One less stranger

Last week on campus, I saw somebody I met at the Celebration weekend. At that moment in time, of ACC's tens of thousands of students and many thousands of staff and faculty, there was one less stranger. A nice feeling!

CGT Follow-up; Continuing Evaluations

Before more time passes, let me tell you what an inspiring, exhilarating, and exhausting weekend I had with the group of you. Your expertise and willingness to share, your good nature and open mindedness made the experience everything it is supposed to be. I'm already using several new ideas in my classes.

I am grateful to Lara for creating this blog for our 2009 retreat. My hope is that in doing so she has helped us establish a small community willing to share questions and ideas with one another. I look forward to that.

To get us started, we are posting the evaluation comments from the CGT (click here). We would find it useful for you to elaborate on the retreat. Address anything you like, but most valuable would be comments on the premise/next time/format areas. These get to the heart of the Great Teaching process and organization. You are certainly welcome to email or call me directly to offer suggestions if you like.

Thank you for what you do here. ACC is better for your presence.

David

Book, Books, Books

This post contains a list of books CGT particpants brought with them to the retreat.  We made sure to spend time discussing the books and their importance to those that brought them. If you have any others you would like to add, please add a new post.  Please feel free to comment about the books listed below.

Judy Hubble

• Six weeks to a Brain - Compatible Classroom (Zandina)
  
• Born to Learn (Smilkstein)

Tom Stege

• Chemical Systems (Chemical Bond Approach)

Patrick Schmidt

• How to Read Literature Like a College Professor (Thomas Foster)

Vernon Reed

• The World is Flat (Thomas Friedman)

Jane Thorne

• Stephen Crane's Poetry - any title
• Harbrace Handbook - early editions

Gloria Diaz

• Tongue Fu (Sam Horn)

Wendy Lym

• The Botany of Desire (Michael Pollan)

Lynn Raridon

• Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
• Through Animal Eyes (Lynn Cuny)

Angela Niedermyer

• Fish Sticks (Stephen Lundin)
• Tools for Teaching (Barbara Davis)
• Classroom Assessment Techniques (Angelo & Cross)

Bernadeta Kaminska

• What the Best College Teachers Do (Ken Bain)

Aldo Maldonado

• Proofs and Refutations (Lakatos)

Chris Thron

• The Bible (4 Gospels)

Christine Bloemsma

• Grammar with a Giggle (Jane Kiester)
• Lapsing Into a Comma (Bill Walsh)
• The Elephants of Style (Bill Walsh)

Marco Hanson

• The Essential Rumi (Coleman Barks, translator)
• The Annie Dillard Reader (Annie Dillard)

Rosa Davila

• Teaching Language in Context (Alice Omaggio)

David Lydic

• The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
• Bastard Out of Carolina (Dorothy Allison)
• Errors and Expectations (Mina Shaugnessy)

Lara Niles

• How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking (eds))
• Democracy and Education (John Dewey)
• Diffusion of Innovations (Everett Rogers)

Gail Goodman

• The Little Prince (Antoine De Saint-Exupery)

Other books

• Heart of the Mind
• Zen in the Art of Archery
• Getting to Yes

Enjoyed the experience!

So glad I finally applied to attend the 2009 Great Teaching retreat. Getting to know fellow faculty from across the curriculum spectrum and sharing ideas were the highlights for me. Lots of usable information and neat tricks and tips to start using right now and I have !
Kudos to all present- facilitators and attendees- for giving me such a rich and rewarding experience.

Purposes and Premises of ACC's Celebration of Great Teaching (taken from david Gootshall and Roger Garrison)

Purposes:

1. To celebrate good teaching
2. To have teachers venture beyond their own environments to find ideas that are transferable
3. To promote teachers' introspection and self-appraisal by providing a climate right for serious review of attitude, methods, and behavior
4. To practice rational analysis of instruction and to develop creative yet realistic approaches
5. To stimulate exchange of information and ideas by building an expanding network among teachers

Premises:

1. Teachers learn best from one another. Carefully facilitated workshops can be the best form of professional development
2. Creativity in teaching is enhanced by mixing teachers of diverse field, experience levels, and interest
3. The collective wisdom, experience, and creativity of any group of teachers far surpass that of any individual expert
4. The key to success in teaching is simplification (less or more)

The Commandments (Ground Rules)

1. This is not a time to gripe
2. Constructive feedback is encouraged
3. This is time to share
4. Everyone gets equal time and has to be conscious of time limits
5. Commandments are enforced by everyone