Student Support – Center for Teaching and Learning /ctl Wed, 25 Mar 2026 20:24:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 /ctl/wp-content/uploads/sites/88/2024/01/cropped-android-chrome-512x512-1-32x32.png Student Support – Center for Teaching and Learning /ctl 32 32 Reach out to Missing Students /ctl/reach-out-to-missing-students/ Wed, 21 Jan 2026 18:17:13 +0000 /ctl/?p=5161 It's important to identify missing students as soon as possible in the beginning of the semester and to encourage those who have not yet engaged. A simple way to do this is to create a small assignment in Brightspace that all students should submit to by the end of the first or second week of class. After the due date, click on the name of the assignment in Brightspace, and then click Email Users Without Submissions. This will open a new email draft window with the students who have not submitted the assignment in the BCC field. Send a quick message to remind them about the assignment and to let you know if they are having issues with the course.

]]> It’s important to identify missing students as soon as possible in the beginning of the semester and to encourage those who have not yet engaged. A simple way to do this is to create a small assignment in Brightspace that all students should submit to by the end of the first or second week of class. After the due date, click on the name of the assignment in Brightspace, and then click Email Users Without Submissions. This will open a new email draft window with the students who have not submitted the assignment in the BCC field. Send a quick message to remind them about the assignment and to let you know if they are having issues with the course.

Screenshot of Brightspace assignment with Email Users without Submissions button highlighted
]]> Create regular connections with every single learner /ctl/create-regular-connections-with-every-single-learner/ Wed, 03 Dec 2025 21:44:32 +0000 /ctl/?p=5252 One of the challenges of teaching is reaching every student. This can be especially difficult in distance courses where you don't have a chance to grab a student after class to check in on them.

]]> One of the challenges of teaching is reaching every student. This can be especially difficult in distance courses where you don’t have a chance to grab a student after class to check in on them.

I used a weekly exit ticket in my courses to develop regular connections with every single one of my learners in all of my course modalities. It included a quick less-than-5 minutes reflection on their cognitive, affective, behavioral, and contextual experiences that week. I set aside 30 minutes on Monday mornings to read and comment on each one and learned a lot from my learners about their experiences in my courses and how I could better support them. This regular communication helped to ensure that no student was left behind, and we got to see our conversation mapped out over the course of the semester.

I made a copy of  for each student and shared it with them privately. If I wanted to ensure they saw my response right away, I could mention them in a comment, so they got an email notification. Feel free to copy and adapt.  to see some of the types of responses that students shared that helped me understand their learning experience

If you have large enrollment classes, you might consider objective-type questions in a Google Form that allow you to see summaries in chart form.

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