We can see it. The end of the semester is near, and the finish line is in sight. You may feel exhausted. Your students probably do, too. Such feelings are understandable. As the winter break nears and the fall semester comes to an end, let us support each other to ensure that we all cross the finish line together. The importance of supporting students or other faculty, staff, and colleagues does not fall on any one set of shoulders. Instead, we all play a part in forming what Felten and Lambert (2020) refer to as a “web of student-student, student-faculty, and student-staff relationships” (p. 15) that students can lean on when challenges arise. We can also extend the web to include vital connections among faculty, staff, and administrators. Together, we can strengthen the supportive web by showing ourselves and others appreciation, tending to our mental health, and keeping an eye on the bigger picture.
Appreciation
Too often, I forget to tell people around me how much I appreciate all they have done and continue to do. At times, it is the result of being busy, and other times, I may assume that they know. But with the end of the semester just around the corner, now seems like an ideal time to make the time and make our appreciation explicit, if we have not done so already. Thank you! Thank you, faculty, staff, and administrators, for what you do to support our students and each other. The cumulative impact each of you, individually and collectively, has on students is profound. Your work in preparing students for careers, civic life, and life in general is vitally important.
Take a moment to appreciate your students and what they have already accomplished this semester. Acknowledge and validate the struggles they might be having with course content and assignments. Perhaps even share struggles you encountered when you were a student and strategies you utilized to overcome them. Conveying appreciation is a powerful way to support our students, our colleagues, and our own mental health.
Mental health
Many college students are coping with mental health problems (Flannery, 2023). Anxiety, depression, stress, or other mental health challenges are not unique to students. A recent study revealed that 38.6 percent of faculty and staff are dealing with anxiety, and more than half of them feel exhausted daily (Flannery, 2024). With final exams and projects, service and research commitments, and other looming due dates, the end of the semester is a challenging time for everyone. So, being mindful of our own mental health and that of other community members is just as important as completing that to-do list.
Being cognizant of our feelings can pay dividends in and outside the classroom. Practicing good self-care is the first affective teaching practice Cavanagh (2016) offers faculty. Recognizing the competing demands instructors are under, she encourages them to make sure they have both the physical and mental resources to be engaged in their teaching. While at times it is easier said than done, let us strive to take care of our own mental health and support others in theirs as we near the winter break.
For students, Eyler (2018) reminds us that “anxiety of all kinds has an extremely detrimental effect on the willingness of our students to explore new ideas and to ask questions” (p. 39). Anxiety, according to Cavanagh (2016), “arrives under conditions of uncertainty and in the perception that one might not have the skills to meet the current challenge” (p. 186). Students, like faculty and staff, also have competing priorities drawing from their mental and physical resources. Cavanagh (2016) describes a classroom full of students “who are potentially drowsy, stressed, and exposed to multiple sources of competing stimuli both external (the smartphones in their laps) and internal (nagging worries about whether they’re going to pass the calculus exam they have next)” (p. 36). Her advice on how to reach such learners is to tap into their emotions to grab their attention.
Think about times you were most excited about and engaged in your learning. Think about when you were not engaged. Think about the different emotions you felt in those situations. How can you tap into your students’ emotions during this last stretch of the semester to foster their learning and development? By tending to our mental health and those around us, we can improve our overall engagement and more clearly see the bigger picture.
We all can do our part to help by connecting those in need with services and support that can help. CMU’s Counseling Center offers counseling services and a wide variety of individual and group resources to help students manage stress and navigate challenges. If you or someone you know needs assistance and don’t know where to begin, the CMU Cares Team can help. Submitting a confidential Cares Report ensures they can receive the help they may need.
The bigger picture
Have you ever had a student ask or overheard a student saying something like, “When am I ever going to use this?” I know I have. I also know that plenty of times, I was the student saying it! It can be difficult to appreciate all the work one has done in a semester or feel emotionally invested in it if one cannot see the bigger picture. That is, how this course, how this assignment, how this exam connects to other courses, to one’s career aspirations, or to one’s everyday life. For faculty, these connections are often obvious, if not intuitive (Bowen & Watson, 2024; Light & Micari, 2013). However, this is often not the case for students. Instead, many learners experience education as a disjointed experience, as Light and Micari (2013) depict as follows:
They see this very same material as isolated bits of content to be learned in order to do well on a test, not connected in any meaningful way other than the organization of a book chapter, and not working together toward addressing larger issues in the field. As a result, they often find it difficult to retain knowledge of facts (even if they successfully memorize them for an exam), and they are unable to link concepts and ideas to create broader meaning or to deeply understand the content areas they are studying. (Light & Micari, 2013, p. 166)
The importance of making the connections and benefits of education explicit and clear to students will likely continue to grow in an AI-infused education (Bowen & Watson, 2024). The home stretch of the semester is an opportune time to make the implicit explicit. Perhaps you did so earlier, but such connections and values benefit from reinforcement.
As we work to support one another during this homestretch, and beyond, let us not underestimate the power of moments. Remember how a kind gesture or even a brief smile made a positive difference in our lives. By conveying appreciation to our colleagues and students, being mindful of our mental health, individually and collectively, and keeping an eye on the bigger picture, we can cross the finish line of the semester together. Remember, none of us are in this alone.
References
Bowen, J. A., & Watson, C. E. (2024). Teaching with AI: A practical guide to a new era of human learning. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Cavanagh, S. R. (2016). The spark of learning: Energizing the college classroom with the science of emotion. West Virginia University Press.
Eyler, J. R. (2018). How humans learn: The science and stories behind effective college teaching. West Virginia University Press.
Felten, P., & Lambert, L. M. (2020). Relationship-rich education: How human connections drive success in college. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Flannery, M. E. (2023). The mental health crisis on college campuses. neaToday. Retrieved from https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/mental-health-crisis-college-campuses
Flannery, M. E. (2024). The mental health crisis among faculty and college staff. neaToday. Retrieved from https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/mental-health-crisis-among-faculty-and-college-staff
Light, G., & Micari, M. (2013). Making scientists: Six principles for effective college teaching. Harvard University Press.