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Semester Wrap
Say thanks 🙌 Give a shoutout to Howie R on social or copy the text below to attribute. Photo by Howie R on Unsplash
As the semester wraps up, CTE staff and faculty would like to thank each of you dedicated teachers for your extra hard work and perseverance this semester!

An extra thanks to those who shared their experiences on the 2021 Teacher Challenges and Resilience poll we sent out a few weeks ago. The biggest challenges for students this semester include:

  • Motivation
  • Time management
  • Participating in discussions
  • Attendance
  • Meeting deadlines

If it seemed like your students were struggling with these issues more than usual, you are not alone! In response, many of you reported adopting these strategies:

  • Extending deadlines
  • Doing more "hand-holding" such as sending more reminders
  • Not using a fatal attendance policy
  • Offering more online and asynchronous options

How are we staying inspired and taking care of ourselves? Top responses were:

  • Scheduling self-care time for exercise, meditation, hobbies, and time with loved ones
  • Saying "no" more often to other work
  • Dogs

There are some silver linings, including getting ideas on how to improve courses, students who went the extra mile on projects and attended optional zoom meetings, and the opportunity to see students more holistically as learners and people.

It has not always been easy, but this is what teaching excellence looks like. We hope you have safe and happy holidays!
New Book Club Selection
The CTE sponsors a book club discussion on a teaching and learning related title at the beginning of the Fall and Spring semester. Register early to receive a free copy of the book and reserve your spot.
Wednesday, January 12th 3PM (Zoom)
Are you above average? Is your child an A student? Is your employee an introvert or an extrovert? Every day we are measured against the "average person," judged according to how closely we resemble the average--or how far we exceed it. The assumption that average-based yardsticks like academic GPAs, personality tests, and annual performance reviews reveal something meaningful about our ability is so ingrained in our consciousness that we never question it. But this assumption, argues Harvard scientist Todd Rose, is spectacularly wrong.
(Publisher's Description)