You did it!
You made it through the Fall 2020 Academic semester!
Yes, you still have grades ahead of you (they’re due Dec. 15!), but you should be incredibly proud of yourself. (I mean, I know I’m proud of you. Have I overdone it with exclamation points? Maybe, but only because you deserve them!)
If you have students that you’re working with on incompletes, I realize the work isn’t quite over for you yet, but I’m certain that the accommodations you’re providing for these students are appreciated by them. So thank you for that too.
So what now? Take a break!
Yes, really.
I know it’s tempting to launch yourself directly into your spring courses (and if you’re sure you’re up for that, go for it!) but it’s also okay to practice some self-compassion now and let yourself have some time off to rest and recuperate. If you need some self-compassion tips, you can go re-read our guest blog posts by Dr. Shannon Newell here and here.
Take some time to reflect (gently) on the semester, noting what went well and what you might want to work on. To help you out, in case you need some guidance on your reflections, here’s what’s brewing this week:
- The Case for Standards in Canvas Use is a special statement prepared by The Ad Hoc Committee on Remote Learning based on issues that arose over the course of the Fall 2020 semester.
- Note: The link above is not to a blog post. It is to a pdf file shared in OneDrive – you’ll need to log in with your VSC credentials to read it.
- Self-assess Your Canvas Teaching over the Fall 2020 semester
- Ready to up your Canvas Game? Here are some next steps!
- Already doing cool things in Canvas? Check out our Call for Contributions
- Have You Seen…?: Educators around the states are finding themselves in a similar boat to you. Some alert readers have shared these introspective articles that you may want to read as you consider the changes you’d like to make in your own practice.
If you’d like to celebrate (or commiserate about) the end of the semester, we invite you to join us on Zoom Tuesday 12/15 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm to hang out! (Keep an eye out for the Zoom link in your email.) We just thought it would be nice to have one more opportunity to gather as a community before breaking for the holidays. Hope you can join us!
Thank you again for all your hard work this semester. We quite literally couldn’t have done it without you.
Sincerely,
Chris Boettcher and Gillian Galle
