Past Events: Fall 2017

 

Effective Teacher Series:

Creating Strong Syllabi and Maximizing the First Day of Class 

September 8: 2:00 – 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
 Presenter: Dr. Larry Gray 

Planning an Effective Lecture Presentation

September 19: 2:30 – 4:00 pm, 208 Self Hall 
 Presenter: Ms. Tanya Sasser

Do your lectures have your students drooling, dozing, and daydreaming?  Are you guilty of "death by PowerPoint"?  Based on the latest brain science, this workshop will teach you how to grab and keep your students' attention and create presentations designed for maximum content retention. Learn how to trade your podium for a campfire, go from sage to storyteller, and transform your classroom into a "radical space of possibility."    Please bring your laptop or iPad to this workshop.

Promoting Critical Thinking in the College Classroom

September 27: 2:00 – 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Dr. Patrick McGrail, Professor of Communication

This workshop focuses on critical thinking, and takes as its jumping off point some of the exercises in Thinking Fast and Slow by Kahneman. We will use simple mental exercises and conundra that compel people to not simply rely on received knowledge to answer something, but to truly think about it. We will look at several classic mental and ethical problems and other deceptively simple exercises that compel people to look at things in a radically different way. Much of what we think about, as Kahneman and others point out, is simply using mental maps we have been given and changing the specific facts involved. But what if we were presented with simple problems we had never thought about? How would we solve them? And what solutions are "acceptable"?

Creating a Powerful Professional Portfolio

September 28: 2:30 – 4:00 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Dr. Erin Rider, Professor of Sociology

The workshop, "Creating a Powerful Professional Portfolio" is aimed to provide useful strategies and goals for developing a portfolio for tenure and/or promotion. We will use general JSU guidelines to discuss what needs to be included in the portfolio based on teaching, research, and service evidence, and other required components. The main focus of the presentation will be to discuss how to become organized ahead of the deadline, how to set and reach yearly goals toward teaching, research, and service, and how to build a solid portfolio that captures one's identity, vision, and practice as a professor, scholar, and professional. The workshop is designed to be informative and interactive. 

Increasing Student Engagement

October 11: 2:00 – 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
 Presenter: Dr. Jan Case, Professor of Mathematics

Student Engagement Through the Ages 

Take a sentimental journey through a century of educational philosophies that shaped our teaching styles. We'll examine the pendulum swings from drill & practice to discovery learning and back and compare the paths we take to lead our students to order, then disorder, then reorder their intellect. The sharing of personal educational experiences that were pivotal in setting a career in education in motion will be welcome additions to the workshop.

Writing Good Test Questions

October 12: 2:30 - 4:00 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Gena Christopher, Director of Faculty Development

How do we determine the questions we ask on a test?  Are they good questions?  Are we testing what we want or mean to test?  Does our test encourage learning?  This workshop will begin a dialogue concerning the ways the best teacher create test questions.  Participants are asked to bring a copy of a course syllabus and one sample test from that course.  Together, we will try to determine a standard of best practices for writing test questions.

Awake at Morning: Mindfulness Resources for Cultivating Joy, Balance, and Meaning in the Workplace

October 17: 2:30 - 4:00 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Laurie Charnigo Heathcock

Teaching Multiple Generations

October 18: 2:00 - 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Meredith Parker

Using EvaluationKIT to Improve Teaching

November 3: 1:00 - 2:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Dr. Lori Hill

Creating Good Course Learning Objectives

November 7: 2:30 - 4:00, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Gena Christopher

Implementing Just-in-Time Learning Assessment Techniques

November 10: 2:00 - 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Gena Christopher

Strategies for International Student Advising

November 14: 2:30 - 4:00 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Chandni Khadka

The workshop will help advisors and faculty understand basic immigration regulations that apply to International students and intercultural communication cues which will help them properly advise and mentor the international students.  Workshop Objectives:
  • Understand basic immigration regulations and accurately advise F1/J1 students (international students)
  • Increase awareness about the need to comply with legal and institutional reporting requirements
  • Build and apply strategies to specific situations where intercultural communication skills, regulatory requirements, and analytical skills all come into play.
  • Work efficiently, effectively, and collaboratively to support student adjustment needs.

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How to get started...

Each of the Effective Teacher and Innovative Teacher workshops will be held in 208 Self Hall. Space is limited so you must register to attend. To register, call x5806 or email genac@jsu.edu.  We will offer both series again in the Spring 2018 semester, so you will have another opportunity to attend the ones you want. Also, we are open to your ideas concerning additional topics, and as new workshops are added, you will receive information via email.

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Innovative Teacher Series

Mobile Apps for Learning

September 13: 2:00 - 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Mr. Rodney Bailey

As education becomes more and more digitalized, and with the best educational apps already reigning the app store, it becomes even more important that educators recognize which apps will best serve their needs as well as the needs of their students. In this workshop, you will learn which indispensable mobile app features enhance your chances of reaping the best benefits for your class.

Using Diverse Tools to Assess Instruction

September 20: 2:00 - 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Gena Christopher

You assess your student's learning every day.  Are you assessing your teaching?  How do you know if you are using the best teaching strategies to reach the students who are in your classes this semester?  Let's talk together about possible methods to assess our own teaching.  Bring your ideas with you to share with your colleagues.

Planning a Blended Course

September 22: 2:00 - 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Mica Mecham

Research indicates the best model for teaching is neither 100% online or 100% face-to-face.  In this workshop, we will share ideas for preparing a blended or hybrid course in order to insure student success.

Service Learning

September 26: 1:30 – 3:00 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Dr. Teresa Reed, Professor of English

Studies show that students who participate in service learning activities learn more about their subjects and learn it better.  During this workshop, we will talk about various positive outcomes of service learning -- along with some challenges -- some past examples of effective service learning projects, approaches different disciplines can use to include service learning opportunities, and different ways service learning can be incorporated into students' work for class.

Improving Student Engagement Using Response Systems

October 4: 2:00 - 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Dr. James Rayburn

Service Learning

October 20: 2:00 - 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Katelyn Williams, Instructor of English

The benefits of a community engagement project integrated into the classroom are widely acknowledged to be beneficial for students. Yet, the task of designing a course with this learning strategy in mind, and implementing the project across an inter-disciplinary student population, is a challenge. Keeping logistics in mind, this workshop will present a model for service learning, including discussion of strategies, challenges, assessment, and student response. Service Learning isn't impossible, but it does require careful planning. Hopefully, you can begin thinking about how a service learning project might be feasible for your classroom.

Flipping the Classroom

October 24: 2:30 - 4:00 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Christy Burns

Flipping the Classroom

October 25: 2:00 - 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Dr. Nathan Wight

Flippin' Awesome!

Do you want to add some spice to your course?  Tired of the same old, same old? 

-- Lecture... Homework... Grading... Test... Repeat --

Research suggests that the flippin' method results in significant learning gains when compared to traditional instruction.  Join Dr. Wight as he discusses his journey into flipping a class.  Take a look at how he restructured in-class experiences toward synthesizing, analyzing and problem-solving instead of the traditional delivery of information.  

Using Growth Mindset Principles to Encourage Student Learning

October 26: 2:30 - 4:00 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Gena Christopher

The Scholarship of Teaching

November 15: 2:00 - 3:30 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Ms. Gena Christopher

Getting to Know Your Office 365 Suite

November: 2:30 - 4:00 pm, 208 Self Hall
Presenter: Mr. Andrew Higgins

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Online Professional Development

Using Multimedia to Create Course Content

Badge Completion, Online@JSU

Mentor Commons

6 certificates = 1 workshop; Magna Publications Online

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Archive of Past Events