Reflecting on This Term Before the Next One Begins!

With the long-awaited return of in-person classes just over the horizon, we may not be feeling particularly sad about tossing our remote teaching experiences aside and running back to our classrooms with open arms. However, after every term ends it is helpful to write up a few notes about our courses when they are still fresh in our minds. That way, the next time we teach the class, we will actually remember exactly what we thought about the course when we taught it last. Right now, it is also a good idea to reflect on some of the adjustments you have made in the remote environment with special attention to which of the many new technologies and techniques you will want to continue to implement once you are back in your classroom.

Questions you might want to ask yourself include what about the course you want to add, delete, tweak a little bit, or even change significantly. Of course, don’t forget to note what might you want to leave exactly as is because it went really, really well!

As you review your course materials, you might also consider:

• Were there topics that didn’t grab students’ attention as much as you had hoped or expected?
• Were there concepts that students struggled with more than you had anticipated they might?
• Were there activities or techniques that required more of your time than warranted, given the student gains you can attribute to them?
• Could it be helpful to change the order of any of your lessons, lectures or assignments?
• Did you come across new resources that you didn’t have time to draw upon this term?
• Is there a particular teaching strategy you used in the remote environment that you want to bring to your in-person class?
• Were there activities or teaching techniques that really engaged your students or helped them master the material? 

It is also a great time to identify model student work that can serve as helpful examples for future students. If you email the students now to ask permission to share their work, they may also be more likely to respond as the course is also still fresh in their minds. This “trail of breadcrumbs” can help jog your memory, as you sit down weeks or months from now to refresh the course. Without these notes, you may find it frustrating to try to reconstruct what changes you believe will be fruitful for students.