1/ Apologize and do your best to create psychological safety in your learning space. A thread about a time when I apologized to a student. https://twitter.com/SamanthaPDavis/status/1329435427946844160

2/ In the before-times, we were having an in-class discussion. I misheard what a student said & repeated what I heard, which was comically incorrect. Several students laughed. The student repeated themselves & corrected me. I thought everything was cool.

3/ In a written reflection (I often ask students to write a 'metacognitive moment' about class discussion or readings), the student told me that I'd hurt their feelings because of a previous trauma related to pronunciation and othering. I felt horrible and immediately apologized.

4/ I saw the student in the hallways afterwards and apologized again. (Sometimes students aren't aware of comments in Canvas.) They had read my comment and acknowledged my apology. I thanked the student for having the courage to tell me that I'd hurt their feelings.

5/ We'd been reading about psychological safety in relationship to effective teams (Project Aristotle study of Google teams). I tell students in class that I am to create a psychologically safe learning space. But it's unclear if that exists until something like this happens.

6/ The semester moved on, & the student kicked major butt in class. They went on an interview for a job and received an offer, which the student told me about on the last day of class. They explained that offering examples about their teamwork in my class helped secure the offer.

7/ I excitedly gave the student a high-five. Then, to my total surprise, they asked if they could hug me. Reader, I cannot explain the sheer joy for my student's success.

Apologize to students for causing harm. What might seem like an innocuous situation to us sometimes isn't.

8/ If you're interested in integrating this reading or practice in your learning space, check out the Project Aristotle study. @AmyCEdmondson coined the term "psychological safety," and I highly recommend watching her TED Talk embedded here. https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/understanding-team-effectiveness/steps/foster-psychological-safety/