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Blog 179

Welcome Back from the Teaching Commons

Happy Academic New Year! As the afternoons start to feel a little bit shorter, the August humidity begins to scale back, and every day traffic scales up, we know it must be September!

As we welcome everyone back for another academic year there may be feelings of uncertainty and unease as we begin another semester in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. But you should take solace knowing you have at least one constant to turn to…the Teaching Commons!

Whether you’re looking for resources on assessment, or flexible teaching such as hyflex, we have you covered.

If this is your first time teaching online, or you are a seasoned veteran continuing to hone your skills, our eLearning page is ready and waiting for you. If experiential education is something you’re feeling this year, we offer options such as self-paced modules, or our full semester peer-based course. But this is just the tip of the iceberg for what we offer regarding teaching development! And if you’re a graduate student/TA, we haven’t forgotten about you, so please check us out if you want to develop your teaching credentials with us.

But wait, you say you’re on sabbatical* this year (lucky you!) and want to focus your energy on curriculum development or scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning? We still have you covered!

*Resources not meant just for those on sabbatical, so if you’re still feeling any of the above, check them out!

Afraid you’ll miss out on any of our amazing opportunities? Keep up-to-date with everything TC-related on our communications page, including links to the current and previous blog posts, and signing up for our faculty or grad student newsletter (archived newsletters also available if you want to reminisce about past events). Don’t forget to keep your eye on the calendar of events for registration links and more information on our programs/events as the draw nearer.

What’s that? There’s a lot of information here and you’re not sure exactly where to start? Find your educational developer liaison for your Faculty/School and book a one-on-one consultation. Our diverse team of educational developers are always open for a chat.

Oh, but you have a quick just-in-time question that needs an answer without having to book a consultation? Not to worry, come on by our daily drop-in hours between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. via Zoom to chat with one of the educational developers!

All of this is really just to say, “you’re not alone”. The Teaching Commons continues to be that steady flow of support, ready and willing to work with you at any stage of your teaching. If you would like to get in touch with, please email us at teaching@yorku.ca. And keep an eye out for our communications through our monthly newsletter, and by checking out this blog featured weekly in YFile.

Have an amazing semester and looking forward to engaging with you along the way!