Department Chairs

Title & Brief Description

Format/PD Bucket

2 hours
Presenters: Michelle Fitzpatrick and Jeff Johannigman

Knowledge can lead to change. In this session, we review student data and personas to have an understanding of who our customer is. Combining this knowledge, with the mission of our community college, and communication tips we have an interactive and engaging session where participants leave feeling motivated, inspired, and equipped with the tools to make a difference.

Participants will come away with:
– Understanding of who our customers are
– Learning to lead with empathy
– Create a sense of mission
– Analyze ACC student personas
– Understand the role YOU play in student success
– Discuss communication and engagement techniques that align with student needs

1 hour
Presenter: Chelsea Biggerstaff

Learn simple activities and tips to create a community with online learners.

Participants will come away with:
– Discuss what “building community” means to us and how academic research defines it
– Discover asynchronous and synchronous activities for building community online
– Share tips from your experience
– An opportunity to learn from each other
– Create new ideas for next semester or your next class

1-1.5 hours
Presenter: Chelsea Biggerstaff

Consistently establishing and managing student expectations and behaviors to ensure a productive learning environment are among the most critical issues faced by both novice and experienced teachers. In this session, we will move beyond identification of classroom problems and suggest preventative strategies and practical solutions to the most common classroom management problems.

Participants will be able to:
– Set the classroom atmosphere and tone
– Manage tempo and time
– Build connections: student-to-student
– Prepare students to be college ready
– Facilitate discussions on controversial topics

1 hour
Presenter: Michelle Fitzpatrick

Think about assessment beyond the traditional exam and measure applied proficiency. Understand multiple forms of assessment, the impact of giving students options and support deeper learning.

Participants will come away with:
– New ideas on how to engage and assess through gamification, case studies, and padlet
– Understand the power of choices
– Create final assessments that promote critical thinking and engage career interest

1.5 hours
Presenter: Michelle Fitzpatrick

So often we focus on your syllabus being a contract centering on compliance. Let’s change this perception and create an inclusive syllabus where we put emphasis on what students can do.

Participants will come away with:
– Identify ACC syllabi template, checklist and repository resources
– Dismantle deficit thinking and design a inquiry-based syllabus
– Discuss how to create a syllabus that is inclusive
– Review and discuss missed exams, late work, attendance, and participation policies
– Articulate the impact of creating a student- centered syllabus

1-2 hours
Presenter: Jeff Johannigman

We have all had students who can be difficult, disruptive, even dangerous. They can turn your classroom from a learning community into a combat arena. Discover some of the best techniques for handling difficult students. What can you do in advance to reduce and even prevent difficult behavior in your students? Where do you draw the line between what is merely disruptive and what is potentially dangerous? How can you turn a confrontational student relationship into a collaborative one? Come prepared to share your experiences and best practices with your fellow faculty members.

Participants will come away with:
– Techniques to build trust and rapport with the most challenging students
– Proactive, rather than reactive, strategies for managing student behavior
– Ways to distinguish between difficult, disruptive, and dangerous behaviors, as well as approaches for each one
– Best practices and practical tips for the most common types of difficult behavior

1 hour
Presenter: M.P. Mentzer-Hernández

This presentation will help instructors keep in mind the demographic of students who only have access to the Internet on their phone, without a dedicated connection to the Internet. Focus of the presentation will range from creating simple design presentations to aligning expectations of students from this demographic.

Participants will come away with:
– Understanding ‘The Digital Divide’
– Understand clear design principles
– Learning about Universal Design
– Learn Best Practices of Presenting to ‘Mobile Only’ Students

1-1.5 hours
Presenter:  Chelsea Biggerstaff

So many apps to choose from. Which ones work? Which ones are free? How can they be used inside and outside of the classroom? In this workshop, we will discover apps that have been used successfully for face to face classes, as well as online classes. Attendees will be encouraged to download the apps and participate in their uses. Attendees will also be highly encouraged to share what apps they have used.

Participants will be able to:
– Demonstrate how to use a variety of apps using iPads in and out of the classroom
– Develop teaching skills in the use of tablets and new media to promote learning
– explore new ways in which educational technology can help the learner to develop communication skills

1 hour
Presenter: Michelle Fitzpatrick

Not everything they say about exams being outdated is true. We will talk about when, why, and how using exams can be effective in-person and virtually.

Participants will come away with:
– Understanding Formative vs Summative Assessments
– How to effectively use quizzes & exams to promote learning
– Using tools such as if/at cards and team tests

1 hour
Presenter: M.P. Mentzer-Hernández

The online whiteboard tool, Miro, offers a wide variety of tools that allows any remote classroom to become more engaging. The presentation focuses on giving an alternative to instructors who want to move away from standard Powerpoint lectures.

Participants will come away with:
– Understanding the need to move away from a lecture style of teaching
– Showing the range of capabilities that Miro offers to instructors and students
– Learning Best Practices for using a whiteboard during a remote session

1-1.5 hours
Presenter: Chelsea Biggerstaff

In this workshop, participants will get hands-on with practical strategies for implementing “hooks” in the classroom. Participants are also encouraged to share and engage in discussions about how to apply “hooks” in content specific disciplines. The conversation will foster new ideas and strategies all faculty can take back to their classroom.

Participants will be able to:
– Develop a deeper understanding of learner-centered psychological principles
– Apply practical strategies and a wealth of resources for implementing hooks
– Receive feedback for continuous improvement

2-4 hours
Presenter: Jeff Johannigman

Powerful Presentations is a comprehensive overview of public speaking skills, including audience analysis, speech development, visual aids, vocal variety, stagecraft, and anxiety management. This workshop gives students an opportunity to prepare and present a brief speech, and receive constructive feedback from both the instructor and from fellow students. Powerful Presentations can transform nervous, novice speakers into confident and polished presenters.

Participants will be able to:
– Explore different ways to structure a presentation, including attention-getting openings and memorable closings
– Create and use different types of visual aids in presentations
– Apply principles for designing PowerPoint slides that are easy to read and effective in presentations
– Practice techniques to channel anxiety into positive energy
– Explain essential elements of presentation stagecraft – vocal variety, body movement, and gestures

1-8 hours
Presenter: Chelsea Biggerstaff

Have you started a class and had all of your students on their phones or staring at you blankly? How does the rest of class go? What happens when this occurs regularly?
In this workshop, we will learn from a TED talk study to uncover the secrets of the most engaging TED Talk speakers. Participants will practice using nonverbal communication in lectures, demonstrate how to grab students’ attention within the first 6 seconds, and discover techniques gifted TED speakers use to tell stories.

Participants will be able to:
– Give examples of successful techniques that TED Talk speakers use in storytelling
– Practice using effective nonverbal communication
– Apply practical strategies and a wealth of resources for implementing hooks in your lectures

1 hour
Presenter: Michelle Fitzpatrick

With so many distractions present in today’s world it may seem impossible to have students engaged during your class. Let’s make it possible by first understanding the impact of engagement and how to get them hooked before the semester even begins, to the last day of classes.

Participants will come away with:
– Define the value and impact of student engagement
– Identify student engagement practices in a variety of teaching modes
– Identify ways to engage students before the semester, on the first day, and throughout the semester.
– Distinguish best practices of presenting information

2-3 hours

Presenter: Chelsea Biggerstaff

According to the Department of Veteran Affairs (2014), the number of veterans who continued their education rose from 500,000 in 2009 to 1,000,000 in 2014, and that number is still rising. Although many new resources have been put into place to support their transition, veterans do face unique challenges, and faculty face challenges trying to instruct our veterans. Some of the stresses and adjustments of veteran students are readily observable and even typical for many new students; however, others may be more specific, subtle, and complex (Sportsman & Thomas, 2015). The purpose of this workshop is to inform faculty of the benefits of implementing three principles voiced by student veterans at Texas State University: structure, awareness, and integration. In doing this, faculty can increase the likelihood of academic success for all students.

Participants will be able to:
– Describe what student veterans deal with as they transition from soldier to student & ways in which the military experience impacts veterans’ learning experiences
– Recognize the key elements of military socialization as well as the strengths and challenges that it poses for the academic environment
– Evaluate and update syllabus to be more inclusive for all students
– Develop tools to avoid stereotyping individual veterans
– Describe resources available for student veterans on ACC’s Campuses
– Develop strategies to improve their class during the first day, the first 5 minutes, and the last 5 minutes of class

1-2 hours
Presenter: Jeff Johannigman

Can we make learning as engaging and addictive as a good game? Jeff Johannigman, former computer game designer, will share techniques of professional game design and ways to apply them to both online and classroom learning. In this workshop, you will learn how professional designers create board games and computer games that are fun and addictive. Discover the resources that game designers draw from, the steps that they take to turn a real-world setting into a game simulation, the factors that are considered during implementation, and the process used to tune a game’s playability to high levels of engagement and addictiveness. Learn how to apply these same approaches to any topic, whether it is taught in the classroom or by online delivery.

Participants will be able to:
– Create working definitions of “fun” and “games”
– Explore best approaches to getting started in game design
– Apply the essential ingredients for creating an engaging, addictive game
– Apply techniques to learning games

1-2 hours
Presenter: Jeff Johannigman

Work is work and play is play, or so our parents taught us. But does that still hold true in an economy where creativity is the primary competitive driver? Combining over twelve years of experience in game design with current research in motivation, Jeff Johannigman will present ways to improve your productivity, innovation, and fulfillment by turning your work into play.

Participants will discover:
– The components of play and their value in driving innovation and productivity
– The most effective motivators in today’s creative economy
– Techniques that professional game designers use to create engagement and player motivation
– Specific ways to apply those techniques to make your job more engaging and fulfilling

1-3.5 hours

Presenters: Chelsea Biggerstaff & Jeff Johannigman

Discover secrets to tapping into your student’s motivation in the classroom. Through the lens of the languages of appreciation and motivational theory, we will examine strategies and techniques that can be used in and out of the classroom to enhance engagement and success.

Participants will be able to:
-Describe the core concepts of appreciation and encouragement
-Identify the negative results that can occur when students and/or colleagues do not feel valued or appreciated
-Describe the 5 languages of appreciation and what they look like in daily life
-Apply the principles of the languages of appreciation in and out of the classroom

1-2 hours
Presenter: Michelle Fitzpatrick

Turn traditional discussion boards into a visual and engaging interaction to increase student connection. Learn from my research best practices and lessons learned.

Participants will come away with:
– How to create a VoiceThread Assignment
– Review and discuss a sample assignment
– Share best practices in the art of providing directions
– Practice creating and interacting in VoiceThread

1-1.5 hours
Presenter: Chelsea Biggerstaff

A growing body of neuroscience and other research on mindfulness suggests an array of benefits relevant to higher education—individual benefits like increased attention and creativity as well as communal benefits like the promise of more inclusive environments by supporting students more fully. In this workshop, participants will get hands-on with practical strategies for implementing mindfulness practices in and out of the classroom.

Participants will be able to :
– Develop a deeper understanding of the “contemplative pedagogy” movement in higher education
– Apply practical strategies and a wealth of resources for implementing mindful practices
– Generate discussions on how to implement mindfulness in various classroom formats

1 hour
Presenter: M.P. Mentzer-Hernández

Zoom offers a variety of video conferencing capabilities that can be overwhelming at first glance. However, this presentation will provide a hands-on approach for attendees to feel more comfortable using Zoom as a video conferencing platform.

Participants will come away with:
-Understanding basic components, permissions, and settings of Zoom
-Understanding how to organize a Zoom breakout session
-Learning the differences between Blackboard Collaborate and Zoom