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<p>Definition of <em>vulnerable</em> (adjective): (1) capable of being physically or emotionally wounded</p>
<p>Who among us is not? We just aren't in the same ways.</p>
<p>Whatever your vulnerabilities, especially those related to the teaching practice, the Teaching and Creativity Center is here for you. A reminder of what we offer:</p>
<ul>
<li>Professional development workshops each semester for all faculty and staff</li>
<li>Cohort programs for first- and second-year faculty</li>
<li>Special programming for adjuncts and part-time faculty</li>
<li>The Winter Teaching Institute and the June Teaching &amp; Learning Conference</li>
<li>Reflective Practice Groups</li>
<li>Faculty Inquiry Groups</li>
<li>Book and other text-based discussions</li>
<li>Confidential one-on-one consultations and mentoring</li>
<li>Instructional feedback (not punitive, and not linked to formal department or College observations)</li>
<li>As-needed assistance or feedback with curricular and pedagogical matters</li>
<li>A lending library (see note at the end)</li>
<li>A new <a href="https://mcc.open.suny.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_48595_1&amp;content_id=_2785884_1">Blackboard organizational presence</a></li>
<li>A <a href="https://www.monroecc.edu/organizations/tcc/">full website</a> with lots of resources</li>
</ul>
<p>All programming (at least for the fall semester) will be remote, so we hope that you will see this as an opportunity to participate in events that you might otherwise have been unable to because of conflicts with availability or location.</p>
<p>Look for announcements soon regarding our focus on equity and inclusion across all of our programming this year: <em>Committing to Equity-Minded Pedagogy</em>. As professors, we are used to looking at students and their work and assessing them according to whether the essay or the project does what it claims or promises to do.</p>
<p>The need to look at our own work, our own policies and practices, does not disappear with rank or status; in fact, it is all the more urgent the more entrenched or privileged or comfortable one is.</p>
<p>Here are some resources you may find particularly useful as you start the year with renewed focus and purpose:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker/we-are-not-same-boat">"We Are Not In the Same Boat"</a> by Emery D. Haley</li>
<li><em><a href="https://sabresmonkey.wixsite.com/pedagogiesofcare">Pedagogies of Care: Open Resources for Student-Centered &amp; Adaptive Strategies in the New Higher-Ed Landscape</a></em></li>
<li><a href="https://composingpossibilities.com/2020/05/07/how-do-i-do-this-all-at-once/">"How Do I Do This All at Once?"</a> [blog post that synthesizes lessons from James Lang's book <em>Small Teaching</em> with key points about anti-racism and equity in teaching]</li>
</ul>
<p>________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p><strong>Reminder:</strong> Gena Merliss, the coordinator for the TCC, is on Professional Leave for the Benefit of the College until August 2021. Amy Burtner (English/Philosophy) will be in the acting coordinator role during that time.</p>
<p>The TCC rooms on both campuses will not be open for regular use this semester. If you are a faculty member who has permission to be on campus and if you should for any reason wish to check out a physical book from our lending library in the Brighton TCC room (12-201), please contact Amy (<a href="mailto:aburtner@monroecc.edu">aburtner@monroecc.edu</a>) to make arrangements. Thanks for your cooperation.</p>

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MCC Daily Tribune

A Welcome Back from the Teaching and Creativity Center

The Teaching and Creativity Center (TCC) welcomes you to what will undoubtedly be a challenging yet promising semester. Whether you are new to MCC or have been here decades (or any amount of time in between), the circumstances for all of us are anything but usual. Let's acknowledge that, and acknowledge, too, that any worries and trepidations you might have are not signs of weakness. They are signs of human-ness. And in these times of face coverings, six feet of distance, plastic shields, and Zoom screens, you are still, at your core, a vulnerable human teaching other vulnerable humans--most of whom will be approaching this semester with some combination of trepidation and worry, too.

Definition of vulnerable (adjective): (1) capable of being physically or emotionally wounded

Who among us is not? We just aren't in the same ways.

Whatever your vulnerabilities, especially those related to the teaching practice, the Teaching and Creativity Center is here for you. A reminder of what we offer:

  • Professional development workshops each semester for all faculty and staff
  • Cohort programs for first- and second-year faculty
  • Special programming for adjuncts and part-time faculty
  • The Winter Teaching Institute and the June Teaching & Learning Conference
  • Reflective Practice Groups
  • Faculty Inquiry Groups
  • Book and other text-based discussions
  • Confidential one-on-one consultations and mentoring
  • Instructional feedback (not punitive, and not linked to formal department or College observations)
  • As-needed assistance or feedback with curricular and pedagogical matters
  • A lending library (see note at the end)
  • A new Blackboard organizational presence
  • A full website with lots of resources

All programming (at least for the fall semester) will be remote, so we hope that you will see this as an opportunity to participate in events that you might otherwise have been unable to because of conflicts with availability or location.

Look for announcements soon regarding our focus on equity and inclusion across all of our programming this year: Committing to Equity-Minded Pedagogy. As professors, we are used to looking at students and their work and assessing them according to whether the essay or the project does what it claims or promises to do.

The need to look at our own work, our own policies and practices, does not disappear with rank or status; in fact, it is all the more urgent the more entrenched or privileged or comfortable one is.

Here are some resources you may find particularly useful as you start the year with renewed focus and purpose:

________________________________________________________________________________

Reminder: Gena Merliss, the coordinator for the TCC, is on Professional Leave for the Benefit of the College until August 2021. Amy Burtner (English/Philosophy) will be in the acting coordinator role during that time.

The TCC rooms on both campuses will not be open for regular use this semester. If you are a faculty member who has permission to be on campus and if you should for any reason wish to check out a physical book from our lending library in the Brighton TCC room (12-201), please contact Amy (aburtner@monroecc.edu) to make arrangements. Thanks for your cooperation.

Amy Burtner
Teaching and Creativity Center
08/26/2020