Category: Personal Growth

SoTL Grants and Workshops!

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This is a reminder that FDEV is offering support for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The application is not tedious, but it is due tonight at 11:59 p.m. One question we have received a lot has to do with the approved travel request. Ideally, you have something approved or in process already, but if you do not please apply anyway. We will evaluate all applications we receive. Full details are in the tip from last week and the application is here.

On Friday we are offering a workshop to faculty and staff on an introduction to AI. We brought in Dr. Brett Christie for this work, he has been a national leader in this space and we are fortunate to have him. The workshop is on Friday, March 8th from 12-1:30 p.m. in MLIB 045 and on Zoom. On Tuesday, March 12th we are offering another AI workshop about tools to help with your workflow. Full details are here.

Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Grants

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Faculty Development is here for you with programming, workshops, stunning insights (okay, not so much on that one, but once in a while), and today with direct professional development funding. We are thrilled to offer faculty the opportunity to apply for a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) grant. Most of the time this takes the form of conference travel or a material purchase related to teaching and learning. Developing a track for my research involving teaching and learning has been essential to my own development as a professor and has made me a better teacher.

We are offering funding of up to $1,000 per person and we will support as many folks as we can. The money will be transferred to your home department and must be spent or encumbered by June 30th, which is the end of the fiscal year. Please work with your chair and administrative support team. Unfortunately, we are not able to cover expenses that have already been processed. To apply, fill out the Google application form by March 5th at 11:59 p.m. You need to be logged into Google for this particular form to process. We know this is a tight turnaround, but we want to give folks as much time as we can to spend the funding.

Finally, a brief reminder that we are offering a beginners guide to AI workshop on March 8th from 12-1:30 p.m. in MLIB 045 and on Zoom.

Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150

What Was Missing This Fall?

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The end of the year is often a time for reflection. Some of you may be ending the term and thinking about the project that got away–the manuscript you were meaning to finish or a class you want to improve. We hope you will have a look at the preliminary slate of Spring offerings from FDEV and find something that connects to a professional goal in your life. We are going to start fast in the Spring. Applications will be live for most programs on 1/18 with a due date of 1/30 so we wanted to preview the slate for you now. 

Chico Affordable Learning Solutions (CAL$)
Lead: Beth Shook 
Compensation: $500
Format: Asynchronous online

Want to decrease course costs for students? And at the same time provide students high quality and accessible course materials? Participate in an asynchronous Canvas training designed to help faculty identify and evaluate Open Educational Resources (OER) and other free or affordable course materials for your courses. Faculty who complete the online training, including developing a cost-savings plan to be implemented in a Fall 2024 or Spring 2025 course, will earn $500 in taxable income. 

Canvas modules will cover the following topics: OER and why they are important, finding and evaluating OER, Library resources, understanding copyright and Creative Commons licenses, ensuring accessibility, curating and adapting materials for your course, teaching with open resources, and the Zero Cost Course Materials (ZCCM) designation.

Advancing Hispanic/Latinx Student Success
Leads: Yvette Zuniga and Teresita Curiel
Compensation: TBD $500-$1000
Format: TBD

This project is partially funded by a generous U.S. Department of Education Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) grant from PI Ryan Patten, College of BSS. We are happy to collaborate on this important work. This FLC will feature connected workshops focused on better understanding Hispanic/Latinx university students and how Chico State can advance their success.

BIPoC Writing Community 
Leads: Stef Baldivia and Gloria Lopez
Compensation: TBD, at least $500
Format: TBD

The purpose of the Black, Indigenous, People of Color Faculty Writing Community (BIPoC-FWC) is to cultivate community and support for a diverse group of faculty to successfully navigate the retention, tenure, and promotion process, by developing scholarly and creative work, while strengthening a network of colleagues at the Chico State campus. The BIPoC-FWC is designed to create a space for BIPoC faculty to share their research ideas and publication goals, while supporting and motivating each other. All self-identified Black, Indigenous, or Faculty of Color, are encouraged to apply. Members will regularly meet in a set location for a total of ten 90-minute sessions and two community building events. During writing sessions, every writer works on their own project, with mutual support offered through fellowship both prior to and following the writing sessions. Faculty will be working in a large cohort led by two peer-mentors, Gloria Lopez and Stef Baldivia. There will be a mandatory kick-off meeting in early spring based on participants availability.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Teaching (EDIT)
Leads: Alisa Wade and Allison McConnell
Compensation: $500 for attending the majority of the workshops
Format: FLEX

The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Teaching (EDIT) Series includes six workshops, and is designed to offer faculty an introduction to basic concepts of equity, diversity, inclusion, and how they can be implemented in the classroom in order to create more equitable and accessible learning environments. Each workshop explores–and models–a different facet of student-centered and inclusive teaching through tools, resources, and strategies: positionality in the classroom, antiracist pedagogy, backward design, accessibility of course materials, culturally responsive teaching and the hidden curriculum, and practices of classroom community building. Workshops are each paired with a teaching guide (and other materials) and offer the opportunity for faculty to complete deliverables that they will be able to incorporate into their course(s) moving forward.

Grant Writing Support
In Development
Compensation: TBD

Leadership Development
Lead: Holly Nevarez
Compensation: $500
Format: TBD

The leadership development faculty learning community (FLC) will introduce leadership styles and strategies. This FLC is designed for you lead from wherever you are. Perhaps you are not a formal leader on campus, but find yourself leading other staff or students; perhaps you would like to be a formal leader someday and want to start to develop skills; or perhaps you are going to be a department Chair next year and want to start preparing. In any of those scenarios, this FLC is for you. We will talk about staffing, shared governance, facilitating meetings, managing difficult people, work to develop a leadership philosophy and more.

Publish and Flourish
Lead: Chris Fosen
Compensation: $500
Format: One online synchronous FLC and one in-person FLC

The Office of Faculty Development is bringing back faculty learning community (FLC) writing groups for the spring 2024 semester. After a survey was sent out in December 2023 to “Publish and Flourish” and “Write an Article in Twelve Weeks” participants about meeting preferences, we recognized the need for two distinct meeting patterns and goals for FLC participants. Faculty can select either option below:

  • Meeting one hour a week on Zoom for dedicated writing time with minimal interruption, for the purposes of getting words down on paper and providing mutual accountability.
  • Meeting two hours every other week in-person (flex possible) for time to reflect on their writing process, plan out benchmarks for completion, and share drafts in small groups of 2-4. These groups provide accountability and increased understanding of how writing time can mesh with other professional duties.

Participating faculty will receive $500 in taxable income for completing some significant portion of their writing goals, and attending all meetings (through week 13 or 14).

Teaching Climate Change & Resilience (TCCR)
Lead: Mark Stemen
Compensation: $500
Format: Online synchronous and asynchronous
Applications due on 12/15

Faculty participating in the TCCR FLC will learn from experts in the field about the science behind climate change, the solutions available to counter it, the need to incorporate justice into the conversation and the enormous anxiety all of this produces in our students. The five 90-minute sessions spread evenly throughout the semester will be held over Zoom, allowing faculty to form breakout rooms based on discipline for further discussion and curriculum development. In addition to changing their own courses, participating faculty will also become part of the systemwide network of colleagues focused on issues of climate change that formed after the first FLC, and learn how other faculty incorporate those issues across a wide spectrum of curricular disciplines.

Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT)
Lead: Allison McConnell
Compensation: $750
Format: Asynchronous online

The Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT) Program is an asynchronous, self-paced Canvas course structured around the QLT evaluation rubric. This QLT course is designed to meet core standards in the QLT instrument through the completion of eight modules with associated deliverables that guide you to fully redesign a course (or design a new course). Topics and deliverables focus on backwards design, student engagement, authentic assessment, inclusion and accessibility, and more. This QLT course requires a final course review. While focusing on online learning, QLT provides a framework that is applicable to all modes of instruction.

Finally, if you find yourself with time and an inclination toward professional development in the next few weeks, remember we have developed a 100% online and asynchronous course to help you redesign your classes in a world of generative AI. We also have our institutional subscription to the NCFDD with a variety of great resources. Or you could just get some rest–up to you!

Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150

Thriving 101

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What does a plant look like without enough nutrients, water, or sunlight to thrive? What do people look like without enough food, sleep, or shelter to thrive? Thriving requires that fundamental needs be met. Maslow’s 1943 paper on human motivation suggests a hierarchy of human needs, the most basic of which must be met (e.g. food, sleep, and shelter) before being able to focus on higher level needs (e.g. pursuing one’s full potential). When students struggle in class, it might not be that they’re lazy, uninterested, or ill-equipped for college. In some cases, it might be that they’re not getting their most fundamental needs met in life.

As educators, we encourage students to maximize their potential, which is only a possibility after their basic needs are met. Similarly, faculty can only maximize their potential when their basic needs are met. Chico State has numerous resources (PDF) to assist both students and faculty with basic needs so our campus community can thrive.

Depending on a student’s situation, faculty can facilitate learning by handling some class policy violations on a case-by case basis. More than ever before, Chico State students are under significant financial pressures, working long hours outside of class, and have family obligations that are often “culturally non-negotiable.” Strict and unforgiving policies about assignment due dates or punctuality can exacerbate an already stressful situation for students. Fair and equitable class rules are important but must be in place to support and motivate more than penalize. Students who have their basic needs met, but just don’t’ try, deserve the consequences. Students who don’t have their basic needs met deserve compassion (and perhaps consequences as well as determined case-by-case). All students deserve access to this list of available resources. (PDF)

Knowing that many students, particularly in light of our changing demographics, may be (a) intimated to speak with a professor about their needs and (b) unaware of resources to help them, please consider informing students about this list to help them be successful by announcing them in class and including pertinent info on Bb or your syllabus. If you’re aware of other resources that should be added to the list, please reply to this e-mail.

New Colleagues and Old Problems

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This time of year can be challenging for all of us—but especially for new faculty. The balance of scholarship, teaching, service, and life outside campus can be difficult to maintain even if you have been at it for a long time, but take a minute to recall the time when it was all new. In Faculty Development we have a formal mentoring program run by Susan Wiesinger that provides assigned mentors for new tenure-track faculty and a specialized workshop series for lecturer faculty. However, we acknowledge that the most important mentoring work is almost always informal and local. I want to highlight a few realities of these relationships that I hope you will keep in mind as this semester closes and we look toward Fall 2017.

  • Lecturer faculty need mentoring too. Lecturers have a dramatic impact on student success as they are often the people called on to teach first-year students and serve in other critical roles. Prioritizing student success means equipping lecturers with research, resources, and drawing on their expertise. It also means engaging them in conversation on effective teaching, research opportunities, and helping them navigate the university. This is a job for all us, regardless of classification. Talk to new lecturer colleagues about professional development like the CELT conference and how to access resources for travel.
  • Minority faculty face unique challenges, but you do not have to share the same life experience to be helpful. A recent Chronicle article highlighted key strategies for mentoring new minority scholars. I encourage you to read the whole article, but I want to highlight the first piece of advice “Practice cultural humility” and in doing so “demonstrate empathy for the professor’s experience as a faculty member of color in the institution.” In institutions like ours with strong organization culture we are often too quick to bring newcomers up to speed with “how things are done here” without being attentive to other strategies or experiences. Mentoring is mainly learning and listening.
  • Make a plan and get out there. Writing “be a good mentor” on a post-it note may be a reminder for you, but it is not a plan. Talk with your colleagues and your department/college leadership about what is being done and what is possible, but get started. Make a point to drop by a new colleagues office to ask how things are going, make a trip to a different floor or building to talk to a new lecturer that you have not met, but take the first step in outreaching to your new colleagues.

I am advising this now in hopes of helping our colleagues at the end of the term, but also to compel you to think about how next year could be even better with new faces, new ideas, and new mentoring relationships.

The call for the 23rd annual CELT conference is live! Submit an abstract today to change the world tomorrow—or maybe in October.

Got feedback on this tip? Got an idea for a tip? Send it along. Check out our new and improved wordpress site here.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the Caffeinated Cats podcast! Our newest episode is out now! Mary, Tracy, and I are joined by student guest Martin Morales to discuss housing and food insecurity at CSU, Chico. Link to it on soundcloud, itunes, overcast, or follow the podcast on facebook.

Last call for Summer/Spring programming

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I do not want to clutter your email inboxes with additional items this week so this week’s tip is your final reminder that applications are due on 3/31 for the Spring/Summer offerings including our pilot one-week AeL program and several other funded opportunities.

Faculty Development Spring/Summer 2017 Program Offerings

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Feel free to apply for multiple offerings. General questions can be directed to Zach Justus
zjustus@csuchico.edu. All applications due on 3/31/2017.

Academy e-Learning 9.1: Teaching with Help

Leadership: Faculty Development and the Technology and Learning Program
Compensation: $750 (taxable income)
Workload: June 1-2, 5-7 9am-4pm intensive plus assessment reporting
Brief Description: You are invited to participate in Academy e-Learning (AeL) Cohort 9.1, launching with the first of this summer’s one-week institutes –Teaching with Help. During this intensive institute, we will explore highly effective strategies for mentoring and working with TAs/mentors so you can realize their full potential and value in your course(s). Your work during this institute will focus on incorporating assistants, in all their forms, into your courses in meaningful ways.

Full RFP Link
Application

Academy e-Learning 9.2: Best Practices for Working with Student Writing

Leadership: Faculty Development and the Technology and Learning Program
Compensation: $750 (taxable income)
Workload: August 3-4, 7-9 9am-4pm intensive plus assessment reporting
Brief Description: You are invited to participate in Academy e-Learning (AeL) Cohort 9.2, the second of this summer’s one-week institutes. In recognition of the campus’ on-going interest in high impact educational practices, this institute is focused on supporting students’ writing.

Full RFP Link
Application

 Writing Boot Camp

Leadership: Chris Fosen
Compensation: $500 (taxable income)
Workload: May 23-26 8am-4pm
Brief Description: You are invited to take part in a one-week writing boot camp. Applicants are expected to be physically present and participate all day.  Since our goal is substantive writing, it is most suitable for projects that are already well under way.

Full RFP Link
Application

Learning Enhancement Grants

Brief Description: The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) is offering faculty awards of up to $5,515 to improve quality and productivity in learning and teaching in a course or program. Projects that strongly enhance student learning and have a demonstrable impact receive priority consideration. Proposals should address relevance to the University Strategic Plan. Funds awarded in spring of 2017 must be expended between July 1, 2017 and May 30, 2018. Proposals are due by Friday, March 31, 2017 at 5pm.

Full RFP Link
Application

Just in time Professional Development

Brief Description: The Faculty Development Program is offering faculty awards of up to $1,000 in Professional Development Funds to support faculty who need to attend a conference or support a project. The funds must be expended by 5/30/2017.

Full RFP Link
Application

Got feedback on this tip? Got an idea for a tip? Send it along. Check out our new and improved wordpress site here.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the Caffeinated Cats podcast! Our newest episode is out now! Mary, special guest Rebecca Berner, and I discuss Gender and Sexuality with GSEC staff member Seve Christian. Link to it on soundcloud, itunes, overcast, or follow the podcast on facebook.

 

Together We Will

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In her inaugural address President Hutchinson provided us with perspective on our history and our future that moved and inspired. Towards the end of her remarks she gave us this promise:

“Together, we will work as one University; breaking down silos, removing institutional barriers, and encouraging innovations so that we serve our students better and promote their success through applied instruction and engaged learning, community service and civic engagement, and global and multicultural education. And, we will improve upon and make sustainable the means by which we provide support for students’ personal well-being.”

I left the address with those words stuck on repeat in my head. I was thinking about the ways we rise to meet those challenges and how we try, fall short, and get up to try again. Mainly I thought about the phrasing. This is not a directive or a question, it is a promise, which led me to think about who we are making this promise to and how we will make sure we keep it.

Faculty Development relies on an empowerment model rather than on expertise. If you were looking to us for answers, the best tool we have to offer is a mirror. Today I want to point you to the currently active options for enrichment offered through our office and encourage you to think about them as opportunities to learn and teach. More than anything, think of them as ways to keep our promise not that we can, or that we will try, but rather that we will.

Faculty Development Spring 2017 Program Offerings

Feel free to apply for multiple offerings. General questions can be directed to Zach Justus
zjustus@csuchico.edu. All applications due on 3/31/2017.

Academy e-Learning 9.1: Teaching with Help

Leadership: Faculty Development and the Technology and Learning Program
Compensation: $750 (taxable income)
Workload: June 1-2, 5-7 9am-4pm intensive plus assessment reporting
Brief Description: You are invited to participate in Academy e-Learning (AeL) Cohort 9.1, launching with the first of this summer’s one-week institutes –Teaching with Help. During this intensive institute, we will explore highly effective strategies for mentoring and working with TAs/mentors so you can realize their full potential and value in your course(s). Your work during this institute will focus on incorporating assistants, in all their forms, into your courses in meaningful ways.

Full RFP Link
Application

Academy e-Learning 9.2: Best Practices for Working with Student Writing

Leadership: Faculty Development and the Technology and Learning Program
Compensation: $750 (taxable income)
Workload: August 3-4, 7-9 9am-4pm intensive plus assessment reporting
Brief Description: You are invited to participate in Academy e-Learning (AeL) Cohort 9.2, the second of this summer’s one-week institutes. In recognition of the campus’ on-going interest in high impact educational practices, this institute is focused on supporting students’ writing.

Full RFP Link
Application

 Writing Boot Camp

Leadership: Chris Fosen
Compensation: $500 (taxable income)
Workload: May 23-26 8am-4pm
Brief Description: You are invited to take part in a one-week writing boot camp. Applicants are expected to be physically present and participate all day.  Since our goal is substantive writing, it is most suitable for projects that are already well under way.

Full RFP Link
Application

Learning Enhancement Grants

Brief Description: The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) is offering faculty awards of up to $5,515 to improve quality and productivity in learning and teaching in a course or program. Projects that strongly enhance student learning and have a demonstrable impact receive priority consideration. Proposals should address relevance to the University Strategic Plan. Funds awarded in spring of 2017 must be expended between July 1, 2017 and May 30, 2018. Proposals are due by Friday, March 31, 2017 at 5pm.

Full RFP Link
Application

Just in time Professional Development

Brief Description: The Faculty Development Program is offering faculty awards of up to $1,000 in Professional Development Funds to support faculty who need to attend a conference or support a project. The funds must be expended by 5/30/2017.

Full RFP Link
Application

Faculty Development is searching for the next director!

Got feedback on this tip? Got an idea for a tip? Send it along. Check out our new and improved wordpress site here.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the Caffeinated Cats podcast! Our newest episode is out now! Mary, Tracy, and I discuss the past, present, and future of alcohol at CSU, Chico with CADEC staff member Morgan Rosen. Link to it on soundcloud, itunes, overcast, or follow the podcast on facebook.

Faculty Development Spring/Summer Offerings

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headerIn lieu of a traditional Tuesday Teaching Tip, we want to direct your attention to the late Spring-Summer offerings from Faculty Development. We look forward to seeing your applications!

Faculty Development Spring 2017 Program Offerings
Feel free to apply for multiple offerings. General questions can be directed to Zach Justus
zjustus@csuchico.edu. All applications due on 3/31/2017.

Academy e-Learning 9.1: Teaching with Help
Leadership: Faculty Development and the Technology and Learning Program
Compensation: $750 (taxable income)
Workload: June 1-2, 5-7 9am-4pm intensive plus assessment reporting
Brief Description: You are invited to participate in Academy e-Learning (AeL) Cohort 9.1, launching with the first of this summer’s one-week institutes –Teaching with Help. During this intensive institute, we will explore highly effective strategies for mentoring and working with TAs/mentors so you can realize their full potential and value in your course(s). Your work during this institute will focus on incorporating assistants, in all their forms, into your courses in meaningful ways.

Full RFP Link
Application

Academy e-Learning 9.2: Best Practices for Working with Student Writing
Leadership: Faculty Development and the Technology and Learning Program
Compensation: $750 (taxable income)
Workload: August 3-4, 7-9 9am-4pm intensive plus assessment reporting
Brief Description: You are invited to participate in Academy e-Learning (AeL) Cohort 9.2, the second of this summer’s one-week institutes. In recognition of the campus’ on-going interest in high impact educational practices, this institute is focused on supporting students’ writing.

Full RFP Link
Application

Writing Bootcamp
Leadership: Chris Fosen
Compensation: $500 (taxable income)
Workload: May 23-26 8am-4pm
Brief Description: You are invited to take part in a one-week writing bootcamp. Applicants are expected to be physically present and participate all day.  Since our goal is substantive writing, it is most suitable for projects that are already well under way.

Full RFP Link
Application

Learning Enhancement Grants
Brief Description: The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) is offering faculty awards of up to $5,515 to improve quality and productivity in learning and teaching in a course or program. Projects that strongly enhance student learning and have a demonstrable impact receive priority consideration. Proposals should address relevance to the University Strategic Plan. Funds awarded in spring of 2017 must be expended between July 1, 2017 and May 30, 2018. Proposals are due by Friday, March 31, 2017 at 5pm.

Full RFP Link
Application

Just in time Professional Development
Brief Description: The Faculty Development Program is offering faculty awards of up to $1,000 in Professional Development Funds to support faculty who need to attend a conference or support a project. The funds must be expended by 5/30/2017.

Full RFP Link
Application
Faculty Development is searching for the next director!

We held a popular workshop on Dossier Prep for Lecturers earlier this semester. Find the video archive and handouts here.
Dr. Sara Cooper has provided additional Book in Common Material. Check out this section of the CELT page for regular synopsis updates, discussion questions, and other resources.
Got feedback on this tip? Got an idea for a tip? Send it along. Check out our new and improved wordpress site here.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Caffeinated Cats podcast! Our newest episode is out now! Mary, Tracy, and I discuss what it means to be an alum with Aaron Skaggs of the Alumni Association. Link to it on soundcloud, itunes, overcast, or follow the podcast on facebook.

Immigration Comes Home

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The Executive Order on Immigration has already inspired protest, sparked confusion, praise, and been struck down in the courts. Now there is the real possibility of a second Executive Order along similar lines, which makes it hard to fully understand the implications these policies might have for students and professors.

immigrationorder

Universities have played a central role in this debate. The arguments about impacts on students and scholars were some of most persuasive ones used in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Students and colleagues come from all over the world will experience changes in immigration policy in ways that are often invisible to citizens. Last week Faculty Development, in partnership with Faculty Affairs and the Global Faculty Initiative, brought a local immigration attorney to campus for presentation and questions about general topics. Today (Tuesday) we welcome Chris Fowler, general counsel for Chico, to campus to discuss implications for campus. Chris is in a better position to answer questions about faculty searches, hiring, and concerns about students. Please join us in Selvester’s at 3:30 for more.

Some reminders for you:
The Academy e-Learning application is live!
Faculty Development is searching for the next director!
We held a popular workshop on Dossier Prep for Lecturers earlier this semester. Find the video archive and handouts here.

Dr. Sara Cooper has provided additional Book in Common Material. Check out this section of the CELT page for regular synopsis updates, discussion questions, and other resources.

Got feedback on this tip? Got an idea for a tip? Send it along. Check out our new and improved wordpress site here.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the Caffeinated Cats podcast! Our newest episode is out now! Mary, Tracy, and I discuss what it means to be an alum with Aaron Skaggs of the Alumni Association. Link to it on soundcloud, itunes, overcast, or follow the podcast on facebook.

L.E.A.R.N.

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Welcome Back!

This week you will have a flyer entitled L.E.A.R.N. in your mailboxes from the Campus Incident Response Team. The flyer is a quick-start guide for managing contentious classroom discussions. It is designed for you to keep in a notebook, post it outside your office, or clip it to the board in a classroom. As a companion the team has also produced an extended guide which you can find on the new “Our Democracy” page off the University main page. To save you a click, we are also posting it here as today’s teaching tip. Good luck out there!

Contentious classroom discussions can be difficult for everyone involved. As an instructor you are often balancing the roles of teacher, peacemaker, and arbiter. This is the extended version of the L.E.A.R.N. quick-start guide distributed to campus.

Listen to what your students are saying. Listening can be hard, especially if someone is saying something with which you strongly disagree. However, it is a precondition to everything that should come next. Listening allows us to understand, find meaning and agreement, and opens the possibility of reaching a better solution.  In the same way that you want your students to listen to you, be open to being challenged by your students.  If you make a mistake, apologize.  Learn from it.  Unsure how to get started? Watch this short informative video about active listening.

Empathize with their position, especially when it is difficult. In the contemporary political environment this is often the missing piece. In the moment of a contentious classroom discussion it can be difficult to fully grasp why students feel the way they do, but making an effort is important. Try to consider why people feel the way they do rather than just focusing on what was said, but do so without casting judgment.  Assume the best of others.  If a student says something alarming or seemingly out of place, ask about it.  Listen for the subtext; sometimes the most important thing is under what is said.  Or, offer a tentative interpretation about the student’s feelings and intentions.  Question in a manner that requests more information or attempts to clear up confusions.  This part of the process can also be taken off-line with an email expressing empathy or a follow-up office hour visit. Empathy is a powerful teaching tool. This recent podcast is a great primer on why teaching with empathy is so effective.

Assess what to do. Take a minute compose yourself. We have been conditioned to respond immediately and avoid silence, but you need to fight the impulse to act immediately. If things get heated, take a time out.  Spend five minutes writing about what you feel.  Then resume the conversation. This can be awkward, but it is okay to tell your class everyone should take a moment to process what was said and consider how to move forward. This tactic will be helpful for them and it gives you a minute to compose yourself. Your solution does not have to be perfect, but taking a minute will make it better.

Respond directly, redirect the conversation, or end it. There is no one path forward from a difficult classroom conversation. Instead of having a go-to tactic, try being aware of the options at your disposal in a contentious classroom. You can respond directly and engage the topic at hand. This is a great option if you feel well equipped for the conversation and you feel the conversation can be productive for the class. You can redirect the flow of the classroom, frequently toward the usual classroom content. This is a good tactic if you feel a conversation is headed in an unproductive direction and it does not shut you off from following up later with a Blackboard or in person announcement to start the next class. The last resort in a contentious class period is to end class early. This should only be reserved for situations where the rest of class will be unproductive and/or people in the class feel like they might be at risk. This tactic re-centers your control in the classroom. If you end class, you should follow up with any student who may feel isolated, with an explanation to the class, and consult with your department chair.

Negotiate how to move forward. You have so many options as you consider what should happen next. You can seek advice from your chair or from colleagues. You can communicate through Blackboard or in person to start the next class period. You can follow up with individuals or groups from the class. In some situations you may want to contact Student Judicial Affairs to get a better understanding of your options. Writing down what happened for your own purposes is a useful exercise regardless as you can make a note of details you may not remember later. The most important thing you can do is seek advice. You may be shaken up following a contentious classroom incident and getting guidance from someone with a clear head and a different perspective is the best thing you can do for yourself and your students.

Dr. Sara Cooper has provided additional Book in Common Material. Check out this section ofthe CELT page for regular synopsis updates, discussion questions, and other resources.

Got feedback on this tip? Got an idea for a tip? Send it along. Check out our new and improvedwordpress site here.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the Caffeinated Cats podcast! Our fourth episode of the Fall is out now! Mary, Tracy, and I discuss the election with Juni Banerjee-Stevens and Mike Pence (not really, just checking to see if you were still reading). Link to it on soundcloud, itunes, overcast, or follow the podcast on facebook.