Teaching Conversations

All full-time and part-time faculty are invited to participate in the Teaching Conversations program, a series of six workshops across the full academic year offered online through Zoom.  

The Teaching Conversations (TC) program offers workshops topics covering multiple areas of the learning and teaching experience at UNG while fostering camaraderie and promoting teaching excellence and professional development. One of the most beneficial aspects of the program arises in the sharing of experiences and insights from our classroom practices.  

Certificates

In order to qualify for a program certificate, Teaching Conversations participants must attend a minimum of four of the six sessions offered during the academic year and answer some reflective questions about each session. After attending the required number of sessions, faculty must complete a two-page assessment of how program content influenced practices. If you must miss a required session, please make every attempt to contact CTLL prior to the session or up to a week after the session so alternative accommodations can be made. In most cases, you will be requested to register for another upcoming session if possible. A certificate cannot be earned by anyone who does not attend at least three sessions in person.

Register for and attend at least four of the six sessions.
After the session, provide a substantial response to open-ended questions posted as a quiz in eLearning (D2L). The questions are designed to provide self-reflection. You can respond to questions up until the start of the next session. In the case of the last session, you will have until Friday, May 14, 2027, to complete the questions.
After responding to four sessions, write and submit to eLearning (D2L) a two-page assessment of how these sessions influenced your practices. Submit this two-page assessment in the Assignments folder by Friday, May 14, 2027.

Schedule

**Fall 2026**
Date	Facilitator	Topic	Location
Wednesday, September 2, 2026 Noon to 1 p.m.	Lori Furbush and Alison Hite	Thinking about Getting Students to Think about Thinking This presentation will focus on metacognition in college classes. We will discuss ways to help students recognize the learning strategies they are using, evaluate whether those strategies are working, and adjust when needed. The session will also explore practical approaches instructors can use to encourage reflection, planning, monitoring, and flexibility so students can become more intentional and effective learners.	Register
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 Noon to 1 p.m.	Lori Furbush, Kelly McFaden, and Alison Hite	All the World’s a Stage: Setting the Scene for Motivation, Engagement, and Belonging This presentation focuses on practical, high-impact strategies for creating a welcoming and purposeful start to the semester. While a clear syllabus is essential, the "stage" is truly set through the intentional development of instructor-student rapport. We will explore how early efforts to build connection directly fuel student motivation, increase classroom engagement, and foster a deep sense of belonging.	Register
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 Noon to 1 p.m.	Andrew Jakiel and Susan Brantley	The Un-Toasted Teacher: How to Stay Fresh During Heated Semesters In the high-pressure environment of higher education, the line between professional dedication and personal exhaustion is often blurred. A proactive workshop designed to help faculty identify the warning signs of burnout and implement concrete strategies to reclaim their time, energy, and passion for academia. We will explore how to establish sustainable boundaries, streamline administrative "drifting," and recalibrate expectations without sacrificing teaching excellence or research productivity.	Register

**Spring 2027**
Date	Facilitator	Topic	Location
Wednesday, February 3, 2027 Noon to 1 p.m.	Susan Brantley	Faster, Smarter Feedback: Practical Strategies for Timely Responses Providing timely, meaningful feedback is essential for student learning. It can also be one of the most time-consuming parts of teaching. In this conversation, we will discuss practical, realistic strategies to streamline the feedback process. We’ll look at how tools like rubrics, reusable comment banks, and platforms such as Harmonize can help you respond more efficiently while still supporting student growth.	Register
Wednesday, March 3, 2027 Noon to 1 p.m.	Andrew Jakiel	Cracking the Shell: Building a Better, Not Bigger, Course Finding the right balance in an online course is a challenge. Too little content leaves students adrift, while too much creates a "wall of data" that leads to cognitive overload. This workshop provides faculty with a roadmap for curating a D2L course shell that is both rigorous and readable. In this session, we will move beyond the "more is better" mindset to embrace intentional course design.	Register
Wednesday, April 7, 2027 Noon to 1 p.m.	Kelly McFaden	UDL: An Introduction to the Universal Design for Learning Framework UDL is a framework to guide the design of learning environments and experiences that are accessible, inclusive, equitable, and challenging for every learner. Ultimately, the goal of UDL is to develop learner agency that is purposeful and reflective, resourceful, and authentic, strategic and action-oriented. UDL aims to change the design of the environment rather than to situate the problem as a perceived deficit within the learner.”	Register
Friday, May 14, 2027		Reflective Analysis Due