Enough About Me: The Age of Resolutions

Happy New Year, and happy new semester! It's been great to have a little time to reflect on and recuperate from the fall. 

Old-fashioned classroom with wooden desks and attached benches. Teaching goal for a future year: Have a class here.

I'm not teaching this semester, which is a peculiar sort of joy. I love thinking about teaching when I'm not currently doing it, because everything is in the future; I can get any idea or learn about any resource and have the opportunity to put it into a future plan in a way I rarely have time to consider when I'm actually in the midst of a course. It gives me more space to devote to planning and making connections. To fill some part of this space, I have a few teaching-related goals for the year: 

Finish the Graduate Teacher Certificate through the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning.

For some time I've been slowly working toward pursuing this certificate. The Graduate Teacher Certificate requires two semesters of teaching, as well as an observation and discussion with a CITL representative or a faculty member, some participation in teaching workshops, and conducting and reflecting on student evaluations. After completing the observation with History's Graduate Teaching Mentor Dana Rabin, and receiving both informal early feedback and end of semester ICES forms from students in fall, all I need to do to complete the first certificate is to fine-tune my written reflections on observation and evaluation of my teaching this semester. 

Start on the Teacher Scholar Certificate. 

The Teacher Scholar Certificate is a step above the Graduate Teacher Certificate, and is available to both graduate and faculty instructors. It requires an extra semester of teaching, some form of departmental or disciplinary service, and more extensive written reflections on pedagogy, service, and teaching philosophy. I'm looking forward to working on this-- it's a nice thing to put on a curriculum vitae, but pursuing these certificates has also given me permission to invest time in learning more about teaching. 

Go to two teaching workshops, lectures, or discussion groups.

I think I've mentioned before that when I'm stuck in my writing, going to a lecture or other event, even if unrelated to what I do, can be hugely helpful. It leads me to consider my own evidence or argument in new ways, learn something about structure from the choices the presenter has made, or just spend an hour learning something without trying to fit it into what I'm currently trying to do. Going to teaching related events could be similarly helpful for current writing and future plans; moreover, it may also allow me to make connections with other folks interested in talking about teaching.

Invest time in current teaching conversations and scholarship.

The other goals are pretty specific; this one is a more general intention to realign some habits of thought around what I read and write. Many of the things I find most helpful when teaching is looking backwards at when I was a student. It's no surprise that my dissertation continually comes back to people acting and forming their priorities out of their own lived experience; I'm already interested in the many ways this can be fruitful in everyday life. As one must be a student before one can be a teacher, it's often a helpful way to think about this relationship. Yet there's also a huge world out there about the scholarship of teaching and learning, and writing about ways to grapple with teaching, and it's wasteful to ignore the resources and strategy it can provide. I want to pick up more books about designing assignments, strategizing objectives, and communicating expectations this year. 


Here's my challenge to you-- are there any teaching or learning related goals that you've wanted an excuse to explore? Consider this an offer of permission to value those things enough to try them this year.