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Click the + to add a video or text sharing your semester goals or intentions with the group!

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Click the + to add a video or text sharing your semester goals or intentions with the group!

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Share your semester goals or intentions with the group. Consider your hopes for yourself this semester in terms of your teaching or your work here at GCC, your professional development goals, or even your efforts to maintain work/life balance!

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I bought this book back in 2018 at the behest of a good friend and mentor. She too suffers from perfectionism that can sometimes lead to becoming frozen.

NOW, I will admit that I have not read it, but it helps me when I start to get into the weeds to look up at my bookshelf and remember that my good enough is often better than some folks best.

As I juggle my professional and personal life (aka being as effective as I can be as an instructor while also being a good wife, mama, and daughter to my family), my goal this semester is to focus on being good enough now in intentional ways. Here are my specific goals this semester to help me do so:

-Clear/sort my emails weekly (not just focusing on my student emails and leaving anything NOT pressing to wither on the vine of my inbox)

-Avoid checking work emails after 4 PM or on Weekends

-Fight the urge to make changes to my classes this semester that would be nice, but are not urgent and can wait

-Grade as things come in vs waiting for the whole class set to be submitted

-Be present with my family when I am not working and avoid working on weekends when possible.

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Thanks for asking about this, Lisa. Since by April 24, 2026 all our online courses are required to be fully accessible, I'm going to start reviewing my courses to see what I might be missing. Canvas helps by urging us to use Alt Text for images, so I feel good about those. I've also created transcripts for all my lecture videos. I've made some Canvas Studio quizzes that need captioning, so I think that would be a good place for me to start. Beth

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I started integrating AI in my online class in the fall, and the students provided good feedback. I don't teach my online PSY101 until after spring break, but my intention is to incorporate their suggestions (for AI and for other things!).

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At this stage of the semester, I am channeling my inner Tootie Ramsey! I start every semeter full of ideas and energy. Sometimes my big ideas get ahead of me, and I find myself in "trou-ble! " as I play catch up!

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It's not uncommon for me to mention something from the Brady Bunch every.day.of.my.life. It's true. I have even tried (and failed) to create a Brady Bunch trivia game, but that's another story. So when Lisa presented this question of who we identify with as we start the semester, I couldn't help but think of Jan. Why? Well, she's earnest and slightly neurotic. She's got the best intentions, but can get in her own way. So those two features alone are relatable. I mean, who really identifies with Marcia, ammiright? So, I enter this semester with a Jan spirit (the one who no longer needs to scrub her face of freckles, wear a black wig, or lie about an imaginary boyfriend); rather, the Jan who is determined to take some risks, own her life, and stay true to her path. (I gotta go now, George Glass is calling!)

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With the weight of this semester's responsibilities, but still feeling optimistic and valuing helping others, I think Hawkeye is the character who most closely represents my enthusiasm this semester. I may have those responsibilities, but I can take them on with a sense of fun too.

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With the need to balance doctoral writing, classes, grading, and family, I have been struggling with what my specific goals should be. I recognize that this means most of my goals will be around maintaining a work/life balance.

1. Rest is a priority, not a reward: I will plan at least one relaxing, joyful, fun activity without feeling guilty about not being productive.

2. Celebrate small wins: I will reflect on what went well during the week and one thing I am grateful for, whether work-related or personal.

3. Embrace humanity, not perfection: I am human, not Superwoman. It is okay to stumble. I will approach setbacks as opportunities to learn, not as failures. Remind myself that "I did my best today, and that is enough".

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I just wanted to pop in and say how refreshing it is to see that we are embracing imperfections and remembering to have a healthy work/life balance. That is probably my biggest struggle. I teach all day, adjunct for GCC, and coach my daughter's club soccer team. When I have a free moment to rest, I always end up feeling guilty, like I should be doing something to be more productive. My goal for the semester mirrors Caryn's - fighting the urge to change every little thing. I get in the habit of constantly updating assignment descriptions if a single student asks for clarification. It's probably my type A personality at this point more than it is actually helping students in big ways. I want to use that time to message the hard-working students. That encouragement goes so far with them!

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In keeping with my goal to be good enough now, I choose Norm as my character!

He is consistent, stable, and reliable. You know exactly where he will be and exactly what you get from him.

SURE, he doesn't go above and beyond...often! HECK, some may argue that he is lazy, but I say "NAY! He is a dude doing good enough now."

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Here's your custom image blending Frasier Crane's intellectual sophistication with Sam Beckett's sci-fi adaptability. ChatGPT 4o.

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Frasier Crane + Sam Beckett (Julie Morrison)

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Frasier Crane + Sam Beckett (Julie Morrison)

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Like Frasier Crane (Cheers/Frasier), I begin the semester with boundless enthusiasm, a passion for learning, and a well-organized plan. Like Sam Beckett (Quantum Leap), I know that no matter how much I prepare, I’ll still have to adapt on the fly—leaping into new challenges with optimism and problem-solving skills!

Thanks, ChatGPT, for brainstorming that with me!

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As is the case far too frequently, I have been making changes to my face-to-face courses as the train is hot on my heals! However, today I celebrate that 1) I am caught up on my grading. This is a big deal for comp teachers, and 2) the module we are starting today in 101 has been delightfully renovated with my "meaningful work/fewer tiny assignments" goal in mind and opened in a timely manner. Today is the first day that I feel on top of things! (Now for those Write 6x6 posts...)

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As someone who is too used to the axe falling, I hesitate to proclaim "winning!" but I can reflect on a few things that are going well(ish) thus far ;) As of Week 4, I've held to my goal of making weekly videos for my online mythology and my once-a-week hybrid 102. Also, faculty advising had our first full pilot meeting today, and I'm so excited for GCC to participate in this good work. Finally, I feel excited about the Writing Center: I love our location for this service, and I think the greater visibility will be good for students!

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I won't teach my PSY101 class until after spring break, but over the weekend I (a) cleaned my email and hope to stay on top of it at least for a day or two, (b) submitted 2 FPG applications, 1 TA, and 2 overdue pay contracts, and (c) have been making great progress with the assessment team on program assessment mapping! Oh, and even though my running partner was too tired from a hike yesterday to run this morning, I still got up and went. Hoping to keep this momentum going through February!

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I am delighted with my wins this week. I am still facing challenges, but I have updated my IDP, I finished all my grading, I sent nudge notes to all my students, I submitted my dissertation proposal for review with all the corrections finished, I read and responded to my email, I posted my Write 6x6 post, and I finished this week's H5P creation for the OER Grant Project. Basically, I ticked all the items on my must do list for the week! I am optimistic about the semester ahead. Now, I just need to keep chipping away at it each week. I can do it!

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A little Ron Swanson to match the Aubrey Plaza energy! 

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It is small, but if you know me in anyway, you know my email inbox is an indicator of the level of stress or overwhelm I am experiencing at any given moment in the semester.

I am happy to share that I have had my work email inbox down to zero at least twice in the past two weeks.

I have set an intention to clear it out on Fridays each week if possible. So far, I have done so on Mondays LOL! Either way, I celebrate it as a V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

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What intention did you set for your semester in January? How is it going? Share a reflection with us.

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What intention did you set for your semester in January? How is it going? Share a reflection with us.

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How did it go? Share a few words (and of course, a meme or gif) summing up how well you met your goal or remained focused on your semester intention.

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How did it go? Share a few words (and of course, a meme or gif) summing up how well you met your goal or remained focused on your semester intention.

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My semester intention was to reduce the number of "things" my students were asked to do while focusing on making the work I DO ask them to do more meaningful. Good stuff: I was much less overwhelmed with grading. (I was not entirely NOT overwhelmed, but less so.) Also, my students liked the work I asked them to do. Cons: I did not have the whole 101 course revamped before the semester began, so around midterms, I fell behind a bit and lost my focus. This summer I plan to fix some bugs and revisit the goal in 101, and I plan to burn 102 to the ground with my planning buddy in order to create a another balanced course.

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I think this picture might sum up my feelings. "The best of plans oft go awry" is my reality...again. I started strong (don't we all?) and gradually ran out of gas as we went along. The loose threads are fluttery in the wind! Wow, I have officially used too many metaphors. I'm going back to my sand now. Good luck, everyone!

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I have actually done so much better than I thought I would. This year has been so busy, and I have been dealing with this challenging thing called "April". But, looking back on the goals I set for this year, I have done so much better than I thought I had. I am more on top of my grading and feel more in control than I have in the past five years! I am in celebration mode already. The end is near, but it is looking like the light at the end of the tunnel is not a train after all.

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Maybe I should watch this 1988 movie called "Moving Target!"

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My goal was to update my PSY101 course with the suggested improvements to my AI integration that my students provided in the fall. That is now the goal for next year. I made other changes to the course this spring and didn't have the bandwidth to implement many of the new AI changes. If this were my FEP (due in June), I might write instead that I wanted a stronger baseline measure before I implemented changes! ;)

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While the start of the semester was slow, and January felt like a decade, the second half of Spring 2025 has been a blur.

My initial goal was my goal this semester was, "...to focus on being good enough now in intentional ways" (ME, 3 Months Ago).

Here is my specific list of HOW TOs followed by my two cents on how that went:

Clear/sort my emails weekly (not just focusing on my student emails and leaving anything NOT pressing to wither on the vine of my inbox)

I think this maybe happened all of three times over the whole semester. I did try to create some filters to weed out the avalanche of emails we all receive. I even made one to filter out the Canvas recaps I get, but in doing so, I also managed to filter all messages from students via Canvas straight to the archive...Needless to say there was a week or so where I was shocked at how little I heard from my students before discovering this blunder. I give myself a 5/10 for trying to make this happen and failing so epically along the way.

Avoid checking work emails after 4 PM or on Weekends

I was not perfect on this one, but I did for the most part manage to check my work emails less during these times. I think I generally tried to avoid my emails after the great filter debacle unless I had (aka I checked them daily M-F. Overall, for this one I get a grade of C.

Fight the urge to make changes to my classes this semester that would be nice, but are not urgent and can wait.

I nailed this goal for the most part. I obviously made adjustments to meet the needs of my students, but for the most part, I ran my classes this semester without major adjustments from the Fall semester. I did make one big shift in my ENG 102 to remove multiple annotated bibliography segments and replace them with one at the start of the research process. This was a great adjustment, but for Fall, there is more that needs to happen to fill the space left by the removal of the subsequent chunks. This action receives two thumbs up for being the blockbuster how-to on this list!

Grade as things come in vs waiting for the whole class set to be submitted

LOL! Aspirational me is adorable. This did happen at times, but it was not a sustainable action for me. Outside obligations made it so thing often needed to wait until another day to be graded. My rating for how successful I was set 2 out of 5 stars.

Be present with my family when I am not working and avoid working on weekends when possible.

Due to the nature of being a toddler mom and daughter to elderly parents, it is impossible not to be present with them when they need me. If anything, there were times I really needed to be more focused on work activities, but due to pressing needs from my brood, my focus was on my family. This is honestly the way it needed to be; however, future ME needs to recognize that Ben Franklin was on to something, and I really shouldn't put off till tomorrow what I can do today because Murphy's Law will make sure that I do NOT, in fact, have time tomorrow. Rating: Adequate.