The first Faculty Friday in 2021 is in the books. Here are some of the resources shared. We decided to continue these meetings into this semester - all are welcome to join.
Fridays, noon, https://gwu-edu.zoom.us/j/96451210782
Discussing recent events with students
We primarily discussed the Capitol insurgence on January 6th and how to navigate student anxiety, student frustration, and the teachable moment the event presents for each of our subject matter areas. Several in the group requested a share of articles that are potential readings to help facilitate classroom discussion about these recent events. Articles shared so far were shared in a separate post.
Reflections about community engagement as relationships
Phyllis and Erica, who both have students work with Kyle Bacon from US Dream Academy shared a resource that he uses to discuss quality of relationships with students. It may be helpful for others wanting to facilitate this conversation. Access it here: https://gwu.box.com/s/aj0jq9gbap3b41fjhslydqbewiweiy0s
Democratic Courses or Courses Co-Created with Students
The conversation also brought up the benefits of flexible, democratic approaches to course design, that involve students in some levels of course co-creation. Several faculty in the meeting involve students in conversations about what they would like the course to include, particularly related to the contexts or social issues they would like to analyze as they learn to course-related concepts and theories.
Pam Presser shared information about Labor-Based grading, which many in the University Writing program use: https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/labor/
Wendy Wagner shared resources on democratic classrooms, and in particular the practice of co-creating courses with students, which integrates nicely with community engagement courses. This particular article describes one professors approach, citing several key sources for those who are interested in going down this rabbit-hole. https://www.collegestar.org/modules/co-creating-course-syllabi
