Tip: Setting Boundaries

How do you manage the balance - that seems trickier than ever, this semester - between what students ask for and what we can afford to give them?

Over the past few weeks, there’s been an increase in discussion - at least among the groups and writers I follow - around the challenge of burnout and feeling overwhelmed. While I think this time of the semester is always hard for teaching faculty - and anyone who works with students - it’s natural enough that these stressors are heightened this semester. It’s not just the higher level of emotional support many of our students need, but also the logistics of trying to support students in completing course requirements in the last few weeks of the semester. The natural consequences of allowing students more flexibility this semester are landing in our in-boxes and LMS “to-grade” lists. While our students are no doubt struggling in different ways, we, too, are likely struggling with more than in past semesters.

Teaching writing, I frequently have students submit a very rough first draft of a research paper, often barely more than an outline (despite having already submitted sources and an outline), who then ask for a second chance to submit a draft before submitting the final paper. I have settled into being comfortable with telling them no. With only 3 weeks left in the semester - and Thanksgiving break in the middle - it’s setting them up for failure to try to rush over revising and drafting, and setting myself up for being unable to provide feedback on other students’ work. I am also comfortable with this firm “no” because I know that if a student submits a final paper that truly misses the mark, I have a small cushion at the end of the semester to be able to offer them a final do-over.

How do you manage the balance - that seems trickier than ever, this semester - between what students ask for and what we can afford to give them?

"More Healthy Boundaries" by CarbonNYC [in SF!] is licensed under CC BY 2.0

For more reading…

• Slightly older, but still helpful, article on setting boundaries: How to Listen Less

• Setting Boundaries as an Empathic Teacher addresses some of the emotional components to setting boundaries

• Role Clarity: How Faculty Can Map Their Own Boundaries

• Professor Goldilocks and the Three Boundaries

Happy (American) Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!