Our topic for the November Faculty forum was “Implementing Trauma-Informed Pedagogy with Canvas.” We had a wonderful discussion on chunking content and how to help students deal with external stressors.
Michael Muhme, a communication professor, shared the value of chunking content and breaking down large assignments. He also shared his overall philosophy that students have chosen to be in our class. If students are struggling, it’s not because they don’t want to be in our class. His insight and strategies for reducing the stress of large assignments is wonderful!
Dave Seymour, a licensed therapist on campus, shared insight into how students who have experienced trauma deal with external stressors. I would highly recommend watching this short video in which he describes how students react to childhood traumas by procrastinating. His advice for faculty includes:
- Walk students who are struggling over to the student health center
- Refer students who are struggling in Starfish
- Help students break down large projects and focus on the small moves they can make every day to make progress
The faculty forum wrapped up with a brief discussion on how to recover from a stressful class (hint… it’s okay to apologize).
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