Articles and resources to empower your teaching experience.
Recently, I bemoaned the poor attendance record of my students this semester. By mid-semester, over half were chronically absent, having missed 10% or more of their classes. I followed that piece with this one: It’s Time to Start Teaching Your Students How to Be a Student. This led some faculty members to call for a larger Denison-wide conversation on this issue.
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How can a simple acknowledgment of a student’s curiosity foster a greater sense of belonging and self-efficacy? ‘That’s a Great Question!’: The Value of Positive Faculty Feedback highlights the significant impact of faculty responses to student inquiries, especially in STEM fields. Authored by Lora E. Park, this research emphasizes the positive outcomes for students—particularly women—when faculty engage with student questions in a supportive manner.
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| Congratulations! We’ve passed the halfway mark—specifically, we’re at the 8/14 point, counting full weeks of instruction. How do we ensure our students maintain their momentum and finish the semester strong? A helpful page from Georgia State University offers ten insightful tips for students. Among these is the Pomodoro technique. A time management strategy developed in the late 1980s, this approach breaks work into focused intervals, separated by short breaks, enhancing productivity and focus. |
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With midterm grades on the horizon and the promise of spring break just around the corner, this is a perfect opportunity to embrace some self-care and introspection. This short, thoughtful piece from the Chronicle offers valuable advice on safeguarding your personal time and space, while also encouraging a mindful approach to your mental well-being. Wishing you a break that is both restful and rejuvenating.
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| As we start the sixth week of the semester, we are in the thick of it. You’ve probably already had at least one major grade or are about to, and you are finding which students have figured out how to study and which have not. Our friend Stephen Chew (a cognitive psychologist who visited Denison under Frank Hassebrock) has some excellent resources that will help you help those students. |
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As we enter week four of the semester, I hope your classes are getting into a rhythm of learning and growth. But how do you know if students understand what we are trying to teach? Classroom assessment activities (CATs) are simple, low-stakes, formative assessments that you can use to ensure your students are “picking up what you are putting down.”
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We work hard in the first week of classes to establish a sense of community. Why is this important? Building a positive working relationship with students and fostering connections among them equips us to handle unforeseen challenges – technology doesn’t work, illnesses, or disruptive news events. A robust community atmosphere offers the necessary grace and support to navigate these turbulent periods more effectively. |
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Whether is the first time or tenth time you’ve taught a course, it is always good to run through a few checklists of things to consider:
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| Happy New Year! One of the trickier things about these posts is timing. If they are too early, you forget about them when the time comes; too late, and well, they’re too late to use.
In an effort to thread that needle, I hope you find this article by Lolita Paff on planning your course calendar useful. |
At the Carleton College faculty workshop on AI that I recently attended, I was introduced to an innovative AI tool called Magic To Do that is designed to assist neurodivergent students with executive functions. This presentation complemented the insights from another keynote speaker, Lorre Wolf, who focused on “Supporting Neurodiversity through the Lens of Autism.” As we strive to support this expanding student demographic, here are some valuable resources to consider.
