As human beings, ongoing global and national events—such as elections, wars, and political conflict—can significantly impact our emotions. Even if you do not teach a course directly related to current events, you may find that your students are discussing these issues with each other and want you to acknowledge what is happening and its impact on them and their communities. Whatever the outcome of this election, it will be on everyone’s minds, so preparing ourselves and our students for any moments of conflict and emotional intensity that may arise is helpful.
The CAT has created a collection of election resources to assist you in planning for election day and the days following. Also available to you is the CAT Tip Video Series, Teaching in Tumultuous Times, which was created to provide concrete steps and strategies for preparing ourselves and our students for challenging conversations and hot moments. These include:
Begin the semester by setting the tone for your classroom. Dana walks you through some suggestions for doing just this.
Linda offers suggestions to help us think about how we might prepare ourselves for challenging conversations in the classroom by using the Hopes, Fears and Agreements activity to build community and set guidelines for interactions within our courses.
Knowing your triggers and what to do about them is important and so is building a community of support for yourself. Jeff outlines shat happens when we feel triggered and some things you might consider doing to work learn to recognize and handle those triggers.
Elizabeth summarizes and represents three ways one might slow things down when a conversation begins to get heated.
We all know that hot moments can happen in the classroom. In this video, Stephanie offers some tips for how to manage them and how to get your class back on track.
While we recommend taking a little time to review the resources above, we’ve also created a quick-start guide to managing hot moments: The Five Rs: Remind, Reflect, Regroup, Recess, Refer. Please take a moment to review these ideas. A few moments of preparation can make a difference in your class. As part of that preparation, make sure to have the Dean of Students Post-Election Resources webpage handy to provide resources to students who may need them.
Remember too that self-care is important at this time. We encourage you to find a community of people you can go to for support and perspective, as these events can impact your own well-being. The CAT will be hosting Drop-In Water Cooler sessions to provide space for open discussion and community with CAT consultants and your colleagues on the following dates (no registration required):
- Thursday, November 7: 11:00-12:30 (Zoom)
- Friday, November 8 12:30-1:30 (TECH 107)
- Monday, November 11: 11:00am-1:00pm (TECH 107)
As always, we invite you to connect with us at the CAT, where we are here to support you in person and online through 1-1 consults, open lab hours, and workshops.
As always, we invite you to connect with us at the the CAT, where we are here to support you in person and online through 1-1 consults, open lab hours, and workshops.