blog posts

• Strategies in the First Few Weeks for Future Success

  Jan 18, 2011 8:00 am

  Strategies in the First Few Weeks for Future Success. Beginnings are important. Whether it is a large introductory course for freshmen or an advanced course in the major field, it makes good sense to start the semester off well. Good beginnings help in creating rapport, setting the tone and expectations, and making  effective first connections with the course content. Click here for 101 strategies

• Encouraging Effective Discussions

  Oct 28, 2010 8:00 am

  Encouraging Effective Discussions. You want to encourage more student participation, so you ask a question.  Instead of a lively discussion, there are blank faces, silence, or incorrect answers. There are a number of strategies that can help encourage participation, improve discussion and rapport. Click here to learn more.  

• Content Tyranny

  Oct 28, 2010 8:00 am

  Content Tyranny. Have you ever said, “I don’t have time for that, I have too much to teach”?  Content tyranny happens when the need to “cover the content” receives higher priority over enhancing student learning.  Click here to learn what are the myths that lead to content tyranny and successful strategies.

• Forming Metacognitive Students

  Sep 30, 2010 8:00 am

  Forming Metacognitive Students. Students become metacognitive when they are aware of their own learning processes.  By encouraging students' metacognition, instructors give their students a better chance to succeed in class.  This article describes several easy ways to help students become more metacognitive. Click here to read the article.

• A Periodic Table of Visualizatin

  Sep 30, 2010 8:00 am

  A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods. You can grab your students' attention and help them to better understand classroom material by presenting information visually.  This "periodic table" describes a wide range of visual ways to display data, information, concepts, strategies, and metaphors. Click here to view it.

   

• Informal Early Feedback

  Sep 14, 2010 8:00 am

  Using informal early feedback (IEF) can help you learn about what is working and what is not working in your class at a time when you can make mid-course corrections. Late-September to mid-October is a great time to collect this feedback from your students.  To learn more about this helpful form, you can attend this workshop (Sept. 17th or 22nd) or find information and samples on our website.

• Classroom Assessment Techniques (CAT)

  Sep 14, 2010 8:00 am

  Classroom Assessment Tools (CATs) are tools that can be used for active learning, assessment, and feedback. CATs are often anonymous and ungraded, and can give you a picture of how students are progressing, while providing information on your teaching and its effectiveness. Learn about the one-minute paper, muddiest points, and many other strategies. Read more about CATS here.

• Learning Students' Names.

  Aug 14, 2010 8:00 am

  Learning Students' Names. We all know the importance of learning our students' names as it promotes positive teacher-student relationships and demonstrates your desire to know each student as an individual. For those of us with large classes, this can be a difficult task.  Tomorrow's Professor Msg. #752 provides several strategies to help us.

• A syllabus is more than a contract...

  Aug 14, 2010 8:00 am

  A syllabus is more than a contract... “Whether it is intended or not, the quality of the syllabus is a fairly reliable indicator of the quality of teaching and learning that will take place in a course.” (Woolcock, 2003).  How does your syllabus rate? Read this article to learn more about constructing your course and its syllabus. 

• Teaching and Grading Group Assignments

  Mar 29, 2010 8:00 am

  Teaching and Grading Group Assignments. There are many reasons for having students work on short- or long-term projects together. But there are also many questions: How do you start using teams? What is the role of the teacher? How do you grade group work? This article gives you some pointers, and two upcoming CTE workshops will provide opportunities to learn more about this important topic: Designing Effective Student Teams and Team Assignments and Moving from Problems to Solutions in Team Situations.