Spring Workshops and Events

CTLT’s spring workshops and events are free and open to all faculty and to AP, civil service, and graduate students on campus. Please note that non-faculty may be put on a wait list for some workshops until 1 business day before the event.

Need help finding the right events? Most workshops are tagged with one or more of CTLT's Keys to Enhanced Teaching.

If you have questions, please email CTLT@ilstu.edu. If you need a special accommodation to fully participate in an event, please call the CTLT main desk at (309) 438-2542.

CTLT’s Foundations of Diversity seminars tackle tough questions involving culture, identity, and responsive teaching in a friendly, non-threatening environment. This seminar series can give faculty and staff an essential start in understanding issues that aren’t always easy to talk about. Attend as many or a few as you can. Participants who complete all sessions receive a certificate of recognition.

Implicit Bias

Location: Williams Hall 308

Friday, January 31 • Noon to 1:30 p.m.

Facilitator:
Mayuko Nakamura, Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology

Implicit bias is our unconscious tendency to judge people based on past experiences. Even when we’re mindful of diversity and inclusion, it is hard for us to notice our implicit bias until we encounter the situations where it is activated. In this workshop, explore the nature of implicit bias and discover strategies to minimize bias in the classroom and in the workplace. Participants are welcome to bring a lunch to this discussion. Registration is required.

This workshop falls under the AAC&U High-Impact Educational Practice of Diversity/Global Learning.

Microaggressions

Location: Williams Hall 308

Friday, February 28 • Noon to 1:30 p.m.

Facilitators:
Dakesa Pina, Student Counseling Service
Mayuko Nakamura, Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology

Microaggressions are small acts with potentially big effects—little behaviors that communicate hostile or derogatory slights towards a person or a group of people. These acts may be intentional or unintentional. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to identify microaggressions and explore the role they play on our campus. You’ll leave this seminar with a better understanding of the psychological impact these types of communications can have on others and how best to respond when a microaggression occurs. Participants are welcome to bring a lunch to this discussion. Registration is required.

This workshop falls under the AAC&U High-Impact Educational Practice of Diversity/Global Learning.

Privilege and Power

Location: Williams Hall 308

Friday, March 20 • Noon to 1:30 p.m.

Facilitators:
David Adams, Student Counseling Service
Mayuko Nakamura, Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology

How do privilege and power function through society, and how does it affect you, personally? By reflecting on this, you can identify strategies to become more inclusive in your teaching and in the workplace. This seminar will help you better understand your own multiple identities and the presence and absence of privileges based on your identities. By the end of the workshop, you will be able to analyze how privilege and power exist and function in U.S. culture and how they impact your view of the world. Participants are welcome to bring a lunch to this discussion. Registration is required.

This workshop falls under the AAC&U High-Impact Educational Practice of Diversity/Global Learning.

Creating Classroom Culture for International Students’ Success

Location: Williams Hall 308

Friday, April 10 • 10 a.m. to noon

Facilitator:
John Baldwin, Communication

Creating an open, respectful community is key to helping all students, especially international students, experience deep, powerful learning. In this workshop, you’ll discuss many of the issues international students face in the classroom. Learn to facilitate the development of both student to student and student to teacher relationships. You’ll leave this workshop understanding how to negotiate power and distance in relationships to create a truly effective learning environment. Registration is required.

This workshop falls under the AAC&U High-Impact Educational Practice of Diversity/Global Learning.

Provide Meaningful Feedback to International Student Writers

Location: Williams Hall 308

Friday, April 3 • 10 a.m. to noon

Facilitator:
Kasia Stadnik, School of Teaching and Learning

Explore how to effectively work with the multilingual writers found in diverse college classrooms. In this workshop, we will discuss optimal ways to respond to second language writers in order to help international students to gain skills to succeed in the United States. Participants will also leave the workshop with ideas and resources for meaningful writing tasks and effective feedback strategies that they can develop and implement in their classrooms. Registration is required.

This workshop falls under the AAC&U High-Impact Educational Practices of Diversity/Global Learning and Writing Intensive Courses.

Create Documents Accessible to All Students

Location: Williams Hall 325

Wednesday, January 22 • 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Facilitators:
Jen Bethmann, Administrative Technologies
Sarah Metivier, Student Access and Accommodation Services

Take a step-by-step approach to the creation of digital documents and other accessible content. You will leave this workshop with tips and tricks for creating emails, documents, and media that are universally designed for all students. Learn about basic formatting, images, color contrast, and the best way save PDFs files using Acrobat Pro. Bring your own documents for the question and answer session. Registration is required.

Create Universally Designed PowerPoints

Location: Williams Hall 325

Wednesday, February 5 • 10 a.m. to noon

Facilitators:
Jen Bethmann, Administrative Technologies
Greg Maier, Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology
Sarah Metivier, Student Access and Accommodation Services

This workshop will show how to leverage PowerPoint to create universally designed course materials so that students may experience all your lessons have to offer. Attendees will learn to choose appropriate templates, add alt text to images, and utilize best practices for audio and video content as well as charts and graphs. Registration is required.

Note: Participants should already be comfortable using PowerPoint before attending this workshop. For workshops covering PowerPoint basics, visit CTLT’s Technology Short Courses page.

Close Captioning Your Videos

Location: Williams Hall 325

Wednesday, March 18 • 10 a.m. to noon

Facilitators:
Jen Bethmann, Administrative Technologies
Greg Maier, Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology
Sarah Metivier, Student Access and Accommodation Services

Discover how to create closed-captioned course videos using Screencast-O-Matic and YouTube. Attendees will also learn how to share those videos on ReggieNet through the Office 365 video channel. There will be a time for Q & A at the end of the workshop. Registration is required.

Note: Participants should already be comfortable using Screencast-O-Matic Pro before attending this workshop. For workshops covering Screencast-O-Matic basics, visit CTLT’s Technology Short Courses page.

Respond to Challenging Moments and Foster Meaningful Dialogue

Location: Stevenson 401A

Wednesday, February 12 • Noon to 1 p.m.

Location: Williams Hall 308

Wednesday, March 18 • 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Facilitators:
Dana Karraker, Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology
Mayuko Nakamura, Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology

Learn strategies that will help you intervene in harmful or toxic conversations in your classrooms and engage your students in dialogue that fosters an understanding of multiple perspectives. You’ll get a chance to practice with colleagues and identify campus resources to draw upon. Illinois State is committed to ensuring that all students can learn in an environment that is safe, inclusive, and includes the expectation that students act in a mutually respectful manner towards each other.

This workshop falls under the AAC&U High-Impact Educational Practice of Diversity/Global Learning.

Mental Health First Aid

Location: Williams Hall 308

Monday, February 3 • 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Monday, February 10 • 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Facilitators:
Sharon Mills, Central Illinois Area Health Education Center (AHEC)
Valerie Wright, Mennonite College of Nursing

Mental health issues are the fourth largest reason students leave Illinois State University. In fact, you are more likely to encounter someone in an emotional or mental crisis than someone having a heart attack. Mental Health First Aid teaches you how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders.

During this two-day training, you will learn the ALGEE five-step action plan to offer initial help to people with the signs and symptoms of a mental illness or in a crisis and connect them with the appropriate care.

Participants who complete the two-day training will receive a book and certificate of completion.

Lunch will be included.

Early Career Development Circle

CTLT's Early-Career Faculty Circles offer faculty in their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd year of service at ISU a combination of professional development and peer support. Join us for a series of lively conversations about surviving and thriving in the academy. Come to either the Wednesday or Thursday session.

Future Professors Development Circle

Explore pedagogical issues, effective and disruptive teaching strategies, and gain confidence in your ability to teach at the college level. This professional development circle helps graduate students to teach in the academy, whether they are currently teaching, working as a teaching assistant, or considering teaching as a career path. Share teaching tips, tricks, and get support from other future professors.

Learning Communities are small groups of faculty and staff (5-12 members) who meet regularly each semester to discuss specific topics of shared interest or to meet the needs of specific groups. Topics this semester include:

Assessing and Grading without Points
Civic Engagement
Diversity
eLiterate Professor
Encouraging Critical Thinking Development
Global Teaching and Learning
Multicultural Alliance at Work
Small Change, Big Impact
Teaching about Race and Racism in the College Classroom
Technology Enhanced Teaching
Wise Women

Browse the descriptions and contact a learning community facilitator to learn about meeting times.

Technology Short Courses are just that-- one to three hour workshops to that focus on specific technologies, mainly software and web-based applications. These are hands-on training sessions, so registration is required and seating may be limited. They are open to all faculty, staff, and graduate students. Popular topics include:

For times, details, and to register for a session, select a link above.

CTLT offers a number of consultation services to help you identify what’s working… and what needs further work… in your approaches to teaching. Not sure what type of consultation will help you find what you’re looking for? Email CTLT@ilstu.edu to set up a time to speak one-on-one with a CTLT coordinator. You can follow the links below fore more details on specific kinds of consultations.

Accessibility Consultations: Work with a member of the CTLT staff to assess your course content in terms of its accessibility for those with special needs. Accessibility Consultations identify ways you can improve the accessibility of your course materials, especially those communicated through web-based or other electronic channels.
Midterm Chats: Midterm Chats, also referred to as "Small Group Instructional Diagnoses," allow you to see your course through the eyes of your students—at midterm, while there’s still time to make adjustments and improve student learning.
Video (Ad)Vantage: Watch yourself teach. With Video (Ad)Vantage, we’ll videotape your class and guide you through an informed viewing of the result.
Classroom Observations: See your classroom through the eyes of a professional observer or invite a colleague to observe your teaching. Find out more about Classroom Observations.
Online/Blended Course Review: Through our Online/Blended Course Review, you’ll be able to see your blended or online course through the eyes of a professional consultant.
Instructional Strategy Consultations: Our Instructional Strategy Consultations let you sit down with a member of the CTLT staff to begin a systematic approach to dealing with a teaching/learning issue in your classroom.