Latest Issue of CELT Notes
April 23, 2025

Note from the Asst. Director

Hello, all.

Is anyone else feeling more tired after break than you did before break? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Burnout is real. And not just for faculty. Students are feeling it too. So, what can we do about it? We’ve still got 3.5 weeks of classes left before final exams. Many of us have lots of papers in our physical or digital folders that need to be graded. There is new content to learn, lectures to prepare, and oh right, final exams and other final assessments to create.

Some of us are also feeling burnt out because we’ve extended ourselves beyond capacity in an effort to be “nice” to our students, but instead are creating more work for ourselves and not really helping our students. More on this in a future CELT Notes.

There are also a bunch of celebrations and special events in the coming weeks that I, for one, would love to have the energy to attend.

In the spirit of giving tips that one can enact right now, here are some effective practices to overcome or prevent full-on burnout that may be helpful for you (and, if you care to share, your students):

1. Schedule time to rest. This is the most important thing you can do. Your brain and your body need time to recharge so that you are able complete all of the tasks on your end-of-semester to-do list.

2. Schedule grading or work time with built-in breaks. Learning science tells students that studying for two hours straight isn’t as effective as breaking that time into smaller chunks with breaks in-between. Grading, class prep, assessment creation, all of the work we do as faculty is much the same. The Pomodoro Technique is great for this: work for 25-30 minutes, take a 5 minute break, work for another 25-30 minutes, take a 5 minute break. After four or so cycles, take a longer 10-15 minute break OR (even better for your brain) switch to a new work activity or study topic. During your breaks, do something that is easy and does not require a lot of brain power or focus. Eat a snack. Dance. Walk down to CELT and make some coffee. Send a few text messages to friends or family you haven’t spoken to since winter break.

3. Spread time-on-task over several days, rather than cramming it all into one day or work session. This may seem obvious when we’re talking to students about effective study practices. However, how often do you designate one day to do all of your committee work? Or all of your grading? It is better for you and your brain, and your students’ learning, if you space this time out over several days. You’ll be happier and your feedback to students, or committee work, will most likely be better, too.

4. And related, find ways to build happiness into your day (and into the classroom). You and your students will benefit. Positive psychology research shows that brains learn better and work better when we’re happy. So, find a way to bring bits of happiness into your classes and your workday – and reap the brain and energy benefits! For more on the research that supports this happiness tip, watch this TedTalk by psychologist Shawn Achor.

If these tips pique your interest, check out the ACM opportunity listed below. And don’t miss the CELT Summer Programming release coming next week!

Onward, friends.

Warmly,
Christy

1:1 Consultations | vrtich01@luther.edu | Valders 240 | 563-387-1587 | Mobile: 804-201-1688

Spring Programming

Sign up for Spring 2025 Workshops here.

Spring Inclusive Excellence Institute

This semester-long institute will consist of four, one-hour workshops. Each workshop will be offered once. All faculty and teaching staff are invited to participate in any of the workshops, regardless of whether you can attend all four.

All workshops will be held in the CELT Conference Room, Valders 242, from 9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m., unless otherwise noted.

Workshop #4: Making Mistakes Learning Opportunities (AI and others), Thurs., May 1.

Teaching with AI workshop series

Sign up for Spring 2025 Workshops here!
This workshop series will consist of three, one-hour workshops focused on learning about Generative AI, learning how to use it, and learning how to design assignments and assessments with AI in mind. While this is a workshop series, faculty and teaching staff are invited to attend any of the workshops that interest them and fit in their schedules. Attendance at all three workshops is not required. All workshops will be held in the CELT Conference Room, Valders 242, from 9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m., unless otherwise noted.

Workshop #3: Designing Assignment Sequences with AI, Thursday, April 24

Spring Backwards Course Design Institute

Sign up for Spring 2025 Workshops and Book Groups here!
This institute will lead attendees through the work of designing or redesigning one course, beginning with student learning outcomes, and moving to assessments, then, assignments, and finally activities and course materials. Even if you can’t attend all workshops in this series, we welcome drop-ins to any/all remaining workshops in this series. All workshops will be held in the CELT Conference Room, Valders 242, from 9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m., unless otherwise noted.

Workshop #4:. Backwards Design: Course Content, Materials, Instruction, Thursday, May 8.

ACM Opportunities

Through the Faculty Career Enhancement Initiative (FaCE), ACM has supported dozens of worthwhile initiatives on and across your campuses.

The organizers of one of those current projects – Sustainable Strategies for Supporting Well-Being and Academic Engagement for Faculty and Students – have supplied the information below about (free!) in-person workshops happening this summer and into the fall. Travel reimbursement is available and space is limited.

“We hope you will join us and colleagues from across the ACM to consider the evidence for the relationship between student wellbeing and academic performance – why this isn’t just “fluff” – and how to support your students without burning yourself out.  We’ll discuss new data on student well-being to frame and focus our work, examine how systems-level well-being work is equity work, and look at the critical role of faculty wellness in enabling successful teaching. In this one-day workshop you’ll learn from others and discuss your own low-effort approaches to your classroom, your syllabus, and your one-on-one interactions with students and leave with actionable steps to center wellbeing in your teaching life. Together, we’ll think about how to fill our collective wellness needs, and strategize the most effective ways to emphasize student belonging in our classrooms.

We will be offering this workshop at three locations around the ACM – please join us for the date and location that is most convenient for you!

All workshops will take place from 9 am – 4 pm.  Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided.

The primary audience for this workshop is faculty and teaching staff, and we also welcome those working directly with faculty to support student academic success.

Participant travel expenses will be reimbursed (flights to St. Paul for those coming from Colorado College, ground transportation for all others; one night of lodging may be available for those traveling more than 150 miles).

Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, Tuesday, Aug. 5
Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, Thursday, Aug. 7
Knox College, Galesburg, IL, Tuesday, Dec. 9

Sign up here by Monday, May 5. We hope to welcome as many of you as possible, but we may need to limit participants if we reach capacity, so please sign up early!

Best,

Cate Denial (she/her), Bright Distinguished Professor of American History and Director of the Bright Institute, Knox College

Jennifer Jacobsen (she/her), Executive Director of Health & Well-Being, Macalester College

Andi Tracy (she/her), Associate Dean for Student Academic Life, Associate Professor of Psychology/Neuroscience, Grinnell College”

Please consider registering for a session. If you have any specific questions about this event, please contact the organizers (tracyand@grinnell.edu).