Trauma-Informed Pedagogy: The Role of Assessment in Deep Insights and Learning

There’s little doubt as to the value assessment can bring to the classroom. But what if we are underutilizing assessments and under-appreciating the areas where they can lead to insights? Tune in today to hear Dr. Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave, Director of Inclusive Teaching Practices at the University of Denver,  talk about sources of trauma in our students’ lives; how the chemistry of the traumatized brain interrupts deep learning; and how low-stakes, alternative assessments facilitate deep, transformative learning, and are a first step toward ensuring our students are supported in a way that acknowledges trauma. Dr. Iturbe-LaGrave and Dr. Case discuss the nature of trauma-informed pedagogy and how the insights gleaned from low-stakes assessments can translate to large gains in traditional assessments. Tune in to learn what steps you can take to create a classroom of inclusive excellence.

Show Notes and Resources:
‘This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action and Do the Work’, Tiffany Jewell and Aurelia Durand

Dr. Iturbe-LaGrave mentions conducting a critical incident questionnaire which comes from the book "Discussion as a Way of Teaching: Tools and Techniques for Democratic Classrooms" by Brookfield and Preskill

Dr. Iturbe-LaGrave mentions including a basic needs security statement in our syllabi. A modified example of UVA's Center for Teaching Excellence Basis Needs Security Statement is provided here, but many more examples can be found via an internet search. "Any student who has difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day, or who lacks a safe and stable place to live and believes this may affect their performance in the course is urged to contact the <Name Source of Support Here> for support. Furthermore, please notify the professor if you are comfortable in doing so. This will enable them to provide any resources that they may possess."

For more information about responding to trauma in the classroom, read Dr. Iturbe-LaGrave's article of the same name here: https://otl.du.edu/responding-to-trauma-in-the-classroom/

For transcripts, show resources, and other Pedagogo episodes, visit https://examsoft.com/pedagogo

Transcript

Joe Taucher: (00:00) 

Pedagogo the show that brings education to your ears and metamastery to your assessments. Today's episode covers trauma informed-pedagogy. When it comes to assessment, are you helping or hurting? Pedagogo brought to you by ExamSoft, the assessment software that keeps security and integrity in your exams while providing you actionable data for your outcomes. For all of the toughest testing challenges, ExamSoft has you covered. 

Allison Case 

Welcome to Episode 3 of Pedagogo. I’m glad you could join us again today. You’re in for a treat. Today, I chat with the delightful Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave, the Director of Inclusive Teaching Practices at the University of Denver. Valentina is the first Director of Inclusive Teaching Practices I’ve ever met, and I hope in the near future that begins to change as universities begin to appreciate the roles of diversity, equity and inclusion from classroom to the board room. Take a listen to learn how our student’s lives outside our classrooms are making impacts in our classrooms and in our student’s learning. And about the active role we, as faculty and administrators, can take to keep our fingers on the pulse of our students lives in a way that enables us to champion our students and their learning. 

Allison Case (1:14) 

Well, Valentina, thank you so much for joining us today on Pedagogo. I’d love it if you could just start us off with a little bit about what you do every day. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

All right. Well, thank you for having me. This is very exciting and new. Um, I'm Dr. Valentina, Iturbe-LaGrave, I'm the Director of Inclusive Teaching practices at the University of Denver, and my work is really, um, devoted to inclusive praxis, in particular inclusive pedagogy, inclusive teaching practices. Um, So, really what inclusive teaching is, the active engagement of the wealth of intersecting, social identities and positionalities that faculty and students bring into the learning environment. And of course, this is, um, face to face or online learning environments. And my goal is really to weave inclusion, not as an afterthought, but really have it permeate every aspect of curriculum development, course, design, classroom management and assessment of teaching and learning. So, that's really what I devote my time to. 

Allison Case (2:16) 

Fantastic. So, thank you for that. Well, Valentina, you're here to talk to us today about trauma informed pedagogy, which I'm just now very much So, learning about, can you talk to me about what you mean when you say trauma informed pedagogy and a little bit about what, what is trauma in that context? 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (2:37) 

For our purposes, I really want to home in on, on what trauma actually means. Right? So, trauma informed pedagogy is taking into consideration that trauma in itself is a response to deeply distressing and disturbing events that are overwhelming our students' ability to cope. And this is impacting their cognitive processing skills and abilities because it's causing feelings of helplessness, it diminishes their sense of self, and their ability to feel a full range of emotions. But from the more, um, neuropsych side of the house, I think it's really important to understand that trauma is impacting specific areas of the brain. It's affecting the amygdala, the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. So, whenever there's a traumatic stress, what we see is that there are actual changes to these areas of the brain. And what happens is this is fundamentally changing and impacting brain function among our college students with co-occurring trauma and depression symptoms, right? So, that might be one of the ways that we see this pop up in the classroom because the cognitive impact at the end of the day, whether mild or severe is, is it's harder for students to learn new things or new concepts, this is not helping them with their critical thinking. 

Allison Case (4:03) 

It's subverting, what they're in class could do. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

Absolutely. You know, this has a continuing effect on people, even after the end of a stressful situation or experience. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

Trauma is a response to deeply distressing or disturbing events. You know, this something, when we're talking about trauma, this is something that truly, truly exceeds our internal resources for coping. Like our coping mechanisms are not enough. These are terms and they require very real deep sustained interventions from professionals. So, we shouldn't be throwing around these terms casually. 

Allison Case 

I see. Oh, that helps me so much. 

Allison Case (4:45) 

So, Valentina, how do we work through what is, and isn't trauma, especially, if I'm an instructor in a classroom and I'm trying to identify what each student needs and how I can champion each student. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (5:00) 

There are neuroscientist psychiatrists, psychologists, and medical professionals that carry out extensive, um, neuropsychological testing for students, for individuals that have been known to experience trauma. What we've seen in the educational setting most often, is students will arrive with some sort of accommodation. And so, accommodations are telling that, okay some students might need specific supports, right? Specific changes to the way we are providing deadlines or testing, whatever it is. So, that's one way. I think what we're experiencing right now is a little harder. We are in the midst of an unprecedented global health event 

Allison Case (5:47) 

Absolutely 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave

Compounded with this is the, um, social political unrest that we're experiencing in the United States around racial violence and inequities that precede COVID. That's really important. None of these issues around race and racism are new. Sadly, they precede this pandemic, but compounded with the pandemic, what we're seeing is that people's actual ability to cope is truly challenged, right? And so, that's where I think the term trauma informed pedagogy and informed praxis is really important because we're not experiencing a moment in history where we're going to come into a classroom and will readily be able to identify to, you know, identify students who might need extra supports. Inclusive pedagogy would mean that you have thought about all of these points of your pedagogy before you entered that learning environment, before you students begin to engage with you in the course, right? And so, when we're looking at what's happening right now is, normal goals and obligations of our students may be suspended, at least temporarily, right. Because the person is devoting time and energy to processing and working through a traumatic event. 

Allison Case (7:16) 

Right. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (7:18) 

So, I'll speak more candidly about how we're seeing this right now. You know, um, we have students who have lost more than one family member to COVID. I myself lost my father to COVID, um, very recently. 

Allison Case 

Wow, I’m so sorry. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

And you know, it's interesting when I talked to faculty, some of whom have said to me I've lost both of my parents during this and students who were saying the same thing. We are not opening up our learning environments to already be humanizing in the way that our students need them to be. We're all feeling incredibly challenged at this time, right? And so, I think it's important for everyone right now to just take pause and think about “what about trauma, like how does understanding trauma and the impact that it has on our student's cognitive engagement, um, what can help us in our teaching? What can help us in how we are, um, presenting content, how we are drafting our syllabus, how we are, um, scheduling, assessments and how, how flexible and elastic are we being around students ability to meet these goals and obligations in ways that are realistic given that we can assume many of them are experiencing trauma in this moment?” 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (8:45) 

I see. I think I'm really understanding what you're saying. I think what I hear you saying is in the past, we might become aware that a student has endured trauma and might have additional accommodations or resources to support them if they were to come to us with, um, an accommodations letter. But what I hear you saying now is our entire globe is steeped in such a certainly tense time that perhaps it's wise for us to operate in that context and take into account everything you just listed - how we're teaching, how we're communicating, how we're interacting, with that underlying knowledge that to some extent, many, if not, most of our students are enduring some form of trauma.

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (9:29) 

Absolutely. 

Allison Case 

I used to take it as a sign of my professionalism to leave the outside world outside my classroom and not allow that to come in. And the more I have these kinds of conversations and just the more experience I have, the more I realize that can come across as hurtful, or out of touch, or indifferent, when my goal was to come across as professional. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (9:55) 

I really bring my whole self into the learning environment. I think that when I model this to my students, I am opening the door and inviting them. Whenever they feel comfortable whenever they want to come to the table as their whole to do so, that, that is welcomed here. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave(10:12) 

And so, I think, you know, um, this, this is part of the conversation is, you know, in higher education, in general, we have wanted to focus so much on, on the content, right? To the point that I feel we have done a disservice to generations of students who are now grappling with specific realities, that they cannot address, that they cannot answer, that they are having difficulty thinking through and even naming, right? So, this moment in time where it's just so dynamic and vibrant, right? The invitation to be your whole self is there, is out there, there are podcasts for every single age group around identity, around overcoming what might've been seemingly insurmountable challenges, right? To, to reach your, your whole and true potential. And so,… 

Allison Case (11:11) 

Sure, absolutely 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (11:13) 

But at the same time, we might not always, as faculty, feel comfortable or, or equipped to share our whole selves and wellbeing in the classroom. And it might also be a day where I am not wearing my diversity, equity, and inclusion superhero tape, because I don't know, maybe I had a sick child at home. I've been up all night. I am up against a hard deadline for an article or whatever it may be. And when I show up into the classroom, I'm exhausted. 

Allison Case (11:41) 

Right. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (11:45) 

Right. And so, that's what it means in the true sense of the word, you know, to, to be aware of our whole selves and how we're bringing those to the table in the environment.

Allison Case (11:56) 

It's so interesting to hear these threads. I'm thinking back to our episode on cultural attunement and really cultural attunement starts with being in tune with yourself. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (12:04) 

One of my sons recently said one of my teachers started crying during our zoom in AP history. Right. And Oh, wow. and what did you do? And my son was like, you know, in the chat, everybody was so supportive of the teacher, you know. All the students were writing, you've got this, it's going to be okay. But hearing my child say, “I just witnessed my teacher cry on Zoom”. Isn’t that indication enough that we are bringing our whole selves, that people are feeling incredibly challenged right now. And that we may not all have the coping mechanisms to the amount of individual and community trauma that, that we're all experiencing. 

Allison Case (12:43) 

To, to include trauma informed, um, pedagogy in my classroom, what are some simple steps I can take? Cause my gosh, this feels like a big ask. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (12:54) 

So, as a faculty member, what I would invite everyone to do is to think through, you know, what is happening and how is this impacting you? And how might it all be impacting your students? And so, I think understanding and acknowledging trauma is the number one step. 

Allison Case 

Ok 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

Understanding that trauma does in fact impact the way our students are able to, to learn, to remember information, to learn new things, to concentrate, to meet deadlines, normal goals and obligations. Sit with that, understand that trauma really does impact this. Right. Check in your students would be my second go-to. So, there's an exercise called, How Are You Feeling? And it's, it's in a book called ‘This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action and Do the Work’. The book was published this year in 2020 by Tiffany Jewell and Aurelia Durand who was an illustrator. I'm recommending this book to everybody out there. So, is it checking with students called how are you feeling? And he goes like this. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (14:05) 

It says, imagine we're all traveling along the same Lake. We start at the same place. And the end goal is the same. Right. But we have different means and paces to get to where we need to be some field too fast. Others, not fast enough. So, the questions are, how are you feeling? Where are you in this lake we're all traveling in? Do you feel like you're swimming, paddling in the canoe, or on a speedboat? Do you want to keep going at this pace? If you do, how can you support the people who are moving at a different pace than you? Do you want to speed up or slow down? Is your pace sustainable? And what

will happen if you change pace? So, it's a very simple formative, reflective assessment the faculty can use right now to situate students and where they're at without ever asking them, “hey, you know, what might have happened in your personal life that’s really impacting your ability to succeed in my class”? 

Allison Case (15:05) 

Right. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (15:06) 

We don't want to go there. We don't want to, have students… 

Allison Case (15:09) 

It can be shocking, right. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

It can be shocking. It can be retraumatizing to students. You know, we always need to keep confidentiality in mind. And the fact that, you know, even in the more structural way of receiving an accommodation request, we're not going to ask the students, you know, “why they have an accommodation request”, no one should be doing that. 

Allison Case (15:29) 

So, Valentina, do you do this in a group? Are these rhetorical questions or how do we figure out who's struggling? 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (15:36) 

There is not one answer, like one size fits all here. So, it's more along the lines of, hey, you know, as a faculty member, what are you comfortable with? You know, if you're teaching in a hyflex or hybrid environment, maybe you want to have some of these questions in your LMS and you might want to have students respond to them by a certain date. And only you read them. That could be one thing, but what if you have a class with a lot of students? 

Allison Case (16:03) 

Right. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

It may not be realistic for a faculty member to be reading all of the answers here. Right, right. Um, so, how you adapt, right. Do you want to do, maybe you want to use Qualtrics and send out more of a survey style to get a read of the temperature in the room for your students? 

Allison Case (16:23) 

Sure. So, this activity will be impactful. It won't lose its value if it's sent out via a survey. It will retain its value and kind of insight. It doesn't have to be face to face, or one on one.

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (16:39) 

Absolutely. You know, I think we need to have the end goal in mind. So, I would invite all the faculty to think, “what do I want to learn about my students that will help me make specific changes or pivots to my course design, to my management style, to my communication style, even to the deadlines and assessments that I'm giving my students”. That's the goal here. The goal is to have information about your students as humans. I would then say, the number three step would be supporting your students in the classroom. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (17:16) 

You want to, for example, avoid romanticizing trauma narratives in subject content, especially right now, because some people do experience posttraumatic growth after successfully adapting to the fallout of a traumatic experience, but not everyone. So, we can't assume that's the case for all of our students. Um, 

Provide students with a support system, you know, just say to them, “hey, I'm here to support you.” . Reach out if you need to miss class, um, you may not necessarily need to tell me why you're missing class. Just let me know that you need a mental health day and that's okay. I'll accommodate that. Provide students with the campus resources at their disposal, as well. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

I think this is a moment where everyone needs to give grace, you know? We need to just hold each other as humans at the same time that we are performing professionally. And I think it's really important to not just tell students, but give students, you know, access to the health and counseling services on the campus. Um, every campus has confidential services for students. I would make those available to them as well. Include them in your course, right? 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (18:58) 

We have students that are also not just experiencing the trauma of this historical moment, but who are also experiencing housing insecurity, food insecurity. We have students whose parents have lost jobs. Students themselves have lost jobs. They might be struggling with paying for college and paying for their food and paying their rent. This is all very real. And I don't see enough mention of these, um, issues in the news, right. We all need to be cognizant of this. And that's where I say, for this to not to feel overwhelming, sit with the fact that trauma is impacting your students' ability to learn and succeed in your class. 

Allison Case (19:46) 

Right. well, and I think to your point, the more we can normalize these types of conversations, without calling anyone out. But if on a regular basis I can say be reminded on, on campus counseling. This is a trying time. I know I'm feeling stressed, um, or be reminded of the, um, food pantry on campus. The more we can normalize these kinds of resources and conversations and remind our students, these resources exist for a reason. It's not because one student needs it. It's because you know, many students need many of these resources over the course of their time in college. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (20:20) 

And It should be a part of the syllabus. I mean, syllabi are living and breathing documents and they should be treated as such. You might want to include in your syllabus, a basic needs security statement.

Many faculty are including those statements, right, that are addressing housing and food insecurity. Um, you might, want to include a statement around technology. 

Allison Case 

What would that look like? 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

And the requirements. Well at the University of Denver, we have, for example, a laptop loaner program. So, students who don't have the necessary tech to learn from home, we will address that. We will send them the technology they need to log into their classes. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (21:03) 

And, you know, I would just add, just remember that every learning environment should be inclusive, right? Any instance of inequality or micro inequality can really accumulate and have a very significant impact on our students' learning. Right? Yes. Learning environments are climates and they're not just intellectual. These are social, emotional and physical environments as well. And so, we need to start thinking about the classroom, whether it is online, hybrid, hyflex, or face to face, as an environment that is all encompassing over students, whole selves. 

Allison Case (21:35) 

What, if anything is the role of the traumatized individual in this interaction with us? 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (21:41) 

You know, it goes, it's different for everyone, right? I mean, you might find a student is very outspoken and can really ask for what they need in the moment. And then you might have students who, who are not ready to do that or who, they're, just by their personality, that's not something they want to do, or they're still questioning whether they want to be seen or are fearful that they might be seen or defined as, oh, you know, a student who went through X, Y, or Z. Right. And in that case, that's where the assessment's come into play. By giving your students a set of questions that are not too granular, but invite their reflection and invite them to say, yeah, I am feeling challenged. I feel like I need to slow down like the class. That should be a little slower. I would benefit from having different, um, due dates or flexible due dates, right? So, the role of the, of the individual that's experiencing or experienced trauma really varies. I usually say to faculty, you know, you should be doing formative assessment, one-minute paper, every week. This is giving you real time information on how your students are not only experiencing the content in the class and learning it. Um, but what might be outside factors impacting their potential success in your course. I love one-minute papers. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (23:13) 

And I'm highly recommending right now, ‘The Critical Incident Questionnaire’ by Brookfield and Preskill. Um, these are a series of really simple questions that you can ask your students to write down anonymously. You can do it in survey style. Whatever it is, and you don't have to do all the questions, but things like, hey, what happened in class today that made you feel curious? So, it's anchoring their experiences in teaching and learning, in their cognitive experience. And that's why we want to ultimately do, right? This conversation about trauma informed pedagogy and inclusive pedagogy at the core of it is we want our students, all of our students to succeed. 

Allison Case (23:53) 

Right? No, I agree. We absolutely do want all of our students to succeed. because I was a big proponent of formative assessment, but it was always about the content. It doesn't take any more than a minute, um, to check in on the other… 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (24:08) 

And so, I think if, if anything, legitimizes the need for inclusive trauma informed and humanizing pedagogy and practice, it is a very historical moment that we're all collectively experiencing right now. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

And I think when we take collective responsibility as educators for the wellbeing and success of our students, not just in our classroom, because I assure you most of our listeners who are faculty members, I'm sure they want their students to take what they have learned in their courses, out into the world, out in their lives. 

Allison Case (24:41) 

Yes. If we can appreciate it for the tipping point that it is. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

Yeah, absolutely. Right. 

Allison Case (24:48) 

So, Valentina, in the moments we have left, I'd like to ask you two more questions that I think will really round things out. My first question is what role does traditional assessments, we're talking midterms, finals, papers, class projects, what role do those things play in communicating to us about our students' wellbeing? 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (25:09) 

Well, I think it's a, there's a variety of ways. I mean, there are summative assessments to meet specific accreditation requirements or program success requirements, right? They need to remain a certain way. 

Allison Case 

Sure 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

And they are completely focused on content. Their critical thinking ability, problem solving ability. And, and that's great when we start to see in summative assessments that a student develops a trend, that student has a pattern that they are not succeeding and specific components of those exams or assessments. Then I would invite that student to the table, ask them, “I noticed that you are struggling with these types of questions or whatever it may be”. Think about how you are writing your own assessments. For example, if you're writing a problem for students to solve, or maybe it's a case study and you're using a lot of colloquial language or very culturally dependent references, hey, just know that some students may not understand what that means. 

Allison Case 

Right 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

Those mean, and, and in, so doing, you know, this is not fully accessible or equitable to all students, So, you might want to revise those types of assessments. I am a huge proponent in formative assessments. I love something that starts from the very first day of class to the very end, right? Where they can see and experience their own growth and development, whether it be, um, portfolios or journaling, um, writing. Anything that allows students to really be so proud of their work. I think we miss a lot of those opportunities in higher ed. 

Allison Case (26:59) 

To see that growth. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

Absolutely. Right 

Allison Case 

Well, and I think for what you're saying, the formative assessments that are more of the humanity 101 check-in, perhaps can help contextualize the summative assessment results that we're seeing, whether this is a content issue, or maybe a trauma related issue. If we're seeing a drastic change in performance or performance from last year to this year, um, together with that, those formative assessments and that insight that we're getting as we engage with them, that might help us contextualize the conversation we have in our office. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

Absolutely. And I think, you know, every summative assessment should include a little formative component, right? You can think about how you can gauge students' experience in your course and with the content, by adding another bullet point, another question to the exam, right. You can just say, multiple choice, um, how prepared did you feel for this exam? 

Allison Case (27:44) 

Oh, I love that. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

Yes. And so again, you can do that one extra question in that summative assessment. You can make a multiple choice. And this is the other part of the conversation is, hey, faculty are super overwhelmed as well. So, we want to make the job easier on them too, because otherwise they won't be sustainable.

Allison Case 

That's what I love about psychometrics. If you have psychometrics available to your item, you know, performance analysis, those can be great objective arbiters of, am I writing unintentionally biasing questions. So, either, liaising with a colleague to put a second set of eyes, or looking at your psychometrics, if you're using computer-based testing, but metrics to quantify, am I writing biased or discriminating questions? And if so, to make those tweaks. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (28:35) 

There are so many layers. And, and do you think about our assessments as helping our students learn how to learn. Those students that can come to us and say, hey, this is what I need to learn better. Yes. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

In all of our assessments where you're having a little metacognitive question at the end, that is tapping into who they are as learners and, and helping them understand the link between that and their success. 

Allison Case (29:00) 

Yes, participate in that cultivation of that skill. Absolutely. A high honor. The last question I really want to ask you is what are the stumbling blocks that can get in the way of trauma informed practice or pedagogy? 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (29:16) 

So, one would be, you know, academic cynicism, and we don't talk enough about it, but you know, you know, it, everyone knows it. Academic cynicism, you know, it's like, oh my God, here's one more thing. Um, you know, this another fad, right, right. One more other thing, I mean, this is, you know, not gonna work, I'm here to educate. We're not here to handhold or mental health professional, our students, that's one thing, you know, and, and that is a narrative that is incredibly corrosive to faculty who are feeling inspired and, and ready to do the work, that within their own, um, group of educational peers, they don't find validation that this is something worthwhile, right. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (35:45) 

So, that's a big stumbling block because just as peer pressure impacts kids in K-12, you know, this is impacting faculty as well. And we don't talk about it enough. And So, I would say to that just remember that there are like minded practitioners all over the world. You will find what you need and the support you need online, you know, go to your professional associations and see who's having these conversations because I bet you people are having these conversations, um, and become a part of that conversation. Another stumbling block I would say is, it's just cognitive load right now. People are incredibly overwhelmed. You might want to do this work, but hey, you're figuring out how to use a really confusing LMS interface, right? Or you're having to pre-record your lectures, and this is new to you. And, and you're thinking, wow, this all sounds great, but I'm still trying to get my course on my LMS. Right. So, that's a stumbling block and that's okay. Just remember, you don't have to start right now. I want you to just keep this in mind. Any moment that's right for you is, is right to start, period. 

Allison Case (31:13)

Yeah. We don't have to do all the things right away. Love that. We don’t have to be the buttoned up, perfect version of ourselves everyday to come to class. We just have to be aware of what we’re going through. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

Exactly. And we’re not going to know everything and that's okay. You don't have to know everything. And, you know, I often get this from faculty around diversity and equity topics, and they're like, Oh, am I supposed to be facilitating a conversation about what's happening in the US right now in my, you know, I don't know my science class. Do you feel that you're well equipped to facilitate that conversation now? Then you probably shouldn't be having it, but you should invite students and open the door and say, you know, I acknowledge that we're all living through some really intense social time, social, political context, and this might be impacting you and your ability to learn in my class. And that's okay. I just want you to know that I'm not an expert in this, but there are people who are right, And I'm here for you. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (32:16) 

And there are people who are, and I might recommend, you know, specific readings or books or people on campus or podcasts that I listened to my students, right? And that might be supportive. You can always find the experts, um, and, and hand it over to them. You know, I think that's, that's very important. Also, we, we can't be experts in everything. 

Allison Case (32:39) 

Yes. I love that. I love it. It really makes me think as a concluding comment, it makes me think one of my favorite parenting experts always says, “no matter what question your child asks you say “that is an excellent question, and I'm so, glad you asked me””, and then you can either answer or say, I'm going to get back to you, but to always say, “thank you for choosing to bring it to me”. And I think we can do that in our classrooms. No matter if we have a PhD, or just love our students and are a champion of theirs, to be able to say that I'm So, glad you included me, let me see what I can do. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave (33:12) 

Yeah, exactly. Exactly and I love the way you said that. Yeah, we want them to succeed. You know, I have yet to meet a faculty member whose goal is not for their students to succeed. 

Allison Case 

Truly, truly. Right. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

And so, hey, this is at the core of why we do what, what we do and why we love it so much. 

Allison Case 

Agreed. Well, Valentina, thank you so much for your time. I learned a lot and I know our listeners are going to learn So, much and really what you helped me with is this feel so much less scary. We want to show up for our students in such a crazy time in all the things that 2020 is, um, in our conversation today, for me, made that a lot less scary and I hope the same is true for our listeners. Thank you so much for your time and your expertise. I appreciate it. 

Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave 

Well, thank you so much for inviting me and providing this great platform, and to everybody out there be well, be kind and take good care. 

Allison Case 

Wasn’t today’s episode great? For me, it was an entirely new take on the role assessment can play in our classrooms. A way to check in on our students and connect them to resources for their success – whether that’s a study group, an extended deadline, counseling services, or directions to the food bank. We are all human, and whether we intended it to or not, our lives, cultures and identities accompany us everywhere we go. By being aware of ourselves, doing the hard work of being authentic and doing the work of knowing and then responding to our students, we not only make them better learners, but we play a role in championing their success. Now that’s a reason to get up and show up each day. Stay tuned next week as I sit down Christina Paguyo, Director of Academic Assessment at the University of Denver, or as she refers to herself, an Academic DJ who choreographs assessments and accreditation with the everyday activities of students, faculty and staff. Can’t wait. 

Allison Case 

For a transcript of today’s show, additional resources, or to listen to previous episodes, come visit us online at ExamSoft.com/Pedagogo. While you’re there, take advantage of the other assessment resources we have including on-demand webinars, white papers, blog posts and more. Until next week, I’m rooting for you, Education Nation. 

Joe Taucher 

Pedagogo, brought to you by ExamSoft, the assessment software that keeps security and integrity in your exams while providing you actionable data for your outcomes. For all of the toughest testing challenges, ExamSoft has you covered. 

Keeley Karsten (35:36) 

This podcast was produced by Allison Case and the ExamSoft team. Audio engineering and editing by Adam Karsten and the A2K productions crew, including me, Keeley Karsten. This podcast is intended as a public service for entertainment and educational purposes only and is not a legal interpretation nor statement of ExamSoft policy, products, or services. The views and opinions expressed by the hosts or guests of this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of ExamSoft or any of its officials, nor does any appearance on this program imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Additionally, reference to any specific product service or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by ExamSoft. This podcast is the property of ExamSoft Worldwide and is protected under U S and international copyright and trademark laws. No other use, including without limitation, reproduction, retransmission, or editing of this podcast may be made without the prior written permission of ExamSoft.