Effective Classroom Facilitation: Managing disruptions, addressing controversial topics and supporting equity-deserving students - March 14, 2024

In this interactive session, we will offer tools, resources and strategies to co-construct guidelines, manage challenging situations and classroom power dynamics, empower students to problem-solve, and support inclusive classroom environments. We will discuss strategies to engage intentionally with fraught and high-stakes conversations with empathy and thoughtfulness. Lastly, we will provide opportunity to share challenges and […]

Situational Awareness: Reducing Risk - Feb. 6

This is the second of two sessions in a series on "How to teach when teaching feels unsafe." The focus of this session is situational awareness, that is, how to use the space you are in (e.g. the classroom space) to protect yourself and reduce risk. Welcome to "Situational Awareness: Reducing Risk," a comprehensive workshop […]

How to Identify and Respond to Students in Distress - Jan. 23

This is the first of two sessions in a series on "How to teach when teaching feels unsafe." The focus of this session is supporting the mental health and well-being of your undergraduate students, graduate student peers, and yourself. Graduate students and graduate student support staff members have a role to play in student mental […]

Managing Disruptions in the Classroom - November 16, 2023

Students who monopolize, who play devil’s advocate to get a rise out of people, and who disrupt discussions on controversial issues, can be a significant classroom challenge. Students may also come into conflict with each other, or call each other out. We may have students who are genuinely unaware of how their words or views […]

Facilitating Discussions - Nov. 1

Tutorials, whether online or in-person, are typically highly participatory spaces where students have an opportunity to voice their own knowledge and opinions about course content. Facilitating discussions, though, can be intimidating. What do we do if no one raises their hand to speak? How do we make sure it’s not the same students speaking every […]

Teaching in a Multicultural Classroom - Oct 18

Being a Teaching Assistant (TA) can be an exciting experience that contributes to one’s personal development and professional growth as an educator. TAs may encounter challenges in teaching methods, marking and grading schemes, and teacher-student interactions. This workshop will demonstrate how Teaching Assistants can effectively support students from diverse ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds and […]

What is 'Conflict' and How Might it Arise in the Classroom? - Virtual - Oct 12

Together we will define what we each mean by “conflict” and explore a working definition for this workshop. We will share potential sources or situations in which conflict may arise in the classroom, such as sensitive course content, most stressful times for students during the semester (perhaps centred around assessments and grades) etc. The focus […]

Trauma-Informed Pedagogies Series (Fall 2023 - Winter 2024)

This 10-part workshop series will introduce participants to the topic of trauma-informed teaching and offer practical strategies for supporting students and themselves while developing a trauma-informed classroom. Through participation in active learning activities, reflective discussions, and collaborative conversations, participants will explore how to apply learned strategies in their own teaching contexts and consider their own […]

Access and Equity in Online Teaching (Nov. 13-Dec. 15, 2023)

This course can count towards the Certificate of Proficiency in Teaching for eLearning. As educators, ensuring that we create and support learning environments that are both accessible and equitable is crucial. However, access and equity in eLearning environments can present a unique set of challenges, whether we are creating and sharing course content digitally, engaging […]