Be Flexible
If you want to create a caring community for students, Craven advises flexibility. Tell students, “I know you’re busy and life gets in the way. Due dates are flexible if you let me know ahead of time.” Let them propose their own plan for a new due date. “Students appreciate the respect you’re giving them and respond accordingly,” said Craven.
He also advises checking in and asking students how it’s going. “Once I had a sense that the life event had passed and the stress level had improved, I’d say ‘Let’s have a conversation about continuing the classwork and come up with a plan together.’”
Require Accountability
Lastly, Craven says he always held students accountable. That may seem to contradict the concept of “flexibility,” but it doesn’t. For Craven, it meant texting students to remind them they were behind and asking them “What’s your plan?”
“It’s more about the learning than the timing.”
He had to up his game considerably when it came to keeping students accountable because he couldn’t have the conversation face to face in the classroom. Craven added, “It’s more about the learning than the timing.”
The Takeaway
Craven’s takeaway from the experience is that all teachers need to consider how to incorporate 21st-century tools into the classroom. But he cautions teachers to consider whether that technology helps them streamline their delivery and student interactions.
Craven said a good mantra to live by is, “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should use technology.” The bottom line? Use technology only in ways that deeply connect learners with the content and each other.