Overcoming inertia: Guiding criminal justice students through mid-semester slump

This paper outlines strategies for guiding students through the mid-point of a semester when the “honeymoon” has ended, when energies ebb and the community of learners face possible disintegration. Student apathy, stagnation, listlessness, and failure to do assigned work become emotional and cognitive challenges for professors. Left unchecked, an adversarial mood can develop, escalate and irreversibly destroy classroom harmony. Attrition and poor grades often result. In order to address these concerns, the author reviews literature and reports on his own experiences using various techniques to navigate the doldrums and minimize intrapersonal and interpersonal stress during this particularly trying time.