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Knowledge. Generosity. Community.

Teaching Circles

Teaching Circles
 

Every semester, the Sherrerd Center sponsors a variety of Teaching Circles in which faculty and teaching staff come together to discuss a teaching topic of shared interest. These have proven especially useful over the past several years, and we encourage faculty and staff members to consider leading or participating in a Teaching Circle this semester. The Sherrerd Center arranges for Teaching Circles to meet on some specific Fridays from 12:15 until 1:15 p.m with lunch available at noon, so please RSVP on the forms provided (when posted), as it will help provide a more accurate count for lunch and seating. 

Fall 2023 Teaching Circles Dates

Note: circles will meet in Neilson Browsing Room, the Campus Center, and other locations.

  • October 13th

  • November 10th

  • December 8th

Please note that some Teaching Circles may meet on other dates/times.
Circles are still being added and more details will be posted as available.

Fall 2023 Teaching Circles: Locations include Neilson Library Browsing Room, the Campus Center, or other specified locations, 12:15-1:15 pm with lunch available beginning at noon.

Algebra Skills Across the Curriculum
with Jen Beichman (MTH) and Cat McCune (Dir., Spinelli Center)
Join with members of the Math Success subcommittee of Science Planning to talk about the algebra skills you use in your course and how students are faring in those skills. The goals of this circle include working with fellow faculty to understand how students learn and think about algebra (including topics like fractions and symbolic manipulation), looking at our assignments and student response to understand how students interact with our class work, and finding best practices for working with students at the many different levels of experience they bring to our classrooms with pre-collegiate mathematics. 
RSVP.

Big Questions Circle​ 
with Patty DiBartolo and Kate Queeney
During these sessions, we will listen, reflect, and share ideas about key questions that are essential to thoughtful design of every learning environment. Hopefully, this circle will provide space and support to help faculty engage in deliberate curricular planning that centers essential principles of effective teaching.
RSVP

Let's Talk OERs! 
with the OER Team: Kevin Shea, Elise Gowen, Jessica Ryan, Abril Navarro
What do you know about OERs? Have you heard about the new grants available to Faculty for adopting or creating OERs? In this circle we will discuss the experience from Faculty who have adopted these resources at Smith. We encourage Faculty to bring their questions and/or ideas about OERs.
RSVP

NTT Faculty Circle
with Mona Kulp (CHM), Reid Berone-Johnson (LSS), Christiane Métral (FRN), and Yalin Chen (CHI)
The NTT teaching circle will offer an informal space for NTT faculty across disciplines at Smith to make connections, build community and share helpful resources. Additionally, we hope to build consensus and serve as an advocacy group for NTT faculty as a whole at Smith. We hope this will provide a space for new and veteran NTT faculty to connect.
RSVP

Teaching in the Time of ChatGPT/AI
with Miranda McCarval and Travis Grandy
ChatGPT and other forms of generative AI have been in the news, and we have seen a variety of concerns raised by educators regarding AI influence on assessment in general and writing specifically. This teaching circle is an opportunity to discuss how generative AI is changing assessment in higher education and how we as educators can respond thoughtfully. This circle will focus on understanding ChatGPT (and other generative AIs), discussing the possible roles of generative AI in the classroom, and on designing AI resistant assessments.
RSVP

Teaching Languages Circle
with Ilona Sotnikova (REEES) and Maureen DeNino (FRN)
*Note: will meet Wednesday 11/8 instead of Friday 11/10.
The language teaching circle provides an informal space for language educators to share tips and techniques and discuss ongoing challenges related to teaching in these times. Participants meet and stay connected with colleagues from outside their own departments and develop ways to promote world language learning further at Smith.
RSVP.

Trauma-Informed Pedagogy: A Practice for Equity, Inclusion, and Resilience
with Kelly Vogel (Integrative Studies)  *Note: will meet Thursday 10/5 instead of Friday 10/13.
Kelly Vogel, Lecturer in Integrative Studies, will lead a conversation about Trauma-Informed Pedagogy as an asset-based, equity-based framework for building resilience. But what does it mean to become trauma-informed, and how does one apply this practice? And how can becoming trauma-informed create an equitable, inclusive, and resilient environment? Kelly brings over 6 years of experience supporting Smith students with executive function-related issues and is currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Studies with a focus on Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in Higher Education.
RSVP.

Ungrading Teaching Circle
with Candice Price (MTH) and Magdalena Zapędowska (Jacobson Center) 
Have you heard about “ungrading”? It is a method of assessment that replaces instructor-assigned grades with deep feedback and students' self-reflection. As such, it promotes intrinsic over extrinsic motivation and helps advance equity and justice in the classroom. Join our informal conversations to learn more about ungrading, explore how you can incorporate elements of ungrading in your classes, and share ideas on how to cultivate a healthy balance between shifting agency to the students and maintaining structure.
RSVP.

Past Teaching Circles

Spring 2023 Teaching Circle Topics included the following:

  • Integrating Disability Inclusion Components into Your STEM, Social Sciences, and Humanities Courses Teaching Circle with Shiya Cao (SDS) and Caroline Melly (ANT)
  • Reclaiming Grading: Fixing the worst part of our job with Jennifer Beichman (MTH) and Marney Pratt (BIO) 
  • Teaching in the Time of ChatGTP with Miranda McCarvel (Jacobson Center)
  • Teaching Circle for NTT Faculty with Mona Kulp (CHM), Joyce Palmer-Fortune (PHY), Christiane Métral (FRN), and Yalin Chen (CHI)
  • Teaching Languages Circle with Ilona Sotnikova (REEES) and Maureen DeNino (FRN)
  • Trauma-informed Pedagogy: a Path towards Inclusion and Resilience with Kelly Vogel (Integrative Studies)
  • Creative Writing Salon/Circle with Gillian Kendall
  • Humanities and Social Science (HSS Labs) Teaching Circle with Joshua Birk

Fall 2022 Teaching Circle Topics included the following: 

  • Antiracist Learning Community (ALC) Teaching Circle with Floyd Cheung (OEI) and Hélène Visentin (PDOF)
  • Conversations about Advising Teaching Circle with Fraser Stables (Associate Dean of Integrative Learning), Adela Penagos (Associate Dean of the College for Advising and Mentoring), and Sarah Moore (Faculty Director of Liberal Arts Advising)
  • Exploring Metaphors in Teaching Circle  
    with Nick Howe (Computer Science)
  • Teaching Languages Circle with Ilona Sotnikova (REEES), Maureen DeNino (FRN)
  • Trading Teaching Tips with Miranda McCarvel (Jacobson Center)
  • Trauma-Informed Pedagogy for the Resilient Classroom with Kelly Vogel (Lecturer in Integrative Studies)
  • Ungrading Teaching Circle with Magdalena Zapędowska (Jacobson Center)
  • Creative Writing Circle for Faculty and Staff Who Teach with Gillian Kendall (ENG)
  • Teaching Circle for NTT Faculty with Mona Kulp (CHM), Joyce Palmer-Fortune (PHY), Christiane Métral (FRN), and Yalin Chen (CHI)

Spring 2022 Teaching Circle Topics included the following: 

  • Special Event: Sherrerd Center Teaching Circle on Teaching in this Momentw ith Sara Pruss and Patty DiBartolo 
  • Exploring Alternative Grading Methods with Marney Pratt (BIO) and Magda Zapędowska (Jacobson Center)
  • Executive Functioning in our Students Amidst the Pandemic with Kelly Vogel, Lecturer in Integrative Studies and former Learning Specialist for the Jacobson Center
  • Antiracist Learning Community (ALC) Teaching Circle with Floyd Cheung (OEI) and Hélène Visentin (PDOF)
  • The Small Teaching Circle with Caroline Melly (Sherrerd teaching mentor) and Miranda McCarvel (Jacobson Center)
  • Teaching Languages Circle with Ilona Sotnikova (REEES), Maureen DeNino (FRN)
  • Humanities and Social Sciences Labs Teaching Circle with Josh Birk (MED/HST), Christine Reynolds (Kahn Institute)
  • Science Ethics Circle with Betsy Jamieson (CHM)
  • Creative Writing Circle for Faculty and Staff Who Teach with Gillian Kendall

Fall 2021 Teaching Circle Topics included the following: 

  • Teaching Ideas for Team-based or Heavy-project-based Applied Courses (in person) with Susannah Howe (EGR), Megan Lyster (Wurtele Center)
  • Teaching Languages Circle (in person) with Ilona Sotnikova (REEES), Maureen DeNino (FRN)
  • The New Normal? Teaching in Fall 2021 with a particular focus on equitable and inclusive pedagogies (in person) with Patty DiBartolo (PSY)
  • The New Normal? Teaching in Fall 2021 with a particular focus on disabilities and learning differences (over Zoom) with Caroline Melly (ANT)
  • Science Ethics Circle (in person) with Betsy Jamieson (CHM)
  • Faculty-and-Staff-Who-Write Creative Writing Salon Teaching Circle (in person) with Gillian Kendall (ENG)
  • Humanities and Social Sciences Labs Teaching Circle (in person) with Josh Birk (MED/HST)

Spring 2021 Teaching Circle Topics included the following: 

  • Creative Writing Salon with Gillian Kendall
  • This Week in Teaching with Alicia Grubb and Miranda McCarvel
  • Lab Instructors Circle with Marney Pratt
  • Talking Through Remote Teaching: Creating Community, Accountability, Flexibility with Caroline Melly
  • Language Teaching Circle with Ilona Sotnikova
  • Africana and African Studies Course Teaching Circle with Daphe LaMothe
  • Contingent Faculty Teaching Circle with Bona Kang and Caitlin Shepherd

Fall 2020 Teaching Circle Topics included the following:

  • Talking Through Remote Teaching: Creating Community, Accountability, Flexibility with teaching mentors, Liz Pryor (HST) and Caroline Melly (ANT)
  • Contingent Faculty Teaching Circle with Bona Kang (EDC) and Caitlin Shepherd (PSY)
  • First Year Seminar Faculty Teaching Circle with Alice Hearst
  • Laboratory Instructors Teaching Circle with Marney Pratt (BIO)
  • Talking Through J-term Teaching with Sara Pruss (GEO), Liz Pryor (HST), and Caroline Melly (ANT)

Spring 2020 Teaching Circles

Zoom Weekly Teaching Circles Beginning on Friday, April 3–Friday, April 24 via Zoom

  • Pedagogy through Zoom with Liz Pryor (History)
  • The SOCIAL constructivist hour with Al Rudnitsky (Education and Child Study)
  • Considering student well-being in the "remote" classroom with Sara Pruss (Geosciences)
  • Teaching in/with crisis with Caroline Melly (Anthropology)
  • Critical conversations in online classrooms with Peggy O’Neill (School for Social Work)
  • Remote teaching while contingent with Tian An Wong (Math and Statistics) and Bona Kang (Education and Child Study)

Spring 2020 Teaching Circles prior to March 13, 2020

  • Inclusive Teaching in STEM Gateway Courses with Kevin Shea (Chemistry)
  • Constructing Critical Conversations in your Classroom: Creating Change with Peggy O’Neill (School for Social Work)
  • Teaching with Multiple Pedagogies in Traditional and Flat Floored Classrooms with Shannon Audley (Education and Child Study)
  • Sharing Current Teaching Ideas/Challenges with Nicholas Howe (Engineering)
  • Teaching Engaged Global Citizens with Marguerite Itamar Harrison (Spanish and Portugese)
  • Teaching while Contingent with Tian An Wong (Math & Statistics) and Bona Kang (Education)
  • Collaborators Inside and Outside the Classroom with Charlene Shang Miller (Museum of Art) and Jon Caris (Spatial Analysis Lab)
  • Ethics in the Sciences Courses with Stan Scordilis (Biological Sciences)
  • Creative Writing Salon with Andrea Stone (English Language & Literature), Gillian Kendall (English Language & Literature), and Ruth Ozeki (English Language & Literature)
  • Teaching "Blackness"/Black Atlantic/Africa and its Diaspora:  An Africana Studies Teaching Circle with Daphne Lamothe (Africana Studies)
  • EAL Department Teaching Circle with Kim Kono (EAL)
  • Conversation About Instructing Laboratory Classes with Marney Pratt (Biological Sciences)

Fall 2019 Teaching Circles

  • Making Visible the Sometimes Invisible: Teaching and Learning with Disabilities at Smith with Caroline Melly (Anthropology) and Sara Pruss (Geosciences)
  • Inclusive Teaching in STEM Gateway Courses with Kevin Shea (Chemistry)
  • Smith Writes with Julio Alves (Jacobson Center) and Richard Millington (English Language & Literature)
  • Constructing Critical Conversations in your Classroom: Creating Change with Paggy O'Neill (School for Social Work)
  • Teaching while Contingent with Tian An Wong (Math & Statistics) and Bona Kang (Education)
  • Teaching Circle on Teaching in Seelye 301 and other Flat-Floor Classrooms with Shannon Audley (Education)
  • Collaborators Inside and Outside the Classroom with Charlene Shang Miller (Museum of Art) and Jon Caris (Spatial Analysis Lab)
  • Teaching "Blackness"/Black Atlantic/Africa and its Diaspora:  An Africana Studies Teaching Circle with Daphne Lamothe (Africana Studies)
  • Developing and Teaching Soft Skills with Dina Venezky (Non-Degree Programs)
  • Creative Writing Salon with Andrea Stone (English Language & Literature), Gillian Kendall (English Language & Literature), and Ruth Ozeki (English Language & Literature) 
  • Conversation About Instructing Laboratory Classes with Marney Pratt (Biological Sciences)