How to Take Advantage of Your Fall Recess to Recharge and Reset

My point is, as instructors, we must pace ourselves throughout the semester. For those who are nostalgic movie watchers, we must employ Dr. Leo Marvin’s great therapeutic advice to Bob, “Baby steps” in What About Bob?. The semester is not a sprint, nor a series of sprints, but a thoughtful, methodical running plan that allows your endurance to strengthen daily. It isn’t a money windfall after a lottery win, but small investments that will grow over time. Yes, these metaphors are certainly easier to write and read, than to actually implement. I get it, but we must try. Taking care of ourselves and our students’ emotional well-being is essential. We’ve been inundated with information about the importance of self-care, and rightfully so, because the pandemic has been incredibly challenging and has posed, created and cemented in-numerous barriers and obstacles for us. It is hard to imagine who has the time during the busy semester to take care of themselves. Well, I’m here to plead with you. You, must (emphasis added), take a few small moments for yourself this fall recess. Encourage your students to do the same. Kindly challenge each other. You and your students will benefit.

We all have our individual challenges that reduce our mental bandwidth. These taxes can be additional personal and social stressors, as well as the academic stressors that are in addition to our teaching responsibilities. It is important we acknowledge these stressors and take strides to reduce them. What is the secret sauce to reducing these stressors? We  don’t have the answer for you, but instead suggestions to help you find solutions that may work for you.

Over the fall recess we encourage you to reflect on what is most important to you. What gives you the most joy when you teach? When you research? Write this down on a piece of paper in bold. Decorate it. Let this piece of paper shine when you return to your office. Use it as fuel to move through the final weeks of the semester, and beyond. Next, think about what is something that motivates you to be at your best each day. Is this a specific person, a particular food, a daily practice or something else? If you’ve been ignoring this self-motivator, we encourage you to reengage and utilize it to help you through the rest of the semester slog. Further, self-reflection goes a long way. Jot down your and your students’ semester successes, challenges, and not-yet's. Bring these into class to share with your students on the first class after fall recess. Acknowledging, highlighting and reminding you and your students of these is a great way to help everyone reset and re-energize for the final push.

Recharging the learning community is something to consider too. If you’ve observed that students have disengaged, or that the energy in your class has changed, it’s time to pause and consider if you need to adjust your teaching methods and approaches. Big changes at this time of the semester are not advised or necessary, but it is helpful to see if you can identify an activity or strategy that will help increase your student engagement. Your course doesn’t need to be as active as a Cirque du Soleil performance, but if you have been incorporating a student-centered approach and active learning, consider integrating something new to recharge you and your students. If you haven’t been doing so, I encourage you to try if you think it won’t disrupt the current structure of your course. Here’s a great resource to get you started: Building Activities – UB CATT.

The end of the semester doesn’t have to be exhausting. Taking time for yourself during fall recess to recharge. Reflection is a crucial step in this process. I encourage you to challenge your students to do the same. It is a great idea to walk away from your course, even if it is only for small moments, to give you time to be engaged in other aspects of your life that you find joy in. Doing so will help you subconsciously regain some of your mental bandwidth which will support you in ultimately finishing the semester strong. Good luck, and happy fall recess to you! 

Fall recess is a good time to reset your course and take advantage of opportunities to reorganize course logistics as necessary to promote student learning and increase teaching effectiveness.

An area to begin to reset is with teaching practices that can be aligned with student and learning preferences and needs. Now that you have had the time to get to know your students, who they are, how they learn best, and what they might need, you can adapt the remainder of the semester. If you are unsure, now is the time for some formative feedback from the students. You can utilize any number of formative tools to gather information from your students about their learning preferences and needs (See how to establish Formative Assessment).

Formative assessment will open communication channels with your students. You may want to further open communication channels to better understand where your students are in the semester about the course and their lives in general, as well as what you need to communicate back to them. Consider utilizing course announcements, leveraging TAs, and efficiently making use of office hours.

Restating and resetting expectations with students and you can help reiterate the importance of standards. Revisit (or revise if necessary and allowed) with flexibility course policies and procedures that were set forth at the beginning of the semester. After several weeks it is easy to forget the syllabus if it is not regularly referred to. Review the syllabus, grades, assignments (including drafts), and rubrics. If using peer-to-peer assessment, review the expectations of the assessment and the roles the peers will play in grading.

Finally, students may need to be reminded of the skills and resources they have for success. The Center for Excellence in Writing and the Tutoring and Academic Support Services are available to help students with their writing and academic success skills/tutoring in subjects, respectively. You can remind students about office hours and TA support. Furthermore, you can model time management and organization skills.

The end of the semester brings a variety of opportunities and challenges. Often, we focus on the end, and rather than the journey of small successes. You have a toolbox of solutions, including being kind to yourself, and empowering yourself and your students. You are not alone.  Encourage yourself and your students to reach out to supports, small or large, that re-energize you. Pause and reflect, to finish off the semester from a space of strength. This fall recess recharge and reset!