This fall, CAT started a Thank-A-Professor program, to help your students express their gratitude for you and the learning opportunities you create for them. The outpouring was astonishing: hundreds of heartfelt messages attest to your students’ appreciation and esteem.

This has been a tough semester for many of our students: Irma was just the beginning. Students are stressed, and some are grieving. Soon they’ll be swamped in exams and final papers; you’ll be buried in grading–but your course deserves a denouement that isn’t frantic or underwhelming.

Why don’t we treat the last five minutes of class more like the finale of a gripping movie? Nobody packs up to leave the theater minutes before the  big reveal. The last few minutes can shape what students take away from  the whole lesson, like an unexpected twist can alter our understanding of a film, but too often they’re lost in a shuffle of announcements.

It’s hard to believe, but finals week is a month away. Your students may be feeling anxious already, since final exams tend to have a disproportionately-significant impact on students’ grades.

You may not be thrilled about exams, either: most faculty have had minimal preparation in the craft of designing tests.