Building Confidence & Community in the High-Engagement Classroom

1. Building Confidence & Community in the High-Engagement Classroom Michelle Doherty Department of English Irvine Valley College

2. Low Confidence, a problem we face: • Oftentimes, students feel like outsiders. • They fear college, fear failing, fear professors. • They disappear.

3. from “Towards a Vision of Accelerated Curriculum and Pedagogy,” by Katie Hern and Myra Snell, founders of the California Acceleration Project: “Many students come into the community college classroom with a history of uneven, fraught, and even traumatic educational experiences that lead them to mistrust their teachers and, perhaps more important, to mistrust themselves as learners. The dynamics are especially pronounced in developmental classrooms, where students are poised to disappear if it looks like they won’t make it.”

4. Even when we say...

6. “Towards a Vision of Accelerated Curriculum and Pedagogy” continued: Can we relate? “After all, how often do we seek out activities we’re not good at? Don’t we all avoid experiences in which we think we’ll be exposed as failures?”

7. Failure!

8. from The College Fear Factor: How Students and Professors Misunderstand One Another, by Rebecca D. Cox: “Such [self-proclaimed outsiders] benefit greatly from interactions that affirm their academic competence and ability to succeed.”

9. A community of “validating agents” that gives plenty of opportunities to become involved. • Laura Rendon, qtd. in Cox

10. We learn better when we feel seen. Being seen builds confidence. But how do we create this community of “validating agents” that sees, hears, and engages our students?

11. “Low-Stakes, Collaborative Practice” -Katie Hern and Myra Snell, “Towards a Vision.”

12. Low-Stakes, Collaborative Practice means... • handing over control, transforming your role. • classroom is student, notinstructor, centered. • creating activities for the highest levels of engagement (pair-work ideal). • Low stakes = nothing to lose.

13. Low-Stakes, Collaborative Practice enables... • myriad opportunities to process and engage. • resolution of former confusions. • acquisition of in-depth understanding.

14. from “Towards a Vision of Accelerated Curriculum and Pedagogy,” by Katie Hern and Myra Snell, founders of the California Acceleration Project: “When collaborating with their peers, students often self-correct many initial mistakes, and their learning becomes much deeper than if we had simply provided the right answer. We need to allow students the space for productive struggle.”

15. “Students need to enter the world of ideas that higher education represents and be welcomed into its conversations-in-progress.”

16. Students are best welcomed into these ensuing conversations in a student-centered classroom - one with low-stakes, collaborative practice at its heart and plenty of “Relevant, thinking-oriented curriculum” which unites the class on “issues that matter.”

17. What Do We Know? What Don’t We Know? In-class processing activity

18. Part I: After taking 5-8 minutes to read and annotate Parul Sehgal’s article, “The Profound Emptiness of Resilience,” in pairs or small groups, create a poster following the directions below: • Together, in pairs or groups, discern what you comprehend about the text, about the author’s main idea, her argument, her audience, and anything else you find pertinent or interesting to note. • On the top half of the poster, bullet-point or make a word/idea collage of anything you understand of the text - What We Know. Be explicit, listing as many items as possible. Title this section, accordingly. • Next, discuss any uncertainties and confusions about the text with your peers, OR venture to guess what may be potential confusions for novice readers. • In the bottom section, list or create a word collage of What We Don’t Know, and what you’re confused about. If there aren’t any confusions, guess what may be problematic for some. Title sections of poster accordingly for distinction. *Low-Stakes, Collaborative Practice w/ Relevant, Thinking-Oriented Curriculum/ 25 minutes - abbreviated

20. Part II: Gallery Walk After completing your posters, pick up several post-its and read your peers’ posters thoroughly. With the particular aim of clarifying confusions (or potential confusions), attempt to answer what your peers did not know or were confused about. Although you, too, may be uncertain of answers, grapple with the material in hopes to help them. During this time, you will revisit the text and discuss questionable ideas or sections with your group. You may discern the “truth” of the matter, together, and help illuminate your peers’ confusion. Do your best, since they are currently examining your poster, hoping to provide you answers, as well. After all posters are read, comments made, and answers given to the best of your ability, return to your own posters and read your peers’ post-it notes. Did your peers answer any confusions? Did you answer theirs?

21. Share your... Did you experience community and/or confidence? Share with your peers what part/s of the activity gave you a sense of community? Which part/s inspired confidence? How do you see the activity inspiring engagement and building confidence from the student’s vantage point? How might you use an activity like this one (with your own unique variation)in your classroom?

22. Step into My Shoes metacognitive reflection/ peer response

23. Cox’s The College Fear Factor continued: “An instructor’s ability to assuage students’ fears can be the first and most important step toward actively inviting students into the classroom to accomplish what they perceived as challenging but ‘doable’ work.” Metacognitive reflections are a good beginning!

24. Part I: From a student’s or an instructor’s perspective, take 5 minutes to respond to one question below in writing? What thought or mental habit gets your way? Does any self-talk (words you speak to yourself, about yourself) keep you from getting work done? Does anything lead you into a sort of “downward spiral”? What stresses you out most about the work you’re attempting to do? Focus on a current concern, something you perhaps haven’t figured out yet. If you are problem-free and currently basking in a sweet peace of mind, fabulous! However, still try to think of some struggle you’ve had in this regard that you can share. Please share only what you’re personally comfortable sharing, while being as transparent as possible. Who knows? Your transparency may really help a peer know he or she is not alone in this struggle. Instructors experience greater benefits when responding from a personal perspective. *Please Note: Typically, I afford Step into My Shoes and other metacognitive reflections a bit more class time than what we’re attempting in today’s simulation.

25. Part II: After sharing your struggle in writing, cross the room to exchange responses with one of your peers: Take 5 minutes to read and respond in writing to what your peer has shared. With respect, step into her shoes, and empathize to the best of your ability. If you’ve been where she is, share your experience. If you have advice that helped you, share this, too. If you’ve never been in those shoes, is there a comforting word or a “pearl of wisdom” you might offer, still? What did you do when you were there? What would you do? Can you relate?

26. Resources: Cox, Rebecca D.. The College Fear Factor: How Students and Professors Misunderstand One Another. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2011. Hern, Katie and Myra Snell. “Towards a Vision of Accelerated Curriculum and Pedagogy: High Challenge, High Support Classrooms for Underprepared Students.” Learning Works, Dec. 2013.http://www.learningworksca.org/accelerated-pedagogy/

27. Questions? email: mdoherty@ivc.edu