Now that we are a little more than halfway through our professional development workshop, what questions do you still have about teaching CT101? What are you most excited to teach? Most concerned about teaching?
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City Tech 101 4-Session Professional Development June 2024
Preparing Faculty Members to Facilitate CT101: New Student Success Seminar
I am most excited to share and encourage the resources with many of our City Tech students. I really enjoyed today’s workshop and found it incredibly useful. Reading the vast resources that we collective shared on the board was an affirming and hopeful activity. It was great to see all the resources that can support our students. I am concerned that four days is a short time to make a connection with our more reserved students. Also, I am thoughtful that I want to have a lot of engaging activities balanced out with the content and that will require creative planning.
The questions I have are geared more towards OpenLab, set-up and personally stylizing the slides. I have not used OpenLab as a faculty and it appears to be a little tricky. It would be great to have time to review the process for the OpenLab beginners.
I feel pretty comfortable with the material we’ve covered, and my ability to lay it out for students. I think the thing I’m still concerned about (always concerned about, in some sense) is making this information engaging in a long class like CT101. I definitely plan to use the questions and structures we’ve talked about, but I just know how long classes can drag on even with the most engaging of professors.
I think my questions will resolve themselves as I am teaching CT101 – I am a “learn by doing” type of person so I just have to dive in and do the best I can.
I am most excited to try to allay a lot of new students’ fears and insecurities. If they are anything like me, they may convince themselves that they are surrounded by others who are infinitely more prepared than they are, that everyone knows more, and that everyone is going to do better as a result. I want to demonstrate that everyone starts off on the same page, that everyone feels insecure and apprehensive. I want to strengthen their desire to learn and grow, but also to make sure they forgive themselves and learn from mistakes and set-backs. And, that its not a race or competition, and we all cross the finish line in our own time.
I am worried that 4 days may feel too short and rushed for students who may really benefit from extended contact and individual attention. I realize that a more lengthy summer program is out of the question because we are “running on fumes,” and so it’s important to just utilize the time given to the best of my ability.
My questions – or concerns – are more about logistics. I know I have to re-read (and re-read) the materials until I can talk about the resources/etc fluently. But that’s just studying. It’s the structure of the sessions, the minute-by-minute planning that is most consuming right now.
How will I structure the sessions so that students find them engaging and are likely to hear the messages and absorb the material? I plan my regular course agendas before the first session (all 30 of them, though I make tons of changes along the way). I am trying to get my head around how I will plan for instruction for CT, with the compressed timeline.
There is so much to cover, and I need to play with how I will schedule sessions and activities so that they are as interactive and engaging as possible.
Now that we are a little more than halfway through our professional development workshop, what questions do you still have about teaching CT101?
As soon as I think of one, I would likely add a reply to my post.
What are you most excited to teach?
I am most excited to teach students about the resources available to them and introducing the students about “embracing the culture” of our school. If any story I have as a student can persuade a student to embrace a mentality needed to succeed in college, then I will be successful.
Most concerned about teaching?
I am most concerned about my abilities to maintain student engagement over the course of 3 hours on each of 4 consecutive days. For many of our students, this will be the first time they experience a class length of longer than 60 minutes since elementary school (90 if they experienced double periods). However, this is the type of schedule that we are preparing them for.
If I have any gaps in my knowledge, I believe my Peer Mentor will be able to help fill in the gaps.
What questions do you still have about teaching CT101?
I don’t have any questions at the moment. The workshops have been very informative.
I have used OpenLab for other courses and can’t see myself having any issues with cloning the course, getting it up and running, etc.
What are you most excited to teach?
I am most excited to get to know my students. To hear about their past academic lives, what’s brought them to City Tech, what they hope to accomplish here. What works and what doesn’t work for them when it comes to note-taking and studying, time management, reading/annotating school readings, etc. I am excited to share what I’ve learned thus far about all that’s available to help them accomplish their academic goals here at City Tech.
Most concerned about teaching?
Initially, I was a bit worried about keeping them engaged the entire time. The more we go over the material though, this concerns me less. I think in my case, if it’s “owned” (if I make the material “my own,” so to speak) I won’t have too much trouble in keeping them interested. There seem to be plenty of ways of keeping this “fun.”
That being said, I am still a bit worried about how I might make some of the initial information, the “where to find x” and “how do you y” stuff, engaging. I think more activities like the scavenger hunt exercise will help. Going to keep brainstorming.
What questions do you still have about teaching CT101?
I feel like the workshop has been extremely comprehensive, so I don’t have any questions about the content so far. I am not a huge fan of Open Lab, so I am a little nervous about using it, but I am sure I will get the hang of it in time.
What are you most excited to teach?
I am most excited to teach the getting started stuff, such as email and learning management systems. I have heard too many stories of students falling behind because they didn’t get these first few steps started. I am also excited to teach about all the different ways that students can be supported here at City Tech through the various offices, but also, the other non official ways they can be supported. This is not a teaching point I am excited about, but I am very excited to work with a peer mentor. I think that will be a rewarding partnership for both.
Most concerned about teaching?
I am a bit concerned about engagement and rushing, as I am currently plowing through a fifteen week course in five weeks, and it can be overwhelming for all. Many days, I personally feel like I am throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what will stick the longest. I think preparing for the time crunch will help.
One of the things that excites me about this course is the opportunity to introduce our students to the resources available here at City Tech. By helping them connect to the college, its faculty, staff, and their classmates, I believe we can foster a sense of community that will grow throughout their time on campus. I hope this course will leave our students feeling supported and connected after the summer ends.
I teach a three-hour intro class, and I know how difficult it can be to keep students engaged, so I’m working to balance lectures and activities. That might be the most challenging aspect of this course. Teaching and taking this course in the summer gives the students time to adjust to the campus at a slower pace without the crowded, rushed feeling that can sometimes be a part of the fall semester.
I have found the workshop to be quite helpful, especially the session where we had the opportunity to hear from the peer mentors. The materials are straightforward, and the sessions have been comprehensive. I am particularly excited about teaching students tools to better manage their time in college, as this was something I struggled with myself. I look forward to covering these topics and helping students overcome similar challenges.
However, I am a little nervous about assisting students with navigating the resources available at City Tech. To ensure I provide accurate information, I plan to familiarize myself with these resources again over the next few weeks.
I don’t have any specific questions about teaching CT101. I just have the usual concerns of teaching something new and not knowing exactly how everything will go. Or if there will be questions I can’t answer.
I’m really excited to make students aware of all of the resources available to them at City Tech. I wish I had known a lot of this information before I started teaching at City Tech. I feel so much more equipped to guide students towards the support they need.
Before teaching a class for the first time I always have lots of questions, that often are answered as I just teach the class. How long will each subject / section take? Where will I need to allot extra time because the discussions that run over are valuable and where should I just move through?
I am most excited to teach the students all the small details that will make their transition to college easier and less stressful, so that is most of this class !!! I am nervous about some of those details that are new to me, like finding some of the resources by searching the website as at times I struggle with this as well.
I am grateful for the knowledge that this workshop has provided. This workshop would be helpful for all new instructors, to make us all better advisors and mentors to our students.