CTL & ASSETT Newsletter - January 2025
CTL & ASSETT Newsletter Jan. 6, 2025
"And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings." — Meister Eckhart
Happy New Year from CTL and ASSETT! 🎉
As the spring semester kicks off, we’re here to support you with tips, workshops, and resources for creating impactful and inclusive learning experiences.
Here’s to a fantastic start to 2025!🎊
Warmly,
The CTL and ASSETT Teams
Ready, Set, Teach: Essential Resources for a Strong Start 📖🚀
Spring Into Action & Prepare for a New Semester🏃🏿♀️
The start of a new semester is the perfect opportunity to set the tone for success—for both you and your students. Here are some strategies and resources to help you start strong:
1. Refresh Your Syllabus
Your syllabus serves as the foundation of your course. Use the to ensure it is clear, inclusive, and engaging. Key elements to include:
- Learning Objectives: Outline clear, measurable goals for students.
- Inclusive Language: Create a welcoming tone that fosters belonging.
- AI Syllabus Statement: Consider adding a statement about AI use to provide clarity and set expectations for your course. You can find guidance here.
- Support Resources: Highlight campus services like Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) and Disability Services.
2. Explore the Course-in-a-Box for New CU Educators
New to teaching at CU Boulder? The Course-in-a-Box resource offers everything you need to hit the ground running. From foundational course design tips to tools and templates, it’s your go-to guide for creating a successful course.
3. Engage with Active Learning
Active learning techniques can transform your classroom dynamics. Consider incorporating:
- Group Work: Encourage dialogue and exchange of ideas.
- Classroom Assessment Techniques: Gauge understanding and spark engagement in real-time.
Check out CTL’s upcoming workshops on Active Learning Strategies for more inspiration.
4. Consult with CTL and ASSETT
Whatever your teaching goals, CTL and ASSETT are here to help. Schedule a one-on-one or group consultation for tailored support, including:
- Feedback on your syllabus.
- Ideas for innovative teaching strategies.
- Guidance on integrating new technologies into your courses.
The start of a new semester offers a fresh opportunity to inspire and connect with your students. With thoughtful preparation and the robust resources available at CU Boulder, you can make Spring 2025 a rewarding and impactful experience for everyone involved!
🤝 Build Connections, Inspire Collaboration 🌟
Building a sense of community early can significantly enhance student participation and success. Try these approaches:
- : Start the semester with activities that encourage students to connect.
- : Use Canvas to create ongoing conversations and peer engagement.
- Classroom Norms: Collaboratively establish guidelines for respectful and productive interactions.
📚 Recommended Reading of the Month: by Nikki Giovanni
This month, we honor the late Nikki Giovanni by highlighting her powerful poetry collection, . In this work, Giovanni celebrates the resilience, courage, and voices of those who challenge injustice and inspire change. A tribute to heroes and trailblazers, her words encourage reflection, connection, and action—perfect inspiration for educators and learners alike.
Spotlight on Faculty Member Beth Osnes: Inspiring Equity & Joy Through Creative Teaching 🌍🎭
How can we unearth joy for our students through active, equity-focused engagement with class material? The work of Dr. Gholdy Muhammad in her recent book Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning provides insight into this question. In it, she encourages us to:
- Hook class material to personal identity for students to connect them to the material and its relevance to their lived experiences and knowledge derived from that living.
- Actively teach new information about this material in embodied ways that engage the senses and explore this knowledge in context through open-ended prompts that they respond to through play and discovery, all while teaching competence in skills and techniques important to that class material.
- Invite students to think for themselves about this new knowledge as it relates to the world that they envision that is grounded in their lived experience as a base for knowing thus far and to have access to expression of all of this in multi-modal ways.
Giving access to expression of material taught through a culturally and historically responsive framework can unearth joy. Joy feeds hope, which can support constructive action towards co-creating the world our students envision.
- Contribution from Beth Osnes-Stoedefalke, Professor Theatre & Dance, Beth.Osnes@colorado.edu
*Beth Osnes-Stoedefalke is a theatre and performance studies artist/scholar who is active in applied performance and creative climate communication. She engages in performance to co-author and actualize an equitable, survivable, and thrive-able future for all life and the ecosystems upon which life depends.
📢 What’s Ahead: Events & Announcements
- Are you ready to address gen AI use with your students but aren’t sure how to start? Join the Boulder Faculty Assembly (BFA) and the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) to take a deep dive in the newly released CU Boulder in this January’s Teaching & Learning with AI Community of Practice.
- January 14, 2025 from 12:30-1:30pm
- Join on Zoom:
- Save-the-Date: Friday, March 7, 2025, CU Boulder’s featuring speakers , , , and .
- Are you using the new Canvas course template? Launched on Oct. 15, the template was designed by faculty from across campus to reduce course preparation time for educators, while contributing to a more consistent and positive Canvas experience for our students. If you are trying out the template in your Spring 2025 courses, please let us know by emailing us at CTL@colorado.edu! We would love to get your feedback and support you as you explore this new resource.
- Looking for ways to support student success through your grading policies and practices? Explore tips and resources in the Grade for Student Success faculty guide to student-centered grading!
- Join the CTL for our annual Spring Conference, a two-day event focused on innovative teaching practices in higher education. Topics include generative AI, equity-minded assessment, and inclusive pedagogy. Participate in workshops, panels, and community-building sessions to help create dynamic and supportive learning environments.
- Join our Spring 2025 Book Club to read and discuss ’ influential book, . The group will meet weekly on Wednesdays from January 29 to March 5, 10:00–11:00 p.m. Mountain Time via Zoom.
📢 Join Us for Other Upcoming Events!
📚Remembering Nikki Giovanni: A Legacy of Words and Wisdom ✨🖋️
, celebrated poet, educator, and activist, leaves behind a powerful legacy of words that continue to inspire generations. Her book, , offers a deeply personal and thought-provoking journey through her life and work. Giovanni's writing reminds us of the transformative power of storytelling, self-reflection, and the pursuit of justice.
This book is a beautiful testament to her belief in the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of finding joy in the everyday. As educators, we can draw from her ability to connect with others through authenticity and creativity, bringing those values into our own teaching practices. Giovanni’s voice will echo for years to come, urging us to teach, learn, and live with passion and purpose.
Learn More 鶹Ƶ…
Help Us Grow Our Community
Forward this newsletter to someone you think might be interested in signing up. Our newsletter is published monthly during the academic year and includes timely teaching strategies and resources, updates, and upcoming events of interest to the campus teaching community.