I have a pattern every semester, I sit down with my notebook, think of all the issues I've encountered in my classes this semester, brainstorm causes, think of what students have said, then I reflect on what to do better, different, next semester. I never teach the same content in a class, so usually these reflections focus on policies, approaches, types of assignments. I like to have a clear idea of what I want to do next semester so I can ask students during our class post-mortem specific questions based on what I noticed. I then combine this information with what the students say in their final class reflections.
We have 2-3 class periods left, that's it, the semester is essentially done. So this past week I started my normal reflection and I realized that it's hard this semester because there is no good data.
Last week, and for the last few weeks, I've had sometimes as few as 4 students in my class, sometimes 17, out of a class of 30 or 40. Now, are they not coming because they're stressed in their other classes and focusing on those knowing that my class has grace? Are they sick? Are they just overwhelmed? I don't know. I email students, I have check in surveys ever four weeks and follow up with issues they bring up, I send general class emails about how to finish class even if you've been struggling. I've let students opt-in to submitting their final portfolio and having that be the basis for their grade. But it's mostly radio silence.
The students showing up now, doing the work, are the ones that honestly would do well in any class. I worry that the students not coming, not working, are the ones that need it the most and I don't have enought information to know what to do or not do to help more. I worry that first generation students or students without a strong academic foundation don't know what skills they need, or the importance of attending class and find themselves in a hole that they don't know how to get out of even with offers of help.
In pandemic teaching there's just not enough data. There are too many variables. In general there is just too much going on, too much noise. Even the lip service supports seem to have disappeared as everyone just goes back to normal. Students are expected to keep going, do a normal work load, with no help, no support, barely even an acknowledgement of everything going on.
My class policies aren't punitive, there's no attendance policy, no deadlines, no penalty for work. Students have until Tuesday to make up any missing work from the semester, and will know where they stand before turning in their final portfolios due final exam week. My class content is interesting, students tell me they like it, but there's just nothing left at this point.
The fact is we're still in the middle of a global pandemic. We're still wearing masks. We're not social distancing. Students don't have as many only classes as options, and I think the wear and tear of having to come to class every day is proving to be a real strain. On top of all this trauma is cumulative, we're all carrying not just the weight of today but the weight of the last twenty months. All the loss, the grief, the anger. People are still getting sick. People are dealing with the long terms effects of Covid and the world being on fire. People are coping with the realities of having just about every structure and institution fail them in epic ways. It's a ridiculous thing to try and get up every day and function like anything is normal.
I admit I had a minute when I thought- well they're going to other classes, I'm going to get dinged for my DFW rate, maybe students NEED the structure of attendance policies and late work penalties and deadlines. Then I realized I hated all that, and it was ableist, and awful, and if anything students need me to double down on centering them and their needs, not punish them for the situation we continue to find ourselves in. And students have told me how much the policies help.
So I'm doubling down on my students. I'm keeping my no attendance, no late work penalities, no deadlines. I am going to add some language to help them see/explain why attending is so important, HOW the classwork helps them, be more explicit. But I'm going back to total ungrading. In all classes (I teach almost all GE now). I may get dinged on my DFW rates. I may still have five students in class at the end of next semester. But I'll know it won't be because I didn't support them. I'll know I did everything I could to build a structure of support. I rather be the class that gives than be the class that breaks them.
I can only do what I can with the information I have. And I don't have a lot. Some students have shared what they're going through but I teach them to advocate for themselves and teach them they don't have to share personal details or information just to be treated like a human being. I wish I had more information. I wish it was more of the norm that teachers and professors formed PLCs that met regularly and talked about their attendance, their policies, how students are doing, what trends we're seeing, what we can do. But education in higher ed seems very guarded about these conversations. People get very prickly about talking about what things are going on as though they'll be judged. SOme universities have robust centers for teaching and learning or environments where these conversations happen. But I know that in too many places we're meeting in committees on Zoom regularly but we're not talking about what is going on with our classes, sharing information, brainstorming ideas, using research to see what we can do to help. Committee meetings are rarely the conversations we need, creating action items, checking back in, reevaluating. They are almost always meetings that could have just been an email. They're information dumps.
So one thing I'm going to focus on next semester is using check ins to ask for more detailed information, to craft reflections where students can think about what's impacting them and their work. I want to codify some of my policies, explain more, and lean into the freedom for students to choose topics, use class to explore, do work that is meaningful to them.
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