For those who have been following our teaching blog for a while, I have long praised Equity Unbound and OneHE’s Community-Building Activities, launched during the COVID-19 pandemic when so many new to online teaching were wondering how we were going to build class relationships online. While they centered online options, most of them also provide fresh ideas for on-campus interactions.

I still find myself returning to this treasure trove of ideas for classes, learning communities, and workshops when I suspect we need a new way to connect with one another or generate ideas together. These five catch my eye, particularly around the later mid-point of the semester when we either need to switch things up or stir up some new energy. 

1. Wheel of Life for Student Self-Help: While all of us have similar wellness needs, we are likely different in which areas are most important or strained and what works best for giving us a boost. This activity simply but meaningfully prompts our students to self-check their well-being and make a plan for sustaining themselves. This activity can be more organic way to remind students of the syllabus’ student support section offers important information so they take advantage of campus resources.
2. What We Don’t Know About Each Other: At this point, our students may recognize each other and those sitting around them (creatures of habit we are), but unless they are regularly chatting with each other, they may not have had a conversation since the first-week ice breakers. Such an activity may be well-timed as students continue working together in groups or prepare to work in groups.
3. Appreciative Interviews: Great for group work preparation and developing listening skills, appreciative interviews center stories of personal success and unpacking how they achieved that success, building self-efficacy for the teller and awareness and appreciation in the listener.
4. Structured Dialogues: Like appreciative interviews, this activity builds focused listening skills, providing a structure that builds sustained listening based on prompts you provide, which can be connected to course content or not.
5. Critical Uncertainties: Life is filled with complex challenges, and our classes should help students make their way through such challenges. Whether it is uncertainties about a societal issue related to the class, a challenging project or upcoming assessment, or navigating group work, internships, or experiential learning, this structured activity helps students describe the uncertainties, rate their factors, develop scenarios, and brainstorm strategies. 

Closing

There is a growing desire to do things differently and reimagine learning and work that is more generative and purpose-driven. We may struggle to implement new routines, and using activities like this can be a small but powerful start. Equity Unbound and OneHE’s community building activities library includes many more activities you can browse, each with video demonstrations of how they work, step-by-step planning directions, and starter materials as needed. For activities I have used and highlighted in the past, see Building Community Differently (2023).

Written by Christina Moore, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Oakland University. Photo by Robert Katzki on Unsplash. Others may share and adapt under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC.

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