Lake Forest College News
Final call for participation in LTC Teaching Shapes program
The Learning and Teaching Center invites you to participate in the teaching triangles (squares/circles/parallelograms) program. This is a great opportunity for you to observe your colleagues and be observed by them, without supervisory evaluation.
It works like this: a group of three or four instructors assembles for an initial meeting. Over lunch, paid for by the LTC, you’ll share syllabi, strengths and weaknesses of your course, special considerations, and so on. You’ll schedule visits to each other’s courses. When you have visited and been visited, you’ll meet again (another free lunch) and share your observations about what you saw, what worked, what didn’t work, and what you might try in the future. Although I’ll be present at your group meetings, I won’t visit your classes.
Any faculty member who wishes to reflect on her or his teaching is invited: adjuncts, full-time or part-time professors who are tenured, tenure-track, or those in a one-year or continuing position. The teaching groups can be organized around particular concerns (teaching in a foreign language? intro courses?) or can attract those who have no specific concerns. It is best to do this across divisions, although that is not always possible, but we’ll avoid observations within departments.
Although the LTC holds in confidence the names of those who participate in teaching groups as well as any information about the groups’ activities, we can tell you that everyone who has participated has expressed great satisfaction. It’s a valuable opportunity to see what your colleagues are doing, note their challenges and what they do well, pick up useful techniques, and think more about your own teaching. Since this is not your department chair or a senior departmental colleague conducting a formal evaluation, the visits are stress-free.
