CHALLENGING THE IDEA OF CLASSROOM
Dr. Thomas Fisher has written a thought provoking post about how the physical space of a classroom can inspire or inhibit learning. He and his students spent the semester as nomads, moving from space to space throughout the term. He writes, "We had pedagogical reasons for doing so. The course focused on how the built environment both reflects and affects our ideas about the world around us, looking at how philosophical concepts, cultural constructs, and social, economic, and environmental constraints help shape the spaces that human beings inhabit. Given that, it seemed appropriate to experience a variety of spaces and to reflect upon the relationship of each one to the content of the course. We noted as the course progressed how much the spaces in which we met helped shape the conversation, as we expected, given the focus of the course and the fact that all of the students were either undergraduate or graduate architecture students." Read more about his experience here.

TAPPING INTO THE SOCIAL GENIUS OF ANOTHER
We have discussed the need to have our students think about thinking and how they learn best. Metacognition research continues to grow and new ideas and insights are emerging everyday. Dr. Lori Desautels asks, "What if we could dramatically improve our thought processes and learning strategies by tapping into the social genius of another? What if a classmate, colleague, or friend could help us recognize and claim our strengths, new habits of thought, and strategies from a perspective that we never imagined by ourselves?" Find out what she thinks here.

WORK/LIFE BALANCE IMPORTANT FOR MENTAL HEALTH
It is usually at this point in the semester when we begin to feel overwhelmed by all of our responsibilities. I think the anxiety is heightened because our students become more needy at this point. Many of them are trying to finish out their two year academic journey and move on, either to work or a four-year college. It is important for us to set boundaries so that we can finish out the semester with the same vigor and excitement that we began with in January. Amy Cavender offers her own tips for maintaining a balanced work/life schedule in this short post. Let me know what you think or share some ideas about how you stay focused and enthusiastic.