Val Krage
A page within Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning (CATL)
Dr. Val Krage teaches a variety of courses in the Department of Educational Studies from an Introduction to Early Childhood Education, to Relationships with Children, Families and Professionals. During the Fall 2020 Semester Valerie committed herself to building more community with and between the students in her classes. To do this, she created a morning meeting time during which groups of students would lead a “get to know you” activity with the rest of the class.
If you are interested in trying something similarly in your course, she suggests that you “Keep soliciting feedback from students about what they need, what is working for them, and what isn’t working for them. This is always important, but particularly now when they are feeling extraordinarily stressed and disconnected.” Initially she heard from students that they were concerned with their ability to work in groups when they weren’t physically together. But through a great deal of scaffolding and encouragement, the students came up with creative and thoughtful activities.
While Valerie’s courses typically house around 30 students, she thinks this would be an effective activity for larger enrollment lectures that are split into smaller cohorts of students.
Interest in breakout rooms? The Knowledge Base has articles to help for Zoom, Teams, WebEx and Collaborate Ultra.
Favorite Quote
"Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care." - John C. Maxwell
Contact Info
Profile: Kate Lavelle
Email: klavelle@uwlax.edu