My New Semester Six

Though classes do not start for more than a week, my semester officially starts tomorrow. I am excited and anticipating a wonderful and vibrant term.  I have spent the past few days reflecting on the semester that has passed and looking ahead to what awaits in 2014.

Setting goals or milestones is an important part of being an active and productive academic (though this is true for most fields). The following are the six things that I want to strive towards in this winter semester.
            1. Be there more:

I believe that an important part of being an educator is being there for your students as often as you can. This creates a good dynamic within a classroom setting that in turn extends outside the classroom. Of course as the semester goes on our energy and drive suffers. We become tired, we become busier, and the sense of need to be there for students is sadly one of the first things that goes. I am going to be there more for my students in those busy times this semester, because that is when they need me the most. When the end of October or beginning of November (or in this case end of February and beginning of March) rolls around, when energy levels are low, it is often that great insightful interaction with students about topics and ideas that can help recharge those batteries.

2. Collaborate more with different departments and different schools:

I am going to start the semester by participating in Dave Cormier’s Rhizomatic Learning on P2PU with a colleague in my department (link). We have found that we work well together and I am looking forward to sharing this experience with her.  She recently finished a masters of education focusing on the pedagogy of social media usage and education. I hope that this will be a wonderful catalyst for other collaborative (articles, etc.) work we will do this year.

I want to extend this collaboration to other departments (which I know I will do in some way with the various development projects I will be working on) but also to other schools. The community engagement piece to higher education often forgets the value of collaborating with other schools in your area. I will attempt to foster more of this on various levels (as an instructor and a coordinator). 

3. Listen more:

It seems obvious but sometimes we just need to listen more. If my Twitter feed over the holidays has demonstrated anything it’s that for a profession that relies so much on communication strategies, we really do a poor job of listening to each other. I am going to listen more this semester, for listening is a very important way of learning and acknowledging the experiences of others.

4. Try new things, new pedagogical strategies:

I want to be a bit more adventurous with the things I do in class this semester. I am not talking re-invent the wheel type things but honestly and actively using the resources at my disposal to engage with the students and the material. I always have an eye to accessibility so it is simply not feasible to introduce a large amount of tech in my class. However, I am going to use what they all have access to better and more often. This also extends to the types of activities and evaluation pieces that are done this semester as well. I encourage group seminars for the students but I am also aware that some students are more comfortable presenting these alone. I always want my students to feel comfortable and safe so I am open to any type of presentation. Maybe this term is the term where one of my students decides to create a video for their project. The possibilities are endless and exciting.

5. Advance many types of literacy:

Further to the previous point, I will actively advance different types of literacy for this is increasingly becoming fundamental. I read a wonderful article over the holidays about the tension between digital and information literacy within the confines of the important work done by librarians. (link). It was an important read and one that reinforced the point that as educators we need to be aware of these differences in order to bridge the gap between students knowing how to use the tech or run a basic information search and understanding the results of this search. My college has 10 core literacies as part of their academic plan. I have these printed out and posted in my office. I look at them every day. This semester I will advance and use more of them.

6. Reflect more and often:

Often moments of reflection happen as bookends. We reflect at the beginning or end of the semester but don’t take time to do so during the term. As an extension of point 1 and 3 above, I will reflect more and often as part of my pedagogical and administrative strategy this term. To use a football metaphor, I want to read the blitz before I’m sacked. It’s an important part of reacting and interacting as an educator. We cannot anticipate everything but with more reflection we can develop a strategy to work with what we have been given at any one time.

This is the time of year that many make retrospective lists or resolutions. I have read many great blogs on this topic over the past few days. I will return to my new semester six often over the next four months I am sure. I feel it is important to have things like this to go back to in order to keep ourselves grounded when things become a tad overwhelming and I encourage you to create small lists as a way to start the semester.

I hope you all have a happy and productive 2014!