Orientation 2011

Thursday, August 11

9:00-9:30AM, Lanier 209: Introductions

9:30-10:15AM, A&S 315: Start of Semester and Syllabi

  1. Administration
  2. Professionalism
  3. English 1101 Goals and Policies
  4. Assignment for Friday: Syllabus Workshop
    1. Use the Syllabus Checklist and Sample Syllabi and Assignment pages while constructing your syllabus.
    2. Bring a copy of your syllabus to the next orientation meeting (Friday, August 12) to be workshopped.

10:30-11:15AM, A&S 315: Grading

  1. Grading
    • Grade Distribution File
  2. Assignment for Friday: Grading Workshop
    1. Grade the three sample papers handed out to you: Assess and provide feedback on punctuation and grammar, theses, organization, analysis, and so forth; then assign a grade. Be ready to discuss your grades and how you determined them.
    2. Design an assignment grade weight system for your syllabus.
    3. Develop a grading rhetoric for your students and a grading rubric for yourself that rewards revision without giving it an automatic A.

11:15AM-12:00PM, A&S 316: Policies and Plans

  1. Textbook Adoption Committee: nominations and secret ballots to elect 1 first year Teaching Fellow and 1 second year Teaching Fellow
  2. Classroom Visits and Evaluations
    • Coordinator Observations: Every Teaching Fellow's class will be officially observed at least once in the year by the Teaching Fellows Coordinator (if schedules conflict, then another faculty member may observe you). If possible, I'd like to observe first-time Teaching Fellows and those wanting a letter of recommendation in the fall. For the observation, select a day that will showcase your teaching, provide written lessons plans, and make copies of a sampling of graded papers (an A, a B, a C, and so forth). After the observation, we'll discuss the class and the graded papers. The Chair, Dr. Whitaker, is glad to observe your class, particularly for those job seekers desiring a letter of recommendation.
    • Peer Observation: Every Fellow's class will be unofficially observed at least once in the academic year by one of the other Teaching Fellows. The expectations for this peer visit are the same as an official visit: select a day that emphasizes teaching, provide the observer with a syllabus and lesson plans, debrief with the visitor after the class. I recommend that first-time Teaching Fellows schedule their peer observation in the fall before the Coordinator visit.
    • Midterm Course Assessment: Matt, Stephan, and Sal will be trained by CETL (The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) to administer a midterm course assessment and you can ask any one of them to give one to your class. You must complete either a SALG or a midterm course assessment during the semester that you are not observed by the Coordinator.
    • SALG Survey: The Student Assessment of Learning Goals survey is administered online. I need two volunteers to create the standard survey that all Teaching Fellows will use. You must complete either a SALG or a midterm course assessment during the semester that you are not observed by the Coordinator.
    • Student Opinion Surveys: All courses with ten or more students are automatically surveyed online in the last few weeks of class.
  3. Lesson Plans: Come to each and every class prepared with a goal, a purpose. A typical class will consist of 1) conducting business (taking attendance, collecting or handing back assignments), 2) answering questions about the previous class, 3) presenting a hook or introduction into the topic of the day, and 4) using whatever classroom management strategies (see next section) necessary to convey to your students the key idea and issue of the day. It's better to be overprepared than underprepared. I strongly recommend that you write out your lessons. Don't wing it!
  4. Classroom Management Strategies: While most of class periods will be taught by the lecture and discussion format, to engage as many students and learning styles as possible, you should also utilize audiovisual materials, hold in-class debates, bring online discussions into the face-to-face classroom, have in-class individual writing, and break students into small groups to do work. Moreover, you should create a balance of reading and writing assignments. For instance, you don’t want to plan a lot of reading on the due date of a major paper. After a particularly heavy week of reading and writing, you may want to schedule a short film (course related, of course). Discussion question: How do experienced Teaching Fellows manage the classroom?
  5. Anything Else?
  6. Due Friday
    1. syllabus (samples and checklist)
    2. graded papers
    3. grade distribution system, grading rubric, and revision design (handout)

Friday, August 12

9:00-10:00AM, A&S 315: Grading Workshop

  1. Textbook Adoption Committee
    1. Rebecca Hazelwood, fall 2011, second-year Teaching Fellow (elected 11 August 2011)
    2. Matt Jurak, spring 2012, second-year Teaching Fellow (elected 11 August 2011)
    3. Janet Dale, first-year Teaching Fellow (elected 11 August 2011)
  2. Sign Ups
    • Coordinator Observation
    • Peer Observation
    • Assignment in Common
  3. Grading Workshop (handout)
    • graded papers
    • grade distribution system
    • grading rubric
    • revision design

10:00-10:45AM, A&S 315: Syllabus Workshop

  1. Syllabus Workshop
  2. Reminders
    • Optional meeting Monday, August 15, 12:00PM in A&S 315 for those interested in GeorgiaVIEW and TurnItIn (email wesley.smith@gcsu.edu Friday for a TurnItIn license)
    • Syllabi are due to Alex (electronically) and Melinda Martin in A&S 303 (in print or electronically).

11:00-12:00PM, A&S 315: Midterm Assessment

Alex, Matt, Stephan, and Sal meet with Mark Vail to learn CETL Midterm Assessment.

Monday, August 15

12:00-1:00PM, A&S 315: Courseware

Optional meeting for Teaching Fellows interested in setting up GeorgiaVIEW and/or TurnItIn sites (bring your laptops).

 

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