Build a Community on Day One

As we prep to begin a new term, our collective energy comes into focus and we breathe life into our classrooms. Whether a brick-and-mortar building or web-based instruction, there is something truly electric about the buzz of energy a new session generates; a true opportunity to rise from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix and create something anew.

Building community is one of our most essential roles in the early days of the term. The family of learners we knit together in the first week will be a crucial foundation that will support each initiative we undertake in the coming weeks within our classrooms. What can we do to build this collective footprint, ensuring that our students feel genuinely connected and vested from their very first interaction with the learning environment?

Whether on campus or online, genuine, authentic communication matters… greatly. While we often have “get to know you” activities or an “intro” discussion forum, we simply cannot ask our students to jump in and share of themselves without also being willing to do this ourselves.

What life circumstances have you lived through, and grown from, the most? I challenge you to share—openly and honestly—with your students. Create raw, candid opportunities for real human engagement right from the start of class. In a world full of surface-level interactions, making way for truth in the human experience is a panacea for creating a group of learners who feel tangibly connected to the learning sphere. In my classes, I tell my “Day One Mom Story”. I describe what it was like to be a full-time college student, and parent, while navigating childhood cancer with my young son. I tell my students how tough it was… and what trauma looks like on the other side; what we incur when we harness the instinctual grit we each possess.

The boldness of speaking my truth shocks them each and every time—and from the very first day of class, my students truly know who I am and what I am about. This personal sharing not only builds community, it builds trust. Trust is an essential, but oft overlooked, tool of instruction. In the classroom, strategic and relevant sharing doesn’t make us vulnerable; it makes us empowered educators with the potential to inspire and motivate our team.

What meaningful life experiences do you bring to your classroom this term? I hope you will go forth and share authentically… with purpose… to build lasting connections in the classroom in our relentless drive toward supporting and championing our students.

To follow up on any of these ideas, please contact me at fglazer@nyit.edu. This Weekly Teaching Note was adapted from a contribution to the Teaching and Learning Writing Consortium hosted at Western Kentucky University.

Contributor:
Angelica M. Lohr
Manager, CAEX Graduate Writing/Faculty Development
Walden University