New Faculty Orientation

I just finished a week of new faculty orientation. Even though I've taught here for a semester, I still had to go through new faculty orientation. I'm very glad that I did. I learned so much about the learner-centered approach to teaching. I came away with a complete teaching philosophy, which I will post soon, and a reinvigorated desire to plan better lessons. I realize now that perhaps some of my frustration last semester stemmed from a lack of ideas as to how to improve my teaching. I thought I needed more activities and engagement, but I didn't have a structure to guide my improvement. Now I know that I can begin with learning objectives, design activities to meet the learning objectives, and assess whether students have met the objectives. I feel as if I have a practical approach I can take that will help me improve. My lessons can be intentional, rather than a haphazard collection of remotely related activities to wake up the students.

Secondly, I signed up to be an first year experience instructor this semester. I've also learned that the current director of the first year experience program will be leaving the position next year, and he's encouraged me to apply for the position as soon as it opens up. I'm actually considering applying for the position, although I don't want to leave my current position as assistant professor in my department. I'm hoping it will be possible to have a dual-appointment. I think I might actually like a part-time directorship, coupled with a reduced teaching load. It could be lovely to teach only one or two classes in my department while I venture into the world of administration. Plus, it would be rewarding to know I was doing my best to help students adjust to their first semester, potentially retaining some students who might have dropped out.