By Emma Bjorngard & Kristi Kaeppel On September 5, 2017, Trump announced that his administration would phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) over the next two and a half years, leaving it to Congress to take up legislation in the next 6 months. As instructors who have worked with vulnerable populations, our thoughts […]
Month: September 2017
1 Day Teaching Conference at Westfield State
Teaching at Teaching Intensive Institutions Conference Friday , October 6th – 9:00am-3:00pm Westfield State University, Scanlon Hall, Westfield, MA Many faculty enjoy rewarding careers at colleges and universities that primarily emphasize teaching, including liberal arts colleges, community colleges, and regional comprehensive universities. This free one-day regional conference brings together graduate students, postdocs, and faculty to […]
Differentiated Instruction with Graphic Novels: Using Unconventional Texts to Foster Positive Learning Outcomes
In my previous posts for this blog, I’ve discussed how you can support LGBTQIA+ students in your college classroom. In this post, I’ll speak about how I’ve made curricular decisions to support another student demographic–diverse learners. More specifically, I’ll be discussing the merit of using graphic novels and how doing so can actually support the […]
Bringing the Current into the Classroom: Thoughts on Tackling Tough Topics with Our Students
In our valiant efforts to integrate important current topics in our classes, we need support from the university and from each other, to discuss and exchange advice and strategies on doing this well. We will need support in the form of forgiving ourselves if it doesn’t always go well. We will need to recognize that some of our classes may become tense and uncomfortable (as a story I’ll share below illustrates). To actually open minds to consider new viewpoints and shift deep-seated beliefs and biases is a precarious, slow, and often uncomfortable process. But then, such is learning.