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  • 1.  IMPACTful Discussions: Supporting Community

    Posted 18 days ago

    What supports your involvement in professional growth and transformation communities? Is it structured department routines like weekly check-ins, attending regional or national conferences, engaging on social media, connecting through myAMATYC communities, or having regularly scheduled conversations-virtual or in-person-with peers? Share what works for you!



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    Karen Gaines
    myAMATYC Online Community Coordinator
    Professor Emeritus - St. Louis CC
    Kirkwood MO
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  • 2.  RE: IMPACTful Discussions: Supporting Community

    Posted 13 days ago

    Karen, I love this question. I think for me weekly check-ins is too much during the school year. Occasionally, I will set up something with a colleague on campus, but once a week is still hard. I get so much out of regional and national conferences - that is my go to, but I really like the idea of having a regularly scheduled meeting maybe small groups once a month. I always get such a rush of excitement after a conference but it sometime tapers off in the weeks that follow. I think having something scheduled in between those conference times would be beneficial to so many. It might also be an encouragement to attend one of the regional or national meeting after hearing what others learned and want to take into their classrooms. 



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    Kimberly Walters
    Instructor II
    Mississippi State Univ
    Mississippi State MS
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: IMPACTful Discussions: Supporting Community

    Posted 13 days ago

    Thanks for the question. The most impactful for me has been the AMATYC community, primarily the conferences but also ANETs, particularly the ones I follow. I am not on social media, so maybe I'm missing some of the dialog. Our college has a Center for Teaching and Learning excellence which plans professional development. Disclaimer: Last two years, I was part of the team that developed the programs and scheduled guest speakers/workshops. It was wonderful.

    I would like regularly scheduled conversations with peers - specially across colleges, maybe within short driving distance. But I am not sure how to cultivate it. Anyone has successfully connected with neighboring colleges?



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    Manisha Ranade
    Associate Professor
    Santa Fe College
    Gainesville FL
    https://portfolium.com/manisharanade
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: IMPACTful Discussions: Supporting Community

    Posted 12 days ago

    I identify with Manisha's desire for regularly scheduled conversations with peers; this is certainly how I have built my professional communities over the years. (I.m also not on social media. :-)) One way I have cultivated community is by choosing (and choice is important) a couple of colleagues teaching the same course and meeting with them regularly to plan and design class activities. I miss this type of natural learning community when I teach a course without multiple sections -- as I do now. However, I am a netweaver -- and I am always looking for colleagues with shared commitments about teaching and learning mathematics. Currently, I am organizing people across my state who teach the mathematics courses for pre-service elementary teachers and some of our amazing mathematics specialists in the K-12 districts to focus on creating OER materials around one topic in these courses -- data and statistical reasoning. For me, this will be a learning experience because teaching these topics are evolving in the K-12 curriculum and my experience teaching these topics is limited. 

    So two things are important to me about developing thriving learning communities: (1) find the people you want to learn with, and (2) use practical, goal-driven activities to guide your learning. 



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    Ann Sitomer
    Senior Researcher
    STEM Research Center
    Oregon State University
    Corvallis OR
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: IMPACTful Discussions: Supporting Community

    Posted 10 days ago

    I'd like to share several ways beyond the more conventional conferences, meetings, etc. that many of my colleagues engage in to promote community. We host an annual conference at our college for our K-12 community partners as well as other community college faculty in Arizona. We call it the Excellence in Mathematics Conference and it takes place the first Saturday of March each year. We have a keynote speaker who opens the conference. This is followed by breakout sessions targeting specific courses or grade levels. Then, the keynote speaker closes the conference. The college supports this effort financially.

    We also host a junior high and high school math competition each year on Super Bowl Saturday. Our math faculty serve as judges as visiting students engage in a focused problem solving situation, write their responses/solutions on whiteboards, and present their work to the judges. Student teams of up to 4 can earn a rating of Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze based on the judges discretion. We give detailed feedback to the students based upon their work. 

    Both of these events serve our community but also work to engage the CGCC faculty in community outreach. Working together in these ways has created a strong community where CGCC serves as a "hub" of Excellence in Mathematics in our community.



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    Scott Adamson
    Chandler-Gilbert CC
    Chandler AZ
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: IMPACTful Discussions: Supporting Community

    Posted 4 days ago

    Last year my department decided to try building community by encouraging more classroom visits. We created a simple sign-up poster that is posted in a shared space, where instructors can add their class (and indicate if it is "open" or "closed" for any given week), and other instructors can sign up to visit.

    We found that class visits (note we distinguished these from an "observation" so it felt less formal or evaluative) sparked great conversations, and we developed a deeper appreciation of our peers' work and our students' experiences.



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    Scot Pruyn
    Mathematics Faculty & Learning Center Coordinator
    Clackamas Community College
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: IMPACTful Discussions: Supporting Community

    Posted 2 days ago

    Scot:

    What a great idea.  Observing each other's classes builds trust and focuses departmental attention on teaching and learning.  It builds trust and community.  If you are not careful, you may find that you are looking forward to department meetings.

    Dennis



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    Dennis Ebersole
    Professor
    Northampton CC retired
    Bethlehem PA
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    Original Message


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