Getting to Know the Center:
Mid-September is a time when the semester is in full gear, and we may or may not be ready to think about the upcoming change in seasons. At The Center, we are here to help you think about what you may or may not want to do with your professional development learning and goals this year. We aim to provide a community of support, so if you have any questions or want to be connected with additional support for your professional development goals, please let us know. For those faculty who kicked off the 12-week semester, we wish you a happy first week!
Our Work--The Center and You!
It's Teaching Action Plan (TAP) Time!
As the back and forth of the beginning of the semester is starting to settle down, now is a good time to take action on your Teaching Action Plan (TAP).
The purpose of Peer Coaching and the Teaching Action Plan is to provide guidance and direction for the professional development activities throughout your FQAS cycle. The TAP fosters a growth-mindset by allowing you to capture the full process of professional development from skills development and renewal to classroom application, so that you can obtain feedback and reflect on what worked well, what didn’t work, what no longer works, and what could work with some adjustments. In the TAP, you are asked to set professional development goals that apply to the classroom; however, the goals that you set may grow and adapt as you start to implement your newly-acquired professional development skill set into the classroom. The TAP process has an embedded flexibility to give you the professional respect you deserve in a quality review process that embraces all levels of self-reflection and feedback.
The TAP is a framework for the application of individualized professional development; it is designed to:
- Help you develop and organize your goals for fostering student success
- Identify and connect with a peer coach
- Apply your professional development FQAS into the classroom
- Chart your progress throughout the academic year
As a COS Developer, we need your help in order to ensure that faculty have access to their curriculum throughout the course of the year (when the COS is in WIP, faculty do not have access to the course’s curriculum and cannot view the COS!). You can do this by making sure the COSes, which you are responsible for, are submitted by the deadline. Developers whose COSes are on the three-year COS Review cycle were emailed in September. Faculty are encouraged to engage in meaningful curricular discussions.
New this year: The Curriculum department has hired a new staff member who is dedicated to reviewing the COSes you submit for review. This will allow for a faster review of your submitted COSes and will allow you a consultation if there are any changes required in your submitted COS. The Curriculum department is excited to offer you this added COS support!
Below is a suggested timeline to help you navigate the COS Review Cycle.
MATC Professional Development Opportunities:
MATC offers a wide-range of professional development courses in a variety of delivery modes and durations as part of our efforts to design meaningful professional development that provides just-in-time training opportunities for you to explore what you need when you need it. All of our courses are free to MATC faculty and eligible for FQAS hours, so that you can plan and develop your own professional development goals and outcomes.
This workshop is designed for COS Developers (those who create/edit COSs) who would like a refresher in learning the current requirements of a COS and the most efficient way to create/edit them. It is also designed for newly assigned developers.This workshop is scheduled so you can attend virtually (through Zoom) or in-person at the Center for Teaching Excellence (room M201 of the Downtown Campus). Faculty, Developers, Department Chairs, and Instructional Chairs involved in the COS development process are highly encouraged to attend this workshop as needed. Workshops have been scheduled during a wide variety of days, and faculty can attend virtually or in-person at the Milwaukee campus, to allow for faculty teaching schedules. Please click the Registration link to sign-up regardless of whether you will attend virtually or in-person. Upon completion, the COS Reboot workshop qualifies for 2 FQAS hours in the Student Success/Teaching Excellence category.
DEI Book Read, Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Thursday, September 28th, 12:00-1:00pm
Evicted tells the story of eight real families in Milwaukee who were caught in the affordable housing crisis. The book is a stark and unflinching portrait of poverty in America and draws on firsthand accounts of real events Desmond either witnessed or heard about while conducting field research for the book. This session will cover Part One, Rent and Part Two, Out of Evicted.
Intro to Blackboard (ZERD-190)
This introductory course introduces you to the Ultra Course base navigation, gradebook functions, and foundations of adding content, assessments, communications, and activities to a course. Faculty may enroll in our free professional development course to learn how to use Blackboard Ultra tools for teaching and learning online.
Collaboration Connection:
The Pulse Survey and You!
Did you know you have an opportunity to give direct input to the college that assesses employees' perceptions of MATC's current cultural climate? The Pulse survey is 8 questions long and only takes a few minutes to complete. Since this data is used to inform strategic planning and other key initiatives, the faculty voice and perspective is important. Faculty have the primary interaction with students at the college, so our input is vital to help the college more effectively serve students!
Please complete by Friday, September 29. All responses are anonymous.
Friendly Reminders:
MATC Helping Professions Career & Internship Fair
When? Monday, October 9, 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Where? Downtown Campus (700 W State St, Milwaukee, WI, 53233) Room M605
Who? Students/Alumni in the Community & Human Services and Healthcare pathways or students looking to explore careers!
Participating in career fairs provides students a chance to network, enhance communication with employers, and secure job/internship prospects. Students can sign up for this event via Handshake for a chance to win a prize. Students should bring a resume and have the Handshake app on their phones. They can contact the CareerHub at careerhub@matc.edu for assistance or view one of the following resources:
Keeping You Posted:
Office Supplies for Faculty Available!
Part-time and full-time faculty may obtain standard supplies from any of the three Faculty Resource Centers at the regional campuses or from the Center for Teaching Excellence on the Downtown Milwaukee Campus. Any specific needs for supplies not in this list should be directly requested through the faculty member’s Pathway. All MATC staff members should continue their normal process of requesting office supplies through their department.
Additional Professional Development Opportunities:
2023 WTCS Faculty Summit
The Wisconsin Technical College System Office is excited to host the first Faculty Summit. This fully virtual, free event is focused on innovations throughout the system, and is intended for faculty, presented by faculty, with topics that impact faculty. We invite you to share new ideas that you’ve implemented in the classroom that resulted in positive impacts on students and performance. Innovations may come from new classroom activities, integration of "take aways" from previous professional learning, trial & error experiences, faculty fellows projects, professional learning community activities, action research, scholarly research, etc. We encourage sessions that connect to the core Faculty Quality Assurance System (FQAS) focuses of:
- Curriculum & Assessment
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Student Success
- Teaching Methods
Proposals are due by Friday, September 29th! Please review the rubric to be used by the selection committee. to ensure you are submitting your best proposal!
The summit is being held over two days, offering different times to support both full and part time/adjunct faculty:
Wednesday, November 8, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Friday, November 10, 9:00am - 12:00 pm
Please join us for this professional learning opportunity to learn from and connect with your colleagues from across the System. This is a great opportunity to support ongoing FQAS professional development requirements!
Are you looking for effective brain-based strategies to help you reach Dual Credit high school students?
This series of 2 webinars is for college instructors who are teaching dual credit students. We know that students who participate in Start College Now and other college coursework are motivated to succeed! Whether you are a new instructor or you have experience working with high school students, attend either or both of these sessions to learn and practice proven brain-based strategies to help you reach high school learners. There is no cost to attend this event! Dr. Clavon Byrd, an Instruction and Leadership Coach and Consultant, will provide these sessions.
Friday, September 22, 1:00-2:30, Session 1: Brain-Based Instructional Strategies During Adol-ES-SE-N-CE
This interactive workshop is designed for higher education professionals who work with high school aged students. This workshop addresses meaningful outcomes, which may be used immediately with high school aged students. Program participants will be able to:
Describe adolescent brain structureDescribe how adolescent brain structure affects learningIdentify brain-based instructional strategies to maximize learning for high school aged studentsThis workshop is designed for higher education professionals who work with high school aged students; it builds on the foundations of adolescent brain structure and their impact on meaningful instruction explored in the previous session. Participants will engage in individual and/or small team guided practice to plan a meaningful brain-based lesson to support adolescent learning. Specifically, program participants will use the Ignite-Chunk-Chew-Review (Hammond) framework to build their lesson plans. Participants are encouraged to bring curriculum materials to this workshop, including: texts/articles, websites, semester outlines, etc.
Inspiration, Research, and Best Practices
Part of The Center’s mission is to keep you informed about current best practices and pedagogical approaches. Each issue of Center Connections includes links that are meant to be engaging, thought-provoking, and applicable to various classroom environments. For information on MATC's free access to Magna Commons publications, please see The Center's website. Enjoy the rabbit hole!
Looking for previous issues of Center Connections?
Milwaukee Area Technical College
The Center for Teaching Excellence
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