Faculty Development

Fall 2004 Faculty Development Day

September 23, 2004
9:30-3:00
CP-105
FREE Lunch
RSVP to uwtteach@ by September 17th

Introduction to the New Instructional Spaces in Cherry Parkes and Mattress Factory (Patrick Pow, Dana Clark)

In addition to six new Smart classrooms in Cherry Parkes, there are also interview/observation rooms to videotape interviews, business meetings, counseling sessions, with small groups or large classes observing the process. A new Videoconferencing Conference Room and a Case Classroom with multiple slide projectors are available in the Mattress Factory.

Blackboard 6.1: Tips and New Features (Deb Sklar) Deb will share what she learned at a recent Blackboard conference including:

• Course Design Tips (Do’s and Don’ts)
• Ferpa and Blackboard
• New Text Box Editor in Blackboard 6.1
• A new way of collecting assignments using the Gradebook

LUNCH (12:15-1:00)

Reflective Practice: Fostering an Effective Classroom Environment (Panel & Discussion). In the classroom, it is our responsibility to create and maintain an environment that fosters learning, respect, and effective teaching. UWT gives us the authority to do so. Yet disconnects in communication due to linguistic background, expectation, perception, and experience occur frequently between faculty and students. On September 29th, we will all begin classes with diverse students from more than one linguistic tradition, a fact we must negotiate as we establish our classroom climate. With session participants, this panel will discuss the theory and practice of fostering an environment that values linguistic and other diversities, building on the richness and depth that our students bring to our UWT campus and classroom communities. The discussion is focused on two self-reflective questions:

1. How does the instructor use him or herself to purposefully create an effective climate for the multilingual, and otherwise diverse, student audience?

2. How does the instructor help others to creatively and effectively address multilingual student needs while maintaining high standards, responsibility, and authority in their classroom settings?