Building Community in The Classroom
What would your students say about the culture of your class?
I just completed my first day of teaching. It felt good to be back in the classroom and teaching students about a subject matter that I love and appreciate. This semester, I am teaching Data Tools for Business and Economics students. The objective of the class is to teach students about statistical software, data visualization, and best practices when communicating with data. This is a professional development class, and I love every aspect of it.
Over the next 16 weeks, we will get to know each other well. However, I have learned from talking to the best educators that building community starts on day 1. It is no secret the college enrollments are decreasing, and based on conversations with my colleagues across the United States, economics might be experiencing an even larger decline in interest.
There are a lot of efforts introducing new programs to attract students and diversity to our profession. This is great, but as economists we know the power of marginal thinking. Marginal change can make a big difference over time. So rather than rely on others to develop new programs, why not ask yourself, what am I doing to improve my classroom environment? How can I build better community in my next class? Drastic change requires a lot of effort, let us be efficient with our approach. You can make a difference!
Ask your students, what can you do to improve their sense of belonging in your class.
If you are interested in reading more about my work in classroom management and increasing the sense of belonging, you can check out my paper:
