Teaching @WFU: A CAT Blog

This post is authored by Peter Knapczyk, from the Middle East and South Asian Studies (MESAS) Program. Knapczyk developed this contribution as part of his participation in the CAT’s New Faculty Learning Community (FLC) last year.  I was introduced to James Lang’s Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning (2nd Edition, 2021) as […]

This post is authored by Derek Lee from the Department of English. Lee developed this contribution as part of his participation in the CAT’s New Faculty Learning Community (FLC) last year. Be on the look out for a second post from another FLC participant later this week. If you are interested in joining this year’s New […]

Our previous posts this week have been mostly pragmatic–helping you put the finishing touches on your syllabi, your Canvas page, and your new teaching wardrobe. Today’s post will be a bit longer, reflecting on a particularly thorny pedagogical challenge that may exist regardless of whether public health conditions get dramatically better or worse this year. […]

About this time last year, I wrote a short post with a few mask recommendations and tips for teaching in a mask. We’ve learned a lot over the past year, so I thought it might be helpful to revisit this idea again in preparation for fall classes.   Teaching While Masked Many of you have […]

Last week, I began dusting off both my notes and my memory as I started preparing to teach my course this Fall Semester. I haven’t taught this course since the Spring of 2019 and, needless to say, quite a few things have changed since then! I got out the textbook, my old syllabi, and my […]

As our undergraduates begin classes on August 23rd, most Wake Forest faculty are currently in the thick of Syllabus Week. We have run out of cabinets to reorganize and academic TV pilots to watch and are scrambling to draft and redraft our syllabi before the semester is officially upon us. This work is hard in […]

*Note: this book discussion is limited to WFU faculty and staff Join us in July to discuss the book, Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) (Blum, 2020). The moment is right for critical reflection on what has been assumed to be a core part of schooling. In Ungrading (Blum, 2020), […]

Link to the archived recording of this event We are pleased to be hosting a virtual workshop with Dr. Paul T. Corrigan from the University of Tampa next Thursday, April 1 from 4-5pm. We hope you will join us for what promises to be an engaging discussion. Facilitating Challenging Student Conversations in and after COVID […]

The CAT is intentionally limited programming again this semester because we recognize you are all extremely busy. BUT we have also heard some colleagues are missing the community they find by attending CAT events and talking with colleagues across campus. We miss that too. Join us at our Faculty Tea sessions, Tuesdays from 3:30-4:30 on […]

Maybe you have already experienced this in your classroom; students are exhausted, struggling personally or academically, while others aren’t responding altogether. It is no surprise that the current transition to remote learning formats has intensified the stress and anxiety experienced by all students. According to a 2020 study by Active Minds, 80% of college students […]