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TETI Newsletter: April 2026

Teacher Wellness in Turbulent Times

The term “wellness” gets thrown around a lot, but often people struggle to actually find solutions that help their mental wellbeing in a meaningful way. Laurie Santos sat down for an interview with Edutopia and shares data-backed approaches that can specifically support the wellness of teachers. The popular Science of Wellbeing course mentioned in the interview is available to instructors, staff, and students through the University of Minnesota Coursera account.

The federal immigration surge at the start of the semester directly impacted the mental health of everyone in the Twin Cities community, but teachers may be at additional risk through vicarious trauma from their students. Vicarious trauma can be an unexpected byproduct of teaching and should be taken seriously. An older, but still relevant Edutopia article describes what it is, how it affects teachers, and some possible coping strategies.

AI for Specific Uses

Creating your own custom version of an AI chatbot may seem like it requires advanced computer programming skills, but it really is a task that anyone can be successful at. Google Gems can be customized with unique goals, instructions, content knowledge, and output formats to address specific use cases. To build a custom Gem, users simply need to describe how they want the Gem to act. Eric Curts has an in-depth tutorial on what Gems are and how to create them. Also on his website is an extensive list of pre-created Gems that you can try out, adapt, and use as you see fit—either for in-class activities or to assist in lesson preparation.

Democracy, Society, and Education

The Southern Poverty Law Center recently released the first volume in their Learning for Justice anthology. This collection contains a wide variety of resources focused on democracy, education, and justice. The content explores not only historical events but strategies on facilitating challenging conversations and addressing current issues by applying lessons learned from the past.

Connect with TETI

Would you be interested in an AI tool customized to your subject area, preferred lesson frameworks, and instructional models? Connect with us and we can discuss how a tool like this can be built. cehd-teti@umn.edu

The TETI team also works during the summer months and is open to field questions, discuss ideas, and provide support as you prepare for future courses. Feel free to reach out!

Contact Us

Teacher Educator Technology Integration Initiative
cehd-teti@umn.edu

College of Education and Human Development
cehd@umn.edu | cehd.umn.edu
612-626-9252