![mountains in the distance with a river and brown grass in the foreground](https://blogs.chapman.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-12-at-3.22.58-PM-740x410.png)
A Moment of Calm for you as you finish out the Fall semester
November 12, 2020
I don’t know about you, but I am feeling pummeled by so many happenings right now: elections, election protests, concern about escalating virus cases both on campus and in my social circles, fires, inclement weather, shorter daylight hours, overwhelmed students in my classes, concerns about how best to prepare for teaching in 2021, and also the saddening prospect of a holiday season without the social gatherings that bring so much joy. In the midst of all of this, I also find that the days are slipping away faster than I can mark them on my calendar.
So what to do when it feels like every day brings even more challenges and uncertainties?
Perhaps you would be willing to join me in a meditation led by our own Dean Gail Stearns?:
Spending some time in quiet reflection doesn’t take away any of the stresses that are around us, but it does help me to feel better prepared to be present to my students, to my colleagues, and to the demands of our current political and community circumstances.
Here are some resources that you might find helpful during this season of our academic year:
- Concerned about Academic Dishonesty during Final Exams? Join this upcoming Faculty Roundtable with your colleagues discussing the pros and cons of using exam monitoring software: Nov 18, 2:30-3:30pm and also peruse these instructions for recommended Proctorio settings
- Read about Dr. Marie Nubia-Feliciano’s experience with using Chapman University’s new HyFlex classroom technology for teaching “Online-in-class”
- Would your students read the syllabus if Snoop Dogg told them to? Here’s how one Chemistry professor did just that
- Are you ready to build your Spring Courses on Canvas? Follow these steps to copy content from previous semesters
- Want to craft a more inclusive course syllabus next year? Here are 10 Inclusive Teaching Practices you may want to follow
- Enjoy a few moments of mindfulness in nature from your office, using this website (note: I especially enjoy the rain)
And finally, please enjoy this autumnal view of the Grand Tetons. This is the image that came to my mind during Dean Stearns’ meditation session that I linked to, above: