From The Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Leadership (CETLL):

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shift to remote learning. As society transitions back to in-person activities, students have returned to in-person classes. Faculty report students are struggling to form connections with each other, mindfully attend to class content, and are unable or unwilling to participate in class discussions. Building a community within your course is often essential to having students meaningfully engage with their classmates and the course as a whole. We will be exploring this concept of a “classroom community Third Place” in an exciting dynamic discussion. Please join us on Wednesday, June 21 from 12 noon to 1:30 pm for an active discussion session on how we can engage students in our current world. Register at https://forms.office.com/r/czbVti71Ae<https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001DCLmUiagplydQiQvYIbfgvJ4nu5kbE0H8nTrpvGHvidyW4OxBor2qvBygileH3_Qk2iccv3cDctl8bHz9CZ7bx6xiE89wit5lAXZ2S3z4rQIaZG3hwsm7ef19VA4sqxyCFwncYYNTB8wt9ziQkA6w288rZYFQoG3qB3n01Loe7E=&c=fUJw8nnU4OG0oxETLA9zT19QqdQmfz2ku8X7meTnPudAeh6-VmS12A==&ch=LV6FWi8JEKKM_djLlk9NWRTTBpojRN-rxFhnutRbQm74cJLnHzTrEg==>. “Third Place” refers to a public neutral place or location that allows people to gather for the purposes of sharing interests and knowledge, engaging in cultural exchanges, and forming community connections with others. We can utilize these concepts to build a community within your course for higher student engagement and success. These strategies are effective in multiple modalities, including in-person, HyFlex, and online courses. This discussion will build a resource document on specific ways these strategies can apply to your course and discipline in particular. Some examples of what you will learn are: * Strategies to enhance instructor-student interactions in your course. These strategies will help you get to know your students, build rapport, and cultivate a feeling of connectedness between yourself and your students. We will be discussing strategies such as creating a time to check in with students, sharing your background, or offering support. * Strategies to build student-student interactions in your course. The strategies will encourage trust, intentionality, communication, and collaboration. * How you can leverage tools to create a Third Place community for your course (I.e.: Slack, Discord, and Microsoft Teams). Please register at https://forms.office.com/r/czbVti71Ae<https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001DCLmUiagplydQiQvYIbfgvJ4nu5kbE0H8nTrpvGHvidyW4OxBor2qvBygileH3_Qk2iccv3cDctl8bHz9CZ7bx6xiE89wit5lAXZ2S3z4rQIaZG3hwsm7ef19VA4sqxyCFwncYYNTB8wt9ziQkA6w288rZYFQoG3qB3n01Loe7E=&c=fUJw8nnU4OG0oxETLA9zT19QqdQmfz2ku8X7meTnPudAeh6-VmS12A==&ch=LV6FWi8JEKKM_djLlk9NWRTTBpojRN-rxFhnutRbQm74cJLnHzTrEg==>. For more information: Third Place: Creating Course Community <https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001DCLmUiagplydQiQvYIbfgvJ4nu5kbE0H8nTrpvGHvidyW4OxBor2qvBygileH3_QT4MtlAjmKjUJPRuFzCqP-9UOLu2boEzCBk8wJCh87dRTY6kLnI4GfKRznSh0Dg1n5pMeZ4XQc-4Mt0dKYWhj7LwdrttvDRjNxatMIQRnAcZjvz7bFQcKH-E-UiOT4c2c&c=fUJw8nnU4OG0oxETLA9zT19QqdQmfz2ku8X7meTnPudAeh6-VmS12A==&ch=LV6FWi8JEKKM_djLlk9NWRTTBpojRN-rxFhnutRbQm74cJLnHzTrEg==> CTLOnline@qc.cuny.edu<mailto:CTLOnline@qc.cuny.edu>