Apprenticeship in College Teaching at Boston College Program Description: Graduate students who decide to complete the program will

demonstrate their commitment to their students and to their own futures as academics. Through seminars and workshops, they will become familiar with useful teaching techniques and develop confidence in their abilities as teachers. Through meetings with faculty in their departments and careful teaching observations, they will become knowledgeable about teaching in their disciplines. By developing a syllabus and a teaching portfolio, they will become reflective and intentional teachers, able to discuss their teaching philosophy and techniques with prospective employers. Workshops Attended: 2013 - 2014 Teaching Orientation Grading Fairly Grades can be a powerful tool in teaching, but students must feel that they are being graded fairly. In this seminar, we will explore ways to make sure that you are very clear in your expectations and about the ways you will be grading. What are your criteria for an assignment? What will an A look like? And a B? Will you grade on a curve? Do you accept extra credit? What is the average grade at BC? And in your department? We will go over some basics of grading and then discuss cases that touch on difficult areas in grading. Leading Discussions This interactive workshop will focus on how to get discussions started, generate good questions and handle difficult topics. Teaching Observations: Observing and Being Observed Observing others teach and receiving feedback on our own teaching are extremely valuable experiences. To get the most out of a teaching observation, however, it is important to prepare. If you are going to be the observer, you may want to develop a checklist of important things to look for. Does the teacher involve students interactively? Does he or she use PowerPoint effectively? How many points does the teacher cover before pausing to ask a question? When you are being observed, you may have specific things youd like the observer to watch for, such as whether the students seem engaged with the material or if your questions lead to good discussions. In this session, we will go over various ways that you can construct observations that will be most useful to you. Creating a Teaching Portfolio A portfolio is the showcase of your teaching development. It is your opportunity to show the world what happens in your classroom. Your students leave at the end of each semesterwhat will you have left to show prospective employers? A

teaching portfolio is the place to collect artifacts of your teaching and to demonstrate your philosophy and approach to your discipline. This workshop will introduce the important elements of a teaching portfolio, using examples of hardcopy and online portfolios. The second half of the workshop will help you get started on your teaching philosophy statement, the heart of any portfolio. Managing Your Classroom No matter what your discipline, managing students is a part of teaching. This session will cover all sorts of practical questions, such as what to do about laptops in class, late arrivals, students who have special needs or situations and students who have to miss class because of athletic schedules or other outside obligations. We will also discuss difficult conversations that can arise around race or sexual orientation or in response to situations that occur on campus or in the world. Designing e-portfolios A design lab to help you get an online portfolio up and running. Effective Lecturing In this interactive workshop presenters will demonstrate and discuss the strengths of different lecture styles, and incorporating presentation slides and media. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss what has worked for them in their own classrooms and also explore challenges and areas for continued growth.

Designing/Redesigning Your Syllabus In this interactive workshop, participants will go through the steps of planning a syllabus. The first step is articulating your goals for the course: What do you want your students to achieve? What should they be able to do by the end of the class? Next youll plan out how they will reach these goalswhat will they read, do, write? How much can you reasonably expect them to do for each class? Finally, what observable behaviors (tests, papers, projects) will let you know that you and your students have achieved the course goals? How will you evaluate and grade them? In this interactive session, students will articulate their goals and begin work on the steps to achieving them. We will also go over important components such as policies on attendance, late papers, accommodations for disabilities and academic integrity. We will have a syllabus checklist. ! For more information about the Apprenticeship in College Teaching Program at Boston College please visit their website at: http://www.bc.edu/libraries/help/tutoring/ACT.html !