Paying Attention to the Social Emotional Needs of our Students, Families and Staff is VitalWithout the benefit of face-to-face contact, educators and students in online-only environments may feel isolated and lonely. If you and your students were accustomed to having unplanned and informal “hallway” conversations before or after class, you now realize the importance of those interactions to your overall learning experience. Those conversations can have a direct impact on participation and on students’ sense of connection with you and each other, and they can easily go away with remote environments. How do you recreate those informal social moments? Here are a few ideas:
**Set up online office hours through whichever medium is best for you and your class, be it email, instant chat, or voice and video calling. Make yourself available for student support on a regular and consistent basis just as you would in person. **Create a virtual “hallway” where students are encouraged to have more candid—but class appropriate—conversations, just as they might have before their in-person classes. For example, you can log in to the online tool you are using a few minutes early and let students know that you will be there then. You can privately instant message with individual students or chat with those who show up early as a group. Alternately, you can implement a separate chat, establish a hashtag for the class, have phone or video calls, or encourage informal engagement on applications like WhatsApp, WeChat, or Viber. |
Top 11 tips for wellness during the transition to online education
April 6, 2020
Students, faculty and staff may be facing feelings of isolation and challenges with the recent changes that have occurred around the world due to the spread of COVID-19. Adjusting to an online educational format often can make it more difficult to balance roles and responsibilities as students, family members, friends and employees.
Here are some simple tips and suggestions for successfully managing this transition:
https://www.stmarytx.edu/2020/11-wellness-tips/
Students, faculty and staff may be facing feelings of isolation and challenges with the recent changes that have occurred around the world due to the spread of COVID-19. Adjusting to an online educational format often can make it more difficult to balance roles and responsibilities as students, family members, friends and employees.
Here are some simple tips and suggestions for successfully managing this transition:
- Anchor yourself. To best deal with change, you need to be grounded, be real with yourself and find out what works best for you. This will be different for each individual.
- Limit the time you spend watching news about the COVID-19 pandemic and limit your exposure to credible sources. Check information from credible sources such as the CDC, as well as state, county and city health organizations. The local news typically provides a quick summary of developments in your local area and the larger, global community.
- Maintain your daily schedule. Get up and get ready. Wake up at the same time each day, exercise, shower, dress, eat, brush your teeth and relocate to your new workspace at the appropriate time.
- Maintain good sleep regimen. Go to bed at a reasonable time. Limit cellphone use and blue-light exposure. Limit caffeine intake after 5 p.m. Ensure that you are typically getting between six and eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.
- Develop a weekly schedule that follows your regular routine as much as possible including class, study time, meals, breaks, socializing with friends, family time and self-care.
- Ensure you have a good workspace to complete your online classes. Ideally, your workspace should be relatively private with minimal distractions and adequate space for a laptop computer and classroom materials, such as textbooks, paper and writing utensils.
- Allow a little extra time to log in and test your connection before attending class or other online appointments.
- If possible, attend live or listen to recorded classes at the scheduled time. Ask questions to clarify your understanding during live classes and note questions or difficult concepts to discuss with your professor or peers via established telecommunication channels (e.g., email or phone).
- If you have free time in your schedule, consider some fun new options:
- Start a new hobby.
- Clean or sort something.
- Spend some time outdoors (while maintaining a 6-foot social distance).
- Try a new recipe in the kitchen.
- Paint, color, write or draw.
- Create a new playlist.
- Learn a new language.
- Use your imagination.
- Reach out and stay in touch with classmates, friends and family you no longer see in person through telecommunication. Start or resume study groups in an online environment. Set up online interactions like movie dates (e.g. Netflix night), coffee dates, social hours and chat times for you to stay connected with others.
- Allow extra time for stress management and self-care. Utilize online tools to learn and practice relaxation skills, yoga and meditation. Calm and other relaxation and meditation apps are offering free services during this time.
https://www.stmarytx.edu/2020/11-wellness-tips/