Resuming Instruction in an Abbreviated Semester

As a result of Hurricane Helene and the resulting campus closure, there is a need to condense 9 weeks of instruction into 7 weeks.  We are providing 3 resources with tips on how to resume instruction:

  • A Course Modification Worksheet
  • 7 Steps to Returning to the Classroom
  • What To Do For Yourself

Our hope is that these resources, along with consultations with one of our educational developers, will help you create a successful learning experience for you and your students.

CFC is Open for Consultations

We are available for consultations, which can be scheduled through our scheduling platform Calendly.  Please see CFC Consultations to schedule with any of us. 

Adjusting Your Course for a Shortened Semester
 
 

Adjusting a course to account for the loss of two weeks due to an emergency event can be challenging, but it’s possible with careful planning. The CFC and the Division of IT have collaborated to bring you strategies to help make the necessary changes while maintaining academic rigor.

This Course Modification Worksheet will help you decide how to modify your course for a compressed semester.  The link opens a Word document. Download by going to File>Save As and save the document to your computer.

Quick Guide to Prioritizing Student Learning: Strategies for Shortened Instructional Timeframe 

This worksheet can be completed quickly and used to guide decisions that prioritize student learning in a shortened timeframe. It is designed to help faculty quickly adapt your courses for an unplanned disruption that results in condensing your curricula. The focus is on adjusting student learning outcomes (SLOs), prioritizing key content, and planning delivery in face-to-face and online modalities. 

Step 1: Acknowledge the circumstances. 

It is important to acknowledge the personal losses that we and our students continue to endure as individuals, the suffering of our communities, and the loss of instructional time. Rather than overloading ourselves and our students to make up for lost time, the recommendation is to focus on prioritizing key learning outcomes and essential material to ensure meaningful progress without overwhelming ourselves and our students. 

 Step 2: Identify core student learning outcomes (SLOs). 

A. List your original SLOs. What were the SLOs at the beginning of the course? Add SLOs as needed.
B. Determine which SLOs you have you already met. Mark through those. 

   SLO 1: 

   SLO 2: 

   SLO 3: 

   SLO 4: 

   SLO 5: 

C. Prioritize the most essential remaining SLOs. Which SLOs are critical for your students to achieve by the end of the course? (You may need to cut some SLOs or spend less time on some given the time constraints). Add SLOs as needed. 

   Critical SLO 1:  

   Critical SLO 2: 

   Critical SLO 3: 

Step 3: Align content to prioritized SLOs.

 A. Reassess content. What content (e.g., readings, lectures, videos, etc.) aligns directly with the critical SLOs you identified above? What content could you just highlight or spend reduced time on? Instead of full lectures, offer condensed versions, such as summaries or overviews, to provide key takeaways. Microsoft Copilot may help in this process.  Add SLOs as needed. 

  Content for Critical SLO 1: 

  Content for Critical SLO 2: 

   Content for Critical SLO 3: 

B. Remove or condense non-essential content.  What content can you remove or consolidate while still meeting the critical SLOs? 

Content to remove: 

Content to condense: 

Step 4: Adjust instructional modes as needed.  

A. For face-to-face classes. How can you adjust in-person activities to be completed within the remaining instructional days?

Activities to modify (e.g., discussions, group work, active learning exercises).

B. For online classes. How can you shift or adapt activities in the online environment? Consider using asynchronous or low-tech options where possible.

Activities to modify (e.g., discussion boards, short recorded lectures, group projects): 

Step 5: Adjust assignments/assessments and deadlines as needed.  

A. Reassess assignments and assessments. Can you reduce the number of assignments or simplify existing assignments to meet critical SLOs? Can you create alternative assignments?  

Revised Assignment and assessment plan: 

Assignment 1 (aligned with Critical SLOs): 

Assignment 2 (aligned with Critical SLOs): 

Assessment 1 (aligned with Critical SLOs): 

Assessment 2 (aligned with Critical SLOs): 

A 7-Step Approach to Returning to Class After a Tragedy

This resource is generously shared by the Center for Faculty Excellence at UNC Chapel-Hill and has been adapted to WCU specific resources.

As we return to class for the first time after Hurricane Helene, there are many considerations and concerns. Below are recommendations for how to structure the return to class for your students and yourselves, with trauma-informed considerations and best practices.

  1. Before Your First Class Back prepare and distribute a brief email indicating how you plan to run class when you return. This will give students a clear understanding of what to expect. Consider including:
  • An acknowledgement of the tragic events.
  • Review of the syllabus and the modified plans for moving forward.
  • Emphasis on flexibility. Provide information about any other flexibility that you are going to offer (e.g. alternative assignments, flexible due dates, etc).
  • Move to continuing instructional content.
  1. Beginning the First Class Back, begin by thanking students for coming to the classroom space as they are.
  • Approach the beginning of class with grace, humanity, and humility.
  • Example Language: “Thank you all for being here today. I imagine it may be hard for some of you to be here right now, whether that’s in person or on Zoom. I know it is hard for me, as well. Today, we’re going to do the best we can, even if that’s messy.”
  1. Acknowledge the Tragedy in plain, direct terms.
  • Example Language: “Today, we’re back in class after the tragic and horrible effects of Hurricane Helene. I want to just take a moment and acknowledge the loss you, your family, or friends have experienced. This loss will be with us in this class, and on campus, for the rest of this semester and beyond. I just want to recognize that, and that many of us may be having a range of feelings about that.” (Adapted with permission from the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation at Michigan State University |  Written for the Spartans by Jason Moser, Jon Novello, Mark Patishnock, Joshua Turchan, Karen Stanley-Kime, and the University Health & Wellness departments).
  • Acknowledge and Validate Reactions, that there are various reactions to trauma, and they have different trajectories over time for different people.
  • There is a wide range of reactions that people may have to traumatic events, including anxious rumination, focused attention on studies, humor, to shutting down.
  • By naming this in class, you let your students know that you are aware that whatever they are dealing with is okay.
  • Let people know that no matter what reactions they are having, that if they need someone to talk with about this, to please reach out to someone to get help.
  • Provide Information and links to WCU resources and external supports
  • Counseling and Psychological Services are available to any students who need to speak with a mental health provider. Students needing to speak with a counselor are encouraged to call 828-227-7469 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Emergency or crisis clinicians can be reached after hours at 828-227-8911
  • CAPS also has online resources, including self-help videos such as “Managing Anxiety and Depression,” “Motivation” and “Wellness 101,” that can provide help.
  1. Frame a Discussion You Can Handle – Do not invite your students to have a discussion about their traumatic reactions if you do not have trauma-informed training or do not feel prepared to do so for any reason (e.g., the size of the class, students directly impacted). Instead, consider the following:
  • Invite/ask permission to shift to the educational/discovery content planned for the day o Example Language: “Now that we are all here in this learning space together, if you are ready, we will shift to the learning content for the day.”
  • Acknowledge how strange or difficult this sounds right now, while also giving permission for people to not be as focused or able to really learn right now as they might typically be able to be. Example Language: “It might be hard to learn right now because of distraction or stress or other trauma-related symptoms, and that’s okay.”
  • Let students know that they can feel free to take a break if they want to or leave at any time.
  1. Demonstrate grace, humanity, humility, and flexibility with class attendance, coursework, and so on, in line with university guidance. Again, try to recognize that everyone is trying to cope right now, and that some students won’t be at their best for some time.

Final Considerations

We know that humans experience a variety of emotions following traumatic events. These feelings can include shock, sorrow, numbness, fear, anger, disillusionment, grief, and others. You may find that you have trouble sleeping, concentrating, eating, or remembering even simple tasks. This is common.  There are several ways that students, and everyone, can take care of themselves that help to facilitate healing. This is called natural recovery. The following factors are thought to help with natural recovery:

  • Social support, including:
    • Believing that other people care about you and will be there if you need them
    • Being able to talk about the trauma and your reactions to it with supportive people
    • Having supporters who avoid reacting in unhelpful ways when told about the trauma
  • Getting back to one’s life, including:
    • Returning to your routine, such as going to work or school, doing chores, and maintaining a sleep schedule
    • Not avoiding reminders of the trauma
    • Staying connected to friends and other important people
  • Making meaning of what happened, including:
    • Finding helpful and realistic ways to fit the trauma into the way you think about yourself, other people, and the world o Noticing unhelpful thoughts that get in the way of making meaning, such as self-blame, and finding more helpful thoughts.
    • Looking for examples of ways that you did your best or coped well.

References:

https://cfe.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/326/2023/08/CFE-Guide-What-to-Do-Tomorrow-Returning-to-Class-After-a-Tragedy.pdf

What To Do For Yourself: Tips for Taking Care of Yourself During Stressful Times
  • Stop, breathe, and tell yourself “This is hard and I will get through it one step at a time.”
  • Acknowledge to yourself what you are feeling.
  • Find someone who listens and is accepting.
  • Maintain your normal routine as much as possible.
  • Allow plenty of time for a task.

Take Good Care of Yourself

Remember to:

  • Get enough rest and sleep. Sleep is how our body heals and strengthens our immune system. Consider your normal sleep patterns and ensure you aren’t sleeping significantly more or less than usual. If you are having difficulty sleeping, listening to peaceful, slow music and/or do progressive relaxation just before you go to sleep. If you have a lot of tasks on your mind, write a to-do list for the next day before trying to go to bed.
  • Eat regularly and make healthy choices. Skipping meals, particularly breakfast, contributes to fatigue, mood swings, and poor concentration. Be mindful of how your mood may be affecting your dietary decisions, and try to stick with your normal routine.
  • Know your limits and when you need to let go. Some problems are beyond our control. If something cannot be changed, work at accepting it for what it is. Resist the urge to fix the unfixable or try to control the uncontrollable. Sometimes a mantra helps: “It is what it is, I just need to accept it.” For things within your control, remember that change takes time. If you are holding on and need to let go, journal about what you are feeling.
  • Identify or create a nurturing place in your home. A rocking chair, a nice view, and soothing music are important components to a nurturing place. Twenty minutes of rocking in a rocking chair reduces both your physical pain and anxiety. It is like giving yourself a hug. Music and nature sounds nurture our being and lifts our spirits.
  • Practice relaxation or meditation. Go to your nurturing place and listen to guided relaxation tapes. Time spent in meditation or prayer allows your mind and body to slow down and let go of the stress. Take a mental vacation in the midst of stress by relaxing your body, shutting your eyes and visualizing yourself in your favorite vacation spot or quiet haven.
  • Moderate your use of social media. Be mindful of the effects of engaging with particular platforms. Are you able to use them to find connection, community, and support, or are they creating more stress and anxiety at this time? If the latter is true, seek healthier alternatives like meditation, time with friends, reading, movies, or exercise.

Resources for Faculty

Our employee assistance provider, ComPsych, has provided some tools to promote our understanding and awareness of mental health issues, as well as help those who may be struggling with their mental health. Call 855-259-0382 or visit the website at https://www.guidanceresources.com.