December 12, 2025 • 10 mins
The fall semester is over, now what? In this episode of the EduMagic Podcast, I share five powerful reflection questions to help college students pause, recharge, and prepare for an amazing spring semester.
Grades don’t tell the full story, so we’ll dive into what really matters: your proudest accomplishments, strategies that worked, areas for growth, and how to get involved on campus.
Plus, we’ll talk about setting achievable goals that keep you motivated all semester long.
Grab your favorite cozy drink, download the free reflection worksheet, and let’s make this winter break count! L
Listen now and start planning your best semester yet.
Download the FREE Winter reflection sheet here: https://www.sfecich.com/post/winter-break-reflection-5-questions-to-prepare-for-a-successful-spring-semester
Follow on Instagram @SFecich for more tips!
Show notes can be found here: www.sfecich.com/podcast
Connect with Dr. Sam Fecich
Want to keep the conversation going beyond the blog? I’d love to connect with you! Whether you're a future educator, a current teacher, or someone passionate about edtech and innovation in the classroom, there are plenty of ways to stay inspired and supported.
Discover Your Student Teacher Superpower. Take the free quiz: What’s Your Student Teacher Superpower? and uncover your unique strengths in the classroom!
Join the Conversation on Instagram. Tag me @sfecich with your thoughts and takeaways.
Remember, EDUmagicians...You have the EduMagic within you. Keep shining, keep growing, and keep making a difference.
Grades don’t tell the full story, so we’ll dive into what really matters: your proudest accomplishments, strategies that worked, areas for growth, and how to get involved on campus.
Plus, we’ll talk about setting achievable goals that keep you motivated all semester long.
Grab your favorite cozy drink, download the free reflection worksheet, and let’s make this winter break count! L
Listen now and start planning your best semester yet.
Download the FREE Winter reflection sheet here: https://www.sfecich.com/post/winter-break-reflection-5-questions-to-prepare-for-a-successful-spring-semester
Follow on Instagram @SFecich for more tips!
Show notes can be found here: www.sfecich.com/podcast
Connect with Dr. Sam Fecich
Want to keep the conversation going beyond the blog? I’d love to connect with you! Whether you're a future educator, a current teacher, or someone passionate about edtech and innovation in the classroom, there are plenty of ways to stay inspired and supported.
Discover Your Student Teacher Superpower. Take the free quiz: What’s Your Student Teacher Superpower? and uncover your unique strengths in the classroom!
Join the Conversation on Instagram. Tag me @sfecich with your thoughts and takeaways.
Remember, EDUmagicians...You have the EduMagic within you. Keep shining, keep growing, and keep making a difference.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hello Edu Magicians, welcome to the Edu Magic podcast with your
host, Doctor Sam Fessich. Doctor Sam is a professor of
education, author of Edu Magic, and a Pumpkin Spice Latte fan.
This podcast is designed for preservice teachers.
Remember friends, teaching doesn't begin at graduation, but
(00:23):
during that first class at 8:00 AM.
Let's get this party started. This podcast is a crowd member
of Teach Better Podcast Network,Better Today, Better Tomorrow
and the podcast to get you there.
Explore more podcasts at www.teachbetterpodcastnetwork.com.
(00:44):
Now let's get on to the episode.Hello there, Edge Magicians, and
welcome back to another episode of the Edgy Magic Podcast.
My name is Doctor Sandthesic, and today we're going to talk
about the fall semester is over.We're going in the spring.
What do I do during winter break?
There's so many things that you can do to be thinking about and
getting ready for the spring semester now that your fall
(01:07):
semester has ended. And if you're a first semester
student, there's a lot of reflection that can be done
during this time so you can hit the ground running during your
spring semester. So let's talk about some
important ways to wrap up the fall semester and head into
winter because we are ready to go for spring.
(01:29):
First and foremost, it's really important to reflect.
Reflection isn't just for you asa future teacher.
It's also for you as a college student, taking the time to
pause and think about what studystrategies worked for you, what
places you like to study with, who you enjoy spending your time
(01:51):
with, and what you can do differently can set you up for a
really amazing spring semester. So I recommend going your
favorite coffee shop. Or maybe you're like me, you
want to be on the couch to the cuppa hot cocoa, That's cool
too. And dive into some of these
reflection questions. You can head off to the show
notes to find a printable for your own.
(02:13):
Let's talk about some of these reflection questions.
What are some things you are most proud of this semester
besides your grades? Remember, grades don't tell the
full story. They tell a snapshot in time
about how you did in a single course.
Yes, those grades add up to yourGPA, but they do not define you
(02:35):
and they are not the entire story of what happened this
semester. So maybe you had a really rough
start to the fall semester and your grades reflected that.
Please do not stress about it. Know that you can continue to do
better in the spring by taking some time to reflect, you can
really hit the ground running. So what are some things you're
(02:56):
proud of during this semester? Did you join a new club?
Did you take on a leadership role in an educational
organization? Maybe you presented at a
conference. Shout out to the students you
presented at KSLA this semester.Maybe you made some new friends,
or have a new friend group, or changed friend groups.
(03:16):
Maybe you were able to learn something new, a new skill.
Did you pick up a new job, an internship or a tutoring job?
So many different things beyond grades that you can be proud of.
So go ahead and jot down a few of your proudest memories,
proudest accomplishments that you had this semester.
(03:37):
Next, what strategies are you going to carry into the spring
semester? What worked really well for you?
Are you the type of person that likes to have everything planned
out on your Google Calendar or Outlook calendar?
Do you use Microsoft to do to check off all those little tasks
and really make a big task and drill it down into multiple
(03:58):
areas that you can complete? Maybe you'd like 1 though, and
you'd like to check off things there too and have a table
that's organized with all of your classes and
extracurriculars. Or maybe you'd like to have a
planner and put everything in there.
So what worked well? Do you like the digitally plan?
Do you like the paper pencil plan?
Did study groups work well for you or did you find that you did
(04:19):
better with individual study time in a quiet space?
Did you find a nice space to study?
Did you check out the library orindividual study rooms?
Or maybe you are a big fan of coffee shops?
What worked well for you? What strategies helped you
succeed regarding self-care and maintaining a healthy work slash
(04:41):
student life balance? Did you work out?
Did you eat healthy? Did you go for a walk after
class? Did you review your notes?
Did you stay on top of your assignment?
So think about what helps you succeed and how you're going to
bring them into that spring semester.
Everybody has challenges that they're overcoming, so where's
(05:03):
marriage that you struggled with?
What are some resources on campus that can help support you
next semester? Maybe you really struggled with
mental health. Go look on campus to find mental
health resources, counselors, and support.
Maybe you were struggling with time management and go to one of
the career counselors on campus.Maybe you were struggling with
(05:26):
keeping up with all the work in and out of class.
Again, go find someone on campusthat can help support you and
maybe an academic success centercould be helpful or attending
tutoring sessions. So go look for tutoring sessions
available in topics that you're looking at.
You're looking at your schedule for next semester.
I'm going to need some help in that stats class.
(05:47):
Go and look for tutoring sessions day one for that stats
class. Maybe you can even visit
professor office hours. Guess what, these office hours
are not just to talk about how you're doing in class or an
assignment, but these are that. These are here to help you
(06:08):
getting to know their professor or seeing how they're doing,
seeing how you're doing in a class.
What are some extra resources you can explore?
Are there campus workshops available at the beginning of
the semester that can help you in tasks like time management
and planning? Go ahead and check them out.
(06:29):
Are there different organizations that can support
you as a resource for next semester?
Our 4th question is how did you contribute to campus community?
Do you want to get more involved?
Do you feel like you're taking on too much?
So really reflect? Were you able to dive into a
specific campus community group or organization?
(06:51):
Did you give it your all or did you feel like you weren't able
to give everything because you're you really spread
yourself them. So really think about the events
you attended, the events you volunteered at, maybe presented
or attended a professional in development.
Really think about which organizations are helping you
and which ones are spreading you.
(07:12):
To think you want to engage withthe campus community because you
never know where that can lead. That can lead to leadership
opportunities, networking, and maybe even a job.
So make sure you don't spread yourself too thin when you're
exploring lots of different organizations and groups on
campus. Pick a few that fit you and your
schedule and your passion areas.Our last reflection question is,
(07:35):
what is one goal that you want to do this semester?
Is it an academic goal? Is it a social goal?
Is it a personal goal? Make it something that is
achievable and reasonable and time bound and something you can
track throughout your spring semester.
Maybe you want to go to the gym three times a week.
(07:57):
Maybe that's a personal goal of yours.
Maybe you want to turn in all ofyour assignments.
That's an academic goal of yours.
So I think about how can you track that?
How can you monitor your progress?
Maybe for the social goal, you want to engage in a campus
organization at least once a month.
Track that you can make it exciting, make it achievable.
(08:17):
Create something really fun on Canva to track that skill.
Speaking of an involvement, justlike we're going to get involved
in campus, right? Winter break is the perfect time
to explore those opportunities. Check out your university's
website for clubs and organizations, service projects
and get involved to make those connections and to network and
build those leadership skills. Take some time to reflect.
(08:44):
Write down your responses. It doesn't have to be
paragraphs, it can just be bullet points.
Share them, post about them. I would love to see what you're
doing this spring semester from what you learned about yourself
in the fall. Remember, when you're looking at
those grades that come out, it'sjust one piece of the puzzle.
(09:06):
You are so much more than that grade or that percentage.
You are an amazing educator. You're an educator of
excellence. Let's keep that going in the
spring semester. You have the edgy magic within
you. Bye for now.
(09:32):
And there you have it, Edu Magicians.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it
with your friends. For more Edu Magic, check out S
fessage.com and follow Doctor Sam on Twitter and Instagram at
S fessage. Until next time you have the Edu
(09:53):
Magic within you.
Hello Edu Magicians, welcome to the Edu Magic podcast with your
host, Doctor Sam Fessich. Doctor Sam is a professor of
education, author of Edu Magic, and a Pumpkin Spice Latte fan.
This podcast is designed for preservice teachers.
Remember friends, teaching doesn't begin at graduation, but
(00:23):
during that first class at 8:00 AM.
Let's get this party started. This podcast is a crowd member
of Teach Better Podcast Network,Better Today, Better Tomorrow
and the podcast to get you there.
Explore more podcasts at www.teachbetterpodcastnetwork.com.
(00:44):
Now let's get on to the episode.Hello there, Edge Magicians, and
welcome back to another episode of the Edgy Magic Podcast.
My name is Doctor Sandthesic, and today we're going to talk
about the fall semester is over.We're going in the spring.
What do I do during winter break?
There's so many things that you can do to be thinking about and
getting ready for the spring semester now that your fall
(01:07):
semester has ended. And if you're a first semester
student, there's a lot of reflection that can be done
during this time so you can hit the ground running during your
spring semester. So let's talk about some
important ways to wrap up the fall semester and head into
winter because we are ready to go for spring.
(01:29):
First and foremost, it's really important to reflect.
Reflection isn't just for you asa future teacher.
It's also for you as a college student, taking the time to
pause and think about what studystrategies worked for you, what
places you like to study with, who you enjoy spending your time
(01:51):
with, and what you can do differently can set you up for a
really amazing spring semester. So I recommend going your
favorite coffee shop. Or maybe you're like me, you
want to be on the couch to the cuppa hot cocoa, That's cool
too. And dive into some of these
reflection questions. You can head off to the show
notes to find a printable for your own.
(02:13):
Let's talk about some of these reflection questions.
What are some things you are most proud of this semester
besides your grades? Remember, grades don't tell the
full story. They tell a snapshot in time
about how you did in a single course.
Yes, those grades add up to yourGPA, but they do not define you
(02:35):
and they are not the entire story of what happened this
semester. So maybe you had a really rough
start to the fall semester and your grades reflected that.
Please do not stress about it. Know that you can continue to do
better in the spring by taking some time to reflect, you can
really hit the ground running. So what are some things you're
(02:56):
proud of during this semester? Did you join a new club?
Did you take on a leadership role in an educational
organization? Maybe you presented at a
conference. Shout out to the students you
presented at KSLA this semester.Maybe you made some new friends,
or have a new friend group, or changed friend groups.
(03:16):
Maybe you were able to learn something new, a new skill.
Did you pick up a new job, an internship or a tutoring job?
So many different things beyond grades that you can be proud of.
So go ahead and jot down a few of your proudest memories,
proudest accomplishments that you had this semester.
(03:37):
Next, what strategies are you going to carry into the spring
semester? What worked really well for you?
Are you the type of person that likes to have everything planned
out on your Google Calendar or Outlook calendar?
Do you use Microsoft to do to check off all those little tasks
and really make a big task and drill it down into multiple
(03:58):
areas that you can complete? Maybe you'd like 1 though, and
you'd like to check off things there too and have a table
that's organized with all of your classes and
extracurriculars. Or maybe you'd like to have a
planner and put everything in there.
So what worked well? Do you like the digitally plan?
Do you like the paper pencil plan?
Did study groups work well for you or did you find that you did
(04:19):
better with individual study time in a quiet space?
Did you find a nice space to study?
Did you check out the library orindividual study rooms?
Or maybe you are a big fan of coffee shops?
What worked well for you? What strategies helped you
succeed regarding self-care and maintaining a healthy work slash
(04:41):
student life balance? Did you work out?
Did you eat healthy? Did you go for a walk after
class? Did you review your notes?
Did you stay on top of your assignment?
So think about what helps you succeed and how you're going to
bring them into that spring semester.
Everybody has challenges that they're overcoming, so where's
(05:03):
marriage that you struggled with?
What are some resources on campus that can help support you
next semester? Maybe you really struggled with
mental health. Go look on campus to find mental
health resources, counselors, and support.
Maybe you were struggling with time management and go to one of
the career counselors on campus.Maybe you were struggling with
(05:26):
keeping up with all the work in and out of class.
Again, go find someone on campusthat can help support you and
maybe an academic success centercould be helpful or attending
tutoring sessions. So go look for tutoring sessions
available in topics that you're looking at.
You're looking at your schedule for next semester.
I'm going to need some help in that stats class.
(05:47):
Go and look for tutoring sessions day one for that stats
class. Maybe you can even visit
professor office hours. Guess what, these office hours
are not just to talk about how you're doing in class or an
assignment, but these are that. These are here to help you
(06:08):
getting to know their professor or seeing how they're doing,
seeing how you're doing in a class.
What are some extra resources you can explore?
Are there campus workshops available at the beginning of
the semester that can help you in tasks like time management
and planning? Go ahead and check them out.
(06:29):
Are there different organizations that can support
you as a resource for next semester?
Our 4th question is how did you contribute to campus community?
Do you want to get more involved?
Do you feel like you're taking on too much?
So really reflect? Were you able to dive into a
specific campus community group or organization?
(06:51):
Did you give it your all or did you feel like you weren't able
to give everything because you're you really spread
yourself them. So really think about the events
you attended, the events you volunteered at, maybe presented
or attended a professional in development.
Really think about which organizations are helping you
and which ones are spreading you.
(07:12):
To think you want to engage withthe campus community because you
never know where that can lead. That can lead to leadership
opportunities, networking, and maybe even a job.
So make sure you don't spread yourself too thin when you're
exploring lots of different organizations and groups on
campus. Pick a few that fit you and your
schedule and your passion areas.Our last reflection question is,
(07:35):
what is one goal that you want to do this semester?
Is it an academic goal? Is it a social goal?
Is it a personal goal? Make it something that is
achievable and reasonable and time bound and something you can
track throughout your spring semester.
Maybe you want to go to the gym three times a week.
(07:57):
Maybe that's a personal goal of yours.
Maybe you want to turn in all ofyour assignments.
That's an academic goal of yours.
So I think about how can you track that?
How can you monitor your progress?
Maybe for the social goal, you want to engage in a campus
organization at least once a month.
Track that you can make it exciting, make it achievable.
(08:17):
Create something really fun on Canva to track that skill.
Speaking of an involvement, justlike we're going to get involved
in campus, right? Winter break is the perfect time
to explore those opportunities. Check out your university's
website for clubs and organizations, service projects
and get involved to make those connections and to network and
build those leadership skills. Take some time to reflect.
(08:44):
Write down your responses. It doesn't have to be
paragraphs, it can just be bullet points.
Share them, post about them. I would love to see what you're
doing this spring semester from what you learned about yourself
in the fall. Remember, when you're looking at
those grades that come out, it'sjust one piece of the puzzle.
(09:06):
You are so much more than that grade or that percentage.
You are an amazing educator. You're an educator of
excellence. Let's keep that going in the
spring semester. You have the edgy magic within
you. Bye for now.
(09:32):
And there you have it, Edu Magicians.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it
with your friends. For more Edu Magic, check out S
fessage.com and follow Doctor Sam on Twitter and Instagram at
S fessage. Until next time you have the Edu
(09:53):
Magic within you.
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