Three big ideas for academics to handle the fear and anxiety of a new semester

Nerves, stress, and the pressure to perform are a part of life. You don’t have to conquer these feelings; just learn to live with them.~Eric Whitacre, Am. composer (b. 1970)

Remember the fear and anxiety you felt as a student getting ready to start a new school year? I do. And I certainly never gave a thought to whether my teachers might be feeling the same thing, or perhaps an even greater sense of trepidation and worry. Especially if they were new to the teaching profession. I confess I never even thought that professors might feel a bit worried about a new semester. After all, they were the experts, and we students were coming to learn from them. Now that I have been working with academic clients for over ten years, I have learned to appreciate just how scary a new academic year can be from the teaching side.

The first time I ever taught a course, it was for nine-years-old 4^th graders. And I was terrified. I didn’t feel like an expert on the content. What if they challenged me on it? What would I say if I didn’t know the answer? Would they disregard my scholarly ability? It turns out I was focused on the wrong thing. They felt my fear and immediately began taking control of the classroom, particularly a smart and precocious boy; I will call Michael. Talk about learning the hard way about the importance of that very first class.

At the college level, it’s not just that all the students are new every semester (a situation that has its pluses and minuses for sure!) but that frequently professors are teaching a new course, with new material. Even if teaching an older course, most professors spend time revising the course. Perhaps it is new readings, or new techniques for teaching, or new ways of teaching old material, but there are plenty of possibilities for failure in the classroom. With students glued to their electronic devices, it’s harder than ever to get student attention.

Dealing with fear and anxiety for teachers and a new semester

To get past the fear and worry at the beginning of a new semester, it helps to notice two important things: (1) fear is always about the future, even if that future is only three minutes away, and (2) you’re not in control of everything that happens, but you are in control of how you react to it most of the time.

1) Prepare enough, but not too much

By living in the present, before classes start, you can take concrete steps now to lighten your load. You may want the perfect syllabus, but it does not have to be perfect. The likelihood is as the semester goes on, you will have to adapt to the ability of the students and the time available in the classroom for exploration. Things will change.

Consider taking Robert Boice’s excellent advice in Advice for New Faculty Members to the nihil nimus, or “nothing in excess” approach. To paraphrase, Boice says, “good teaching does not equal good content. What new professors typically struggle with is finding a way to communicate their vast amount of knowledge in a particular subject with students that know far less and may care less about the topic. Even new professors really are the experts in the room. His basic premise is that less is more, and moderating over-preparation is a good thing.

2) Setting the tone in the first class: for you

The first class is all-important in setting the tone for the rest of the semester. Some extraordinarily simple things to do to reduce teaching anxiety are:

• Know the way to the classroom and how long it will take you to get there
• Know what you will wear, and make sure it is at least one step up from what students will most likely wear;
• Test any technology you plan to use in advance;
• Spend a little time walking around the space you will be teaching in to get comfortable with it, especially if you want to break the class into small groups at some point.

Next, have a plan for handling the first class. Most teachers and professors introduce themselves in some way that makes them a real person. In my case, it might be, “I have a love-hate relationship with my grumpy rescue cat, Tsar, short for Ivan the Terrible. He’s still not sure he wants to live with human beings.” Then give the students a chance to ask more questions about you. If it’s a large class, just ask the students to identify themselves before speaking. Not everyone will want to talk. Once that’s done, take a few minutes to explain the course content and how the semester will be structured.

3) Setting the tone: for students

Make the expectations clear: if there are three writing assignments, a mid-term and a final, know that some students will drop the course because it sounds like too much work. That’s OK. If it happens to be a required class, explain why it’s important. Many students dislike writing, but they need this skill even if it’s to write a memo to a boss about the number of widgets sold that month.

Finally, have some kind of short activity that will introduce the content to the class in an interactive way. This accomplishes two things: it ensures the class might actually last the allotted time. I had many professors as an undergraduate who handed out the syllabus and then said, “class dismissed.” It felt like the professor could not care less whether I was there or whether I learned anything in the course. Some learning activity ideas include:

• Have students write something for you.
  • English class: “When did a novel you read affect how you viewed something in the world?”
  • History class, “Take this list of events, and see if you can put them in chronological order.”
  • Psychology class, “What do you think is happening in your brain when you experience fear?”
  • Math class it could be an actual math problem that students would not be expected to answer at the beginning of the course, but will know how to do by the end of the class.
• Show, don’t tell, the discussion norms you expect. For instance, if you plan to use a lot of in-class small group work, you can ask students to form small groups in the very first class to answer the questions above, explaining they will select a spokesperson to share with the rest of the class. This may help put the more introverted students at ease.
• Use an icebreaker, asking students to pair up and find something in common with their partner. Josh Boldt, writing in the ChronicleVitae describes asking students to write their name, where they are from, and identify some piece of popular they are into at the time (films, music, videogames, etc.) on 3×5 cards he supplies. They then walk around the room looking for someone they have something in common with. At the end of the class, he collects all the cards and then has some idea of what students may be interested in. It may give you ideas about how to relate your material to what students find fun. Another exercise I like is getting a deck of “art cards” (anything from Rembrandt to Warhol), putting them up front where students have to move to get them, ask each person to pick one and tell why they picked it.
• Make sure you let students know there may be adds and drops at the beginning of the semester and perhaps have a hand-out ready for students that missed the first class, with information about what you did do in the first class to help them feel like they can easily catch up.
• Finally, end the class proactively. It might be as simple as, “Next time we will discuss…” Or asking them to write anonymously 1-2 sentences, you can collect their reaction to the first class.

There will always be things you cannot control. Colleagues and students will upset you with either words or actions, even if they are not intentional. You’ll make mistakes. Technology will fail when you need it to work.  The baby will wake up at 3:00 AM and keep you awake until you have to get up and go teach, or you get physically sick yourself. Help yourself by being as prepared as you can be, then let go of the fear.

Next month I will tackle the question of how to maintain some excitement for teaching as the semester moves on.

If you still need help handling the new semester, contact Hillary for a free 20-minute session to discuss your needs.

Tags: academia, academic, attitude, goal setting, happiness, planning, strategies