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I know I'm a little late to this response and I apologize, but I truly do feel burned out this semester so far! What I have been doing lately is reaching out to my students on a more personal level to connect with them. I've scheduled meeting times with them according to their schedules to do "check-ins" with them. I feel like they are just as burned out as we are and so giving them a time that fits their schedule to just check-in about life in general and see how things are going I've found to be helpful so far. I will say that it has been taking up a lot of my time which is making me feel very burned out and so I don't know how much longer I can keep doing it, but I find that students are willing to be more open to what they are going through when they are able to talk to you individually! 

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I know I'm a little late to this response and I apologize, but I truly do feel burned out this semester so far! What I have been doing lately is reaching out to my students on a more personal level to connect with them. I've scheduled meeting times with them according to their schedules to do "check-ins" with them. I feel like they are just as burned out as we are and so giving them a time that fits their schedule to just check-in about life in general and see how things are going I've found to be helpful so far. I will say that it has been taking up a lot of my time which is making me feel very burned out and so I don't know how much longer I can keep doing it, but I find that students are willing to be more open to what they are going through when they are able to talk to you individually! 

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I try to spend time in the sun too! Getting some Vitamin D is good for the soul!
Sangita D.

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Being a relatively new faculty member, I’m open to advice. Actually, I’d like to think that I’ll be open to advice even as an “old” faculty member—which, having just realized that I’m closer to a decade of teaching than just getting started, perhaps I already am! Regardless, I still feel like a new faculty member and therefore chose to read the article “Advice for New Faculty”. This article gives “six lessons from the front lines” which are not earth-shattering but nonetheless are all great and important reminders. Here are my top three picks:

(1) “Colleagues are your absolute best resource.” ← True story. When I was just getting started (which apparently was longer ago that I realize), my colleagues were instrumental to me not giving up after a week…or even before I began. They shared their materials and advice and helped me get started. It’s easy to forget this after having found my own groove, but it’s always good to be reminded to ask for help when you need it. And to give help when needed by others.

(2) “Professional development is a powerhouse of enlightenment.” ← Also true. Case in point, I’m tech savvy and capable of solving most technology-related issues, but the various professional development activities I’ve dipped my toes into over the past year continually expand my understanding of what we can do with the tools we have at our disposal.

(3) “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the best reflector of them all?” ← I.e., self-reflection. This is one I’ve definitely gotten better at over time, and I now spend a lot of time thinking about how I do things and why I do those things (and whether or not I should be doing those things). This is sometimes painful (having to chuck something you’ve spent a bunch of time on), but the end result is (usually) a better class. Having said that, this constant tinkering is also time-consuming and a bit emotionally draining. As others have brought up here, it can easily start to take up an unreasonable amount of time…which leads right back to the evergreen question of how do we strike the right balance to avoid burnout?

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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Teaching can be a daunting profession even for a seasoned veteran. For new faculty members, it can feel like a daily battle just to keep your head above water. So what are some ways that new teachers can ensure not only academic success for their students, but also maintain their own emotional and personal well-being? Below are six lessons learned by two new faculty members who have managed to keep their students learning and their sanity intact:

1. Colleagues Are Your Absolute Best Resource - Do not be afraid to ask for help. Your colleagues, even if they have only been at the school for a few years, already have many experiences, stories, strategies, and tips that can be invaluable to your teaching experience if you are open to experiencing their wisdom. There is no shortage of helpful and experienced faculty in any post-secondary institution. However, the cardinal rule is to pass on this support once you get your feet planted firmly on the ground. Creating a culture of sharing and collaboration is paramount to both your personal success and that of the students in your institution.

2. Professional Development is a Powerhouse of Enlightenment - We cannot stress enough how critical it is to become aware of the professional development available to you at your school. Almost all institutions have a center for faculty development and this is an excellent place to start (Gregory & Cusson, 2013). Your center will be able to find professional development opportunities that fit your individual needs and also provide you information on all upcoming workshops, conferences, etc. Professional development not only improves your teaching practices, it helps you create bonds with other faculty members outside of your school, which can help with our first suggestion: connecting with your colleagues.

3. Set Limits for Yourself and Your Time - It is a difficult balance your first few years of teaching. You want to be the best educator that you can be, but you also need to maintain some semblance of a life as well. With the influx of technology, the boundary between your professional life and your personal life seems to be eroding at a concerning pace. Students expect you to be available to answer their questions at all hours, day or night. When you fail to set boundaries and never unplug from your job, you put yourself on the fast track for burnout. It's important to establish clear guidelines about communication expectations during the first class and remind students often. It is a good general practice is to respond to emails within 48 hours and return any graded assignments within two weeks.

4. Enthusiasm for Teaching - It's Contagious! - Don't try to bluff your students. If you don't know the answer to a question, it's OK to say "I don't know." Ask a student to look it up, or promise the student that you'll find out, and bring the answer to the next class. It is these moments that will help facilitate your professional growth. In the meantime, as you strive to become a seasoned educator, you can rely on your enthusiasm for teaching, learning, and knowledge (Burmila, 2011) - a novice educator's most prized possession! That is, by conveying an energetic disposition in class, it not only enhances the student experience, but it also makes teaching fun (Burmila, 2011).

5. Don't Be Afraid to Show Your True Colors - Would you describe your classroom as being chilly or warm? These descriptors were used by postsecondary students, in a study completed by Serex (1997), to describe the atmosphere of their programs (Vogt, 2008). What makes a thermometer in a classroom rise? For starters, the classroom must be safe, supportive, and inviting. This means being approachable and accessible; ready to assist students in reaching their academic and personal goals. It also means welcoming student-teacher interactions -being approachable, smiling, laughing, and joking. Just being yourself requires no effort whatsoever and goes a long way in increasing students' self-efficacy and grade point average (Vogt, 2008).

6. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who's the Best Reflector of Them All? - The benefits of reflecting on one's own teaching did not really dawn on us until we assumed our roles as college faculty. It was amidst the strongly agrees and disagrees of electronic feedback forms; professional evaluations conducted by our deans; and informal conversations with our esteemed colleagues that we realized that we were indeed reflecting on our teaching practices. It may not be in the formal and philosophical ways ascribed by Donald Schon and John Dewey, but we are now more conscious of our teaching and the importance of reflection to our ongoing professional development.

What would you add to this list? Please share your advice for new faculty in the comment box below.

References
Burmila, E. M. (2011). Graduate Students as Independent Instructors: Seven Things to Know about Teaching Your Own Course while in Graduate School. PS: Political Science & Politics, 44(1), 557-560. doi: 10.1017/S1049096510000806

Gregory, J. & Cusson, M. (2013). The Role of New Faculty Orientations in Improving the Effectiveness of Postsecondary Teaching Part 2: College Sector. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.

Vogt, C. M. (2008). Faculty as a Critical Juncture in Student Retention and Performance in Engineering Programs. Journal of Engineering Education, 97(1), 27-36. doi: 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2008.tb00951.x
Dawn McGuckin teaches at Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Ontario, Canada. Mubeen Ladhani teaches at Durham College, Ontario, Canada.

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Dawn McGuckin M.Ed. and Mubeen Ladhani M.Ed.

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Advice for New Faculty: Six Lessons from the Front Lines

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Teaching can be a daunting profession even for a seasoned veteran. For new faculty members, it can feel like a daily battle just to keep your head above water. So what are some ways that new teachers can ensure not only academic success for their students, but also maintain their own emotional and personal well-being?

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Amy, I use the introducing/sharing assignment as one of my check-in assignments for my fully online class. I share a self recording about my life journey, and the obstacles I have overcome to get to this point in my life. In return, students should introduce themselves by posting a 1 to 3 minutes recording. My vulnerability opens the door for most of my students to relate and connect from the get go! :)

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ARPI A> "A Virtual Conference with Songs, Dragons, and Two Minute Breaks" I enjoyed reading this article and learned that:
1- Starting any given class or event(either face-to-face or online)can set the mood for your students/audience.
2- We cannot assume college literacy from our students. By providing them with the proper resources, we can create the opportunity for our students to become college literate.
3- Liz Norell says, "Teachers see something in students that students often don’t see in themselves."

Thought Question: How can we (educators) be more effective for our own learners? How can we draw out the best version of our students?

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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A song of the day. Dungeons & Dragons. Foldable, flap notes. Plickers. This is only a glimpse of the tactics the 2020 Teaching Professor Virtual Conference covers. Here, I provide a sneak peek of tips and tricks instructors share from their own classrooms and give you the opportunity to register for a virtual conference that encompasses pedagogical passion at its peak!

Starting with Songs

In Tolulope Noah's class, at Azusa Pacific University, she starts one particular day with the song Fever by Peggy Lee on repeat while students file in (whether online or face-to-face). With a "Song of the Day" box projected on the screen, students can reflect and process what's playing. The song always plays in relation to the topic of the day-in this case, the song Fever reflects the acronym FEVR for effective assessments. Noah says the "Song of the Day" provides a hook that students can come back to, but sometimes she plays songs just for fun, like Survivor when students have made it to their final exam.

Noah also incorporates interactive notes in her classes, from roadmaps, six statements of true and false, Know-Want to Know-Learned (K-W-L) charts, graphic organizers, foldable flaps, and different grouping techniques. Additionally, she uses Plickers which does not require students to have or use phones when asking a normal clicker question.

Since the transition to online, Noah has successfully migrated all of these tools to her online classes (she provides instructions on how to use these tips in either modality in her plenary session, Engaging Students from Entrance to Exit: Interactive Teaching Techniques for the College Classroom).

Flipped into Flipgrid

If you haven't used Flipgrid, Rob Beane, from William Penn University, takes you through it step-by-step in his session, Flip into Flipgrid: Engaging the Snapchat Generation of Learners. He found that in his online discussions, students' responses seemed tedious and boring.

"It's very stale and emotionless-that's the general format that's been used for years," he says. With Flipgrid, students share responses via video with stickers and images to enhance their discussion. Beane indicates that 88% of 18- to 29-year-olds are using social media, and using Flipgrid is an easy extension of what they already know. Students can change their backgrounds to reflect a topic and foster their creativity for more engaging discussions.

"We're able to see expression. You can see their eyes light up during certain topics, and they talk with their hands and with infliction," says Beane. "If you're wanting to help students empower their voice, Flipgrid is another way you're able to do that."

Designing with Dragons

Love video games? Your students may even if you might not. In this session, Roll for Initiative: What Dungeons & Dragons Can Teach Us about Course Design, you'll dive into applying D&D logic to your course. You start by choosing your character. Will you be an instructor, teaching assistant, or instructional designer? And will you get your course up and running, or will your quest encounter setbacks? You'll gain insight on how you can create Google docs, a random dice roller, and more to create your own D&D-inspired game to fit your curriculum.

Kids These Days!

Do your students know what KOM306 means? What about TR on their class schedule? Do they know that the university library and student bookstore aren't the same thing? In the session, Stop Blaming Students! Why We Must Teach Students, Not Content, Liz Norell, from Chattanooga State Community College, explains why we can't assume college literacy. She prompts us to remember what our "best" teachers did for us: What do you remember that teachers did for you and how can you be more effective for your own learners? Norell says teachers see something in students that students often don't see in themselves, so you have to ask yourself, how can you draw out the best version of your students?

A Two-Minute Break

Does your brain ever go into overdrive with work, school, or personal stress? I think we've all been there. Caitlin Bergendahl and Tiffany Freitas, from Virginia Commonwealth University, call this an amygdala hijack and recommend clearing your thoughts before class while mentally preparing to think during class.

Bergendahl and Freitas also mention incorporating a Two-Minute Break into your class. During this Two-Minute Break, students write down one thing they can let go of, one thing they're grateful for, and three things they'll focus on that day-this is actually something each of us can do every day. These writing breaks not only allow students and instructors to bridge a connection (if turned in) but can also establish goals in which students are more likely to accomplish. Bergendahl and Freitas offer more healthy tips in their session, Namaste Y'all: Preventing Faculty Burnout Through Self-Care.

The Taboo Topics

Do you have "taboo topics" that you avoid in the classroom? Antija Allen, from Pellissippi State Community College, and Anthony James and Jason James, from Miami University (Ohio), say that we're not having relevant discussions when we avoid these taboo topics.

"Transformative learning often happens in the discomfort," Allen says.

In their syllabus and materials, they make sure students can easily access a link to classroom discussion etiquette. Additionally, they create a list of possible topics they'll be discussing before class, so students are better prepared and more informed. You'll gain more insight on talking about taboo topics in the classroom in their session, Can We Talk? Academic Freedom in Classroom Discussions.

With more than 50 concurrent sessions, plenaries, and poster sessions, you'll surely find pedagogical tools you can use in your own class-whether online or face-to-face. You can still register for the 2020 Teaching Professor Virtual Conference and have access to each conference session, Q&As, closed captioning, downloadable conference handouts, and the conference app until September 30, 2020.

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A Virtual Conference with Songs, Dragons, and Two Minute Breaks | Faculty Focus

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A song of the day. Dungeons & Dragons. Foldable, flap notes. Plickers. This is only a glimpse of the tactics the 2020 Teaching Professor Virtual Conference covers. Here, I provide a sneak peek of tips and tricks instructors share from their own classrooms and give you the opportunity to register for a virtual conference that encompasses pedagogical passion at its peak!

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My problem is that I put off grading too long. That does cause problems since students cannot correct their future assignments without knowing what they did wrong in the past.

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In the "Faculty Learning communities"  article the writer draws attention to the significance of learning within faculty groups to reduce burn out, and in the same time point to the possibility of turning this opportunity to extra burden. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/academic-leadership/faculty-learning-communities-five-skills-every-facilitator-should-capture/       Takeaways: Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) are important spaces for faculty to:1.	To commit to shared learning that leads to improve pedagogy, hunt for intellectual stimulation, and reduce burnouts. 2.	To meet other colleagues from different backgrounds and share different views about the topic. 3.	The role of the FLC facilitator is very important, to facilitate these FLCs.  The facilitator must have five skills to commit to critical pedagogy:1- Create a safe space for everyone 2-Listen carefully to promote dialog and build trust 3- Challenge basis right way (challenge biased educational beliefs), 4- Stay on topic and  draw connections between what participants share and the topic presented, 5-Reflect on Existing practices.       Thought question:     As faculty member, do you feel comfortable and safe joining a Faculty Learning Community, would you feel it as a challenging environment? Do you think biases would be an an obstacle for your participation in the group learning opportunity?          

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In the "Faculty Learning communities"  article the writer draws attention to the significance of learning within faculty groups to reduce burn out, and in the same time point to the possibility of turning this opportunity to extra burden. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/academic-leadership/faculty-learning-communities-five-skills-every-facilitator-should-capture/       Takeaways: Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) are important spaces for faculty to:1.	To commit to shared learning that leads to improve pedagogy, hunt for intellectual stimulation, and reduce burnouts. 2.	To meet other colleagues from different backgrounds and share different views about the topic. 3.	The role of the FLC facilitator is very important, to facilitate these FLCs.  The facilitator must have five skills to commit to critical pedagogy:1- Create a safe space for everyone 2-Listen carefully to promote dialog and build trust 3- Challenge basis right way (challenge biased educational beliefs), 4- Stay on topic and  draw connections between what participants share and the topic presented, 5-Reflect on Existing practices.       Thought question:     As faculty member, do you feel comfortable and safe joining a Faculty Learning Community, would you feel it as a challenging environment? Do you think biases would be an an obstacle for your participation in the group learning opportunity?          

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Hi Shant, I read the same article and I agree that the advice for limiting your hours and letting the students know those limitations is very good. I do this in my online as well as face-to-face classes and it works really well. As for how to manage the time spent grading... that's the million dollar question! When I reformatted my Photoshop to teach in the summer session, I actually dropped a few of the discussion assignments. It helped both on my end with grading and probably helped the students feel less overwhelmed as well. Something I've examined through the years is how to make sure the assignments match the goals of the course, but are also efficient. Figuring this out not only helps you, but the students as well. When you have fewer assignments, you can spend more time giving meaningful feedback which keeps the students engaged and is much more helpful. For my class it has mean lots of small low stakes assignments that are quick and easy to grade (they are now credit/no credit), and fewer in-depth assignments the require more careful, personal, and time consuming grading. I hope that helps, Amy

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Amy Oliver                                                   In "Offering Care and Compassion in Online Courses," Brager-Fraley gives some excellent advice about caring for our students during the pandemic. She encourages us to be vulnerable by sharing our own experiences to make us more accessible and approachable. Another idea is to invite sharing by starting class meetings a little early (she suggests 15 minutes) and invite students to just visit during that time. The last suggestion that really stuck with me was to provide warmth. This can be for the whole class in your approach to teaching as well as for individual student feedback. My question is whether we can keep all these ideas in our minds and hearts for when the pandemic has past? We never know when a life changing event is happening in one our student's lives. I think these ideas should be for all our classes going forward, regardless of a pandemic. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-assessment-grading-and-feedback/offering-compassion-and-care-in-online-courses/ https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-assessment-grading-and-feedback/offering-compassion-and-care-in-online-courses/

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In "Four Tips to Help Distance Educators Manage Time Spent Online" Lorenzetti (2008) asks us to not feel guilty about setting boundaries for our online lives and managing our time. I struggle with this as well. If students don't get feedback in a timely manner, my comments are bound to be ignored or worse -- too late to impact the next draft. Lorenzetti is right to contend that there is only so much we can do, that we shouldn't feel guilty about setting definitive working hours to avoid burnout (and communicating that schedule to our students so they can know what to expect). Honestly, this advice makes perfect sense. Set a schedule, communicate that schedule, and abandon the guilt of not being ready at 2 a.m. for questions or concerns. As I read her lucid (and nearly obvious) suggestions, I'm struck with the realization that I often work outside my "scheduled" hours so I can sleep knowing that's one less need to address in the impending avalanche of work the next morning, when a slew of other urgent responsibilities will be competing for my attention.  Too many times, I've stared at this screen, wondering -- out loud -- how I will grade what's before me meaningfully. I'm not complaining about work and I love my job, but how do you keep reasonable hours for an unreasonable workload? I know I have to reexamine how I comment on student work, but to be honest, I've reexamined the hell out of it already. (Shant)