L-term is right around the corner, so this AVID Teaching Tip is a reminder to get to know your students’ names as quickly as possible. This is “an effective way to create a positive first impression and establish initial rapport with the class” (Cuseo and Shapiro 12). Online introductions are also helpful to foster first impressions. Take some time to build get-to-know-you activities into your online and hybrid classes, too, to strengthen relational capacity.
Hear student speaker/poet, Maria Hernandez, give a shout out to the “most caring” instructors who used AVID strategies and “infused the classrooms with play and work” (00:04:50): https://vimeo.com/avidcenter/review/658698944/5f42cb03c4.
Instructors can and should use inquiry to “encourage students to ask questions, think broadly and deeply about the answers, and learn strategies to engage in this process.” Through educator-driven inquiry, the instructor “poses and explores content using open-ended, thought-provoking questions to draw students into higher levels of thought regarding the subject” (“CTE” 5).
Inquiry is part of AVID’s educational philosophy and a key component of its framework: WICOR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading).
Source: “CTE: Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving Virtual PD.” AVID for Higher Education: High Engagement Practices for Teaching and Learning. Chapter 3. Inquiry. https://my.avid.org/curriculum/chapter2.aspx?id=28638.
KWLA (Know, Want to Know, Learned, and Apply): Using a KWLA strategy/worksheet prior to the start of class can help instructors (and students) see what students already “know” about a topic and what they “want to know.” After participating in class/your lesson, the KWLA can help instructors assess what students have “learned” and if they are able to successfully “apply” the information. For a fillable KWLA worksheet that can be used in your classes, check out the “AVID Resources” page available through the Resources’ tab in D2L.
Growth mindset is “the belief that talents and abilities can be developed through hard work and education” (“Start,” par. 4). When students have or develop a growth mindset, they are “more receptive to constructive feedback,” and they will “embrace problems as an opportunity to learn” (Bolger par.1). There are several methods faculty can use to “advocate for a growth mindset” (“Promote” par. 1). One suggestion is to provide opportunities for students to practice “core skills of the class and work with course material through low-stakes assignments or quizzes” (“Promote” par. 3). Another suggestion is to model growth mindset: “Show your passion for learning and maintain positivity as you experience challenges in front of your students” (“Start” closing par.). Additionally, we could take inspiration from Rosie Husbands who is participating in our Newberry Campus campaign of decorating doors to provide students opportunity for engagement. For her door, she added QR codes to the door that link to short videos for students to watch about growth mindset. She has updated the QR codes to use dynamic codes that can be updated to change the information that students can access without having to change the actual codes sheet.
Faculty blogger Molly Bolger offers this illustration, for, as she notes, it provides a helpful visual of growth mindset that “can be helpful for senior undergraduate students and elementary age children” (Bolger par. 4):
What you know now is like a small circle inside a much larger circle of what you want to eventually know. If you learn something new, your small circle grows larger. This can only happen when you try something (with help) that you can’t easily do already. If you only practice things that you can already do (inside your small circle), your circle can’t grow. If you try to do something that is all the way at the edge of the big circle, you won’t learn, because it is too hard. However, if you try something challenging, just outside of your small circle, your circle will grow as you learn more!
Building relationships with our students is so important and something AVID promotes. In fact, “AVID trains educators to recognize the unique circumstances that each student brings to the classroom. Teachers are encouraged to spend time throughout the year intentionally building relationships with their students” (“What If”).
Our L-term schedule has mostly online courses, and we need to intentionally engage with our students to help them feel comfortable and supported. An introduction discussion assignment is one way to get students connected with the content, each other, and their instructor. As noted in “Making Good Use of Discussion Boards,” discussions do “help create a social presence in an online course along with a sense of community. Presence and community . . . can foster emotional connections. They also improve student learning and can create greater feelings of satisfaction with the course.”
As instructors, there is an added benefit of learning information about students that will help you connect with them throughout the semester. Reading instructor Ruthie Hollis shared, “I am finding out the most interesting things about my students! As I read each post, I jot down a couple facts about each student on a little list, and then during the semester I can refer back to my ‘cheat sheet’ when I am giving feedback . . . on their assignments, such as mentioning how a certain skill/concept will be helpful in their particular career field.”
Sources
Hollis, Ruth. “Responding to Discussion Boards.” Microsoft Teams. 30 September 2021. Accessed September 2021.
Full descriptions and registration information for these sessions will be provided, but please go ahead and save these training dates. AVID will be facilitating these online sessions:
AVID Advising, Part I (October 20th, 12:45-4PM)
AVID CTE Critical Thinking and Problem Solving (November 3, 12:45-4PM)
The trainers from AVID let us know there are a few seats available for the ElevateXP sessions. If you are interested in being considered for this training, please reach out to Patsy Garcia today, 9.9.21, at garcia.p@ptc.edu.
Check out Piedmont Technical College’s AVID Repository in D2L. Go to your D2L homepage, and you should see “AVID Resources” in the RESOURCES dropdown menu. This is a growing repository and is organized by division.
Exit tickets can be used as a quick formative assessment to give instructors an idea of how well students understood the material covered in a specific class.
HOW TO USE Ask students to quickly respond (preferably in one minute, no more than five minutes) to a question you ask. Choose how you want them to submit their answers (examples: via an online chat, on a sticky note that they stick to the door on their way out of class, on a sheet of paper they place on your desk, etc.)
TYPES OF QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT ASK STUDENTS TO ANSWER FOR AN EXIT TICKET
If you were creating a quiz about today’s lesson, what two questions would you include?
What specific part of today’s class would you like me to recap in our next class meeting?
How does something you learned in class today connect with a fact you already knew?
If a classmate asked you what he or she missed in class today, what would you say was the most important concept covered?
CHECKOUT THIS VIDEO Nash Community College Lead Instructor, Nancy Worsinger, discusses the “Exit Ticket” AVID Strategy and her “Ah ha moment.”
