Hey y'all,

It feels so inadequate to say that it is a "challenging time". It is, of course, but that is not enough.

As I think about the things that have gotten us to this moment, facing such a severe budget cut, I keep thinking about the word grief. For me that is the predominant emotion. 

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Hey y'all,

This past week I went with a group of six other instructors from our campus to the annual Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning. Together with about 175 other educators from around the Universities of Wisconsin, we shared evidence and ideas to make our teaching better in service of improving our students' lives. 

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Hey y'all,

Are you getting the emails yet? I am. The ones that ask about making up previous work or providing additional extra credit.

As we head into the final four weeks, I am feeling a lot of tension between my carefully laid plans for the semester and the students who want to raise their grades beyond what is likely or possible at this point. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

In this advising season, it seems like a good time to reconsider what our students need from us and what we owe to them.

As many of us have talked about often and as I have written about in the past, it can be hard to know the proper lines to draw. When are we doing too much? Especially when so many of them have never had the opportunity to learn how college works or how to work it successfully. So much of our curriculum and our practices are hidden or opaque. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

This past Friday, I got the awful news that my very best friend from graduate school died unexpectedly. It was shocking and heartbreaking, and my mind immediately started to recall all the things we did together. Ache and nostalgia and grief.

One of the things that my friend Janie and I did as graduate students was to read together. Being the huge nerds that we were, we decided that we needed a practice for getting beyond just the required texts for our courses. We wanted more. 

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Hey y'all,

I hope your spring break had some break in it, even as I know that not everyone could take time off. Perhaps the relative quiet of our campus this past week was at least somewhat helpful.

Over the break, I was able to put the finishing touches on a few things I want to share today. 

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Hey y'all,

This past week was a lot, maybe it was for you too? I find myself with too many thoughts and ideas.

Rather than trying to distill everything into one idea, I thought I'd share some of what has been happening at CETL and some interesting things I have read or listened to over the past couple of months, many of which relate to residence halls. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

As a relatively nerdy person who has always liked school, semesters, and grades (sort of), I have often had a hard time understanding how other people might not.

As a professor, it's taken me longer than it should have to better understand that not everyone feels the same. For many students, grades are more utilitarian, less about their own self-concepts and more about making tradeoffs to get by. 

[More ...]

Hey y’all,

This week in class, as part of teaching about stereotyping and social cognition, I asked my students to generate two lists: common stereotypes of professors and common stereotypes of students.

It’s always interesting to do this. I emphasize that stereotypes are socially shared ideas, meaning that we know what they are even when we don’t subscribe to them and even when they differ a bit across our individual experiences. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

It is always interesting how, at about week 4 or 5, the semester shifts and things get real. Many of us are grading more and students are seeing where they stand.

In my own grading, I am seeing the challenges I often see when it comes to student writing. The last few years have featured an additional challenge in that more students seem to engage in "writing-related simulations<https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12025/why-they-cant-write>" rather than the sort of thoughtful explanations and critical thinking about social psychology that I most want from them. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

As a regular reader of the Chronicle of Higher Education, I am rarely surprised by what they publish. They have a perspective and I think they often provide useful information from within that perspective. When it comes to online higher education, they are often pretty positive.

This is why I was surprised, this past week, when Flower Darby published a teaching advice<https://www.chronicle.com/article/we-still-think-online-teaching-isnt-real-teaching?sra=true> piece that was incredibly open and much more nuanced about what it can feel like to take or teach an online course. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Some of you may know that I have an obsession these days with headphones and earbuds in class. The rise in the use of these devices among our students has really gotten my attention.

After doing a classroom observation in which a student was wearing big, over-the-ear headphones (not during quiet study time) and seeing earbuds in my own classes, I really started to wonder: Am I just out of it? Is this normal now? Should I be okay with this? Because I did not feel okay with it. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

A few weeks back, I was reading a great newsletter on teaching and learning and got a nice little dose of nostalgia when the cognitive psychologist author, Michelle Miller, cited the Levels of Processing framework for memory research.

For the uninitiated (perhaps most everyone except my psychological sciences colleagues!), Levels of Processing refers to the idea that our level of engagement with information predicts how well we can remember. The key is deeper processing and engaging in the effort it takes to make information meaningful. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

As I sat down to write for this week, I realized that not only was I going to write something totally different from my original plan, but I was also going to upend my first day-of-class plans for the week.

Sometimes it happens. A better idea comes along, and you just have to follow it. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

It is maybe a little too obvious to say that community matters in the work we do. Nonetheless, talking to other people helps us to reflect on our work and keeps us from feeling isolated in both our frustrations and our successes. We all need to feel better and talking to others is a reliable way to do that. Below are some easy, upcoming opportunities for coming together. 

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Hey y'all,

I hope you have been able to take some time to rest over the holidays.

As part of my own holidays, I took some time to visit my family in Oklahoma City. Like a lot of us, I often find myself at odds politically with some of the people I am most closely related to. This trip was no exception. I found myself working hard not to be overly defensive or to argue. I mostly succeeded. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

For the last newsletter this year, I wanted to send a few more suggestions for possible reading/listening over January term.

Spaced Practice and Working Memory<https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2023/11/16> A nice little summary of some recent research on spaced practice and working memory and how cramming depletes us. Even more reason to try and encourage spaced studying and practice. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

For the next two weeks, I'm going to send out just a few things.

First, some links to articles or podcasts that you may want to check out over the January Term.

1. Fostering Thoughtful Interaction on Difficult Topics<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vwLD0MuqWZNA3vMs1vyShCOGeyQPlZ2NmXjDqxaXa3U/edit#heading=h.zfugqbdcx2j0> Although this is geared toward Blackboard users, these helpful ideas are aimed toward facilitating better discussions in asynchronous, online courses, often a challenging problem.
2. Lessons From Alternative Grading: What a "Fail" Taught me This is a short, thoughtful piece on how providing too much flexibility can be counterproductive when it comes to grading and assignments. Her experiences match 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Today is the third in our year-long series of discussions about students and mental health. We are using the book Mind Over Monsters, as our guide.

As always, you are welcome to join us (see below for details), even if you are not reading the book or are not caught up. Today our focus will be on chapter three, embodied mental health. 

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Hey y'all,

I hope you had some break in your break last week and that you feel as ready as you can for the final few weeks of the semester.

One reminder that the semester is wrapping up is that student evaluations of teaching are now open.

I know that student evaluations of teaching inspire a lot of fear and dread, particularly on the part of instructors who are the most subject to their biases and problems: women, people of color, people who speak with an accent. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Given how much is going on, this one might be a little disjointed. Just as during the lockdown period of the pandemic, I'm finding myself a little overwhelmed by information, ideas, demands, and tasks. I suspect you might be feeling similarly.

For that reason, I thought I'd just share two items this week. 

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Hey y'all,

I just wanted to jump into your inbox to share a few thoughts and a reminder.

Obviously, this is a hard time for our campus. It is hard to know the exact right thing to do and, really, I do not think there is an exact right thing. Our courses and contexts are different, so our responses will be different too. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Today CETL is hosting the second discussion in our year-long series on anxiety and mental health (see details below and note the ROOM CHANGE).

This semester has been one with a lot of loss. I don't know if the ideas we are sharing as part of our series will be helpful to you, but I know that I have found them useful, especially when I can share them with you and hear your thoughts. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

I am guessing that when you hear the words "course objectives" or perhaps especially "assessment of course objectives" you probably do not feel excited.

As someone who has written her share of assessment reports, I know how daunting this work can be.

One challenge with assessment, at least as I see it, is wrapping our minds around how what we are assessing lines up with what we say we care about most, that is, the objectives for the course. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Last week I had a conversation with someone (not at UWRF) who holds a very different perspective on college students than I do.

This happens, of course. People vary in how they think about students just as they vary in their attitudes about many things. Plus, I tend to have a lot of conversations around students and teaching. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

As we get into the middle stretch of the semester, I have been thinking a lot about my assignments.

In my courses, it is always the writing assignments that are the most challenging.

At this point, I am starting to see that divergence I know so well: several students are really improving in their writing as they get into the rhythm of understanding while others are struggling and starting to miss assignments. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

If you have been keeping an eye on the "other stuff" down below, you know that we have been soliciting little notes of thanks over the last couple of weeks.

I was inspired to create this simple, anonymous process by my fellow UW Center Directors a few weeks ago. Several of them are doing something similar on their own campuses and they all noted how nice it has been to share out notes of gratitude. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Today is the first in our year-long series of discussions around student mental health and wellbeing. Each month, we will focus on a different chapter from the book Mind Over Monsters<https://linktr.ee/sarosecav> by psychologist and professor Sarah Cavanagh<https://www.sarahrosecav.com/> (who gave a great talk to campus back in August).

If you saw her talk, you know that Sarah takes a different approach to this issue and a very evidence-based one at that. Her focus is on compassionate challenge. That is, using compassionate policies and strategies to help students feel secure, thus allowing them to do challenging things, including learning. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

As I wrote a few weeks back, I decided to overhaul my grading a bit this semester. I want grades and grading "not to suck" as I told my students.

Using a simplified rubric, I created "does not meet", "meets" and "exceeds" expectations criteria for each assignment type (e.g., discussion posts, writings). The other big change is that students now have a week to submit a revision of some of those assignments if they want to try and improve. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

This past week we lost a smart and thoughtful colleague in Andris Straumanis<https://straumanis.com/>. There was so much to Andris, and I cannot do him full justice here, so I want to focus briefly on his work as a teacher and what his loss reveals to me.

In many ways, Andris embodied what we say we value most at UW River Falls. He cared about his students while challenging them to do meaningful work. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

I hope your first week of the semester was a good one.

In teaching my first class of the semester, I found myself talking about our new ChatGPT policy for writing assignments. As a result, I kept thinking back to our Opening Week session on AI and teaching.

During that session, and in many other contexts too, I have heard a similar sentiment: ChatGPT is just like the calculator, rejected initially, but eventually embraced and understood as just another part of the learning process. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

This weekend in River Falls the signs were everywhere. Move-in time. If you live here, it's unmistakable. The "free couches" left out on curbsides, the garage sales perfectly timed for Labor Day weekend, and the vehicles with their blinking hazard lights flanking both ends of campus.

Because I never lived on campus as a student (I was a commuter and lived at home), I don't think I fully understood how monumental it can be until one of my own children went "off to college" in 2017. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

How much do you rely on your routines? The structures of your everyday life that help you to get things done and to care for yourself and others.

Each year, as fall approaches, I am reminded of how much these routines matter. Things get busier, stress levels rise, and routines get harder to maintain or get interrupted completely. 

[More ...]

Hey y’all,

As this is the first of two Opening Weeks for the 23-24 academic year, I have been spending way too much time in my inbox. Lots of logistics and questions and back and forth with all the wonderful people helping out with events<https://www.uwrf.edu/OpeningWeekEvents/Index.cfm>. Plus, all the new instructors whose 2-day orientation begins today. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

As always, especially with a new year beginning, I think a lot about what our CETL should be and needs to be at UWRF.

The things I come back to often are relationships and community. I have written about this a lot, but I really believe it is true. Few things are as important for our own mental health and well-being as the connections we have with others. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Forgive me for sharing the same joke two years in a row, but I just cannot help myself. August always has that bittersweet feeling to it, at least for me. I love the school supplies, of course, but it's frantic too.

In the spirit of helping you prepare, I wanted to share some resources and opportunities. A lot of these pertain to teaching, but everything I share is always open to everyone. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

I hope you are having a nice July and maybe not reading this one right away.

As much as I dislike interrupting the lovely month of July for anyone, I still wanted to break in to share a few thoughts and let you know about upcoming events.

Like many of you, I am spending a fair amount of time prepping to teach this fall. The course I am teaching is one I have not done in a while, especially in person. And given the realities of post-pandemic teaching, it can feel like I am starting over. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

We made it to the last week of classes and to the end of April, so often the busiest month for many of us. I hope you are doing okay.

I wanted to send out one last newsletter this academic year to let you know about our plans for next year. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Years ago, I read something in which an academic writer said that going to a conference was like "overeating". It can be easy to take in too much, to feel excited about so many possibilities that you come away feeling overfull.

This has always felt true to my own experience even though I love hearing new ideas and connecting with like-minded people. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

"They're very aware of what they're here for. They're here to get a credential. They're here to check a box".

This quote is pulled from a long Chronicle article<https://www.chronicle.com/article/power-shift> I read recently that I think is worth talking about.

The overall argument in this reported piece is that the power dynamics have shifted, especially post-lockdown, so that students are now less deferential and more demanding. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

As we have done for the past few years, CETL will sponsor several book groups this summer.

But unlike years past, we want you to choose your own book and run your discussions as you see fit.

This year, we really want to focus on the "providing community" part of our mission. We want you to see each other, talk to each other, and laugh and chat. That's it. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

It feels obvious to say maybe, but it is well documented<https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1475725721989489> that our students can often fail to use effective strategies for studying and learning.

There are variety of reasons for this: they may not know the best methods, they may have spent most of their school years using less-effective methods that were "good enough", and most importantly, effective study strategies may not feel effective. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

"I am ready to make up the work that I have missed."

Last week, on Monday, I received a couple of emails with statements like these from students. Over the break, a few students seem to have had the time to get to their doctors or talk to their families or look at their work schedules and figure out a new plan and set of habits for themselves. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

I hope you had a good spring break. I know many of us tried to get "caught up", the ever-elusive goal that we never really reach. That was certainly my intent, until I realized, yet again, that catching up is not really a thing. Just when I think I might be getting close to the goal, I realize "hey, right, this other thing I need to do...". In any case, it was good to have the opportunity to try. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

A few years back I started providing an "anonymous question/comment" link in my Canvas courses. I use a simple Qualtrics link, but you could use other methods (and thanks to my colleague, Travis Tubré, for the idea).

I like having this option for students. Few students use it, but I like how it provides an outlet for feedback on the course or questions that they otherwise might not ask, especially on sensitive or controversial topics. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

For those of us teaching in person, last week may have felt a bit like flashing back in time.

Maybe it was just me (?), but as I tried to figure out how best to go "remote" in my teaching, I had an eerie and uncomfortable feeling of familiarity.

The good news is that many of us are much more prepared to do this now. We know the options and the limitations. But it still felt weird. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Back in January, I wrote a bit about the fear I felt upon receiving the student evaluations of my teaching for Fall 22. In response, several of you wrote back to share similar feelings.

One of those responses really got me thinking about how our students must be feeling and how those feelings may be influencing their evaluations of our teaching. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Have your students ever erupted into spontaneous applause at the end of one of your class sessions?

I am certain this has never happened to me. But it happens in movies. I think I have seen it more than once!

The mismatch between our popular culture's representation of teaching and what we experience in our work with students was the subject of an excellent podcast episode<https://www.edsurge.com/news/2023-02-07-how-hollywood-stereotypes-about-teachers-stifle-learning> last week that featured Jessamyn Neuhaus. She is a historian, and she wrote the book, Geeky Pedagogy<https://wvupressonline.com/node/804>, all about the myth of the "super teacher" as she puts it. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Last week I got a BP Logix form asking me to approve a student dropping my course on the psychology of prejudice and racism. Many of you have probably seen these forms a lot recently as students drop and add to make their schedules work.

Normally I do not think a lot about students dropping so early, but this one made me pause. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

How much time should teaching require?

That was the headline for a recent thread on a Google group message board (other teaching center folks, primarily).

The discussion was fascinating, ranging from straightforward descriptions of the research on instructor time use to more thoughtful replies around what teaching is and, perhaps, should be. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

I hope you are feeling relatively ready to start classes this week. I think I am. Sort of.

Like many of you, I made changes to my teaching over the break and updated things. As classes begin, I hope those changes will work, but it's always hard to know as my big ideas meet the messy reality of teaching day-to-day. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

There has been a lot to think about lately when it comes to teaching and learning. The ongoing<https://www.edsurge.com/news/2023-01-10-how-instructors-are-adapting-to-a-rise-in-student-disengagement> discussions of what we can and should expect of students post-pandemic, the debates over academic freedom and instructor precarity sparked by an incident<https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/01/13/u-of-m-professors-say-hamline-admin-violated-academic-freedom> at Hamline University, and the worries over ChatGPT<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/01/12/academic-experts-offer-advice-chatgpt>, the AI that is supposedly coming to replace us all. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

This past week, many of us received our student evaluations of teaching. I was just starting to revamp syllabi when I received mine.

I let them sit in my inbox for a while before finally managing to open them. Even after so many years of teaching, I still feel like I should read them with one eye open and one closed, kind of like how I watch anything even mildly scary on screen. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Just jumping into your winter break to let you know about several upcoming deadlines and to share a couple of interesting resources.

First, I listened to this<https://teaforteaching.com/270-fall-2022-reflection/> great podcast (about 35 minutes) this morning where the hosts, two very thoughtful teachers, shared their reflections on fall 22. I heard a lot of echoes of things I have heard from many of you (and in my own experience). You might find it helpful too. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

"Those must be the teachers"

This is what I overheard on Saturday as I marched with my colleagues into Knowles fieldhouse for our graduation ceremony.

I don't know who said it, just a man in the crowd who was likely there to watch a child or grandchild graduate, but I do know that I felt a lot of pride upon hearing it. We are the teachers. And despite how challenging this semester has been for many of us and for our students, we still showed up and taught. We did our best on behalf of our students, their 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

There is an image from earlier this fall that I cannot get out of my head. I was doing an early morning classroom observation and a student was sitting just behind me, wearing headphones (not earbuds, but big over the ear headphones) and staring straight ahead. He never took any notes. He never spoke. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

This week I got the notification that I have been dreading a bit. My course evaluations are now open and ready for student feedback on Canvas.

I like and appreciate student feedback, of course, but I am a bit worried about how things might go this fall, especially in terms of response rates. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

I hope you are doing well after the holiday break. I hope, too, that you got a break.

Today, rather than sending along some thoughts on teaching, I decided to send a list of upcoming events. There are quite a few, some well into January and next semester, but thought they might be helpful for planning. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

This past week I was lucky enough to attend an in-person conference. Remember those? I had not been to one since before the pandemic and it was just what I was hoping for: amazing, exhausting and overwhelming all at once.

At the end of a truly amazing keynote speech about the role of teaching centers during a challenging time of austerity budgeting and attacks on higher education, this phrase showed up on the last slide: 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

When you imagine a college class, what comes to mind? For so many of us, that picture is all about a lecture. Students listening. An instructor talking. Maybe students are taking notes. Perhaps they answer a question posed to the class occasionally.

Lectures can be wonderful, but they are not the only way to teach. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

All semester, both in my own teaching, and in the emails and conversations I have had with others, I have been hearing the same story: the students are doing better than last year, but still not back to "normal".

The details vary, and it is all anecdotal at this point, but here are a few of the data points I have been collecting: 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Last week I asked how you deal with students wearing an earbud (or two) in class. I heard from several of you, instructors, and non-instructors alike, about how our expectations can differ from our students.

One reader suggested that students might be using an earbud to amplify the voices in the room. Others suggested that an earbud, just like a phone or a laptop, might be a way for students to try to manage their own anxiety. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

What do you do when you begin class, and you notice that one or more of your students has an earbud in one ear? Or both ears?

As a confirmed podcast and music junkie, I am an earbud fan. I have various types of earbuds and headphones and I have strong feelings about all of them. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

This past week there seemed to be a shift. Did you notice it too? That week in the fall semester when the weather gets serious about being cold and the trees have mostly turned and, most notably for many of us, our students start to really feel the challenges of the semester. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Last week I shared some ideas around the liberal arts and the broader purposes of a general education.

This past week, in what felt to me like a continuation of that theme, there was a prominent story<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/us/nyu-organic-chemistry-petition.html> about an NYU adjunct organic chemistry professor whose contract was not renewed after multiple student complaints. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

This past Friday I was in Madison for the fall UW System Teaching Center Directors meeting.

I always love to meet with this group. I often learn a lot about what other campuses are doing and how, despite our different sizes and cultures, we are all facing similar challenges.

At one point, the UW Parkside Center Director was describing her "tasks" for the year. Among many other challenges, she shared that she had been asked to work alongside others to try and reimagine general education a bit. 

[More ...]

Hey y’all,

“Don’t tell me to just do a little each day”. That was the response of a faculty member a few years ago when I mentioned to her that I was going to be offering a session on how to get your writing or other scholarly work done at a teaching-focused institution. 

[More ...]

Hey y’all,

Am I interested in race because I know a lot about it, or do I know a lot about race because I was interested to begin with? I think we often assume curiosity comes first and that it is somehow a fixed trait. You have it or you do not. But research suggests that it is more complicated than this. That the more we know, the more we can learn and the more curious we will become. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

"It kind of feels like a Friday at 4pm energy, so maybe we just call it off until next week?". These were the first words one of my students said to me as I entered my new class on Thursday morning. Talk about making a first impression! Wow. I was paying attention. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

What was the most memorable first day of a course for you when you were a student? When I think about my own experiences as a student, they all blend into a haze of syllabi and nervousness. Nothing stands out really.

As an instructor, I think it is easy to both over and underthink the importance of the first day. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

This past week, I got the little automated email from HR that asks me to submit my goals for the year. As part of my CETL work, I do this every year and each time I do it I go back and look at the mission statement for the center. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

I kind of feel like I should have something inspiring to say. Doesn't that seem like what I should have? Some sort of helpful or at least reassuring idea I can share as we all prepare to jump back into another academic year. But the more I try to develop one, the more my brain says, "nope, I got nothing". 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Because there are so many things going on right now, I wanted to use the newsletter this week to share out a few important notes and remind you about several upcoming sessions, including the big Inclusive Teaching event on September 1. Space is filling fast for that one, so please RSVP soon if you want to attend (see below). Remember that you can see all the Opening Week events here<https://www.uwrf.edu/OpeningWeekEvents/Index.cfm> (new additions). 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

August. The Sunday of the summer. That is not my line and I have no clue who said it originally, but I will give citation to the good and great Ann Lawton who first introduced me to it a few years back.

August is also, for many of us, a time of syllabi construction and production. To that end, I wanted to share with you a couple of tools that might be useful as you do that important work. 

[More ...]

Hey y’all,

Okay, hear me out, I am not here to interrupt your summer vibe too much😊, but I do want to draw your attention to some cool things and to let you know more about a few important, upcoming events.

Because many of our contracts start on August 22, there are two Opening Weeks this fall with lots of events. You can find them all here<https://www.uwrf.edu/OpeningWeekEvents/Index.cfm>. Please let me know what questions you have, if any. 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

As this academic year ends, I cannot seem to sort out how I am thinking about things. For a while I harbored the belief that while this year would be difficult, next year would be better. I have reminded myself to do the best I can, focus on the students and their learning and look forward to the 22-23 academic year because by then, surely, it will be more "normal". 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Have you gotten that computer issue solved yet? This is my weekly question to one of my students who, for whatever reason, has been completely unable to turn anything in via Canvas or email that I can open and read. This has been happening for over a month.

This is a student who, like most of us, is very busy. He does a lot. But when he is present in class, his comments are outstanding. I know he is reading the material. I know he is engaged. I think he is learning. And yet I have multiple zeros 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

I feel like every year I forget how hard April can be!

Between the feeling that warmer weather might never show itself again (not even a "fake spring" as my dear colleague James Cortright dubbed those temporarily warm days) and the accumulating stresses and strains of the academic year, it always feels like a lot.
But maybe the real issue is just that there is so much to take in at this time of year. The usual firehose of information, but also all the culminating projects and celebrations that come with the end of an academic year. 

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Hey y'all,

As the semester winds down with three more weeks plus finals (but who is counting), I have found myself a little too focused on all the things I have not covered and all the ways in which my teaching feels a little inadequate.

A lot has been said about how hard this academic year has been and all of it is true, of course. But I think it's also true that our work never quite feels like it is good enough, pandemic or no pandemic. Learning is messy and imperfect and it's easy to feel like we could 

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Hey y’all,

Spring Survey

Two years and about a month or so. That is how long it’s been since we here at UWRF first went into COVID lockdown mode, flipping courses online and beginning our new reality.

As is happens, 2020 was also the year that our Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) was meant to officially open. Instead, having just accepted the position of director at the very end of February, I jumped in with others to try and support the pivot (ugh on that word😉) to emergency remote instruction. 

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Hey y'all,

"I dream of never being called resilient again in my life."

I heard this quote over the weekend, while listening to the most recent episode<https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/unpacking-resilience-grief/> of one of my favorite podcasts about teaching.

The host and guests were talking about resilience and just how incongruent that idea can feel for so many people right now. 

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Hey y'all,

Last week, as I was heading to a meeting, I walked past a class on the second floor of North Hall.

What struck me as I glanced into the room is how joyful the students looked. They were talking to each other, clearly engaged in an activity that I could hear being directed by an instructor at the front of the room. They were animated and excited, clearly absorbed in the activity. It was wonderful to see. 

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Hey y'all,

If you read this newsletter regularly or if you know me, you probably know that I am a big fan of podcasts. I love them. I love to listen to a good story or to feel like I'm eavesdropping on a great conversation.

I think that what I like most about podcasts is the feeling that I am learning new things. 

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Hey y'all,

This past week my students and I were talking about redlining and the ways in which differential housing values contribute to the racial wealth gap.

As part of that discussion one student commented that she just didn't believe she would ever be able to buy a house. Immediately, several other students jumped in to say that they felt similarly. What ensued was a discussion of all the reasons why, with a particular focus on two things: student debt and feelings of insecurity around the kinds of jobs they could secure. 

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Hey y'all,

I couldn't find this classroom on the first day. I'd never had a class in KFA before.

This was the comment of a junior-level student during an informal chat before class last Thursday. I was surprised, but I shouldn't have been.

In my mind, junior = "has completed several gen eds" and, thus, has spent at least some time in KFA (many departments that serve general education are housed in KFA).
But that assumes a pre-pandemic world. 

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Hey y’all,

First, I wanted to thank those of you who responded to the last newsletter with thoughts or stories of your own. Here are a few:

First, Daniela Goldfine was kind enough to comment on how my own thinking out loud is helpful to her:

The self-reflection you've done in this newsletter is just awesome. It's usually hard to see outside of our, what to call it?, bubble. By being honest about it you force us to reflect on our actions. 

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Hey y'all,

If you read this newsletter regularly, you likely know that I am a big proponent of inclusive teaching practices.

I believe our work is both more satisfying and more effective when we try to understand our student's perspectives and the pressures they face. They are so often like the ones we face too, so it can make everything better to set up our courses in ways that take these pressures into account. 

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So sorry-link was incorrect last time...

Hey y'all,

This past Friday CETL held an open discussion on attendance policies and excused absences. Several of you attended, along with two students from the Student Government Association.

The students shared their ideas for a resolution, currently working its way through the student senate, that calls for students to have three excused absences each semester to promote better health and well-being. 

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Hey y'all,

This past Friday CETL held an open discussion on attendance policies and excused absences. Several of you attended, along with two students from the Student Government Association.

The students shared their ideas for a resolution, currently working its way through the student senate, that calls for students to have three excused absences each semester to promote better health and well-being. 

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Hey y'all,

This past week I was reminded, again, that I should never be too sure of myself. I first read a short piece in the New York Times about COVID and came away feeling somewhat convinced by the authors' arguments.....until I read this<https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/needed-more-curiosity-less-phony-objectivity> response by John Warner of Inside Higher Ed. 

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Hey y'all,

Here we are, another first day of class. I hope you all are doing well. I have a few suggestions this week and a quick correction:

1. As astute reader Jacqueline Lee pointed out to me, I accidently linked to the wrong page and office in my syllabus excerpt last week. I'm so sorry for the confusion. The corrected language and link: 

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Hey y'all,

Given that there is only a week (!) before the start of classes, I have been thinking a lot about the importance of a good syllabus<https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-create-a-syllabus/>, as well as how to have a good first day<https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-teach-a-good-first-day-of-class/>. Both pieces I am linking to here are pre-pandemic, but a lot of their advice still holds. 

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Hey y'all,

On the advice of my husband Geoff, I've been reading Oliver Burkeman's newest book Four Thousand Weeks<https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374159122/fourthousandweeks>.

As the title suggests, the book starts from the premise that the average human lifespan is incredibly short and that our many, many attempts to manage our time in the most optimal way are just an attempt to avoid the obvious: we can never get it all done. 

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Hey y’all,

Happy New Year😊

Just quickly reaching out to remind you about the many January and Opening Week events happening soon.

You can see the full listing here<https://www.uwrf.edu/OpeningWeekEvents/Index.cfm> or just the CETL events on our webpage<https://www.uwrf.edu/CETL/> and in the listing below.

Note that most events will be online, but there are a couple in person that require a sign-up by this Friday, January 7 or Friday, January 14 (off campus Sustainability event). 

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Hey y'all,
We made it to the last week! I know everyone is ready for a break and I truly hope you can rest a bit over the coming weeks.

Just one recommendation for you and some announcements:

First, I heard this<https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-12-14-how-can-colleges-break-out-of-the-funk-of-low-morale> short podcast last week and it really resonated. We talk a lot about burnout, but this higher education professor is focused more on demoralization. I have to say that I found the concept and his ideas really spot on. Let me know what you think if you listen. 

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Hey y'all,

First, I really want to thank those of you who reached out to me last week after the last CETL newsletter about collaborating to find more balance in accommodating our students.

The response was very strong, generating more comments back to me than any newsletter so far. I learned a lot from each and every one of your responses. Thank you. Hearing from you is very important to me and helps me to do a better job. 

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Hey Y'all,

As the semester is winding down and so many of us are being asked to provide heroic levels of flexibility and accommodation to our students, I have been trying to think more clearly about what might help us all to make better sense of the situation we are in and help us find a more sustainable path forward. 

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Hey y'all,

These days, there is a lot of focus on teaching skills rather than content. You can easily find lists of the skills that employers supposedly value and that they feel are lacking in our graduates. We are then implored to include these skills in our teaching to help our students in their eventual careers.
I am suspicious of this idea for a variety of reasons, but one reason is the implicit assumption in the skills narrative that somehow skills are separable from the content we are teaching. 

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Hey y'all,

This past Friday, when I learned of the full acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on all charges, my heart sank. I was thinking about my students, some of whom had been following the trial closely. My first thought: "What do I say to them?"

In teaching about racism, I have learned to be cautious about bringing up current events. This may seem counterintuitive, given that there are so many opportunities, but this can be tricky territory and I don't think that this is just because I teach about racism. 

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Hey y'all,

This past week I found myself feeling uninspired to teach. Perhaps it is not cool to admit this, but it's true. And it happens to all of us regularly. At least I suspect it does. Most of us rarely talk about this shared aspect of our work, the ways in which we feel unmotivated or tired. 

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Hey y’all,
In the absence of any especially inspiring reads or listens this week on teaching and learning, I thought it might be useful at this point in the semester to let you know what we at CETL are planning for January.
This is all still a bit tentative, but here is what I can share so far: 

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Hey y'all,

This past week I followed my own tradition of bringing mini candies to class for Halloween. I hesitated, given COVID, but ultimately decided I couldn't resist. It just makes me happy to do it and given that I am in the middle of moving houses, I knew we would not be handing out candy at home. This was my only chance! 

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Hey y'all,

For several years, up until Spring 2020, I had the truly wonderful job of helping to facilitate the First Year Adventure (FYA) courses for the College of Arts and Sciences. I learned so much doing that work, particularly from the amazing instructors who taught the courses. Those teachers showed up every day to make sure that our first-year students felt a sense of community, support, and academic challenge. 

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Hey y'all,
Isn't it funny how you sometimes end up right where you were probably supposed to be, even if you didn't quite realize it at the time?
That is sometimes how I feel about my job at UWRF. As a newly graduated PhD in social psychology way back in 1999, I never planned to stay at my first job. I thought that, if nothing else, the cold winters would drive this southerner away at some point. And yet here I am.
Now I understand that a big reason why I have stayed has to do with the fact that 

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Hey y'all,

Do you ever feel like you are losing the battle for the attention of your students? I am assuming that most of us experience this frequently. This past week I realized that I had completely missed the newest threat to student attention: smart watches.

I guess I am a little behind in my tech adoption, so the watches still feel kind of new to me and, if I'm honest, I find them particularly annoying. I know I shouldn't take it personally and yet I still do at times. 

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Hey y'all,

This past week, the Wisconsin State Assembly passed a ban on the teaching of Critical Race Theory in public schools. An additional amendment listed the concepts and terms that will be banned if this measure becomes law. You can see that list and more about the law here<https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/wisconsin-assembly-passes-ban-on-teaching-critical-race-theory/article_1e53044a-8047-58c7-9560-368ae54fb588.html>.

Note that many states have already passed such measures (see here<https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/map-where-critical-race-theory-is-under-attack/2021/06> for an updated map). 

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Hey y’all,
This past weekend I kept thinking I could come up with an overall theme for the week, but nothing would come to mind (and I am sure you have plenty to think about already😊). Instead, I thought I’d share with you a few little pieces from this past week that caught my attention and that you might find useful too. 

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Hey y'all,

Last week was a week indeed. A lot of messages and a lot of decisions for many of us to make and then make again as conditions changed.

I suspect that many of you have just been trying to get through it while being consistent, fair and safe. The problem with making decisions when conditions are constantly changing, though, is that things are constantly changing. And everyone has slightly different interpretations of "consistent, fair and safe". 

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Hi all,

A few folks have asked for a template for what to do if a student tests positive.

Below is a rough attempt at that with a BIG assist from Jennifer Willis-Rivera. Thank you, Jen!

What do if a student or students test positive in your courses?

1. Make sure you notify everyone in the class (e.g., email, Canvas announcement). Because most of our classrooms do not allow for physical distancing, everyone in the class is likely to be a close contact. 

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Hey y'all,
If you read your email on Friday or over the weekend you know that the end of the week was a rough one for positive COVID cases on campus.

Given that, I wanted to share several points of information and ideas to perhaps help you think through what to do as we go forward with so much uncertainty. I truly wish I was writing about something else. 

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Hey y'all,

How were your first few classes? Weird? Exciting? Scary? All of the above? Me too.

One big thing I noticed, as someone who did not teach in person last year at all, is just how difficult it is going to be to learn their names with masks?! Several of us discussed this in my department and there do not seem to be great answers. Any hacks from those of you who did in person teaching last year? How did you learn their names? I must admit that I am half-tempted to give them all post-it notes for the 

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Hey y'all,

A big thank you to everyone who attended the CETL Grand Opening events this past Tuesday, whether online or in-person. We had a great turnout and a lot of fun learning more about both hope post-covid and transparency for student success with our guest speaker, Kevin Gannon.

The main idea of the morning talk centered around hope and defining it realistically in the context of higher education. Rather than simply assuming things will get better in the future, a pedagogy of hope calls for us to struggle toward that better future in our practices each day. In other 

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Hey y’all,

Here we are, Opening Week of the 2021-2022 year. Given how busy this week is and all the last-minute scrambling most of us are doing to pull together syllabi under ever-changing conditions (note that masks are now required<https://www.uwrf.edu/Falcons-Forward/upload/August20MessagefromChancellorGalloUpdatedCOVID19Guidance.pdf>), I just wanted to share one recommendation.

This piece in the Chronicle last week had a lot of good suggestions. The overarching theme is one of continued flexibility and providing a lot of grace, both for our students and for ourselves. Given the likelihood of continued disruption, this seems wise. As a result, we might want to re-think (again) things 

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Hey y'all,

My guess is that you, like me, are thinking a lot about your courses this fall and what the Delta variant might mean for your teaching.

What we know as of now is that our campus has an expectation<https://www.uwrf.edu/Falcons-Forward/upload/August12Provostmessagetofaculty.pdf> of masking. Nothing else has really changed. We cannot mandate vaccines, and while our expectation of masking is not a mandate, it is likely that the expectation will be enough to bring most people on board. 

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Hey y'all,

Two suggestions for you this week:

1. Newsletter posting: Grading for Growth<https://gradingforgrowth.substack.com/p/entering-the-feedback-loop-roberts>
You may have seen this linked in the Chronicle newsletter for teaching last week. I can see why they called attention to it. It's an evocative little story about grading and students and how our best efforts to assess learning can still fail spectacularly to actually capture learning. Even better, the author shows such wonderful humility and openness in describing how he is improving his assessments and how that process is ongoing. Truly a growth mindset. Let me know if you have follow-up questions on specs 

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Hey y'all,

First, more suggestions:

1. Equity Centered Trauma Informed Education<https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/equity-centered-trauma-informed-education/>
Perhaps it is just me, but I often feel a little overwhelmed by discussions and advice on Trauma Informed Pedagogy. Given that I am a social (and not a clinical) psychologist, I feel unprepared to deal with student trauma at times.

The quote from this episode of Teaching in Higher Ed that really caught my attention was this: faculty can start to "see themselves as one caring person in the life of a student...build [ing] networks of support around their students". 

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Hey y'all,

The newsletter is back, a little earlier than I had planned, but it seemed like a good time to check in.

I really hope everyone has a had a chance to rest and relax, at least a little bit!
I thought I might start easing us all back into the fall semester with a few suggestions and some information about the events coming up in August, including the CETL Opening and Opening Week. 

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Hey y'all,

What a year. Not exactly a profound statement, but a true one.

Because this is the last week of official classes, this will be my last CETL Newsletter for a while.

I will put any announcements in Falcon Daily and encourage you to reach out to me with any questions or teaching needs you have over the summer, but the newsletter will be on hiatus until about mid-August. At that point, I will reach out to let you know what is happening with Opening Week (August 23) and how you can join in with the official opening of 

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Hey y'all,

This past week, UWRF held an employee Town Hall to discuss plans and policies amid the return to campus that is expected over the summer and into fall semester. (Note you could watch the playback here<https://www.uwrf.edu/Falcons-Forward/April-15-Employee-Town-Hall.cfm> with your Falcon account login if you missed it).

The statistics the Provost shared show that many more classes will be in person (77% fully face to face) and that, unless we are told otherwise in mid to late-July, our classroom capacities will be what they were prior to the pandemic. 

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Hey y'all,

A while back I put out a call for suggestions and ideas around summer discussion groups. I got a great response and have settled on four different groups; each focused a little differently and in keeping with the focus areas of CETL.

I am excited to share these and hope that you find one that works for you and allows you to reconnect with colleagues or meet new people as we all try to recharge after a difficult year. 

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Hey y'all,

Is anyone else thinking about fall? Not in a planning sort of way (not yet), but in a more general "what will that be like?" sort of way?

As someone who has taught and worked primarily remotely for over a year now, I cannot quite picture what it will feel like to come to campus every day. Is it like riding a bike? Easy to pick up again? Or will it be exhausting and disorienting? 

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Hey y'all,

As a social psychologist, one of the main goals I have in my teaching is to help students understand the systems that surround us. The culture of the United States is so predominantly individualistic that we often tend to think primarily in terms of the individual: their personality, attitudes, values, or beliefs, when trying to understand why someone acts in a particular way. 

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Hey y'all,

It's probably just wishful thinking, but my mind keeps imagining the summer and the possibility that after so much lost time we can all do some catching up. As someone said to me recently, "We are going to need to relearn how to be social with our colleagues." Definitely. 

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Hey y'all,

In both 2009 and 2017, I served as part of a small group working on the Campus Climate surveys that were administered to students, faculty and staff. At both time points, the data from those surveys uncovered an issue of campus climate that you might not automatically consider when thinking about such surveys: harassment and negative treatment based on work status. 

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Hey y'all,

Is it just me or do you also need to write more things down lately? I have noticed that in the last year, since the start of our lockdowns and pandemic living (one year as of this week), I am more and more reliant on paper. I have to get things out of my head and onto the page to help make sense of them and prioritize. 

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Hey y’all,

Trying to start a teaching center just as a global pandemic is setting in definitely has its pluses and minuses. On the plus side, we in CETL have been able to work with many more people than we might have otherwise (I mean, would so many of you have hung out with me on Teams last summer under normal circumstances🤣?). 

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Hey y'all,

There was an interesting opinion piece<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/opinion/fake-news-media-attention.html?referringSource=articleShare> in the New York times this past week that referenced a new approach to media literacy. Specifically, spending less time with bad sources and focusing more on the source overall rather than the message itself.

Because of what I am teaching this spring, I have read a lot of student postings about mis- and disinformation. Not so much my own students themselves repeating false information, but rather descriptions of their own family members who are convinced by false information and/or conspiracy theories. Thy describe painful struggles to stay connected despite having very 

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Hey y'all,

I want to take this week to provide a little update on what is going on with CETL as we are transitioning a bit.

During the fall and into the start to this semester, we have focused a lot on providing weekly training opportunities for Canvas and the other technological tools of remote instruction.
For the remainder of this semester, Mela and I will still be providing a weekly office hour on Tuesdays (2-3pm) and answering questions as needed anytime (of course we will!), but we'll be discontinuing the other weekly sessions (e.g., the DLE sessions, remote synchronous 

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Hey y'all,

This week one of my favorite podcasts on higher education, Tea for Teaching, posted an episode all about first year experience courses and how they might be structured around the idea of helping students to overcome their own misconceptions and the disinformation that surrounds all of us.

The audio for this episode is a little bad at times, but overall I think it's worth a listen, mostly because it's just such an exciting idea. It reminds me a lot of many of the First Year Adventure courses we ran in the College of Arts and Sciences just a 

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Hey y'all,

This past week, I read a couple of different takes around the question of what we as instructors might retain after this time of emergency remote instruction. (Sidenote: How is it possible that we are still in an emergency nearly a year later? But I digress.)

The one that really stood out to me was this posting<https://www.chronicle.com/article/what-i-learned-in-the-pandemic?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in> in the Chronicle of Higher Education. In it, an Associate Professor of English describes the many ways he has changed because of the pandemic, especially in terms of teaching. 

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[cid:image004.jpg@01D6F304.05D45AB0]Hey y'all,

Welcome to Spring Semester 2021. I thought you might appreciate this picture from last January, spruced up by the addition of Bernie and his mittens (thanks to my wonderful Psychological Sciences colleague James Cortright for the enhanced picture).

At the time of the original picture, Ann Lawton was leading us in an exercise as part of a larger workshop on dealing effectively with anxiety in the classroom. This picture reminds me of everything we have missed in the last year and what we can look forward to as the year rolls forward and we are, finally, hopefully able 

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Hey y'all,

As we all gear up for another unpredictable and challenging semester of pandemic-era teaching I hope that you are starting to feel a bit more confident in your abilities to deal with the online space. I also hope that you got some rest over the break between semesters.

There are so many articles and lists out there right now on dealing with burnout. Like a lot of us, I love to read them, but I don't often find them all that helpful. Just like a lot of the things that we teach, it seems like we need to 

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Hey y'all,

As you are planning for your spring courses, my guess is that you are, like me, trying to balance improvements and lessons learned from fall 2020 with workload. It is often so hard to know just how much to change and if those changes will lead to amounts of work that are unsustainable for you and, perhaps, your students. 

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Hey y'all,

They are finally here. The long-awaited breakout rooms of MS Teams Meetings. I found it a little ironic that we got this announcement at almost the same time I saw this item<https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/teaching/2020-12-10?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in> in the Chronicle of Higher Ed Teaching Newsletter. It is all about how much students dislike the use of breakout rooms.
To be honest, their dislike of breakout rooms makes sense to me. I have always been a big proponent of them and have used them myself in online presentations, but then last month I attended an online conference and experienced them for the first time 

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Hey y'all,

There was an article in Inside Higher Ed this past week that I cannot get out of my head. Maybe you saw it too? All about something called The U Experience<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/12/03/pricey-mini-campus-promises-students-maskless-safe-spring-term> (6 min read)?

In short, it's a start-up founded by some recent Ivy League graduates that will allow up to 150 undergraduates to "attend" college virtually from a lakeside Texas resort this spring. The cost is 10,000 plus whatever tuition the student is paying to their actual college or university. In short, the pitch to students is that they can still escape their folks' house and make 

[More ...]

Hey y'all,

Welcome back? It feels strange to type that given that most of us are now teaching remotely and many of us have been teaching remotely all along. Speaking for myself, I am still working in the same room in my house I've been in for months and months.

As we enter the last few weeks of this fall semester, I have gotten several questions about grading and how to do so fairly when so much of what we may be assessing is unfairly affected by factors outside of the control of our students (illness, financial precarity, mental distress). 

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Hey y’all,

I am guessing lots of you are also feeling like burnt (or at least crispy) toast just like I am😊? Ready for a holiday-ish break?

Because of my current crispiness, I am going to do something this week that, in my mind, exemplifies one of the best things about teaching centers: I’m going to shamelessly steal an idea from a colleague. 

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Hey y'all,

I am guessing that many of you are starting to see the stresses and traumas of this year show up in your students experiences just as I am. This past week I compiled a "students of concern" list of those that I know I need to reach out to again and check in on given their lack of engagement in class (or in advising). The list is longer than in prior years (and note that I am currently teaching only one course given my CETL work). The stories I am hearing are much more troubling. 

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Hey y’all,

After a distracting week, it seems appropriate to point you towards a great new resource on students and attention. Those of you who attended last year’s Small Teaching workshop at UW Eau Claire are familiar with James Lange’s work (and you no doubt remember that very cold, very early morning bus ride over to UWEC as well😊). Lang teaches literature and runs the center for teaching at Assumption University in Massachusetts. He has also written numerous books on teaching as well as a regular column on teaching at the Chronicle. 

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Hey y'all,

Ready for this week? Me neither.

I am curious if anyone else decided to scale back a bit on content or assignments this week? I decided to use it as a bit of a "catch up" week myself. What I mean is that, for this week, my students can redo one previously missing assignment (or one with a low score that they'd like to replace). They also have a new assignment that is focused primarily on applying what they have learned so far, but with no new information to read or watch. 

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Hey y'all,

How the *&*^% do you concentrate during a hellfire apocalypse?

That was the second question in the most recent and usually amusing "Are you Working?" advice column<https://www.chronicle.com/article/are-you-working-how-to-save-time-on-grading-and-doomscrolling?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in> published by the Chronicle.

The author, Rebecca Schuman, gives a fun and funny but also very practical answer. Specifically, she argues that we should use a timer to organize at least some of our workday, giving ourselves 15 minutes to Doomscroll through the news/social media and then an equally timed 15-minute session to work, especially when we need and want to work on things like scholarly and creative projects that require 

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