Planning for reality doesn't diminish joy should better times come, but it does make living in this moment easier.
9 Practices for Protecting and Rebuilding Your Energy
We’re not made for constant crisis–and neither are our students
Today's post is drawn from a lecture I share with my Sociology of Disaster students. I'm grateful for how they've contributed to my critical view of resilience over the years. Humans are amazingly resilient. We can face hard, acute crises and find solutions quickly. We are great at bouncing back and even pretty good at... Continue Reading →
Toggling between in-person and online this semester?
Consistency will help students manage their time and help make sure that nothing (or fewer things) fall through the crack since it limits the changes in a semester full of them.
Lighten your load: Weight grades.
Six weeks ago, my local public school resumed classes. The district decides on a week-by-week basis if students will be fully online, in person 2 days a week and online 3, or fully in person. This also varies by elementary, middle, and high school, so you elementary schools will be hybrid next week while the... Continue Reading →
Last days to read “How the Coronavirus Pandemic Will Change Our Future Teaching” online for free at Religion & American Culture
Free access to this FORUM piece--brief think pieces on current issues--ends tomorrow. Check out contributions by Brandon Bayne, Valerie Cooper, Gastón Espinosa, and me, all scholars of religion writing about the impact of the pandemic on higher education broadly. You can download now and read another day if you don't have time today. In my... Continue Reading →
Teaching a Course Someone Else Designed: Helping Students through a Disruption
This week, I've been writing about the work of teaching a course you didn't design. Sometimes this happens because a department has mandated a rigid syllabus for all sections of a course. Sometimes it's because a faculty member takes leave without much notice, and the class must be taught as it was already planned. And... Continue Reading →
Teaching an Online Class You Inherited
Thirty-seven percent of faculty are over age 55. The fact that so many faculty members can shop at their grocery store during hours restricted to those at high risk of serious illness from COVID means that campuses need to prepare now for faculty who use sick leave. Others will be using the Family First portion... Continue Reading →
Helping Students Stay Motivated in Online Courses
One of the realities of teaching online is that students have to be highly motivated to succeed. Drop-out rates at public colleges are an injustice that reflects broader inequities in American society, but they are even higher in online programs. What that means for Fall 2020, when many otherwise traditional students will be online students,... Continue Reading →
Ten Time Saving, Stress-Reducing Tips for Online Teaching to Implement Before Your Semester Even Starts
Make deadlines the same day and time each week; make all work, including exams, available for at least one weekday day and one weekend day. Most classes can function with a single deadline each week. I recommend Sundays at 11:59 pm since students may be relying on family to provide childcare and that is more... Continue Reading →
Preparing for Fall: Choose Your ICE contact
You probably have an In Case of Emergency (ICE) contact in your cell phone--the person to be called if you have a heart attack on the street, the number accessible even if your phone is locked. You need one for Fall 2020 teaching. It's possible that you, as a teacher, will become ill in the... Continue Reading →
Rebecca Barrett-Fox 