The first Open Classroom week is September 23rd-September 27th!

Teachers across the campuses will open their classrooms to other teachers, so they can observe and experience different types of teaching.

Learn more about open classroom week, and sign up to observe an open class here: https://teaching.claremont.edu/open_classroom_week/

Introductory courses are the gateway to upper division courses and majors.  Some students call these “weed out” courses because they perceive them as difficult to pass.  It is important that these courses welcome all students with an interest in these fields.

This workshop will discuss the importance of creating equitable learning environments where all students, regardless of educational background, can succeed in gateway courses and continue within majors.

Participants will be exposed to research describing the positive effects of building a sense of belonging in our classes and effective techniques for making their courses welcoming while retaining their rigor and content.

The Chicano Latinx Student Experience

Tony Jimenez from the Chicano Latino Student Affairs center shared information about how Latinx students experience the Claremont Colleges.

Difficult Moments in class can arise from our tense political times, incidents of hate/intolerant speech in class, campus crises, or otherwise challenging personalities and interactions. Do you as a faculty member feel prepared to handle these moments and interactions? How might we prepare ahead of time to be ready for such moments?

Participants in the workshop will discuss various scenarios around difficult interactions and focus on creating safe and engaging classrooms. We will learn strategies for addressing challenging topics and tense incidents, and reflect on ways we can structure our classes and our interactions with students to facilitate communication and positive educational environments for students.

Several recent studies have shown that the ways we think and talk about our students can have a significant impact on their college success. With the help of these studies, participants in this workshop will interrogate common educational phrases like “weed-out classes,” “grit,” and “students today can’t …” to determine what ways of thinking might lie behind them, and what the impact of such thinking might be.  Participants will use this knowledge to begin to reformulate one assignment or lecture to better encourage student learning and success.

Is your department welcoming?  Do students feel encouraged to major in your field? Do students know how to navigate your major?  Does your department foster a community for students, faculty and staff?

This workshop will discuss the importance and benefits of creating transparent, inclusive, and welcoming departments.  

Participants will be exposed to research describing the positive effects of building belonging in our departments.  We will discuss examples of obstacles students face (hidden prerequisites, when courses are offered, microaggressions) and suggest remediation strategies.  We will also discuss different easy to implement strategies for engaging and welcoming students at all levels (first years through declared majors).

The CTL invites all mid-career faculty to our first ever “Teaching is Hard, Have some Wine” reception. Your colleagues at the CTL will be on hand to answer questions and facilitate conversation about the unique challenges and opportunities of mid-career teaching. We’ll even have some great books to give away!

This is the second workshop focusing on “Difficult Moments in the Classroom.” The first provided a broad introduction and discussion of strategies that faculty can employ to effectively manage challenging course interactions.

In “Difficult Moments 2”, we will discuss in-depth strategies to develop classroom community, and specific ways to plan for high-stakes and/or controversial topics, and unexpected events and hot moments. There will be a few minutes of review from the previous workshop with the bulk of the workshop focused on new material. A particular focus of the workshop will be on successfully facilitating challenging classroom discussions. You need not have attended the previous workshop to participate in this one.

Presenters: Deborah Faye Carter

Wednesday, Dec 4th, 4:15-5:30pm, Honnold Mudd Library, Digital Toolshed
Thursday, Dec 5th, 11am-12:15pm, Honnold Mudd Library, Keck Classroom

Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/R8Ks4Ar43T1oWEfb7