Winter Pruning for a Successful Spring

The early part of January has a familiar cadence for many of us in the Furman community, a kind of dual rhythm where we are both shoring up for the year ahead and also anticipating the reawakening of campus as students return.  If your commute includes passing through the main gates, you may be a little surprised at how bare our front entrance appears after recent necessary tree removal. There may be some advice for us in this startling paring back, which was required to ensure safe and more proliferated future growth. What can you prune from your syllabus or to-do list today that can prepare you and/or your students for a growth-filled Spring? What can you do—or commit NOT to do now—so that your April will not be as T.S. Eliot warns—the cruelest month?  

Here are some FDC resources that can help smooth your own re-entry to campus and into the semester: 

• If you are beginning to update your syllabus, Furman’s general syllabus and spring 2025 course schedule templates may be useful.
• If you would like to spruce up your first day approaches to enhance student engagement, peruse this comprehensive DePauw University “The First Day of Class” guide.    
• If you are in the “finishing touches” phase of updating your syllabi and assignments, consider building time into your syllabi to include a Small Group Instructional Feedback session. These sessions are most productive just prior to or at mid-term (mid-February to the week just after Spring Break this semester).  
• If it is time for a peer observation, consider working with the FDC’s peer coaches. To schedule a peer observation or an SGIF, or to request one-on-one coaching, please complete our online collaboration request form. 
• Finally, mark your calendars and join the FDC for any of our upcoming Spring Professional Development programs, including a special faculty-led Lunch & Learn series on AI in Action in and beyond the classroom. Read on for more details below, visit our website events page, or download the FDC’s Spring 2025 Programming  handout).