellent article that you shared! I'm re-posting the link to reiterate the usefulness to others. And, I hope you don't mind, I just tweeted it   

https://middleweb.com/28404/scaffolding-student-ski

I love the following statements from the article:

"It is not enough to present the skills of discussion to students; teachers need to actively scaffold student development of these skills.  Teachers can scaffold directly – through modeling and coaching – or indirectly, by selecting structures and protocols that will shape and guide student interactions."

"The goal is to nurture and support student learning of the skills to the point that students are able to use them independent of the teacher’s intervention. In our book, we refer to these different settings for discussions as “forms” and present three identified forms on a continuum—moving from more teacher control to more student responsibility."

Scaffolding gives encouragement and empowerment to our students. I love it!

Traci,

Welcome to the discussion! I have also recorded and shared videos. You Tube is a great idea! I've also used Knowledge Vision (Knovio) and posted a link in the announcements. Any time in our online courses that we can use visuals, audio/videos is helpful. I've found it makes connecting on a personal level a bit easier. The verses you share are a wonderful encouragement tool as well as sharing your personal journey. Thank you for contributing to the conversation and sharing your ideas. They are very helpful.

Hi Tom (Badley). I put a Prayer Forum thread in the Main Forum at the beginning of each week. I find that students use if more often if it is right in front of them when they are posting their regular work. In addition to the scripture verses, I also post a prayer for their well-being for the coming week. 

Traci 

Hi all;

Greta; Thank you for starting this discussion.

Tom R.; Using something thought-provoking as a medium of engagement is good. It enhances critical thinking.

Dr. Badley; Current event is another tool to use in engaging the students. Thank you all for sharing.

Sali

Salimat,

Thanks for contributing to the discussion. Glad you are enjoying the ideas and comments.

Greta - 

This is a great topic, I'm taking some of these suggestions straight into my class.

Like you, I engage the students from the first comment on the welcome board. Reaching through the screen is my visual, I want to make them feel like there is a real person on the other end of the keyboard.

This past semester, one of the last assignments was to make a pitch video, one that would sell their idea to their "client". I enjoyed watching them so much, that I was inspired to make one. I'm going to now start every class with a welcome video and strive to do one a week. 

Also, I had a discussion thread that turned to trucks (go figure) and one student had saved for years for a particular truck, so I asked him to post a picture of it. It was truly a sweet ride and the whole class chimed in on the truck. But the lesson wasn't lost on the class about saving money and long term goals.

Thank you for hosting this useful thread!

Best

Kirsten Hall, MBA

Kirsten, you made my morning with your comments about using some of the suggestions from this forum, and about the "sweet ride!" Those are the kind of teaching moments that help us connect with our students and bring interest to the curriculum. I guarantee the students from your class will retain much of the information for a very long time. Your idea about the "pitch video" gave me another idea for my undergraduate education majors. I think I will have them make a "pitch" video as a teacher candidate - sort of a video portfolio sharing what will make them an excellent teacher and why a principal should hire them. Even if they do not use it I think it would be fun to share with their peers and help with connecting with each other. Thank you for taking time to share with us!

Tom (Badley),

The Add Ons link is a really good resource area. How do you make sure students are checking it?  

Greta, thank you, I'm sure my lame attempts at slang get  eye rolls, like my kids, but I believe they sense my heart is in the right place. For the pitch video, make it no longer than 60 seconds. We watched TED Talks videos the week before, so they had a good idea of the format and brevity. It's a challenge, surprisingly. 

Tom, I'm curious as well at how you entice your students to look in add ons. I haven't used that feature, I'll have to give it soon thought as to what I'd place there. 

This is a refreshing discussion. Thank you for sharing your experience, all. I've gotten some new ideas. 

Best

Kirsten 

Kirsten,

I'm glad you mentioned TED talks. I sometimes forget to use them but they are a great resource as well. 60 seconds, wow! I'm really glad you mentioned this limit. No telling what I would have ended up with if you hadn't. Thanks for your positive comments!

Tom,

I like the idea of a CATs assignment to get them checking add ons. 

I am new to GCU and will be teaching online nursing courses; I currently teach in a traditional classroom.  I have really enjoyed and have gotten some great ideas from this site!  

I have found that students appreciate the teacher being REAL and sharing real-life honest anecdotes with them. Stories help connect the dots more than anything. 

Dr. Joyce Pate

Hi Joyce, and welcome to GCU! Thank you for contributing to this forum. You are so right about sharing stories with our students. It helps us connect and empowers them to take risks in our classrooms. If your stories are like mine, it can bring a lot of humor as well to the classroom environment. For my teacher education majors and ed leadership majors I often tell stories of my experience teaching elementary and middle school as well as when I was a school administrator. I have enough stories from teaching 7th grade English to last a lifetime!

Hi Greta

I hope I am not over simplifying this, but I have learned over my 11 years that if I do not take the time to understand the student's world, I have no chance of connecting with them.

At the start of every class I ask them about themselves or make sure to carefully read posts to make sure I understand their world, then relate to that world as I teach, post, or discuss.  The students are people and want to have the learning connect with their world.  The more real world we can make the courses, the better.

Thanks
Rob

Hi Rob,

Not oversimplifying at all. Connecting based on background knowledge and experiences allows our students to feel more comfortable with us and each other. If you ask students about themselves or comment on their introductions or personal responses you are showing them that they are more to you than a number. The same goes for us sharing with them. When we share anything personal with students they begin to trust us. I try to relate my course content with the real world as much as possible. Thanks for contributing. I appreciate your comments.

Hi Dr. Badley

I could not agree more. I think too many times instructors get caught up in the position of being an instructor, and forget that really we are there to help students learn.

I tell my students in every class, it is not how much I know, it is how much I can help you learn.

Thanks

rob

Tom, that is a good idea to ask a follow up question. I do that sometimes. I think I will start doing it more.

Rob,

I hope you don't mind but I think I'm going to borrow your last statement to use as a quote on my email signature. I also have a white board on my office door that I add quotes to every few days so I will also use it there. I'll give you credit  . We must come up with a variety of ways to connect to students. I think adding this quote to my email signature and white board will help students to see that I am seriously concerned about their success and well-being. Thank you!

Greta

Not a problem at all. It is amazing how that one comment can set the tone for the entire class. It takes the edge off and lets the students know I am there to help them learn at their individual speeds and abilities.

Thanks 

Rob

Tom, I understand not talking a lot about private/personal information. I think we do what is comfortable to each of us. Thanking them for military service, discussing a sports team, etc. are good ways to connect without providing a lot of personal information. And, yes, technology can be frustrating. I think it just takes time, patience, and practice :)