Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Hey, boo! Don't ghost your students!

If there's something weird
and it don't look good
Who you gonna call?


GhostBusters!



 

Speaking of which (or is it witch?)...

Did y'all hear about the one where a dude picks up a drenched girl off the side of a road? She sits in the back seat and directs him to drive her to her house.  He gets there to drop her off, turns around to tell her they are "home" and she's gone with only a puddle of water where she was sitting.  Curious and confused, he goes to the front door to see if the girl somehow walked into the house without him seeing her.  One of the parents opens the door... he relates his story... and the parent(s) reveal...


THAT WAS MY DAUGHTER, BUT SHE DROWNED 10 YEARS AGO THIS VERY NIGHT!!!!!

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and then we're all like... 











The girl was there and then she wasn't.  It happened without any communication or reason.  The ghost ghosted the guy.  UGH... so traumatic!!!

Ghosting is such a crazy and traumatic event that when someone has been dumped out of the blue with little communication or explanation as to "why"... we call it ghosting.  We expect something that doesn't materialize and, so, we get very very lost and disoriented.

When we expect one event, but are left with a dead end with no communication as to what to expect or do next... you've been ghosted. 

Friedrich Nietzsche once said that human beings need "horizons".  That is, we need boundaries to help limit our expectations and guide our actions. Without "horizons", we don't generally know where to go and what to do.  So we fill in the silence with negativity.  We're lost.  We're "ghosted".  We're annoyed at the lack of guidance in our thoughts and actions. 


In this new online COVID education world there is a need to redouble our efforts to not "ghost" people in our lives, including our students. Here are some suggestions we have to help your students feel more guided and less "ghosted":

  • Set up your online course with bread crumbs
    • Where do students start?
    • Where do they move to the next item or activity?
    • Do students have a map in case they get lost? Do they know where they are?
    • Do students know how to get back to home-base?
    • Where do students end?
  • Use more than words to communicate
    • Create buttons to navigate your pages
    • Use super short videos, GIFs, and images to guide
    • Colors and shapes can help guide (think of red octagons and what they mean)
    • Bullet points like these help organize a list on a page
  • Send out regular communications
    • Email or reach out every Monday to let students know what to expect
      • Tired of typing emails? Use a video instead.
    • Communication can happen via Insta or TikTok... be creative 
    • Wrap up your weeks with a summary communicaiton
    • LOOP YOUR PARENTS IN AS WELL!!!!
    • For every negative email you send... send a positive one (to save your sanity a keep a positive view on what you do every day)
  • Answer your students as quickly as possible, but within agreed upon times
    • Tell students when you tend to read emails so they know when to expect a reply
    • Try to reply within 24-48 hours
      • Even if you can't answer them... reach out to say "I got your email.  Give me a moment"
      • Fill in that "ghosting" with some sort of information so they don't fill in that silent gap with false assumptions 
    • personalize... start the communication with the student's nam
      • "Hey MacLamore!  Great to hear from you..."
    • DO NOT allow yourself to be accessible 24/7... you'll get burnt out
      • By that same token... be accessible when you say you will be accessible
  • Reach out to socialize
    • Don't be afraid to send images or short comments that help build your culture
      • Ex. Hey guys, I went shopping this weekend and this picture I took at the mall reminds me of what Lauri said last week in our discussion!!!
  • Need more tips? Check out a previous post concerning the new Educational Land of Confusion world that we live in... and some tips to work around that confusion! 
If there is something weird in your online 'hood 
and it's confusing or don't look good... 
Who are your students gonna call?  

Hopefully, you. 

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