Tag: Joy

  • Choosing Rhythms of Consistent, Predictable Joy – Teaching in Higher Ed

    Choosing Rhythms of Consistent, Predictable Joy – Teaching in Higher Ed

    These are the drawings from the instructor. Look lower in the post for information about the course she teaches, plus to see my drawings, as they are emerging….

    I don’t want to throw any shade on people who enjoy setting goals for yourselves in a new year. Hooray to Taylor Kay Phillips, who took over Lyz Lenz’s Dingus of the Week post this time, and said that she wants New Year’s Resolution Wet Blankets to settle down and let other people have their things. This year, one reflective approach that is resonating with me immensely this time around comes from Robert Talbert, in the form of his My Start/Stop/Continue for 2026 post. CW: He’s a bit down on resolutions in the beginning, but if you’re a big fan of setting them, just skip to his Start section about Going Analog and enjoy seeing what he’s up to…

    Start: Creating with Regularity

    Through an impulse purchase via Instagram advertising, I bought a year-long membership to the Art Makers Club at the tail end of the year. This all started with our son asking if he could participate in our revised advent plans for the holiday season (my goodness did our first attempt ever fail miserably) by doing digital art, instead of the watercolor the rest of us were doing. He likes using Procreate and mentioned offhand that it was one of those kinds of apps that you buy once (as in I/we already own it), which didn’t become relevant until weeks later, when I considered this purchase.

    My Art Makers Club purchase didn’t start with an entire year, but rather a highly structured course. The Kickstart Your Creativity with Procreate got me excited from the premise. I’m a huge fan of being able to track my progress toward goals, so the included progress tracker was super appleaing to me. Wait a second? I get to take 15-20 minute tutorials from an encouraging, down-to-earth, clear communicator and learn to actually use an app I already own instead of continuing to gather virtual dust, like I had been? And I get to save my various drawings in the form of a tracker all along, so I can see how far I’ve come and where I’m going?

    That was the hook, but it kept getting better from there. I also got a second Kickstart Your Creativity Course to go with it. But wait. There’s more. A ton of other courses, such as:

    • Imaginative Map-Making in Procreate
    • Getting Started with Procreate Dreams: Animation for Everyone (ever since seeing Mike Wesch’s very first animation video 10+ years ago: The Sleeper, I’ve dreamed of learning animation)
    • Easy, Eye-Catching Animations in Procreate
    • Realistic Paper Cut Illustrations in Procreate

    There are ~5 other full length courses and then a bunch of previously-recorded live sessions, the opportunity to be a part of a community of people going through the courses, etc. I have now drawn from the orange through the poppy, as of January 3, 2026, not too shabby a result of a person who hasn’t really taken art classes before.

    An unfinished grid of drawings... Created drawings include an orange, pear, fried egg, and some plants... there are still about 17 drawings to go on the tracker
    Here is my progress tracker so far for the course… I love how I can so easily see where I’ve been and where I’m headed. Those who know me well will know how excited I am to get to the bird!

    Depending on how you define art, of course…

    I also had bought one copy of Daily Drawing Prompts: A Year of Sketchbook Inspiration, by Jordan DeWilde for my Mom for Christmas and “accidentally” ordered a second copy for me. 😂😇 It has provided supplemental opportunities for reinforcing some of the skills I’m learning through the more structured courses.

    Tracing of a woman's hand, with a silver wedding band on the ring finger
    This was the first exercise in the book… to trace your hand and then add in details, like jewelry, etc. My hand does not look this young in real life, but if you look closely, you can tell that I at least tried to draw in the wrinkles.

    As excited as I clearly am about these drawing resources, I want to keep my definition of regular creation broad. Alan Levine recently shared his reflections on having achieved an entire year of capturing daily photos throughout 2025. He has previously been such an inspiration for me in those years when we don’t quite check every single box that we had hoped to… as in those years when he didn’t quite get to 365 days/photos. Still, it was fun to see him share stories of what his daily photo habit looked like in 2025 and in years past.

    I don’t want to say up front that I’m shooting for a daily goal. My streaks habits seem to be multiplying and I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. As of today, I’ve used the Bend App to support 280 days of stretching. However, they let you “reset” your streak, once you’ve been consistent with it. So somewhere around 4-5 days, I missed stretching. But the following day was able to restore my streak without resetting the counter. I would love something like that for my daily create goal that is emerging, but I also am not inclined to figure out a whole system at this exact moment.

    Stop: Checking Work Email on My Mobile Devices

    This is one of those “I should 100% know better” things. I’ve gotta stop checking my work email on my mobile devices. One reason has to do with overall productivity. In The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain, Annie Murphy Paul describes the benefits researchers found of working on a large display (versus on a laptop or mobile device):

    When using a large display, they engaged in higher-order thinking, arrived at a greater number of discoveries and achieved broader, more integrative insights. Such gains are not a matter of individual differences or preferences, Ball emphasizes; everyone who engages with the larger display finds that their thinking is enhanced.

    Before reading The Extended Mind, I always felt like I worked more effectively at either of my two big-screen set ups (home and work offices), but Murphy Paul uncovered a number of researchers exploring this hypothesis much more soundly than my anecdotal evidence. I just feel better and more able to focus in constructive ways when I’m engaging with my work via a large monitor.

    Another reason I don’t want to keep doing this in 2026 is just that it tends to get me feeling all the negative feels during a time when I’m not going to proactively going to be able to dig in with problem solving or attempts to communicate about issues. If an email is going to evoke a sense that things aren’t right in a particular context, why not wait until I’m “in the saddle” and ready to “ride” toward a resolution vs stewing in the frustration needlessly. I don’t get that many emails that make me angry, by the way. I’ve got it pretty darn good in that department. But even if it is just an email that is going to require some kind of follow up, I tend to delay taking any steps toward moving forward until such time that I’m back at my computer. Why not just enjoy the time more in whatever context I may have been in when I succumbed to the temptation to just “dip my toe” into my work email to “check in”.

    As I prepare to live into this commitment (once again, as I have failed at this in the past), I will revisit Robert Talbert’s Grand Unified Theory of Academic Email: Fixing the Missing Piece of the Clarify Process, as he helps those of us who may have a tendency to over-function to ask ourselves if whatever may have bubbled up in our email is actually ours to do something with… I would probably do well to re-listen to Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us Podcast Episode: On Anxiety, Calm, and Over-/Under-Functioning. And Karen Costa’s conversation with me on Episode 505: How Role Clarity and Boundaries Can Help Us Thrive.

    Rinse and repeat. I feel a playlist coming on…

    Continue: Finding Times to Go to Jazzercise with My Mom

    Speaking of playlists, I’ve been having a bunch of opportunities to find great workout music, since I’ve been driving to Oceanside a number of times each week during this holiday break. If you’ve been listening to Teaching in Higher Ed for more than a couple of years, you may have “met” my Mom back on Episode 462: Teaching Lessons I Learned From Mom. During the episode, I read her a column I wrote for EdSurge about her: Teaching Lessons I Learned from Mom and then reflected with my mom on the death of her sister, Judy.

    It takes ~45 minutes to make the drive from where I live to the Oceanside Jazzercise location where my Mom takes classes. The class, itself, is an hour, and then it’s another hour to say my goodbyes and get back home. Yes, that’s three hours anytime I go take a class with her. However, I’ve been telling myself that if I set a goal to take a class with her once or twice a month, during regular work weeks, and then a few times a week when we are on Spring break, that it would quickly add up to a whole lot more joy in my life. I rarely take lunch breaks at work, though I do often go for walks during the day with work friends (and sometimes former students, etc.). I’m having this inner dialog with myself about how much time I would actually “lose” from work if I were to keep this commitment vs what I would “gain” from the experiences.

    Lest anyone reading this feel like you want to “fix” my stinkin’ thinking on this front and tell me stories about how much time you wish you still had with someone you’ve lost… you may be somewhat relieved of your duties to know that I’ve already put some things in motion toward this idea. Kerry Mandulak (who has been on Teaching in Higher Ed a couple times before) was down in Oceanside with her family this past week and we hung out together after I went to Jazzercise with my Mom. She raved about the Airbnb where her family was staying. I’ve already booked one in the same complex for Spring Break and blocked out four opportunities to join my Mom for Jazzercise that week.

    Two women smile together with an Airbnb in the backgroundTwo women smile together with an Airbnb in the background
    What a joy is was getting to spend some time with Kerry during her family’s trip to Oceanside.

    I’m headed down to the Lilly Conference on Tuesday and will stop and do a class with her on the way down. At this point, I just need to block a few more times in my calendar for Spring 2026 and I’ll have just the structure I need to turn this all into a reality and a bunch of memories with my Mom… That, plus an ever-growing playlist of energizing workout songs…

    Related Goals

    Robert Talbert mentions how poorly people, in general, tend to do with our resolutions. However, on my goal-setting, I tend to do ok, much of the time. To that end, I plan on continuing a few other things throughout 2026. I commit to:

    • Read at least 24 books (connect with me on StoryGraph, if you want to see how that’s going and what I’m reading)
    • Keep stretching daily using the Bend App
    • Continue closing my Apple Watch rings (currently at an 845 days streak, which kinda scares me a bit, just because I think occasional breaks are ok and even healthy to take)
    • Apply to present at a conference at another country with a couple of collaborators and see if we’re successful at getting to share our work in an entirely difference context than I will have ever experienced in my life (and I used to travel a ton for work in my younger days, so that’s saying something)
    • Air an episode of Teaching in Higher Ed each week for the entire year, keeping yet-another streak alive… making it 12+ years of consistent conversations about teaching and learning

    What are you up to in the new year? Anything you’re committing to stoping, starting, or continuing?

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  • Annual Holiday Videos Bring Joy and School Spirit

    Annual Holiday Videos Bring Joy and School Spirit

    We’re approaching the end of a year that was at various times frightening, difficult and downright ridiculous. We hope that, despite the struggles higher education faced this year, you can still find something to be thankful for this holiday season, whether it’s generous donors making big differences for small campuses, colleges striving to improve cost transparency, or institutions supporting their communities through tough times.

    If not, maybe you can take some inspiration from the videos below.

    Here are Inside Higher Ed’s favorite holiday greetings, from the wacky to the artsy to the classy, showcasing the talents and holiday spirit of students, staff and faculty across the country.

    Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Conn.

    This slapstick sketch depicts Quinnipiac’s mascot, Boomer the Bobcat, messily preparing to welcome community members to his abode for Christmas dinner. Despite mishaps like spilling a bowl of assorted vegetables all over the floor and whisking what looks like mashed potatoes so feverishly they go flying, Boomer ends up putting out a beautiful spread—roast turkey, green beans, deviled eggs and more—for his delighted guests.

    University of Louisiana at Monroe

    The ULM Chamber Singers bring us a stirring adaptation of the 12 Days of Christmas entitled, no surprise, the 12 Days of Finals. Among the listed gifts is “ten paddlers paddling,” referring to the campus’s unique access to Bayou DeSiard, where students can borrow a kayak for free and paddle around to their heart’s delight.

    Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City, Utah

    Salt Lake Community College brings us another musical video, this time in the form of a tribute to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. President Greg Peterson takes on the titular role, singing: “We’ve made the most of this beautiful year, full of big hopes and holiday cheer. It’s education for you—it’s SLCC.edu. Will you join us next year?” Fuzzy video filters take the viewer back to old-school PBS, making the homage all the more nostalgic.

    The University of Texas, Dallas’s Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology

    This video highlights an annual tradition in an animation business development course at UT Dallas. The students are asked to design a holiday card and their peers then vote on the 10 best cards in the class. The winners’ cards are then printed and sold to fundraise for the school’s Student Emergency Fund. “I’m glad that our class is helping people have the reassurance that they need that they’re safe on campus and that somebody’s looking out for them if something does happen,” one of this year’s participants said.

    Gonzaga University, Spokane, Wash.

    College holiday greetings love to get a little bit meta. In this greeting, Gonzaga president Katia Passerini realizes she has forgotten to write a poem for this year’s holiday video. Luckily, student Alexis Sandoval just so happens to have a Christmas poem prepared, saving the day. Different members from the campus community, from a security leader to the university chaplain, recite the poem, bidding viewers to “rejoice in faith, carry peace and love into a happy New Year.”

    Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, Ill.

    In this feel-good sketch, President Pamela Haney tries to bake a sweet treat for the college’s leadership team, but is missing a few key ingredients, including kindness and dedication. Luckily, teams from across the campus come to the rescue, bringing Haney everything she needs to finish making the cake. As one administrator says, “it’s amazing what we can do when we all work together.”

    Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.

    This year, the women’s liberal arts college celebrated 150 years since it welcomed its first class in 1875. As part of that celebration, the holiday video this year compiled archival footage and images submitted by alumni of winters on campus over the past century-and-a-half. The video, which features students sledding, ice skating, skiing and playing in the snow, is set over a song composed for the Class of 1948’s junior class show, which bemoans leaving Wellesley’s campus behind.

    Community College of Philadelphia

    “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music is everyone’s favorite non-Christmas Christmas song. Why has it entered the holiday songs zeitgeist? Who can say for sure, but I think we’re all glad it has. This particular rendition by CCP students and faculty sets the classic tune against a hip-hop beat and features a sick guitar solo.

    University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

    Uh-oh—President Peter Mohler is supposed to be helping write Christmas cards, but he’s nowhere to be found! This cheeky sketch shows that he’s shirking his responsibilities to do much cooler and more fun things, like play video games with students or shoot hoops with Big Al, the institution’s elephant mascot. Luckily, when his colleagues finally find him, he’s already finished the holiday cards. Crisis averted!

    Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana

    “What’s one Tulane memory you hope never melts away?” this video asks a gaggle of sweater-clad Tulane students. More than one note a once-in-a-lifetime Gulf Coast blizzard that shocked and delighted Tulane students this past January, with one saying it was “like a dream.” Others mention friends, sports championships and exploring the city of New Orleans.

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  • Lerner Publishing Group Launches Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s Genius and Joy Curriculum

    Lerner Publishing Group Launches Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s Genius and Joy Curriculum

    MINNEAPOLIS, MN—Lerner Publishing Group, a leading publisher of K-12 educational materials, is proud to announce the launch of Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s groundbreaking Genius and Joy curriculum in Summer 2026. This new, all-in-one supplemental curriculum for Grades K–5 is grounded in Dr. Muhammad’s Five Pursuits Framework, a research-based educational model that enhances student engagement and intellectual growth.

    Within her research and scholarship in literacy development, English education and writing instruction, and culturally responsive pedagogies, Dr. Muhammad posed the question, “What if the purpose of schools and curriculum was to recognize and elevate the genius and joy of teachers and students?” The result is the Genius and Joy curriculum. This innovative curriculum prioritizes academic rigor by developing literacy skills, building subject area knowledge and centering students’ learning experience on joy. The curriculum is deep in content and thought while also practical and easy for teachers to use.

    Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s Five Pursuits framework of Identity, Skills, Intellect, Criticality, and Joy is a research-based instructional approach that enhances student engagement and achievement by focusing on literacy, identity development, and historical awareness. Its impact is evident in the Lemon Grove School District in California, where implementation of the framework has led to measurable gains: Black and African American students have consistently increased their academic achievement, even surpassing the overall student population in English Language Arts proficiency. Additionally, Multilingual Learners (MLLs) in the district have experienced a tripling in reclassification rates, reflecting the effectiveness of equity-centered, data-informed practices that align with the framework’s core tenets. Schools and districts across forty-three states have implemented the Five Pursuits Framework into their instructional practices, and have been clamoring for an official curriculum.

    “I wanted teachers to see curriculum as the stories we teach and tell, as the world around us, and as the legacy that we leave in the lives of our children,” said Dr. Gholdy Muhammad. “It is my hope that this curriculum is a genius and joy experience for youth and teachers alike. We all deserve a comprehensive curricular experience.”

    The Genius and Joy Curriculum

    • Celebrates Joy in Teaching and Learning: The Genius and Joy Curriculum provides easy-to-implement approaches and strategies that include space within the learning experience where students can live out and discover their fullest potential. Joy is a safe and creative space to be free—free to learn, free to dream, and free to be.
    • Recognizes the Genius Within Every Child: Through powerful stories and dynamic activities, every lesson is designed to spark curiosity, encourage inquiry, and build students’ confidence in their own unique brilliance.
    • Elevates Learning Through the Five Pursuits: Through innovative pedagogy, students explore more than simple skill building. The five pursuits—identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and joy—of the HILL model are intended to teach the whole student and honor the goals of genius and joy.

    “We know that true learning happens when students see themselves in the material, feel their voices are valued, and are encouraged to think critically about the world around them,” said Adam Lerner, Publisher and CEO of Lerner Publishing Group. “We are proud to partner with Dr. Gholdy Muhammad on Genius and Joy to create an environment where students can not only excel academically, but also engage with Lerner’s award-winning books in ways that help them grow as whole individuals.”

    Genius and Joy will be available for purchase through Lerner Publishing Group starting Summer 2026. The curriculum will be accompanied by professional development resources to help educators implement the framework effectively, ensuring that the values of joy and academic excellence reach students in classrooms across the country.

    For more information about Genius and Joy visit geniusandjoycurriculum.com.

    Click here to watch Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s webinar Celebrate the Genius and Joy of Every Student in Your Classroom.

    About Dr. Gholdy Muhammad
    Dr. Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad is the John Corbally Endowed Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture at the University of Illinois Chicago. She has previously served as a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, school district administrator, curriculum director, and school board president. She studies Black historical excellence in education, intending to reframe curriculum and instruction today. Dr. Muhammad’s scholarship has appeared in leading academic journals and books. She has also received numerous national awards and is the author of the best-selling books, Cultivating Genius and Unearthing Joy. She also co-authored the book, Black Girls’ Literacies. Her Culturally and Historically Responsive Education Model has been adopted across thousands of U.S. schools and districts across Canada. In 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, she was named among the top 1% Edu-Scholar Public Influencers due to her impact on policy and practice. She has led a federal grant with the United States Department of Education to study culturally and historically responsive literacy in STEM classrooms. In the fall of 2026, her first curriculum, entitledGenius and Joy, will be available to schools and educators.

    About Lerner Publishing Group™Lerner Publishing Group™ creates high-quality fiction and nonfiction for children and young adults. Founded in 1959, Lerner Publishing Group is one of the nation’s largest independent children’s book publishers with seventeen imprints and divisions: Carolrhoda Books®, Carolrhoda Lab®, Darby Creek™, ediciones Lerner, First Avenue Editions™, Gecko Press™, Graphic Universe™, Kar-Ben Publishing®, Lerner Publications, LernerClassroom™, Lerner Digital™, Millbrook Press™, Soaring Kite Books, Sundance Newbridge, Twenty-First Century Books™, Zest Books™, and Lerner Publisher Services™. For more information, visit www.lernerbooks.com or call 800-328-4929.                                  

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  • Public Scholarship with Drs. Ben Railton and Vaughn Joy

    Public Scholarship with Drs. Ben Railton and Vaughn Joy

    What is public scholarship? And, if it’s something you value as an academic, how do you house the resources you want to share online? Dr. Ben Railton and Dr. Vaughn Joy are featured in this episode of The Social Academic podcast. Jennifer van Alstyne asks them about their just-launched public website collaboration, Black and White and Read All Over.

    Who do you hope visits your website? How do you hope they engage with what you share with them? When this married couple wanted a permanent space for their public scholarship, they chose to create it together. A special thank you to Dr. Walter Greason for sharing #ScholarSunday would make for a great podcast episode! I’m delighted to have these two on the show for you just in time for the launch of their new website. Congratulations!

    This episode was broadcast live on September 29, 2025.

    This episode will be available on Spotify soon. English captions for the video and a full text transcription will be added for you in the next 1-2 weeks. Thank you.

    Visit their website

    Bios

    Dr. Ben Railton during a talk or lecture

    Dr. Ben Railton

    Ben Railton is Professor of English Studies, Director of Graduate English, and Coordinator of American Studies at Fitchburg State University. He’s the author of six books, most recently Of Thee I Sing: The Contested History of American Patriotism (2021). He also contributes the bimonthly Considering History column to the Saturday Evening Post. He’s most proud to be Dad to two college student sons, Aidan and Kyle; and husband to his badass wife and website co-host Vaughn.

    Dr. Vaughn Joy

    Vaughn Joy is an independent researcher and recent graduate with a PhD in History from University College London. Her first book, Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy, explores how Hollywood manipulated the American Christmas holiday for socially conservative ends in the post-war, early Cold War period in response to federal pressures on the motion picture industry. Her other work concerns McCarthyism, Hollywood business practices and politics, and media literacy of pop culture.

    Dr. Vaughn Joy wears a red sweater, red lipstick, and cute glasses

    Black and White and Read All Over

    Ben and Vaughn have recently launched a shared website that hosts Ben’s daily AmericanStudier blog and weekly round up of public scholarship in his #ScholarSunday threads, as well as Vaughn’s weekly film review newsletter, Review Roulette.

    The site, called Black and White and Read All Over, also welcomes announcements from other scholars to share their achievements, upcoming events, and forthcoming publications to promote academic pride and joy in our community.

    Ben Railton and Vaughn Joy cuddle, smiling close

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  • From Lectures to Laughter: Strategies to Spark Joy in the Classroom – Faculty Focus

    From Lectures to Laughter: Strategies to Spark Joy in the Classroom – Faculty Focus

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  • From Lectures to Laughter: Strategies to Spark Joy in the Classroom – Faculty Focus

    From Lectures to Laughter: Strategies to Spark Joy in the Classroom – Faculty Focus

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  • English Teachers Work to Instill the Joy of Reading. Testing Gets in the Way – The 74

    English Teachers Work to Instill the Joy of Reading. Testing Gets in the Way – The 74


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    A new national study shows that Americans’ rates of reading for pleasure have declined radically over the first quarter of this century and that recreational reading can be linked to school achievement, career compensation and growth, civic engagement, and health. Learning how to enjoy reading – not literacy proficiency – isn’t just for hobbyists, it’s a necessary life skill. 

    But the conditions under which English teachers work are detrimental to the cause – and while book bans are in the news, the top-down pressure to measure up on test scores is a more pervasive, more longstanding culprit. Last year, we asked high school English teachers to describe their literature curriculum in a national questionnaire we plan to publish soon. From responses representing 48 states, we heard a lot of the following: “soul-deadening”; “only that which students will see on the test” and “too [determined] by test scores.”

    These sentiments certainly aren’t new. In a similar questionnaire distributed in 1911, teachers described English class as “deadening,” focused on “memory instead of thinking,” and demanding “cramming for examination.” 

    Teaching to the test is as old as English itself – as a secondary school subject, that is. Teachers have questioned the premise for just as long because too many have experienced a radical disconnect between how they are asked or required to teach and the pleasure that reading brings them.

    High school English was first established as a test-driven subject around the turn of the 20th Century. Even at a time when relatively few Americans attended college, English class was oriented around building students’ mastery of now-obscure literary works that they would encounter on the College Entrance Exam. 

    The development of the Scholastic Aptitude Test in 1926 and the growth of standardized testing since No Child Left Behind have only solidified what was always true: As much as we think of reading as a social, cultural, even “spiritual” experience, English class has been shaped by credential culture.

    Throughout, many teachers felt that preparing students for college was too limited a goal; their mission was to prepare students for life. They believed that studying literature was an invaluable source of social and emotional development, preparing adolescents for adulthood and for citizenship. It provided them with “vicarious experience”: Through reading, young people saw other points of view, worked through challenging problems, and grappled with complex issues. 

    Indeed, a national study conducted in 1933 asked teachers to rank their “aims” in literature instruction. They listed “vicarious experience” first, “preparation for college” last.

    The results might not look that different today. Ask an English teacher what brought her to the profession, and a love of reading is likely to top the list. What is different today is the  unmatched pressure to prepare students for a constant cycle of state and national examinations and for college credentialing. 

    Increasingly, English teachers are compelled to use online curriculum packages that mimic the examinations themselves, composed largely of excerpts from literary and “informational” texts instead of the whole books that were more the norm in previous generations. “Vicarious experience” has less purchase in contemporary academic standards than ever. 

    Credentialing, however, does not equal preparing. Very few higher education skills map neatly onto standardized exams, especially in the humanities. As English professors, we can tell you that an enjoyment of reading – not just a toleration of it – is a key academic capacity. It produces better writers, more creative thinkers, and students less likely to need AI to express their ideas effectively.

    Yet we haven’t given K-12 teachers the structure or freedom to treat reading enjoyment as a skill. The data from our national survey suggests that English teachers and their students find the system deflating. 

     “Our district adopted a disjointed, excerpt-heavy curriculum two years ago,” a Washington teacher shared, “and it is doing real damage to students’ interest in reading.” 

    From Tennessee, a teacher added: “I understand there are state guidelines and protocols, but it seems as if we are teaching the children from a script. They are willing to be more engaged and can have a better understanding when we can teach them things that are relatable to them.”

    And from Oregon, another tells us that because “state testing is strictly excerpts,” the district initially discouraged “teaching whole novels.”  It changed course only after students’ exam scores improved. 

    Withholding books from students is especially inhumane when we consider that the best tool for improved academic performance is engagement – students learn more when they become engrossed in stories. Yet by the time they graduate from high school, many students  master test-taking skills but lose the window for learning to enjoy reading.

    Teachers tell us that the problem is not attitudinal but structural. An education technocracy that consists of test making agencies, curriculum providers, and policy makers is squeezing out enjoyment, teacher autonomy and student agency. 

    To reverse this trend, we must consider what reading experiences we are providing our students. Instead of the self-defeating cycle of test-preparation and testing, we should take courage, loosen the grip on standardization, and let teachers recreate the sort of experiences with literature that once made us, and them, into readers.


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  • Three Virtual Offerings to Spark Joy and Encourage Self-Care This Valentine’s Day – CUPA-HR

    Three Virtual Offerings to Spark Joy and Encourage Self-Care This Valentine’s Day – CUPA-HR

    by Julie Burrell | February 13, 2024

    Even though it’s not mentioned in the job description, stress management is no doubt a daily part of your life in higher ed HR. Prioritizing well-being is also at the forefront of strategies to retain and recruit talent. CUPA-HR has found that 56% of higher ed employees are at least somewhat likely to look for a new position in the coming year, and the strongest predictors of retention are factors related to job satisfaction and well-being.

    You know that attentiveness to mental and physical health helps you and your team thrive, but it may be difficult to find the time and budget to make wellness a daily practice. This Valentine’s Day is an opportunity to treat yourself and your team to the gift of well-being by scheduling time to participate in Well-Being in Higher Education, a week-long virtual event. From February 26 to March 1, CUPA-HR will join with 20+ higher ed associations to help you deepen your knowledge of well-being on your campus and offer moments of connection across the higher ed community.

    CUPA-HR-sponsored sessions include:

    • An Integrated Approach to Fostering Workplace Well-Being
    • Managing Anxiety and Stress in the Workplace
    • Staff Well-Being: Its Role in Creating a Healthy Campus

    You may also want to check out these related CUPA-HR resources:

    Is saying “yes” your love language? Do you struggle to say no even when you don’t have the bandwidth? Learn how to say no with confidence in one of our most popular webinars of 2023, Managing Stress and Self-Care: “No” Is a Complete Sentence, which offers practical tools for minimizing stress and leads participants in creating a self-care plan.

    Help stave off burnout by practicing the skill of resilience. While it may seem like some people are naturally more resilient than others, resilience is a learned skill you can develop and practice in your work and personal life. Learn how in this webinar and accompanying Higher Ed HR Magazine article.



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  • Find joy in the small things – THE STUDENT LIFE BLOG

    Find joy in the small things – THE STUDENT LIFE BLOG

    Photos and written by Amy Bridges

                   If the pandemic has taught me anything its that you need to find joy in the small things. These last couple of years have been hard and unforgiving and it has been hard to find joy amongst the mess. I have had to teach myself to find joy in the small things so that I don’t completely lose my mind. Since it has been a long journey to get here, I’m going to give you a list of some of the small things I have learned to appreciate a little more.

    Treats

                   I have learned to get excited and to enjoy even the small treats like a cupcake or a special drink. I have found that a bad day can get better with a cupcake or currently because I haven’t had them all winter a bowl of berries! They aren’t much in the grand scheme of things but doing a happy dance because I have a small bowl of strawberries has made a big difference in my day. I have also found that there are non-food treats that I have gotten excited about that again are small but make the day a little brighter. One being a new water bottle, or a new book. They are small but have a large impact!

    Music

                   The last couple of years music has been a great outlet. I have been using music to help curb my mood. When I’m having a bad day, I blare a song I know I can’t help but move to and it helps to boost my mood. Sometimes its only a little bit but that little bit helps.

    A small luxury

                   The most recent small joy I have found is in bath bombs. Normally I only take a 45-minute bath which again isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things but it is enough. I have found a great local business BombzRUs who makes fantastic bath bombs and the colours and smells that come from them are just wonderful. The 45-minutes I spend just enjoying the colourful sparkly water is just what I needed to make the day better or to set myself up for a good sleep for the next day.

    Sunrises

                   Since I work at 8am and I take transit I leave the house at 7am. I am not a morning person but I have had to learn how to be. Recently there has been one upside to getting up and leaving the house by 7am and that is the sunrises. The only way I would have been able to see them is if I was up early. So, I will take the small joy of a beautiful sunrise since I have to be up early anyways.

    While I am sure there are more these are currently the small joys that I have been focusing on while I try to minimize the impacts of rough days.

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