Growth Mindset for Mentors
I worked with faculty, staff, and students at Mercy College that are mentors to first and second year students. My presentation was interactive, and addressed both the concept of Growth Mindset and ways to use it in the mentoring relationship to benefit the mentees.Contemporary Civilization Preceptor Talks
Based on my background in the learning sciences and experience teaching Contemporary Civilization, I have developed and conducted three talks for graduate students who are teaching in Columbia's Core Curriculum for the first time:
- Using Discussion in the Contemporary Civilization Classroom for the First-Year Teacher (March 2019 and September 2019)
- Giving Feedback in the Contemporary Civilization Classroom for the First-Year Teacher (March 2019)
- Grading and Assessment, Core Preceptor Orientation (August 2017)
Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
On June 11, 2019, I spoke at Columbia University about methods for teaching Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. The audience consisted of instructors at City University of New York community colleges in a program funded by the Teagle Foundation. I shared themes, concepts, and arguments in the readings, as well as providing writing assignments and teaching strategies for use in the classroom.
Contemporary Civilization Instructor Meetings
Faculty in Columbia's Core Curriculum class Contemporary Civilization (CC), meet weekly with an expert on an upcoming text. The CC syllabus is so wide-ranging that instructors are unlikely to be experts in each text. While the weekly meetings with experts in each text provide a valuable opportunity for both new and returning instructors, unless an instructor is a first-year teacher and graduate student, there were no opportunities to discuss pedagogy with other instructors of CC. Recognizing this need, I sought permission from the director of the Core Curriculum, and began meeting with instructors in the spring semester of 2017.
The meetings I run are centered around a topic such as exams, giving feedback on writing, developing the syllabus, and more. I arrange the meetings as an opportunity for instructors to share their resources and experience with each other. I am sure to include time for instructors to bring up any classroom issues as well.
Early Feminists Texts
On November 6, 2018, I spoke at Hostos Community College about a selection of early feminists texts that are included in Columbia's Core Curriculum. The audience consisted of instructors at City University of New York community colleges in a program funded by the Teagle Foundation. I shared themes, concepts, and arguments in the readings, as well as providing writing assignments and teaching strategies for use in the classroom. The texts were:
- Ain’t I a Woman, Sojourner Truth (1851)
- Address to the New York State Legislature, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1860)
- The Enfranchisement of Women, Harriet Taylor Mill (1851)
- The Subjection of Women, John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill (1869)
Growth Mindset in Children
On March 11, 2016 I presented to a group of teachers at the Preschool of the Arts, Gramercy, about Dr. Carol Dweck's research on Growth Mindset and how to apply it with their preschool classes. Check out this video of Dr. Dweck explaining The Power of Yet, which I shared with the teachers prior to my presentation and our conversation.
