Building Relationships and Fostering Inclusion in the Virtual Setting

Format

Workshop

First Presenter's Institution

Georgia Connections Academy

First Presenter’s Email Address

jfreds@gaca.connectionsacademy.org

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Ms. Freds has been an educator for 15 years, serving students in Lansing Michigan and Atlanta Georgia. She was the 2017 Atlanta Public Schools High School ELA Teacher of the Year, and served on their curriculum development team. Ms. Freds entered the virtual space in 2018 as a High School English teacher with Georgia Connections Academy, where she also serves on their Parent Engagement Team and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Task Force. A graduate of Michigan State University, she holds a Master’s in Education with a focus in Organizational Leadership. Ms. Freds serves on the boards of two educational non-profit organizations in the Atlanta area and is dedicated to ensuring equitable access to meaningful content and opportunities for every student.

Second Presenter's Institution

Georgia Connections Academy

Second Presenter’s Email Address

stran@gaca.connectionsacademy.org

Second Presenter's Brief Biography

Ms. Tran has served for ten years as head high school counselor at Georgia Connections Academy, and was named School Counselor of the Year in 2018. Ms. Tran attended University of North Carolina at Asheville and earned a Bachelor’s in Psychology. She then attended The University of Georgia earning her Master’s in Professional School Counseling. Ms. Tran is a member of the Georgia School Counseling Association and the American School Counseling Association. She also serves on her school’s Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Task Force, and is passionate about the success of ALL students. Ms. Tran lives with her husband and two kids in Peachtree Corners, Georgia.

Location

Session Seven Breakouts

Strand #1

Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership

Strand #2

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Relevance

Head - Closing achievement gaps is possible by working toward inclusion so all students have access to and are engaged in their curriculum and classrooms. By ensuring that we work to create environments where all students are seen and heard, we are better able to reach and teach those who may be disengaged. We will explore barriers and solutions to inclusion and representation in our classrooms, schools, and organizations.

Heart - Creating a classroom culture that promotes positive engagement and fosters relationships between all stakeholders ensures that young people feel safe and supported. Curating such environments and bonds will build student confidence, communication, resilience and ability to learn. We will work to understand the power of these relationships and practice strategies that make them possible.

Brief Program Description

As many educators navigate the transition to virtual learning, there is a need to promote positive relationships and inclusion in those settings. During this session, we will explore the research behind why creating an inclusive and supportive classroom culture is meaningful, what challenges online educators face in doing so, and how we can develop strategies and solutions that work for students at risk due to disengagement.

Summary

During this session participants will consider the importance of inclusion and relationships in the virtual school setting. Many know the impact that strong relationships have in the classroom and work to ensure the students we see feel represented in their learning. We will explore how this translates into the online arena so that we are still working to know who our students are and the best ways in which to serve them.

We will also work to identify challenges in fostering relationships and inclusion in both the traditional and virtual settings. Getting to know our students so that we CAN include their experiences and references can be difficult, especially when we don’t physically see them or interact with them consistently. Understanding what hinders this essential piece of our school cultures will help us to remedy it.

Our group will grapple with and confront root causes regarding the obstacles of ensuring our students are understood and seen in their education, as we may avoid these at times because it’s hard to admit when we’ve failed to develop an inclusive classroom or stand up when the curriculum fails.

Participants will collaborate to develop strategies and solutions, and leave with a plan to implement at least one strategy they want to measure this year. By working with educators and public servants across diverse spaces, these solutions can be very powerful and get advocates excited about creating positive change.

Presenters will open with the WHY behind relationships and inclusion, and the impacts these have on classroom culture and student experience; this will include data points from our school and research for support. The group will share some of the challenges they have encountered, witnessed, or heard about from colleagues to begin the process of identifying root causes. We will then provide scenarios and interactive role play for some of these challenges to open a discussion of possible solutions.

Throughout the presentation, participants will engage in activities such as community building, relationship maintenance, and climate surveys that they can take with them to implement in their own classrooms and organizations.

Learning Objective 1

Participants will be able to understand the importance of inclusion and relationships in virtual setting

Learning Objective 2

Participants will be able to identify challenges in fostering relationships and ensuring inclusion

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to develop and implement solutions and strategies for building relationships and creating an inclusive environment

Keyword Descriptors

relationships, virtual education, culturally responsive, inclusive environment

Presentation Year

2022

Start Date

3-8-2022 2:45 PM

End Date

3-8-2022 4:00 PM

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Mar 8th, 2:45 PM Mar 8th, 4:00 PM

Building Relationships and Fostering Inclusion in the Virtual Setting

Session Seven Breakouts

As many educators navigate the transition to virtual learning, there is a need to promote positive relationships and inclusion in those settings. During this session, we will explore the research behind why creating an inclusive and supportive classroom culture is meaningful, what challenges online educators face in doing so, and how we can develop strategies and solutions that work for students at risk due to disengagement.