Total Credits: .3 Workshop CEU(s)
The pivot to online learning requires faculty to gain additional pedagogical tools to engage learners. It is easy for students to hide behind the screen and get lost in the cloud. However, creating a sense of belonging in your classroom can encourage students to come out of hiding. Based on research and personal experience, this workshop shares practical ideas that help faculty create a sense of belonging in the online environment from the beginning to the end of the semester. Creating an inclusive classroom allows students to feel valued, appreciated, and part of the learning community. Maya Angelou states, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Join the facilitator as she shares strategies for creating a positive, inclusive learning environment for students.
By the end of this workshop, participants know or will be able to:
Plans for Audience Participation and Interaction:
Participants list features of an inclusive learning environment. Activities include viewing a video and evaluating and posting comments regarding a student experiencing classroom detachment. The presenter leads participants in designing and sharing an inclusive strategy that works for their class.
All workshop participants can obtain, at no additional cost:
| Creating a Sense of Belonging eBook (6.4 MB) | 16 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Ms. Essie Childers has mentored and encouraged students to visualize success to reach their academic and personal goals for 34 years. For the past 14 years, she has developed a strong track record of teaching first-year students through the learning frameworks course, Education 1300, and integrated reading and writing courses at Blinn College in Bryan, Texas. In addition, Ms. Childers developed the first online EDUC 1300 Learning Frameworks course at Blinn College. Ms. Childers is also a nationally certified trainer and an adjunct professor at Cisco College, and she is a dynamic, engaging speaker who has presented at numerous conferences across the United States. Ms. Childers' presentation topics include becoming a culturally diverse teacher, creating a culture of success for diverse populations, building a community of learners, engaging students online and in the classroom, creating a multicultural curriculum, race is more than a four-letter word, collaborative active teaching strategies, showing presence and compassion in online spaces, effective ways to communicate, humanizing your course, and many others. Ms. Childers is a former president of the Texas Community College Teachers Association, comprised of over 6,000 teachers and administrators in Texas, and now serves on the foundation board. She has been selected as May 2018 Cengage Faculty Partner of the Month, a 2017 Carol Dochen Developmental Educator of the Year Recipient, a 2014 recipient of CRLA’s Distinguished Teaching Award, a 2014 Outstanding Service Award from Blinn Professional Association, 2013 On Course Ambassador of the Year Award, and a volunteer consultant for the American Association for Adjunct Educators. In 2013, Ms. Childers published her first book,Packing Tools for Success Beyond Middle School, and became the founding director of the Young Ladies Success. In 2019, under the umbrella of Mvita Consulting, LLC, she became the founding CEO of Virtual Success Coaching. When Ms. Childers is not teaching, mentoring students, conducting workshops, or presenting at professional conferences, she enjoys watching old movies, rating restaurants, and spoiling her two grandchildren. She is a graduate of The University of Texas at Tyler, Abilene Christian University, and Walden University, recently completing a graduate certificate in adult learning.
