April Newsletter

Monday Motivation: Caffeine, sweets, and a useful handout  
7:45 - 9:15, AH 115 
Stay and chat, or just stop by and pick up what you need. (Bring your own mug, if you think of it; teabags now available, by popular demand!)

Handout for Monday, April 17: Transparent assignments checklist (feel free to stop by for a snack even if you've already done the workshop!)  
Handout for Monday, April 24: Establishing and Maintaining a Positive Classroom Climate (handouts from previous weeks are also available!) 



Candid Conversations--Triggers, today at 4, Wilson House"Triggers: what they are; what they aren't" 

Talk with your colleagues and with Janell McGruder, Director of Counseling Services, about your classroom experiences and your questions and concerns about triggers in the classroom. Planned topics include:

• Triggers: a brief overview
• First day of class strategies to help along the way
• Academic freedom and trigger warnings
• When situations arise: practical strategies to reactions to triggers in and out of the classroom

  Summer funding from CoFR

• The due date for funding proposals for research and creative work for summer was Friday, April 14. If you intended to apply but missed the deadline, please email Mary today with as much information as you can provide--or just alert her that you've submitted a late application; the application is here. (Please use the 16 - 17 form even if your project is for next fiscal year. A new form will be rolling out this summer.)
• Requests for Mellon Faculty Career Enhancement grants are reviewed on a rolling basis, but sooner is better. Information on the various types of grants and how to apply can be found here. Don't hesitate to ask questions about what might be fundable.
• CoFR will start reviewing proposals for fall funding later this term; watch the newsletter for more information.
• Conference travel through June 30: all deadlines for conference travel requests have passed. Contact Mary at facultydevelopment@knox.edu if a special last-minute opportunity has arisen.
• Conference travel after June 30: Use this year's CTA form; I'll put your request into the proper spreadsheet and fill you in about how to get your expenses reimbursed.

This Friday @4: John Dooley, E117 SMC

"Manly and Rickert – Breaking the Waberski Cipher" As is the custom, conversation and lovely refreshments at 4; talk at 4:15. 


Mark your calendar--Candid Conversations: Academic Accommodations  (Monday May 8, 4 pm in Wilson House)

Talk with your colleagues and with Stephanie Grimes, Director of Disability Services, about your experiences, questions, and concerns about academic accommodations. Planned topics include:

• How many Knox students need accommodations? How many use them?  What do they need?
• why  the College is legally obligated to provide accommodations
• how the process works *before* a faculty member is sent information about a student's accommodations
• what should faculty do if they're not sure how to accommodate a particular need
• situations in which faculty might not think to ask for help

Teaching consultations

Have a thorny teaching issue? Trying to make sense of midterm evaluations? Have a fabulous idea you need to bounce off of someone or figure out how to implement? I'm here to help, and it's all totally confidential. Email Mary at facultydevelopment@knox.edu with your question, or to set up a time to chat.

Need to learn a new technical tool? 

Feel you aren't quite up to speed on some software? Don't have time to attend a formal class?  Lynda.com is for you!  Lynda offers video based lessons on hundreds of topics - in 3 - 5 minute blocks.  Knox has 10 licenses for Lynda.com--just contact submit a ticket at the ITS Service Desk . Courses include Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher, Google Apps, Photoshop, InDesign, Premier, Acrobat, Moodle, Snagit, and Camtasia.  

Useful links

• Some tips on helping students think more about learning, not so much about grades: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/five-ways-get-students-thinking-learning-not-grades

• For those of you who assign problems, from Tomorrow's Professor, an excerpt from a book I highly recommend: Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can Incorporate into Any Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study Skills, and Motivation, by Sandra Yancy McGuire with Stephanie McGuire: https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/147

• A nice summation of some of the main ideas in James M. Lang's Small Teaching (also highly recommended)  https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1769-mastering-the-boring-basics?cid=wcontentlist

The Spring 2017 ACM Notes newsletter 

can be found at http://www.acm.edu/ACMNotes-Spring2017.  Highlights include:

• Tanzania program's new location improves students' access to fieldwork sites.
• Students in the GSEF program from all 14 ACM colleges have received their summer research placements.
• With a FaCE grant, three faculty created tutorials and case studies in data science that are available online.
• Students from seven colleges received awards in the Nick Adams Short Story Contest and Off-Campus Study Photo Contest.
• Videos highlight students talking about academics, homestays, and student life on the Costa Rica programs.
• Save money on hotels by using discounted rates arranged by ACM.

Call for Applicants: Museum Re-Imaginings: Teaching through the Development of a Virtual College Museum (at Macalester College)  

Macalester is hosting an ACM FaCE-sponsored professional development workshop entitled Museum Re-Imaginings: Teaching through the Development of a Virtual College Museum, and is currently seeking participants. The link above includes a detailed description of the project, and a brief overview can be found below. Dates: June 28th - 30th, 2017 Eligibility: ACM Faculty and Staff who contribute to the curriculum. We have space for 15 participants with a maximum of three per school. What's included: Transportation costs to Minneapolis/St. Paul up to $350. Local transportation. Lodging for two nights and meals for all three days. How to apply: We encourage teams of two or three participants to email us a brief letter describing each member's background and interest/experience in museums. Deadline for applications: Friday, May 12th Please send any questions or application materials to Scott Legge at slegge@macalester.edu.