Teaching Tip: Professor Describes Teaching In-Person This Summer During Pandemic

For those interested in what in-person teaching might look like this fall, here is an account from a professor who has been teaching in that setting this summer.

Experiencing COVID-Style Classroom Teaching

By Christine I. McClure July 22, 2020 from Inside Higher Ed

I’m not going to lie: COVID-19 scares me. But I’m a teacher. It’s not just what I do — it’s who I am. Plus, I have four kids to support, so I feel lucky to have a job, and I thoroughly enjoy it.

I love my university and my students, but it’s hard to balance that with my concern for my own children and my fears. I’m sure you are experiencing a myriad of emotions as well. I am teaching a summer course face-to-face and want to share my experience and observations with you. I don’t mean to frighten you but rather to prepare you if you are going to teach face-to-face in the coming months, as well.

When I first walked into my classroom after four months at home, it was surreal, but not just because it had been so long. The entire atmosphere felt different. It was as though the building — the very air — knew something was wrong. Read More

Have a teaching tip you’d like to share with your Middlebury colleagues? Email CTLR Director Jim Ralph at ralph@middlebury.edu. For additional faculty resources see go.middlebury.edu/ctlr including a list of past Teaching Tips.

Teaching Tip: Creating Community Online With Weekly Letters

This teaching tip comes from Lana Povitz of the History Department, who last spring, after the great disruption in mid-March, turned to Weekly email letters to help develop a strong sense of community among her students. Lana notes that it’s important to be clear that students should share to the extent that they feel comfortable. That said, she has found that inviting some level of “the personal”  made a huge difference, even if students are just talking about a podcast they listened to or sharing a photo of something they cooked.

Weekly Letters Assignment

You are responsible for two Weekly email Letters. Update your peer about your life (to the extent you feel comfortable!) and ask them questions. Although we cannot be together in person, staying connected remains essential! Letters can provide some camaraderie. Please take them seriously.

  • You will be paired at random with a different classmate each week. I will send the pairings through Announcements before each new week begins.
  • In addition to any life updates you can share, your initial letter should discuss the readings (highlights, critiques, questions, associations). Your response to your peer’s letter should engage what they shared as fully as possible. 
  • Keep the letters shortish – around 500 words – and feel free to check in about how you’re doing.
  • Initial letters should be sent by Tuesday midnight (EST). 
  • CC me on letters or send me a summary of the academic parts if you’d rather keep other content private.
  • Responses should be sent after optional Zoom meetings (even if you did not attend).

Have a teaching tip you’d like to share with your Middlebury colleagues? Email CTLR Director Jim Ralph at ralph@middlebury.edu. For additional faculty resources see go.middlebury.edu/ctlr including a list of past Teaching Tips.

Teaching Tip: Teaching In A Socially Distanced Classroom

Jim Ralph, director of Middlebury’s CTLR, recommends this column by Derek Bruff, director of Vanderbilt’s Center for Teaching.

Active Learning in Hybrid and Physically Distanced Classrooms

Posted by Derek Bruff on Thursday, June 11, 2020 in Resource.

by Derek Bruff, Director

If you’ve read Norman Clark’s hypothetical day in the life of a physically distanced classroom, then you’ve probably started to worry about how faculty and other instructors might facilitate discussion, group work, and other forms of active learning this fall. If I’m standing at the front of the classroom with half or a third of my students in the room with me, but sitting six feet apart from each other and wearing masks, while the rest of my students are joining class by videoconference, what strategies might I employ to engage all of my students in meaningful learning? Read More

Have a teaching tip you’d like to share with your Middlebury colleagues? Email CTLR Director Jim Ralph at ralph@middlebury.edu. For additional faculty resources see go.middlebury.edu/ctlr including a list of past Teaching Tips.

DLINQ Offers Summer Camp And Workshops To Prepare Faculty To Teach Remotely

Join other faculty preparing for fall in DLINQ’s series of workshops this summer. Titles include Intro to the Midd Course Design Rubric and Building Community in Online Courses. See event listings at https://dlinq.middcreate.net/events/

They are also offering a design camp for shifting existing courses online. Sign up at https://dlinq.middcreate.net/camp-design-online-preview-sign-up/

For other Teaching Remotely resources see https://dlinq.middcreate.net/course-continuity/

Anti-Racism As Everyday Practice Workshop Series Launched By IPP For July And August

This summer, the Inclusive Practitioners Program (IPP) will pilot Anti-Racism as Everyday Practice, a series of eight 90-minute workshops for faculty and staff. Each of the eight workshops will be offered in both July and August, and the workshops will also be included in the broader IPP lineup for the 2020-2021 academic year. The series includes the following offerings:

  1. Manifestations of Racism on Campus: Recognizing Microaggressions (part 1 of 2)
  2. Manifestations of Racism on Campus: Responding to Microaggressions (part 2 of 2)
  3. Unpacking What’s Happening: Engaging with Call-Out Culture
  4. Who’s in the Room: Managing Power and Privilege Dynamics
  5. Setting the Tone: Establishing Expectations for Learning Environments on Day One
  6. Framing Difficult Discussions: Acknowledging Impact, Using Trigger Warnings, and Fostering Engagement
  7. Navigating Flash Points: Facilitating Difficult Dialogues in Response to Campus and Cultural Tensions
  8. A Critical Conversation about Students’ Perceptions of Classroom Climate and What that Means for Faculty

The workshops are open to all Middlebury faculty and non-student staff. Session descriptions and registration information are available online. Questions about the series can be directed to Renee Wells.

2020 Learning Institute To Focus On Teaching Through A Pandemic And Anti-Racism Education

This spring’s Learning Institute in the CTLR will feature sessions on reflecting about the experience teaching this spring, building community in the classroom, choosing to teach in person or remote in the fall, and intentional anti-racist education.

The main goal of the institute is to bring faculty and staff together to reflect on the challenges we all are facing as we do our work in these difficult times and to share helpful ideas, approaches, and resources as we seek to realize our goals.

The institute is a complement to the programs that the Office of Digital Learning and Inquiry (DLINQ) is offering to help faculty prepare for teaching in the fall of 2020.

All sessions will be held on Tuesday, June 30 by Zoom. See additional details and register.

Update: Missed the event? See program description and links to available resources (Middlebury community access)

Midd Animation Lab Releases Migrant Family Separation Short “Estrellita”

The Burlington Free Press featured the Middlebury Animation Studio on 6/25/18. Director Daniel Houghton and student collaborators released the in-progress short film “Estrellita (Little Star)” early in response to the events occurring in detention centers on the border.

Read the story Immigration: Middlebury animated film ‘Estrellita’ depicts family separation in Vermont

Update: Seven Days also featured the film on 7/4/18. Read the article Middlebury Animation Studio Short Addresses Family Separation.

CTLR’s Learning Institute: Inspiring Students 5/31-6/1

CTLR’s Learning Institute
Thursday, May 31, and Friday, June 1

This year the Learning Institute’s theme is inspiring students.

John Elder, College Professor Emeritus in Environmental Studies and English and American Literatures, will offer the keynote address on Thursday afternoon.

On Friday, a number of workshops are planned, including one led by John. Patrick Coby, of Smith College, will lead the workshop, “Mind Games: Teaching Hard Books and Big Events Through Role-Play,” which draws on the “Reacting to the Past” role-playing pedagogy.

The full program and registration is available online at http://sites.middlebury.edu/2018li/, sign up to participate in this special opportunity.

Award-Winning Collinwood Fire Project Featured in Middlebury Magazine

Middlebury Magazine featured the award-winning Collinwood Fire research project, a collaboration between faculty, staff and students, on January 31, 2018.

“What Did I Just See?”
A schoolhouse fire in Cleveland shocked the nation in 1908 and then was largely forgotten—until now. A cohort of Middlebury scholars and students shines a new light on an American tragedy. read more