Dear MTW Participants,
On behalf of the MTW staff, welcome to what promises to be a fantastic retreat away from campus and its many distractions. Our mission is simple: we want participants to focus on teaching. We hope that during this workshop, you embrace the former MTW mantra: Beg, Borrow, and Steal! Make use of your colleagues’ teaching strategies, hone your own, share your philosophies, tips–even assignments–with your colleagues, gain inspiration and develop a support network to help sustain you after our return to campus.
In addition to a tentative schedule, we would like to pass along some informantion regarding what to expect and how to prepare for the workshop.
What to Expect:
Over the course of two and a half days we will focus on our best practices and persistent challenges as educators. The MTW staff have created a schedule of collaborative activities to leverage our individual strengths and improve our teaching. You should expect to come away from the retreat refreshed and inspired to return to the classroom.
The staff have arranged for transportation to and from the college. We expect that all participants will be prepared to leave from the main entrance of the Carlsen Center by 9:00 AM on Tuesday (1/15). We will return to campus on Thursday (1/17) for the remainder of Professional Development Days.
If you plan on leaving your car on campus, the campus police have requested that you park in the northeast lot of the Carlsen Center underground garage. Please send the following information to Bill McFarlane (mcfarlane@jccc.edu): your name, email, make, model, color, tag #, and best contact number during the retreat. The campus police will keep an eye on our vehicles while we are away.
All MTW activities will take place at the Marillac Retreat in Leavenworth. The retreat provides comfortable accommodations and participants are expected to stay overnight on Tuesday and Wednesday. There should be enough rooms for everyone to have their own, but please indicate to us if you would be willing to share a bedroom on the off-chance that the Sisters at Marillac require space for an unexpected emergency, such as a nun passing away and family members coming for a funeral. Meals and snacks throughout the MTW will be provided.
Tentative Schedule
Day One, Jan. 15th
9:00 The participants leave from campus for Marillac
10:00-10:30 Check in, orientation, introduction, and an overview of the MTW schedule
10:30-12:00 Volunteer at the Marillac food pantry
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-2:15 General Session: Teacher That Mattered
2:15-3:00 Break
3:00-6:00 Master Faculty Presentations. Participants will hear five fifteen-minute presentations from Jerry Marcellus, Lori Slavin, Vin Clark, and Darla Green,
who will share their perspectives on teaching at JCCC.
6:00-8:00 Dinner and free time
8:00–9:00 Break-out sessions. Participants choose what session they would like to attend.
9:00– Participants are free to do what they choose but are expected to stay at Marillac for the night.
Day Two, Jan. 16th
7:30-9:00 Breakfast
9:00- 10:15 Teaching demonstrations. Participants will form two groups and present a 10- minute “lesson.”
10:15-10:40 Break
10:45-12:30 Teaching demonstrations continued
12:30-2:00 Break for lunch, provided by MTW
2:00-3:15 Teaching demonstrations. Participants will form new groups and repeate their 10-minute “lesson.”
3:15-3:40 Break
3:45-5:30 Teaching demonstrations continued
5:30-8:00 Reception and dinner for participants, deans, and administrators who have been invited to join us.
8:00-9:00 Evening session to discuss take-aways from teaching demonstrations. What will you beg, borrow, and steal?
Day Three, Jan. 17th
7:30-8:30 Breakfast
9:00 Participants leave for JCCC and are back by 10:00
How to Prepare:
Please think about which teacher most inspired you and why. While many of your former teachers will come to mind, our first general session will ask you to tell the group about just one. Our objective is to think more about what techniques, attitudes, and attributes influence how we teach and interact with students.
Please prepare a 10-minute “lesson” from your subject area/expertise. Your fellow MTW participants will be your students. Marillac has classroom space equipped with necessary audio-visual equipment to help make your demonstration lessons as real as possible. We will spend the majority of our second day of MTW with participants teaching and acting as students, sharing strategies and discussing techniques.
Please choose which of the offered break-out session you would most like to attend on the evening of our first day. This will give our MTW staff a better idea of your interests. Break-out session topics include:
- Barry Heron – Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles
- Rhonda Barlow – Technology for Teaching: Beyond Canvas
- Bill McFarlane – Research Opportunities for Undergraduates
- Michael Carriger –
- Doug Patterson –
- Andrea Broomfield – Books That Mattered (Participants are asked to bring a book to MTW to share with the group that in some fashion has shaped them professionally, intellectually, pedagogically.)
Final Thoughts:
Our goal with MTW is to create a positive, affirming environment where participants feel valued. In this fashion, we can talk frankly and openly about the joys and also the challenges of teaching. Our objective is to leave JCCC politics, gossip, and “bad karma” at home so that the atmosphere at Marillac is what it should be: a retreat. We aspire to create a place to spend time away, where we can clear our minds of clutter, and focus our energies on our best selves as teachers. Participants are required to commit to the full workshop, including overnights and provided transportation. If your plans change and you must pull out of MTW, please let us know promptly so that we can consider other applicants. Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.
Sincerely,
Bill, Michael, Andrea, Barry, Rhonda, Doug, and Farrell.