Colleagues,

TEACHING CIRCLES

The Strongest Link teaching circle will meet on Monday, March 19, 2007 at NOON – Faculty Dining Room

The Teaching Circle, “Alternatives to Lecturing,” will meet on Wednesday, April 18th from 3:15 to 4:45 in Cosgrove 24 (Computer Lab). At the request of the members of our circle Donnie Ingram, of the Instructional Technology Department, will present and demonstrate the latest updates on Blackboard and new technologies for the classroom. Please put this on your calendar. I will send out more information at a later date. Please Contact Jessica Gosnell or Carol Lyon for more information. Thanks so much.

A Third Circle? Maureen Baldwin has begun discussions regarding starting a teaching circle about learning communities. If anyone has an interest in participating in such a circle please get in touch with Maureen

PUBLICATIONS RECENTLY RECEIVED

The National Teaching and Learning Forum, vol. 16:2 arrived recently and will be in the wall pockets soon. It contains articles on Making thinking explicit (on teaching history), assessing work in the arts, a model for new faculty orientation, reflective writing for better teaching and an article by Linc. Fisch on professors and professing.

The Teaching Professor (21:2) for March 2007 will be in the wall pockets soon. It includes brief articles on: helping students learn, class participation, quizzes, using cell phones in class, balancing views expressed in class, preventing cheating, teaching large classes, active learning, and questions that lead to self-understanding. This number seems quite varied in its topics and quite interesting.

The Professor in the Classroom, 13:14 entitled "Six Powerful Behaviors Practiced by Master Teachers" will also be in the wall pockets soon. This one appears to be worth a look.

CTE periodical publications are available in the College of Business (with Allison Ambrose) and in the ACCEL program through Neala McCarthy as well as in the three wall pocket locations.

LAST MIDWEST FACULTY SEMINAR OF THE YEAR

The Midwest Faculty Seminar at the University of Chicago has announced the fourth seminar of the year for faculty at member institutions. The topic of the seminar is "Epidemics in an Era of Globalization." The seminar will be held at the University of Chicago on May 3-5. A detailed description follows. Please note that registration deadline is April 10. I've heard very good things about the most recent seminar from two of the Ambrose faculty who attended. More about that in forthcoming posts from the CTE. The CTE covers just about all costs associated with SAU faculty participation in these seminars. If you are thinking of t, speak with someone who has attended recently. These include: Stephen Alagaratnam, Patrick O'Leary, Barbara Pitz, Jessica Gosnell, and Keri Manning. There is such a thing as a free lunch--and dinner too.