Masks and other face-to-face considerations for winter
As some of us prepare to return to campus in winter for in-person, hybrid, or web-enhanced course modes, questions naturally arise about logistics surrounding teaching while wearing a mask, and students learning together while they are masked. The resources presented below are intended as a summary of some current thinking in higher ed around these topics, as well as information specific to Highline college.
Teaching and learning with masks
Mask logistics
We’ve all been wearing masks, but masking up for a grocery run – or the short journey from your favorite restaurant’s front door to your table – is a very different thing than trying to project your voice across a room while masked. Following are some tips and points to consider when teaching wearing a mask.
First, make sure you have a good mask. Try out a few. Bring several of your favorites with you until you determine what works the best. As you may have discovered already, your mask will become less comfortable as time passes, and it may become harder to breathe. Expect the masks to get moist and wet from talking, and be prepared with backups.
The following types of face masks are ranked by the CDC in order of highest protection to lowest:
- N95, KN95 and KF94 are the most effective, providing they are genuine and have been tested to meet a standard.
- Surgical face masks that have been tested to meet a national standard .
- Cloth face masks that have at least 2 layers of dense fabric and snugly fit around your nose and the sides of your face.
Everyone, but especially instructors, may need to arrive to class earlier than usual to have extra time to mask up, get in place, and cool down – especially if the route from car to class takes you uphill and upstairs.
You may wish to schedule breaks for your class to drink water outside where everyone can take their masks off. Those who normally teach with a mug of coffee may need to schedule time for advance caffeination.
Prepare to get hot and sweaty. Pace or cruise the classroom less if necessary, and take more cooling measures (e.g., drink cold water between classes, dress for heat if you get warm easily).
From a faculty member at Rollins College: “By far, my biggest complaint was my foggy glasses. I could hear just fine in all situations, but my glasses would get fogged up, so I ended up taking them off… I’d experienced this problem in other situations where it was annoying, but it was a real problem here (while teaching).” Solution: Revisit resources on preventing foggy glasses.
Please also refer to the Highline face mask protocol web page, which covers specific rules for face masks.
Interacting with your students
As you’ve perhaps found in social/personal life, remember that your eyes and eyebrows will be “read” more when you’re masked. You can read more about 4 Ways to Communicate When You Can’t See Someone’s Face.
Small group work:
Guidelines for Higher Ed no longer require social distancing in classrooms. Reports from other colleges who have already resumed face-to-face work report students should be able to hear each other fine when masked, even with other groups nearby, and even without extra projection, in group sizes up to four students. With groups larger than four, some end up being too far away to be heard. For students/instructors with hearing loss, these guidelines may not apply.
Also, remember our sense of physical space has changed. Most of us at this point are not used to being close to others for a length of time, particularly strangers. This distance might feel ‘too close’ for some students. Be prepared that some (consciously or not) may lean back in their chairs to avoid the new sense of closeness.
For this reason, collaborative work on a single piece paper might still be uncomfortable for students who don’t want to ‘lean in’ to read it. Instead, consider giving each student their own copy. Groups can choose one copy to be filled out (either passing it around, or choosing one person to complete it with input from the group). When time, each team could send their rep to the front of room to use document camera to share their work, which could then also be captured by recording.
Or, traditional handouts can instead be posted on Canvas and displayed on the classroom projector or on students’ portable devices if they need to see different documents or view them more closely.
Alternately students could use, depending on room configuration and number available, chalkboards or whiteboards. Digital tools such as Google Docs that they are already used to using from home might also be an option.
How will you know if your students are hearing and understanding–or not?
Form a plan to stop often, especially the first few class sessions, to assess if people are able to hear. Come to a community agreement up front, on how students can signal that they can’t hear – either in the full-class or small group modes.
A generous practice (and always a good accessibility consideration) is for the instructor to repeat all questions from students. A student in the front of the class may not hear a question when their back is turned to a masked student far behind them.
In thinking about checking for understanding, don’t forget the power of formative assessment (e.g., minute paper, muddiest point, misconception check, ungraded quizzes for understanding). These quick, ungraded activities allow you to see what students are thinking. Check the LTC web page for ideas on formative assessment, or check in with any of the LTC faculty-in-residence using our bookings page.
Absences:
Consider in advance your plan for accommodating unplanned absences due to self-quarantine. While we always have unplanned absences due to illness and personal emergencies, there may be more than usual due to requirements to get tested and/or self-quarantine for suspected exposure as well as symptoms. Moreover, vulnerable students who have chosen to return to campus may be much more cautious about attending class while they are feeling ill or during an outbreak.
Other reasons students may not be able to attend include:
- Some students may be unable to attend for longer periods due to sudden changes in family care responsibilities
- Individual students may be unable to attend for short periods of time due to illness or self-quarantine
- Should a local school district need to revert to at-home schooling, some Highline students may also need to return home
Remember, there is still a pandemic. There is still trauma, fear, and exhaustion (on everyone’s part). Practice paradox — one of the 4 Connections. Make certain your instructions and expectations are clear, but then practice generosity in flexibility when things don’t go as planned, for students as well as yourself. Setting up a class where an ethos of care and compassion is the norm will go a long way toward students and instructors being understanding of each other when the unexpected happens.
Hybrid/web-enhanced classes – how can I structure face-to-face time vs. asynchronous time?
Consider starting by thinking about what were the things you missed about face-to-face. Was it delivering the content in person? Or was it something else?
For fall modalities that mix face-to-face time with other modalities, think about your in-person time as your ‘high value real estate’. Use this time in ways that will capitalize on the opportunity for student-student and student-instructor interaction. Often, these have more to do with human-level interactions than content dissemination. Use this time to its full benefit by allowing for building connections with students, providing feedback, expressing care and empathy, and providing validation to students. And certainly for small group work – which perhaps didn’t go so well via Zoom (You can only get so much from the applause or thumbs-up icon in Zoom, after all).
Hart-Davidson (2020) suggests considering a studio environment:
“A studio environment is a place where learners, guided by a teacher, learn with and from one another. The other learners in the room are the most important resource they have in fact, in many cases. Anyone who’s had to sneak a look at the dance steps of someone more graceful in order to know if s/he is on the right foot knows what I mean.”
Following this analogy, ask yourself: How will students see and learn from one another? How will they be able to reflect on their own progress? (Dance studios often have mirrors… how can we as instructors help learners ‘reflect’ on their progress through feedback or validation?)
To help students engage in a new topic, activate their prior knowledge, and reflect on/monitor their learning, try out techniques like K-W-L charts or concept maps.
Or, check this resource for a quick list of dozens of student engagement techniques.
Finally, here are some resources on group work and other forms of student-student interaction.
References:
2021-2022 Covid-19 academic course safety plan, winter quarter
Hart-Davidson, B. (2020, April 6). Imagining a resilient pedagogy. Michigan State University. https://cal.msu.edu/news/imagining-a-resilient-pedagogy/
Rollins College. Designing for fall. Shared Google drive document.
Rollins College. Reports from experiments in masked, socially distanced teaching. Shared Google drive document.
Current campus safety guidelines
For the latest information on Highline’s vaccination requirements, mask guidance, contact tracing, and coming to campus, visit the Vaccine-Required Campus FAQs page, which is updated regularly.
Professional development opportunities
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