Fall Teaching Kickoff 2023 Session Descriptions and Schedule
-
Workshops, Clough Undergraduate Commons (CULC) 423
-
Syllabus Clinic
9:30-11:00 a.m., CULC 423
How can I create a syllabus that clearly communicates my expectations for student performance but is also welcoming and inclusive? What is the right tone and language I can adopt in my syllabus that reflects who I am as an instructor? How can my syllabus generate student interest in the content?This syllabus clinic is designed to help you become intentional and explicit in your syllabus design. With support from CTL faculty and peers, you will determine what you want your syllabus to accomplish for you and your students. More than simply a contract or agreement, a syllabus can be a robust tool that supports student learning and helps to establish community within the class. Together we will:
- Discover the possibilities of how a syllabus can support student learning;
- Explore relevant frameworks including universal design, transparency, inclusivity, and student-centered syllabus design principles;
- Decide on specific course policies that are aligned with university-wide policies; and
- Revise your own syllabi based on relevant frameworks, self-assessment, and peer feedback.
We invite you to join us, along with a draft of your syllabus, to receive guidance and feedback as you prepare for the first day of class.
Facilitated by Amanda Nolen, Faculty Teaching and Learning Specialist, Center for Teaching and Learning
11:00-11:45 a.m. Lunch and Welcome to our new Associate Vice Provost of Transformative Teaching and Learning and Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning
What Inclusive Instructors Do
11:45 a.m. - 1:45 p.m. (CULC 423)
What do inclusive instructors do to intentionally design and support learning environments where all students can thrive? In this workshop, participants will learn a framework for inclusive teaching based on the book What Inclusive Instructors Do: Principles and Practices for Excellence in College Teaching by Tracie Addy et al. Several exemplary educators at Georgia Tech will share how they approach implementing inclusive teaching principles in their courses. By the end of the workshop, participants will identify at least one new inclusive teaching practice to incorporate into their classes. For faculty from engineering, The first 50 participants to register will receive a copy of What Inclusive Instructors Do (Addy et al), compliments of the College of Engineering.
Following this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Explain why inclusive teaching is important for supporting student success
- Use the three pillars framework for inclusive teaching to identify opportunities for enhancing their courses
- Plan at least one way to begin their class inclusively
Facilitated by: Carol Subiño Sullivan, Assistant Director, Faculty Teaching and Learning Initiatives, Center for Teaching and Learning and Damon Williams, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, College of Engineering
1:45-2:00 p.m. Break
Who Tells Your Story? Faculty Reflection and Agency in Documenting Teaching Effectiveness.
2:00-3:30p.m. (CULC 423)
When it comes to teaching effectiveness, who tells your story? Often, documentation of teaching privileges student or colleague voices or simply lets materials speak for themselves. Using the Critical Teaching Behaviors (CTB) framework, we'll discuss a documentation method that promotes instructor agency in shaping teaching narratives while fostering reflective habits that improve teaching. The framework provides guidance to instructors crafting their first teaching narrative and presents more experienced teachers with a new lens to think about their teaching. Participants will begin framing a persuasive, coherent teaching narrative using the CTB and evidence from instructional artifacts they already have or could easily begin collecting.Facilitated by: Dr. Lauren Barbeau, Assistant Director of Learning and Technology Initiatives, Center for Teaching and Learning and co-author of the book "Critical Teaching Behaviors: Defining, Documenting, and Discussing Good Teaching" (2023, Stylus Publishing).
-
Teaching Prep Work Sessions, Clough Undergraduate Commons (CULC) 466A
-
Still putting your syllabus together? Building your Canvas site? Working on a set of slides? Organizing a class activity? Bring your teaching preparation work with you to Fall Teaching Kickoff!Small groups of colleagues will work simultaneously, but individually, in a shared space during these teaching prep working sessions that run concurrently to the workshops. At the start of each session, the CTL facilitator will invite each participant to briefly state their goals for the work session. Participants will then work independently, making progress on their goals. At the end of each session, the facilitator will invite participants to briefly share their progress and next steps.
A CTL consultant will be available during each work session for participants wishing to discuss any ideas or questions with a teaching and learning expert.
Each session is limited to 12 participants:
- Work session 1: 9:30am-11:00am
- Work session 2: 11:45am-1:45pm
- Work session 3: 2:00-3:30pm