Tea & Teaching

September 23rd: Tea & Teaching with Jenevieve and special guests Sylvia Chan-Malik & Tia Kolbaba

A conversation with Sylvia Chan-Malik, Associate Professor, Departments of American Studies and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and Tia Kolbaba, Associate Professor, Department of Religion, about how they approach discussing difficult subjects in their courses.

While many of us teach topics that may be challenging for students to encounter, even those who do not might find themselves needing to confront the reality of current events that affect our students' lives. Sylvia and Tia will share the ways in which they address topics that might be activating or upsetting to students and discuss how they help support students in learning through these difficult moments.

August 26th: Tea & Teaching with Jenevieve and special guest Pauline Carpenter

A conversation with Pauline Carpenter, Instructional Design and Technology Specialist, SAS Office of Undergraduate Education, about how we can implement some inclusive teaching strategies in the first few weeks of the semester for both in-person and online courses. Register for Tea & Teaching here.

Fostering a sense of belonging supports student learning and can be implemented even before the semester starts. Pauline will share strategies to develop an inclusive classroom community, including personalizing the Canvas space, engaging students with the syllabus in meaningful ways, and facilitating welcoming course introductions.

Resources: 

For more information about syllabus language and statements see:

SAS sample syllabus link is on this page
Erica Lucci shared this book, which has a sample welcome message in the appendix
Syllabus rhetoric
Growth mindset and belonging syllabus language
Equity-minded syllabus review guide

For more information on Pre-Course Surveys:

Sample pre-course survey
Sample non-anonymous pre-course survey from Michelle Pacansky-Brock (Links to an external site.)
Sample anonymous Who's in Class form from Lafayette's Center for the Integration of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship

Additional Resources:

The MOOC research Pauline cited
Transparency in Learning and Teaching in higher education: TiLT in higher ed
Student Experience Project First Day Toolkit shared by Susan Lawrence
Courtney Sobers shared these introductory activities
Sharon Stoerger shared these icebreaker ideas from Michigan

For more Information on the Inclusivity Series:
OTEAR’s webpage on the Inclusivity Series