I found that self-disclosure bridged the gap between the students and me and led to increased student engagement. In my case, I told them my educational history. I told the story about all of the failures, mishaps and bad decisions. I showed them the real me in a presentation accompanied with real photographs of key individuals in my life. My intentions were to let the students know that they can succeed, no matter how insurmountable the obstacles may seem. At the end of the story, I realized that my story had impacted the students. Further, grades increased in my courses by about 20% after the talk.

When I spoke, it was to a very attentive audience that seemed poised at the edges of their seats. No one was texting or doing anything disruptive. They found out their professor is a human. Not a robot.

What I shared was this: I went to college with the goal of becoming a medical doctor and majored in biology with a minor in chemistry. During my second year of college, I lost my academic scholarship because I made a “D” in a course in my major. In my junior year after meeting all the prerequisites, I was accepted into dental school. Upon arrival at dental school, I found out I was pregnant. During my first year of dental school, I gave birth to a daughter. I discovered after the first two years that I did not like dentistry as much as I thought I would. I dropped out of dental school and began working as a receptionist. Due to the input and influence of a mentor who had taught me biochemistry in dental school, I applied and was accepted to graduate school. Because of this chance I finally had the opportunity to follow the dream I had denied myself all along … to teach.

Graduate school was a very difficult time for me and being a mom did not make things any easier. After the first semester, I was placed on academic probation. At the end of the second year, I took the written qualifying exam and failed. The director of my program told me that he honestly did not think that I could complete the program. One year later, I retook the qualifying exam and passed. Two years after that, I received my PhD.

All of these experiences made me a better student. More importantly, these experiences make me a more empathetic and effective professor. As a result of having told my real story to my students, I have become a “mother of another color” to many of my students and I am very proud of this title.

Feedback from my self-disclosure was all positive. Here are just a few of the things students shared in response:

• I know you have to work hard to achieve your goals and now I know I can do it too.
• It let me know that that even though I may start off bad; I can still have a chance to be what I want to be.
• At times, i have been scared to ask you questions but from now on it won’t be a problem.
• I now realize you weren’t given anything; you earned it all.
• This talk makes me want to be like you in a sense because you were able to persevere.
• You seem more approachable now and I know that you are not perfect. Most professors make it seem like they are perfect and did excellent throughout their career.
• You are the best professor I have ever met in my life.

Being able to have an impact on students has been my goal from the beginning of my teaching career. I believe that my self-disclosure had a direct impact on my effectiveness as a professor.

Now it’s your turn. What are some ways you humanize yourself to help build rapport with students? Please share in the comment box.

Dr. Leslie Wooten-Blanks is an assistant professor in the department of biology at Claflin University.

How Do I Create a Climate for Learning in My Classroom?

Program includes a CD with the video presentation, plus supplemental materials, PowerPoint slides, and complete transcript • $99

We’ve all encountered “toxic” learning environments–apathetic students, disillusioned faculty, an entire roomful of people waiting for class to just end, already.

But of course, that’s far from what you (or your students) really want. You want a robust, positive learning environment, in which everyone understands and appreciates why they’re spending time together.

If you have twenty minutes, you can learn how to promote exactly that sort of environment. This 20 minute program will help you transform a classroom from hum-drum to humming in no time flat.

In this idea-filled video presentation, you’ll learn from Dr. Maryellen Weimer, consultant, editor of The Teaching Professor and professor emerita at Penn State-Berks. She shares valuable concepts you can put to work right away in every class.

In just 20 minutes, you’ll learn:

• How positive classroom climates are created.
• Who creates them.
• How they’re maintained.
• Specific ways you can contribute.
• How you can help your students contribute.
• The “pet peeves” of both faculty and students, and how to overcome them.
• What constitutes a memorable, positive experience for students and faculty alike.

A small investment of your time will show you how to create a collaborative, engaged classroom experience that everyone will appreciate.

Order this 20 Minute Mentor

How Do I Create a Climate for Learning in My Classroom? • CD • $99

This Magna 20 Minute Mentor includes a CD with the video presentation, supplemental materials, a copy of the PowerPoint slides and the program’s transcript.

Want to make this program available for your entire campus?

Contact us about a Campus Access License to load the CD onto your institution’s internal web site for unlimited, convenient on-demand access to members of the campus community. The Campus Access License is ideal for ongoing group or individual training or to build a library of professional development material.

Mary C. Clement, an associate professor of education at Berry College, shares her thoughts on the importance of establishing expectations for a semester of learning.

Q: What should an instructor try to accomplish during the first day of class?
Clement: You only get one chance to start the semester. During that first day, the instructor needs to arrive early, have a “today we will” on the board/screen, and work to ensure that students get in the right room. Students need to feel welcome and to get an overview of the course. The instructor needs to have introductions, provide a syllabus and instructions for the course, and yes, to teach something. The most important thing to do the first day is to establish the procedures for the rest of the semester.

Q: What effect can a good first day have on the rest of the semester?
Clement: The first day sets the tone for the semester. The instructor needs to be organized, welcoming, and business-like. In essence, the first day, and the first week, win the students. Students need to feel that the course is worth their time and tuition, and they need to know what they have to do to learn the material and pass the course.

Q: Some instructors do not use all of the time available for the first day of class. Do you recommend taking the full class period for the first meeting? Why or why not?
Clement: I think that using every minute of the first class is essential. The class should begin and end on time, signaling that this class is important, the material is important, and that the instructor is prepared. The instructor should definitely teach something of importance on the first day. Professors can make this introductory material important and engaging. Students should also DO something the first day, such as complete an interest inventory and/or participate in at least one or two short discussion questions. Every moment is a teachable moment, and the first day sets the tone for teaching the entire semester.

To create more effective learning environments, and minimize forgetting, some faculty are turning to Situation-based Learning Design (SBLD), which aligns learning context with performance context.

“SBLD begins with the magic question: What do we want our learners to be able to do, and in what situations do we want our learners to do those things,” says Will Thalheimer, president of Work-Learning Research. “It’s based on a fairly simple concept but can have profound implications.”

In the recent online seminar, Transforming Your Online Class with Situation-Based Learning, Thalheimer discusses the theory behind situation-based learning and how it can be used to provide deeper more meaningful learning and retention.

Using the Situation-Evaluation-Decision-Action (SEDA) model to evaluate instructional design, Thalheimer talks about the importance of giving students the opportunities to evaluate, make decisions and act on the problem or situation presented to them within relevant contexts and without artificial hints or supports. For example, when educators “chapterize concepts”, and don’t provide comprehensive knowledge checks or cumulative exams, they are not providing the student with proper evaluation opportunities to retrieve knowledge in a way they will be asked to retrieve it in the real world.

Whether you’re teaching in the classroom or online, Thalheimer provides the following tips for incorporating SBLD and creating performance contexts in your courses.

• Provide real-world examples
• Assign project work to happen in the targeted situations
• Provide scenario-based questions
• Have exercises related to targeted situations
• Use relevant case studies
• Provide simulations

The benefits, he says, includes more engaged learning, better long-term memory and recall, and improved results.

1. Save trees and time. Professors commonly pass out course outlines and discuss class policies, and then ask students to sign a contract or agreement that they will honor those policies. Here’s an opportunity to save paper and to simplify record keeping. Instead of handing out a syllabus, tell your class where to find it online and ask them to submit an acceptance form electronically.

2. Don’t show everything. A website can be confusing if it presents too much information. We’ve found that if we put too many items on a screen, students tend to surf through them instead of working on the lesson at hand. By hiding inactive lessons, we can make sure that students can’t “smorgasbord” through the course.

3. Keep students on track. There are a variety of content organizational methods that can be used; however, the week-by-week method allows you to use your calendar and your learning modules together. You can limit each learning module to a single week’s work and install links in your calendar.

5. Reinforce lessons with online discussion tools. Although you’ve already engaged the class in a discussion, you can reinforce that discussion on the bulletin board. After the class discussion, you can require students to post their thoughts. Then you can jump into the forum and ask the students to respond to other postings. This practice engages students who aren’t very active in class but who may have valuable input. As a bonus, sometimes these quiet students start participating more in class discussions.

6. Make use of text blocks. WebCT features the ability to publish headers and footers. You certainly can use this feature to design a page with standard banners like the name of the course. In addition, you can use the text block feature to publish urgent messages.

7. Provide tips for new online learners. Adding a direct link on the home page that provides “tips for new online learners” can eliminate initial confusion and provide students with a clear understanding of what the online learning environment is all about. These links might include tips on Web etiquette, where to go for help, thinking ideas through before responding, creating a private and positive working environment to study, and other helpful information.

Lori Norin is an assistant professor of speech communication at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Tim Wall is an instructor in the English/Rhetoric department.

Excerpted from Trial by Fire: Online Teaching Tips That Work, October 2007, Online Classroom.