Student belonging

Are we are providing equitable opportunities to be successful in - not just equitable access to - course learning activities?

Redefining Dyslexia

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Students who have learned enough English to thrive socially may still need scaffolding to thrive academically. These strategies can help.

In a recent New Yorker review of Matt Richtel’s new book, How We Grow Up, Molly Fischer effectively summarizes the current debate about the impact phones and social media are ... Read more

A collaborative classroom doesn’t happen by accident; it's created by design. Use these tools to lower resistance, foster trust, and help students learn with one another rather than just from you.

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“Sending you light” felt kind to say when I heard a colleague wasn't feeling well. But I soon learned, it wasn’t what they needed. That was the moment I realized: Even our most well-intentioned words can miss the mark if we don’t ask or know what support actually looks like. April is Neurodiversity Acceptance Month, and I’ve been learning and reflecting on how often traditional ideas of comfort, calm, and connection are built around social norms—and how that unintentionally leaves people out. Here are two moments from last week that shifted how I show up: 💡 Sometimes people need darkness, not light. When someone is overwhelmed—by migraines, sensory overload, or emotional exhaustion—“light” can feel like pressure. What they may need instead: rest, stillness, and silence. 🌟 Shout out to Melissa Arcand for teaching me this one! 💡Stillness doesn’t calm everyone. After reading Karen Catlin’s “5 Allyship Actions You Can Take Today” and in conversations with panelists from Bonterra's "Neurodiversity at Work" Lunch and Learn, I realized how often we associate deep breathing and stillness with calm. But for some Neurodiverse individuals, movement—rocking, tapping, pacing—is what regulates and soothes. Stillness can feel like stress, not peace. 🎬Here are 5 more small shifts that can carry a big inclusion impact: 🔸 Eye contact isn’t a universal sign of respect or engagement. Listening matters more than where your eyes land. 🔸 “This is easy” can unintentionally exclude. Instead: “Here’s a breakdown” or “Let me know if anything’s unclear.” 🔸 Silence doesn’t mean someone’s disengaged. It could mean they’re processing or reflecting. Give space. 🔸 Movement on camera can help some focus—but distract others. Co-create norms: speak up, use speaker view, turn off self-view if needed. Empathy works both ways. 🔸 “Happy hours” aren’t happy for everyone. Offer quiet, asynchronous, or one-on-one connection options too. These may seem like small adjustments—but they’re part of building the kind of workplace where every kind of brain and every kind of brilliance belongs. Inclusion lives in the details. Allyship lives in the questions. Empathy lives in the pause. Let’s keep learning. Let’s keep listening. Let’s keep growing. #NeurodiversityAcceptanceMonth #InclusiveLeadership #Allyship #Belonging

Inclusivity starts with correct name pronunciations, Constanza Bartholomae writes.

Executive functioning skills are critical to memory, attention, organizing, and planning—among many other tasks important to learning and teaching. In a recent workshop, CETL explored how instructors

A recent Chronicle of Higher Education essay suggests that classrooms are nonsocial spaces where facilitating belonging is not within educators' scope of practice. We forcefully disagree.

Making students feel they matter can dramatically improve lecture attendance. Here are ways to do it

Before I introduce The Neurodiversity Smorgasbord, I would like to acknowledge that this framework which I started to develop in 2022 has been inspired, shaped, influenced by movements that have come before as well as Mad, Disabled and Neurodivergent Indigenous and Black scholars, thinkers, writers

Stephanie Cawthon shares about her book, Disability Is Human - The Vital Power of Accessibility in Everyday Life, on episode 561 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast

In today’s episode we discuss neurodiversity, terminology, and multiple strategies to support neurodivergent students in areas such as focus, attention, and motivation, organization and structure, …

Joy is everywhere when we decide to look for it. Join me.