Guilt-Free Book Club: Small Teaching by James Lang
The CTL has selected Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning by James Lang for its “guilt-free book club” during the Fall 2017 Semester.
Research into how we learn has opened the door for utilizing cognitive theory to facilitate better student learning. In Small Teaching, James Lang presents a strategy for improving student learning with a series of modest but powerful changes that make a big difference—many of which can be put into practice in a single class period. These strategies are designed to bridge the chasm between primary research and the classroom environment in a way that can be implemented by any faculty in any discipline, and even integrated into pre-existing teaching techniques. Each chapter introduces a basic concept in cognitive theory, explains when and how it should be employed, and provides concrete examples of how the intervention has been or could be used in a variety of disciplines.
The book club is guilt-free in that if you’ve signed up, you are encouraged to attend even if you haven’t done the reading for the week or missed prior meetings. Book club meetings will take place every two weeks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (* except on Wed, Oct 18 and Thu, Oct 19 due to Fall Break), and will meet in the Founders Room of the Library. You can attend on either day every two weeks, according to your schedule. Lunch will be served.
Dates and Times: Sep 5/6, Sep 19/20, Oct 3/4, Oct 18/19*, Oct 31/Nov 1, Nov 14/15, Nov 28/29 (all noon-1pm)
Small Teaching is available online through the Claremont Colleges Library.
Sign up for the book club using this form: https://goo.gl/forms/lZFYnNWeqazqtBul1
Responding to Microaggressions in the Classroom
Psychologist Derald Wing Sue defines microaggressions as “brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership.” Examples of microaggressions in the classroom might include situations in which someone assumes that a person fits a stereotype based on their identity, asks a person to speak on behalf of their race, or ignores the contributions of a group of people during a discussion. In this workshop, we’ll discuss some ways to effectively deal with microaggressions so as to create a compassionate classroom environment that gives all students a voice and makes them feel included.
This workshop is suitable for all faculty and instructional staff who interact with students in a classroom setting.
Dates, Times, and Locations:
- September 11, Monday, 2:45-4:00pm @ Scripps Humanities Building 119
- September 14, Thursday, 4:15-5:30pm @ CMC Roberts North 105
- September 15, Friday, 1:15-2:30pm @ Pomona Millikan 1181
Facilitated by Darryl Yong (CTL)
Getting Started with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
College classrooms are really laboratories where faculty are doing research to investigate intriguing student learning questions and solve complex teaching problems. Increasingly, we are recognizing that this type of classroom research, known as the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), is a valuable resource for improving higher education as a whole. In this luncheon workshop, we will discuss the basics of SoTL research and offer brainstorming and collaboration time to begin your own SoTL project.
This workshop is suitable for all faculty new to SoTL.
Date and Time: Wednesday, Sept 27 noon-1pm
Location: Digital Toolshed at Honnold/Mudd Library
Facilitated by Jessica Tinklenberg (CTL)
As lunch will be served, please RSVP using this form: https://goo.gl/forms/d8GLxmG3idwWGVyu1
What Should Faculty and Staff Know about First-Generation College Students?
A panel of faculty and student affairs professionals who work with first-generation Claremont Colleges undergraduate students will discuss what faculty need to know about this this group of students and how best to support them.
Date and Time: Thursday, October 12, 4:15-5:30pm
Location: TBA
Past Events
Getting Off on the Right Foot: Strategies for a Welcoming and Inclusive Start to the Semester
The first week of class is an excellent opportunity to set the right tone, motivate students, and build an inclusive, welcoming and supportive environment for learning. However, with all of the chaos of those first days it is also an opportunity we too often miss. In this two-hour workshop, we came up with these ideas and approaches for creating a more welcoming, inclusive, and motivating classroom for your students and yourself.
Dates, Times, and Locations:
- August 21, Monday, 1:30-3:30pm @ Pomona Hahn 101
- August 23, Wednesday, 10:00am-noon @ Scripps Hampton Room
Facilitated by Jessica Tinklenberg and Darryl Yong (CTL)
Syllabus Drop-In Clinic
Times and Locations:
- 1-4pm Tue, Aug 22 (Founders Room in Honnold Mudd Library)
- 9-12pm on Thu, Aug 24 (Digital Toolshed in Honnold Mudd Library)
Working on a syllabus for an upcoming course? The Syllabus Drop-In Clinic is a supportive environment where you can learn some useful tools and ideas, get your questions answered, get feedback on your syllabus, and walk out with a more complete syllabus.
You can drop by the clinic at any point during the three-hour block and stay for as long as you’d like. At the top of each hour, we’ll give a brief presentation on an idea that will help you improve your syllabus. Then participants will get some uninterrupted time to work on their syllabi. There will also be a time for sharing and getting feedback with colleagues.
- Hour 1: Creating a more transparent syllabus
- Hour 2: Creating a more welcoming and inclusive syllabus
- Hour 3: Creating a more user-friendly syllabus
You’ll want to bring a laptop computer or several hard copies of your syllabus so that you can work on the syllabus during the session.
Looking for past events? You’ll find a list of 2016-17 events here.