TEACHING TIPS

This section is full of timely and evidence-based practices to apply in your teaching

The Jewish High Holiday season begins at the start of October this year with Rosh Hashanah (Wed, 2 October sunset - Fri, 4 October nightfall) and Yom Kippur (Fri, 11 October sunset - Sat, 12 October nightfall) followed by Sukkot (Wed, 16 October sunset - Wed, 23 October nightfall), and Simchat Torah (Wed, 23 Oct 2024 sunset - Fri, 25 Oct 2024 nightfall). This week's teaching tips provide resources to help you support students during these times and other Jewish holidays. Additional resources for further reading are also provided.

Jewish Holidays Q & A. You may have questions about Jewish holidays and how they are celebrated. The list below, adapted from a LinkedIn article by Lindsey Fenton, has been reframed to help support your work with students. 

• I see other Jewish holidays on my calendar, but my students only take Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur off. What is so special about those days? Rosh Hashanah celebrates the beginning of the Jewish New Year.  Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar. For most American Jews they are considered the two main High Holidays and are when people would be most likely to take off of work or school, attend religious services, and have celebratory meals with family and friends. 
• Why are students’ days off different than when my calendar lists the holiday? Depending on a student’s “denomination” they may take two days off for Rosh Hashanah and choose to fast or abstain from work for certain holidays. Jewish holidays begin and end at sundown, which means that a person might need to be off school or work the afternoon or evening before the holiday is listed on an American calendar (known as Erev Rosh Hashanah or Erev Yom Kippur). 
• What should I say to my Jewish students around the High Holidays? If you are not Jewish, you can greet students by saying, “Happy Rosh Hashanah” or “Shana Tova” (sha-nah toe-vah), to wish them a good new year. As Yom Kippur is a solemn fast day so wishing your students “Happy Yom Kippur” would not be an appropriate greeting. Instead, you can say “have a meaningful Yom Kippur.” 

Additional Resources. To learn more about accommodating students, review these resources:

• This Jewish Holiday Calendar provides the dates for the Jewish holidays for this academic year. Consider adding these dates, and other significant holidays, to your course calendar or syllabus. 
• Anti-Defamation League: College and University Accommodations
• UTLC Teaching Tips Blog: Supporting Jewish Students During Their Holiday Season (includes links to posters about each holiday that can be shared with students and colleagues to create an awareness and appreciation of the holidays)
• UTLC Jewish High Holidays resource page
• The University Proctoring Lab can assist instructors in scheduling alternative testing times in accordance with UNCG's Religious Observance policy
• For questions or more information on ways to support your Jewish students please contact Ginny Vellani, Director of NC Hillel Link, at gvellani@nchillel.org 

UTLC FEATURED ANNOUNCEMENTS

Check out the latest updates and offerings from the UTLC.

Many UNCG instructors have adopted student response systems to poll students throughout the semester, but these can have a steep learning and setup curve and be costly for students. Did you know that Microsoft Teams has its own polling feature that you can easily learn to use in a few minutes? This is a great option for the polling curious, or those who have a more casual approach. Watch this week's Learning Tech Tip for an introduction to this Teams feature, and read more about creating a Team for your course if you are interested in getting started

The Generative AI in Teaching and Learning FLC is an interdisciplinary initiative open to faculty members, librarians, and instructional professionals across the University of North Carolina (UNC) System. Whether participants are seasoned tech-savvy educators or just starting to explore the potential of AI in education, this community offers a supportive and inclusive environment for all levels of expertise. The FLC will be facilitated by faculty members with experience in Generative AI in an educational context who will guide participants through the discussions and practical application activities. The first meeting of the semester is on Wednesday, October 9 so join today to get the full details!

We need your help! ITS: Learning Technology is looking for participants for an exciting research opportunity. Faculty Accessibility Fellows Austin Craven (BIO) and Heather Moorefield Lang (ILRS) are conducting a research project that will examine accessibility in online courses, which is essential for students with disabilities, and valuable for all students. This research will look for a potential connection between accessible course design and overall student success. We're looking for courses where instructional content is provided to students in an online setting – this includes fully online courses and hybrid and in-person courses that have a component of instruction that is taught online. This research project is rather unique because this is a field where limited research has been conducted. Please consider being a part of this rare opportunity!

FACULTY ENGAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT

Check out these upcoming opportunities from the UTLC and other partners on campus. Additional training opportunities are available at workshops.uncg.edu.

Ongoing Opportunities

• DiversityEDU | This online module through Canvas offers faculty and staff skills-based development in areas of equity and diversity.

• Indigenous Safe Space Project on Canvas | This student-led initiative helps to prepare the campus community with basic skills for supporting our Indigenous and Native students.

• Level Up: Mental Health Education & Training | Help foster a culture of care by engaging in trainings for suicide prevention, Mental Health First Aid, Spartan well-being, and more.
• UNCG Libraries Webinars | Research and Application Webinar Series (Spring 2024 recordings) | Zotero Webinar Series (recordings)
• New to Teaching | Access this Canvas site to learn about how students learn, preparing for class, grading, office hours, engagement, active learning, and more.
• Safe and Trans Zone Training on Canvas | Enroll in this self-paced online course to complete Safe Zone 1.0, 2.0, and Trans Zone if you cannot attend an in-person workshop.
• Web Accessibility 101 | This asynchronous, self-paced course focuses on the fundamentals of making online content accessible.

Upcoming Events, Training, and Workshops

MINERVA MENTIONS

This segment features instructors who exemplify excellence and innovation in teaching at UNCG.

We are pleased to announce our first nominee of the 2024-2025 academic year, Dr. Salih Rakap! Click the image below to read the nominee's Words of Wisdom. To nominate yourself or a colleague, please complete the form at go.uncg.edu/minerva-mentions.

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