Building and Maintaining Connections With Your Students

How To Create And Maintain Positive Connections With Your Students

Building and maintaining positive relationships with your students is something you can do with every student interaction, and creating a rapport with students is the foundation for effective student engagement in courses. Here are some tips:

Simple In-Class Feedback

Get quick feedback from students in class on what’s working and what’s not. Checking in will also remind them that you care about engagement and student success in your course:

• For in-person meetings: on an index card, have students write about what’s working on one side and what's not on the other.  
• For online-only courses: have students answer the same question in a discussion, a brief survey, or a private Zoom chat with you (here's how to save your Zoom chats! Links to an external site.).

 

Student Surveys

Send a mid-semester survey to your students (3-5 questions) asking them what has been going well, what could be going better, and how they feel about upcoming assignments, exams and deadlines. Check out our student survey resource for more survey tips. Here's a sample set of questions to consider and use (feel free to copy and paste!). Consult with instructional designers if you'd like additional help.

• What has been going well in this class for you this semester?
• What could be improved in the second half of the semester?
• How is the pace/amount of work?
• Do you have a clear sense of what course priorities are (weekly work, major assignments and exams) for the rest of the semester?
• Do you anticipate any issues completing remaining course work?
• Please provide any additional feedback you might have below:

Redefine Engagement

After asking students what is or is not working, you can ask students to create "rules for engagement" for the rest of the semester.  How should Zoom discussion or Canvas discussion change to improve engagement by all students? When and how should you check in or remind students about upcoming work? Come up with a list and remind students of these rules once you start implementing them!

 

Weekly Course Check-Ins/Summaries

Are students sometimes confused about coursework or due dates? 

Pick a day each week to send an email or Canvas Announcement reviewing upcoming work. Keep a consistent format, be brief and direct with information (specific tasks, deadlines, links / attachments to relevant documents). Copying and pasting from your syllabus or Canvas site is OK! This kind of check-in makes upcoming requirements more visible to students. 

You can also tie up the week with a similar communication that provides students with key points to remember.

 

Add short, in-class pauses to support student success

In live classes, pause your lecture or discussion so students can process what they're learning or doing. Read this article for 5 "pause" strategies Links to an external site..  You can also break students into groups to recall and share what they've learned or discuss key points. Learn more about using Zoom breakout rooms here Links to an external site.. 

 

Stress check/ Mood board 

Provide a "Stress Check" prompt in Canvas where students share words or images documenting how they are feeling. Use responses as a prompt to talk more generally with students about their ability to focus on course work.

1. Create a “graffiti wall” with an editable Canvas Page for students to share experiences (by changing edit permissions on the Page Links to an external site. so students can add content here).
2. Use a Google Form to do a stress check & vent anonymously (click here for example stress-check survey Links to an external site.).
3. Create Canvas discussion board for students to share memes, songs, etc. that are helping them get through the semester.

Inquire directly about well-being during the pandemic

Ask regular questions about how students are doing during the pandemic, to show them you care and to reconnect. You might use Zoom (polls Links to an external site. or chat Links to an external site.) or Canvas Discussions. Given the sensitive nature of these questions, you may want to have students to share directly with instructors, or anonymously (instead of in more public course spaces). Suggested questions:

• How are you doing?
• How is COVID-19 impacting life at home or life in your neighborhood?
• How is COVID-19 impacting your economic situation?
•  How is COVID-19 impacting your academic situation?

 

Use Canvas Speedgrader To Share Feedback

Do students sometimes note that they didn't receive your feedback on projects or assignments? Make use of tools like SpeedGrader Links to an external site. to document feedback in a central location on Canvas (and to save time when sharing feedback with students). 

 

Leverage Canvas Analytics 

Viewing Canvas Course Analytics Links to an external site. can give you a sense of how much time students are spending with particular course materials. If you are surprised by Analytics information you see about students viewing material or submitting work, you may want to have a conversation with them to see if they are unclear on instructions or having issues with access.

 

Reconnect with missing students or struggling students

If you notice that a student is not completing work or submitting incomplete or low-quality work, check in via email to see if they need help managing course expectations during a pandemic. Consider the tone of these initial emails, especially if you have not heard from students in a while: they may have personal situations impacting their ability to focus and complete coursework. After an initial email, you may consider scheduling a Zoom meeting to talk more. You may also decide to come up with a clear plan for students to submit late or revised work: if so, set clear deadlines and expectations after these initial conversations. We’ve included a sample email below; feel free to copy and paste whatever language seems useful.

 

Sample student email

Hello!

I hope this email finds you well. Currently, I’m checking in with students who I haven’t heard from in a while. This semester has been challenging for many students, and I’m hoping that I can help you reconnect and make sure you’re on track with the course. If you have an individual situation you’d like to discuss with me, or you would like help making a plan to get back on track, please email me or visit my office hours. Your success is important to me, so please let me know if there’s something specific I can support you with in the course.

 

Hoping that all is well,

 

Professor XYZ

 

Office hours: [day, time and Zoom link]