Preparing Your Classroom for the 2026 Midterm Elections and Other Major Events

Questions can help participants slow down, clarify their ideas, and understand perspectives that differ from their own.

Examples include:

1. “I hear you and want to consider this feedback carefully. May I ask a few questions to help me understand it better?”
2. “The information you are presenting is difficult for me to hear, but I am interested in understanding what you are offering.”
3. “What evidence or experience led you to that conclusion?”
4. “What would you like others to understand about your perspective?”
5. “What information might cause you to reconsider or refine that position?”
6. “Can you explain how this point relates to our central question?”

Review existing classroom norms, including what students can expect from you and what you expect from them. Address the appropriate use of chat, screen sharing, collaborative documents, and other communication tools.

If expectations have not already been established, invite students to help identify behaviors that support productive discussion.

These behaviors may include:

1. Giving others the benefit of the doubt
2. Allowing people to finish their thoughts
3. Sharing speaking time
4. Listening to understand before responding
5. Asking sincere questions
6. Critiquing ideas rather than attacking people
7. Supporting factual claims with credible evidence

Students can also identify behaviors that interfere with productive discussion.

These behaviors may include:

1. Name calling or personal attacks
2. Sarcasm intended to belittle someone
3. Interrupting or talking over others
4. Dismissing a person without considering the person’s argument
5. Making assumptions about another person’s motives
6. Refusing to follow agreed classroom procedures

Explicit expectations give instructors and students a shared basis for responding to problematic comments or derailed conversations. Apply these expectations consistently and address conduct that falls outside the agreed boundaries.

Discuss in advance how the class can repair harm or restore the conversation after someone missteps.

Consider the following alternatives:

1. Instead of telling people they are wrong, ask what values, evidence, or experiences shaped their position.
2. Instead of asking how anyone could believe something, ask when or how that belief began for them.
3. Instead of interrupting, pause to make sure the person has finished.
4. Instead of saying, “Yes, but what about this,” try asking, “Could you tell me more about that?”
5. Instead of assuming someone’s motives, ask about the person’s goals, hopes, or concerns.
6. Instead of blaming someone for your anger or frustration, describe your reaction and take responsibility for it.

To encourage participation during a charged discussion, students may preface an uncertain contribution by saying, “I am about to fumble with my words.” The class can respond, “Fumble Forward.”

This practice creates a temporary agreement to treat uncertainty as part of learning. A student may be unsure which terminology to use, whether a question could cause offense, or how to express an idea that is not yet fully formed.

“Fumble Forward” does not excuse harmful conduct or eliminate accountability. Instead, it invites participants to respond to uncertainty expressed in good faith with patience, clarification, and constructive correction.

The practice can help students move away from reacting to one another and toward careful listening, reflection, and communication. It gives participants permission to acknowledge uncertainty while remaining responsible for the effect of their words.

Participation in this practice should be voluntary. Instructors may adapt it to suit their students, course, and established classroom norms.

Establish procedures for assessing the accuracy and credibility of information. Invite students to participate in a shared verification process.

Consider asking:

1. Who created or published this information?
2. What evidence does the source provide?
3. Can the claim be confirmed through primary or independent sources?
4. Is the source presenting reporting, analysis, opinion, or advocacy?
5. Is the information current and presented in its original context?
6. Does the source correct mistakes transparently?
7. What important information or context is missing?

Avoid asking students to make immediate judgments about disputed claims without sufficient time or access to reliable sources. When appropriate, pause the discussion and return to the question after the class has examined the available evidence.