What is everyone planning in their courses for election week? How will we take care of ourselves, each other, and our learners? Let's brainstorm and crowdsource ideas?

#HigherEd
#AcademicChatter

I'll share my two cents from the standpoint of #traumaaware teaching, diminished executive functions, and severe stress/overwhelm...

Reduce uncertainty. Create a simple plan for election week, and start gently communicating it as soon as you can. Let students know what they can expect.

As always, my best #traumaaware teaching tip is to take care of yourself. Put your oxygen mask on first. In addition to a voting plan, do you have a mental and physical health plan in place for election week?

Balance structure and flexibility. That will look different for all of us. In general, I think students will appreciate having an extremely low-stakes/no-stakes week with a place to connect with other humans.

Choice. Some students will come to our courses to take a break from the madness and chaos. I think offering an assignment focused on the election is great. I would also offer an alternative in case students have had it.

And I can't emphasize this enough: healthy boundaries. Our students are going to be bringing an immense amount of emotions, fear, anger, stress, and yes, trauma, into our classrooms. Know where you end and your students begin.