Workshop Agenda

First Year Programs at NYCCT

Agenda for the CT101 Professional Development Workshop

June 17-24, 2024

Pre-Workshop Reading:  The First Generation College Experience: Implications for Campus Practice, and Strategies for Improving Persistence and Success, Chapter 2, by Jeff Davis

Session One: Monday June 17

• Activity :What do our incoming students need to know?
• Welcome and overview of program (by Lauri Aguirre, Director of First Year Programs)
• Icebreaker activity
• Observations on City Tech first-year students (by Sarah Paruolo, Director of the Student Success Center)
• Duties and Responsibilities of the CT101 Instructor
• Activity: Connecting to Resources at City Tech
• Intro to CT101 Session 1

Before Session Two, complete the reflection on OpenLab: If I could make one improvement to the City Tech student experience, what would it be, and why?”

Session Two: Tuesday, June 18

• Discussion: what was one takeaway from yesterday’s session?
• Discussion of the pre-workshop reading
• Activity: A week in the life of our students
• Intro to CT101 Session 2
• Discussion of “ungrading” and growth mindset learning
• Activity: If the Walls Could Talk (tentative)

Before Session Three, complete the reflection on OpenLab: Do you remember your own transition into college? Do you remember when you felt connected and found a community of people with whom you felt you belonged? In the space below, we invite you to share your own story of becoming a college student. In what ways was your college experience similar to that of our first-generation students? How was it different?

Session Three: Thursday, June 20 

• Activity: Student Resources Brainstorm 
• Note-taking meta-activity
• Intro to CT101 Session 3
•  Note-taking follow-up
• Intro to the peer mentor program
• Panel Discussion with Lauri Aguirre and peer mentors Heavyn Gordon and Aneeza Hussein
• Activity: Incorporating peer mentors into the CT101 classroom

Before Session Four, complete the reflection on OpenLab: 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?

Pre-Week Two Reading:  “Turning Collective Digital Stories of the First-year Transition to College into a Web of Belonging” by Mery F. Diaz, et al.

Session Four: Monday, June 24 

• Welcome back, responding to reflection questions
• Discussion of the week-two reading
• Intro to CT101 Session 4
• Visit from peer mentor David Mendez Medina: How PMs can provide support for Session 4A

Before Session Five, complete the reflection on OpenLab: The article we discussed today discusses the impact that the feeling of “fitting in: and having a “sense of belonging” can have on student success. Our CT101 workshop is only four days long. What are some things we can do in that span of time to build belonging and community among our students?

Session Five: Wednesday, June 26

• Discussion: Reflection on Reflections
• Challenges faced by City Tech students (by Sarah Paruolo)
• Panel discussion with CT101 faculty
•  Activity: personalizing the curriculum
• Wrap up, discuss deliverables

Please complete the final reflection (and any others you haven’t done) by Friday, June 28: What are the challenges of using a curriculum and teaching materials that you didn’t create? What can you do to help yourself use those materials effectively and comfortably?

Deliverables: 

• Complete reflections 1-4
• Personalize four slides each from two different sessions (8 total); submit to OpenLab