Many language instructors enter the classroom for the first time without knowledge of language acquisition principles. They are often asked to design their classes based on a textbook that doesn’t speak to students’ experiences and fails to appeal directly to them. New instructors often feel pressured to teach following a grammar-oriented approach that seems to …
Category: In the Classroom
Expanding your Pedagogical Toolkit
Looking for new and creative instructional practices to enliven your classroom? Interested in learning new ways to structure your students’ engagement with course materials? Energetic class discussions can help connect emerging thinking to the reading students are doing. A supportive classroom community can reduce anxiety about learning, and create space for reflection and intellectual engagement. …
Getting Comfortable with Public Speaking
Some people consider public speaking scarier than death. It also happens to be something that we must do regularly in the academy, including in our roles as instructors. Whatever our level of mastery in our academic discipline, how we say things and the particular contexts in which we speak impact the efficacy and clarity of …
Improv for Academics
Does the thought of being in front of a classroom cause you anxiety? Are you looking for ways to help your students be less nervous and more comfortable in the classroom? This workshop will draw principles and exercises from improvisational theater to explore strategies for working with and calming the nerves that often accompany public …
Communicating Through Questions
We ask our students questions on our syllabi, in classroom discussions, in brief hallway encounters, on their essay assignments and exams. Too often, though, questions we ask in class seek only to assess content comprehension and miss the full potential of questioning as a pedagogical tool. Probing, thoughtful questions can help students develop their critical …
Developing Your Teaching Persona and Classroom Community
What makes a classroom feel like a community? For many teachers, this is an ongoing goal as we work to foster an environment of interconnected learning and camaraderie. Come learn about different strategies for–and challenges to–creating this kind of active learning community in the first of our series of workshops on Community. In this workshop, …
Active Learning and Classroom Discussion
For many instructors, having a classroom full of eager and active students is a persistent goal and recurring challenge. Are you looking to improve student participation in your classes? Do you want to rethink what active participation can mean and find ways to invigorate your class discussions? In this workshop we’ll explore how to deepen …
Creativity
Are you looking for ways to spur your students’ creativity inside and outside the classroom? Often in our classrooms we teach students to think, read, and write “critically” with an emphasis on logic, argumentation, and research. Students respond strongly and positively to the opportunity to be creative because they feel empowered to personally engage with …
Participation
For many instructors, having a classroom full of eager and active students is a persistent goal and recurring challenge. Are you looking for ways to improve student participation in your classes? Do you want to rethink what active participation can mean beyond speaking up in class discussions? Please join the Teaching and Learning Center for …
