Open communication & curated content
invite students into richer learning experiences
In my experience, students tend to view English courses with a special sense of fear and trepidation. Therefore, especially early in the semester, I like to establish the course as a cooperative experience that we—the students and I—are taking on together. After all, learning is a reciprocal endeavor.
As such, I find a positive rapport and engaging content instrumental ways to inspire involvement, earn trust and create a dynamic learning environment.
Communication
To me, good communication means maintaining a tone of professionalism and support, keeping students informed about coursework and related content, providing thoughtful feedback and offering a space to hear their voices.
LANGUAGE
I find the following strategies helpful for setting a tone of instruction and support:
- Use of inclusive first-person plural (we).
- Framing course as expansive and exploratory, as an experience that will sharpen students’ skill set and add to their knowledge base.
See the two files here for examples:
In which the first-person plural point of view indicates that I, too, will be a part of this portion of the semester.
In which the language frames the course and its work as skill-building endeavors, acknowledges student fears & credits students’ contributions.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
I view the announcement feature of LMS platforms as the equivalent of a newsfeed within a course site. And because these announcements are also automatically delivered as emails to student’s school accounts, I also view this function as a push notification service.
Thus, I employ the Announcement feature for oh-so-many things like:
- Deadline reminders.
- Mini-Lessons.
- Supplemental information like…
- Relevant articles or excerpts.
- Trivia.
- Topical profiles related to subject matter.
- Poems.
- Songs.
I also use this kind of push notification for information already posted in the course site, which means the same information is accessible in a few different ways:
- As the full document.
- As an announcement.
- As an email.
Doing so has the advantages of…
- Drawing attention to the fact that the information exists.
- Emphasizing important and/or timely material like readings, instructions, examples, supplements, etc.
- Providing a link that takes students directly to the posted material.
The slideshow below provides many examples of the Announcement feature at work in my course sites:
I like to share additional material like readings or podcasts that are relevant to the subject matter covered in the course. This material is not required, but it allows interested students the opportunity to discover more about our topics of study. 
For some units, I post daily announcements related to subject matter. In this instance, this his announcement lets studens know to expect poetry every day during the literary analysis unit of ENG 111. 
For the classification unit in ENG 111, I posted daily samples of classifications we are familiar with in the world outside the classroom. This announcement is part of the series profiling colors. 
This announcement is posted in conjunction with the ENG 111 classification unit; this series profiles generations. 
This announcement provides students with an article the exemplifies the blend of fields of study, which is a main focus of ENG 112. 
In my English courses, I will frequently post daily announcements related to grammar and mechanics. This one is the first in a series that explains how to correct for comma splices and run-ons. 
At the beginning of a new module, I post an announcement with the work due for that module. 
Sometimes I will be extra nice to students by posting a reminder announcement to nudge the submission of work. 
Fridays in my Southern Culture class herald the next edition of Friday Songs, a weekly announcement series that highlights various song/artists/genres of the region.
FEEDBACK
I provide general and individualized feedback for assignments, particularly essays. Each student receives tailored and timely comments about their own work, and the whole class receives an announcement, like the ones below, with comments that apply to the assignment overall:
INPUT
Not only do I communicate regularly with students through announcements, feedback and other exchanges, I also build in opportunities to hear from students through assignments like the ones here:
A reader-response forum in which students share how a quote of their choice from an assigned reading resonated with them in some way.
A teacher-student exchange in which students have opportunity to ask questions & share about their status in the course.
Assignments of this nature allow students to take more agency in…
- internalizing the course material,
- formulating their opinions about a topic,
- and assessing their own progress in the course.
Because these assignments are…
- personal and exploratory,
- evaluated on the basis of engagement and thoroughness rather than on adherence to grammar and style rules as with the course’s formal writing),
- offered at regular (often weekly) intervals within the course,
student response has been highly positive, from expressions of increased interest in subject matter to connections with personal experiences to realizations of greater self-awareness.
Content Selection
When collecting or creating materials for course sites, I consider if the content is engaging in one or more of the following ways:
Current
Reflects updated research or relates to
contemporary ideas.
examples:
The investigative topic for the ENG 112 Social Sciences Report is how the pandemic has impacted the use of social media for news consumption.
This article blends subject matter with trending notions about the best life now and representation of zombies in popular culture:
Interactive
Invites students to actively participate
in learning process.
example:
Students compile the questions for then distribute and complete the Google form survey linked below to gather data for the ENG 112 report on the pandemic’s impact on use of social media for news consumption:
ENG 112 LN4 Social Science Survey on Social Media & News Consumption during COVID-19.
Relational
Connects students to their personal experiences,
to each other or to the world beyond.
example:
Several course readings cover life-skill topics like procrastination and interpersonal relationships, and reader-response and reflection forums like the ones here create space for students to make their own personal connections:
Relevant
Pertains to subject matter, learning outcome or other course-specific area and/or to student experience (i.e., life as a college student, etc.).
example:
Most course readings pertain to subject matter in form and/or content. For instance, one linked reading for the ENG 111 classification unit demonstrates the writing mode of classification while also educating about active listening.
The article below shows students that the process of classification is more common than it may seem:
Varied
(by type & topic)
Different types of content types address
different learner styles.
Different topics expand knowledge base, address different backgrounds & appeal to different interests.
examples:
Topics in ENG 112 range from whale song to Big Data to dystopia; readings in ENG 111 include—among other things—heritage narratives, advice on friendship, a comparison of Civil War generals, an analysis of the psychological effects of social media and an examination of the return of wildlife into urban areas.
See multimedia samples in CONTENT section of this portfolio.
silverandshade.com 
