Graduate Teaching Certificate Program

The Institute for Learning and Teaching | 801 Oval Drive | Fort Collins, CO 80523-1052 | (970) 491-2032 | http://tilt.colostate.edu

Graduate Teaching Certificate Program Workshop/Seminar Review Form

Date: ______4-15-2011______

Workshop/Seminar Title: __GRAD 792 – Addressing Student Resistance to Writing: Power Dynamics

Presenter/Facilitator: ______Kyle Pape______

Please keyboard your answers into this document using as much space as it takes to fully answer each question. Being a word document, the space below each question will expand as you type, pushing the rest of the questions farther down the page.

Once complete, please upload to your ePortfolio. Remember, the Graduate Teaching Certificate requires that you have attended and reviewed six pedagogical workshops or seminars.

1. Explain the central topic and purpose of the workshop/seminar. What are the presenter/facilitator’s goals for this workshop? The presenter’s main goals for this workshop were to explore the topic of power dynamics in the classroom and how those dynamics can hinder students’ abilities to critically engage in areas such as thinking and writing. He advocated a “libertory” or lateral style of teaching that stresses collaborative learning between teacher and student instead of a “top down” approach. 2. What information in the workshop/seminar was most valuable to you? The most valuable information from this workshop were the tips about how to maintain respect from students while cultivating a teaching style that does not threaten them. This included sitting down when helping or talking to students, asking questions in a non- threatening way (“Tell me about this” rather than “CAN you tell me about this”), shifting the focus of tutoring sessions onto student responsibility for writing and learning rather than

Teaching Certificate Workshop/Seminar Review Form Page 1 just giving answers, and being open to multiple forms of communication such as skype. In addition, treating students as smart and mature will make them more likely to perform so as not to disappoint a professor. 3. How will you connect that information to your own pedagogical endeavors? Being a young female teacher, I am not overly concerned about coming across as threatening. However, I think that addressing the balance between threatening and too “chummy” with students is important in order to maintain respect. This respectful relationship between student and teacher (and vice versa) I think is essential in keeping students critically engaged and willing to take responsibility for their educations. This is a topic that I will continue to reflect on as I gain experience in the teaching field. 4. After attending this workshop/seminar, what additional information would you like to seek about this subject? I think it would be interesting to see real research on how student performances and attitudes vary according to different teacher figures. For example, are students more willing to work for someone they feel friendlier with? Or for someone who they are slightly afraid of and greatly respect?

Teaching Certificate Workshop/Seminar Review Form Page 2