The Associate Instructor Workshop on Classroom Climate invites new AIs to think about their role as instructors, orients graduate student instructors to compliance with Federal laws and IU policies regarding classroom inclusion and equity, and provides eight concurrent workshops addressing inclusive and equitable teaching practices.
The Classroom Climate workshop satisfies the requirement by the Bloomington Faculty Council policy that all new associate instructors receive training in enhanced understanding of cultural diversity (1990).
This event is a capstone to a day of teaching fundamentals for new graduate student instructors.
For 2017, the Classroom Climate Workshop will be held on:
Tuesday, August 15 and Thursday, August 17, 4-6pm, Ballantine Hall locations TBA
All participants will attend:
Orientation to teaching inclusively at IU
This session will introduce what teaching inclusively means to the IU community of students, faculty, and staff. We also will discuss Federal laws and university policies that govern instructional responsibilities.
Katherine Kearns, CITL
Participants will choose from eight concurrent session options:
Why Won’t They Talk?: Getting ALL Your Students Involved Through Group Activities
Strategies for implementing group activities that foster learner engagement and inclusion, with particular attention to how gender and other marginalized identities can affect student interactions.
Accessibility and Disability in the Classroom
Associate instructors will understand how visible and invisible challenges to learning (physical, cognitive, emotional) can impact student perceptions and classroom climate. We will talk about implicit assumptions about who belongs in the classroom, how our biases influence teaching and learning, and how to create a culture of accessibility in our class.
Brave Space, not Safe Space: Teaching Controversial Topics in the College Classroom
This workshop equips participants with confidence and pedagogical strategies to transform controversial discussions into productive learning moments. Participants will discuss practices to establish balance between authority and freedom in the classroom and look at how invisible aspects of power and privilege (architecture, identity-related interactions) interact with equitable and inclusive classroom spaces.
Becoming Comfortable with our Instructor Role
An active exploration of small, improvisation-based techniques, participation options, and perspectives that can contribute to building empathy and inclusive space in the classroom. Associate Instructors will learn how to: use their voices, bodies, and space intentionally; understand the importance of being flexible with the unknown; and develop empathy, listening skills, and trust-building. We will also provide tools for AI wellness techniques in and out of the classroom.
Civic Engagement in the Classroom Curriculum
This workshop will provide a foundation for understanding the role of engaging in the community as an alternative text in the classroom. Service learning ideas and resources will be provided to help AI’s integrate this learning tool in the syllabus.
AI’s and Students as Co-Learners in Classroom Community
This workshop will provide tools for cultivating a classroom of co-learners in the world of diversity between instructors and students. This workshop will provide strategies for designing and implementing a classroom community contract. Setting expectations in the beginning of the semester sets the tone for the rest of the semester.
The Tip of the Iceberg
We’ll provide you with tools to understand how culture plays a role in the creation of observable and non-observable aspects that may influence classroom and academic behavior and decision-making. We will utilize educational theory and practical examples and case studies to provide coping techniques and bases for inquiry.
Giving Feedback and Marking for Inclusion: Supporting Students and Maintaining Rigor
This workshop will include conversations and activities that explore the principles and pitfalls of grading for inclusion. We discuss some of the common values and biases that can be in play when assessing students from various backgrounds, and participants will leave with a grab-bag of strategies for grading diverse groups.