One of the biggest complaints I hear about learning in online environments is that it’s impersonal. Real relationships are hard to form. No one really knows one another. These statements can be true, but the same thing may be said of any classroom setting. The fact of the matter is that if learners aren’t given opportunities to get to know one another, they will find their learning environment to be cold.

One way you can facilitate a greater degree of camaraderie is by seeking out things to celebrate. Acknowledging birthdays is a great way to start, but you can also conduct a survey at the start of your time together and ask students if they’d like to acknowledge other life events such as anniversaries, special vacations, or personal milestones related to hobbies and extracurricular activities. Acknowledging this info also gives learners a sense of when their classmates may be preoccupied outside of the classroom and not as available to be present for things such as group work.

A few things to note. Because you are venturing beyond the scope of learning activities, you must make sure you receive permission from learners before sharing any personal information. Be completely transparent about what information will be shared and the way that information will be communicated. Finally, don’t go overboard planning special ways to celebrate. Your goal is to make learners feel seen and to provide a communication touch point for their classmates. Nothing you do should produce extra work for your learners.

Easy ways to celebrate important milestones:

– Include the dates in weekly class update emails or posts.

– Post the dates in a class calendar. Note this is also a great way to visually map out assignment and test info for students.

– List the dates in a blog or digital newsletter that gets sent to guardians.

– If your class is taking place on a platform with discussion board capability, you can also create a bulletin board for informal classroom chit chat and use that space to call out important dates.