Intentionally Cultivating Your Teaching Presence Through “Pebbling”

• In Event: 20461 - Teaching and Learning Symposium Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 6: Teaching Ideas

Abstract

Recently, the term “pebbling” went viral, reframing the practice of texting images to loved ones in hopes of brightening their day as an act of nurturing your relationship with that person. The term is borrowed from the infamous Gentoo Penguin practice of finding the perfect pebble to gift their potential chosen mate. Successfully exchanging the pebble signifies the relationship between the penguins and serves as part of the foundation for their nest. Instructors often engage in “pebbling” their classes as they incorporate memes, cartoons, and headlines in their lectures and emails. I argue that we should recognize and further develop “pebbling” as one tool in our instructional kit. The act of finding and curating images your current students will connect with, determining where they will fit best in your materials, and inviting the students to reflect on them are “small teaching” practices most instructors can easily adopt quickly to help them enter the learning space every time with an intentionally planned teaching presence. Building on the Community of Inquiry (COI) Model, this re-articulation of our tone and goals for each session helps students increase their cognitive and social engagement for the day. However, just as the penguins search for the “perfect” pebble, we must be intentional in our selections and on the lookout for even better and/or more recent images to connect with our students with each new semester. Misaligned or outdated humor may backfire to unintentionally distance yourself from the students.

Author

• Lindsay Hamm, Purdue University