New Course Design

Designing and implementing a new course is a daunting task. Several of you are teaching new courses or have expressed an interest in designing or redesigning a course for your TEACH project. Here is an article from Tomorrow's Professor that may be of help: How to Prepare New Courses While Keeping Your Sanity.
As you begin to prepare your course for next semester or begin work on your TEACH project, be sure to consider the steps to disaster and success outlined in this article. Hopefully they will be of help!

Teaching Portfolio: Helpful Links

Many of you have attended Suzanne and Allison's workshops on writing teaching philosophy statements and creating your teaching portfolio. As you continue or begin to work on your portfolios here are some additionals resources recommended by Allison that should be helpful!

Teaching Philosophy Statements:
http://learning.nd.edu/philo/
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpts.html
http://www.lll.hawaii.edu/sltcc/tipps/philosophy.html

Teaching Porfolios:
http://ftad.osu.edu/portfolio/index.html
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpcp.html
http://sunconference.utep.edu/CETaL/resources/portfolios/samples.htm

Also, don't forget that we have portfolios available for review at the TLTC. Please contact your consultant if you are interested in setting up a time to come and take a look!

Inspiring Students

Hello all! We hope everyone had a great fall break! Now that we're halfway through the semester and assignments and tests are really beginning to pick up, many of you may have noticed a decline in your students' motivation. Here is a great article from Tomorrow's Professor on inspiring our students.

Workshops and Announcements

There are some great workshops going on this week! Be sure to check your calendar for the following events:

WebCT I: Basic Training: Monday 10/8 2:00-4:00

Lecture Well Series with Dr. Sean Grass (English): Wednesday 10/10 12:00-1:00

Basic Poster Printing: Wednesday 10/10 2:00-3:00

Also don't forget that your activity contract is due on Thursday 10/11! Please let us know if you have any questions.

Teaching Diverse Students

Here is a great video resource on teaching diverse students from the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georgia. There is a handout available that goes with the video, so if you are interested please let me know and I will get it to you. The link above is for Windows Media Player; click here if you prefer to use Real Player.

Lecture Well Series: Dr. Dini's presentation

Many of you expressed interest in Dr. Dini's presentation for the Lecture Well Series last month. In his presentation he offered some great advice and strategies for teaching large lecture courses. If you are interested in viewing this presentation, it is now online! Just go to the TLTC Video Seminar website and select the Video feed for the Lecture Well Series-Part I.

Upcoming Dates and Deadlines

Hello all! The semester is well underway and some important dates are approaching. By now you should be meeting with your mentor to discuss topics such as your TEACH project, teaching portfolio, and activity contract (DUE 10/11). If you have not met with your mentor yet, please get in touch with him/her as soon as possible to schedule a meeting!

Your activity contracts will be due on Thursday, October 11. A description of the activity contract can be found on the TEACH wiki. Please read this over and let us know if you have any questions regarding what you need to do to complete this document.

The fall workshop registration deadline has passed, but there are still some of you who haven't registered for 10 hours this fall. Please be sure to check your profile online to see if you have signed up for at least 10 hours. Many of you have signed up for more than 10 hours, and we're excited about your active participation!

As usual if you have any questions, comments, or concerns please don't hesitate to ask!