Create an Inclusive Classroom

Square cartoon teacher being measured by students with measuring tape.
Collecting Mid-semester Feedback
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Midcourse Formative Review (MFR) is a new service offered by TLL to support faculty and instructors as they grapple with how to best engage and support their students’ learning.

Identities & Positionality
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Resources to Support Reflection on Identities & Positionality One of the foundational practices for creating an inclusive and bias-reduced classroom is to reflect on your own multiple and intersecting identities […]

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Navigating Conflict & Bias in the Classroom
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Due to the contentious issues surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, you may encounter situations in your classroom that challenge your skills as an instructor. These resources can help you develop strategies […]

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Creating Accessible Documents
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Making Documents Accessible Accessibility is the practice of creating digital content that all people can perceive, understand, interact with, and navigate. Since so much, if not all, course content is […]

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Community of Anti-Racist Educators @MIT
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In January 2022, the Teaching & Learning Lab launched a new interdisciplinary community in which 12 MIT faculty and instructors came together to engage in anti-racist work within the context […]

Square cartoon teacher being measured by students with measuring tape.
The Value of Collecting Mid-Semester Formative Feedback
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Collecting formative mid-semester feedback is an extremely effective way to gain targeted and specific information from students about what aspects of the subject support their learning.

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Addressing Difficult Events in the Classroom
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This page provides pedagogical tools and resources for addressing charged, difficult, and/or stressful issues while remaining sensitive to the range of opinions, emotional reactions, and potential for student harm.

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Inclusive teaching at MIT highlighted in Festival of Learning panel
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This post highlights concrete ways that Arathi Mehrotra, Peter Dourmashkin, and Canan Dağdeviren have created learning environments where all students feel welcomed, supported, and valued as they learn, as shared in a panel on Inclusive Instructional Practices at the Festival of Learning 2022.

Learn Student Names and Pronouns
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Learning students’ preferred names, pronouns, and pronouncing names correctly affirms student identities and builds community in the classroom. A person’s name may be tied to their identity and carry cultural or family significance. The cumulative experience of having names mispronounced is linked to increased feelings of anxiety, shame, and being “othered” or not belonging in the classroom (Kohli & Solorzano, 2012). Moreover, learning and using a student’s pronouns is a first step towards respecting their gender identity and resisting the assumption that all students are cisgender. 

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Teaching in a Tense Political Climate (Updated)
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With the 2022 mid-term elections occurring next week, we are highlighting our post from 2020, Teaching in a Tense Political Climate, with updated resources to help guide discussions in your classroom and support students who may have questions and concerns.