ITLC Professional Learning Newsletter
September 2022
Spotlight: An Interview with Jillian Miller, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
What is your perspective on the importance of PL in academia?
“PL facilitates collaboration between instructors by creating a space where we can share our strengths and address common challenges while we learn from one another.”
How do you use Professional Learning?
“Because PL puts me in the role of the student, I can use it to explore ways to modify my teaching to have a greater impact, recalibrate my expectations, and respond with grace when things go awry. Additionally, implementing what I learn in PL allows me to model for my students what it looks like to receive and respond to feedback in a healthy way. I believe in transparency. I share where I learned about a particular idea and how I’ve adapted it to work in our class. I also share with them the feedback that I have received from other students and how I use that to inform my practices. Finally, PL affords me perspective. When I hear my own experiences in other faculty member’s stories, I feel a sense of community through shared challenges.”
What is a PL strategy you have implemented?
“I like to incorporate one new idea across my courses each semester (with the appropriate modifications) so that I can compare the strategy at different levels. I particularly enjoy incorporating the active and collaborative learning strategies and concepts from Saundra McGuire's book, "Teach Students How to Learn".”
Any Final Thoughts?
“Every moment is an opportunity to learn, grow, and be better than I was yesterday. To grow, I must step outside of my comfort zone and get comfortable being uncomfortable. Attending and implementing PL keeps me in this growth zone.”
Classroom Challenge
Think-Pair-Share by Jessica Dalton-Carriger, Social Science
Overview:
Think-Pair-Share is a collaborative learning strategy designed to help students solve a problem or answer a question. The activity can be done in small periods of time and can easily be worked into the middle of a lecture. During the activity students learn to think independently about a concept and share ideas with their classmates, which also reinforces their oral communication skills.
How to Use Think-Pair-Share:
Example:
Think-Pair-Share is a quick and simple means to get students talking in your classroom and engaged with the material.
Monthly Quote:
“Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.”- Xun Kuang
Upcoming Opportunities
September
October
On Demand
Plan Ahead
Reading Recommendations
Articles:
Breaking Up Lecture Content with Guided Notes
Importance of Low Stakes Presentations
Book:
Creating the Path to Success in the Classroom by Kathleen F. Gabriel
“Gabriel’s book addresses that lack of specific guidance by providing faculty with additional evidence-based instructional practices geared toward reaching all the students in their classrooms, including those from groups that traditionally have been the least successful, while maintaining high standards and expectations”
Connect With Us!
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Contact: Jessica Dalton-Carriger (dcarriigerjn@roanestate.edu)