EGSA Teaching Seminar Schedule and Sessions

Many of you probably saw the schedule for the Teaching Seminar (this Friday November 18) in your email box, but we would like to elaborate on the schedule here so that you know what to expect. This seminar is designed for all graduate students who have been teaching or are thinking about teaching writing and/or literature courses. We are lucky to have such experienced and interested faculty and grad students available to speak in these three sessions. We know that some of you will not be able to attend all of the sessions, so we will be posting online content following the seminar. However, we encourage you to attend as many sessions as you can. These will be unique opportunities to ask questions, get feedback on your ideas, and learn from the personal experiences of our distinguished colleagues. All of these sessions will take place in Rome 771. 

Session 1 12:30-1:30pm Brown Bag Lunch “Teaching Composition.” Please bring your lunch and join us for this session which will focus on the field of composition and writing. We have both Professor Reidner and Mr. Cobb speaking on the GW WID program. They will cover teaching first-year UW courses as well as WID courses and the opportunities for graduate student teachers. One of our own board members, Erin Vander Wall, will discuss her experiences with teaching composition at a community college and her current post at GW. Our EGSA Board President, Leigha McReynolds, will be speaking on her experience teaching business writing at GW in the WID program. We are excited to hear what these speakers have to say about these teaching opportunities, as well as the skills necessary to apply for these positions and, of course, to become successful teachers.

Break and Light Refreshments 1:30-2:00pm (Otherwise known as Tawnya's famous cookies)

Session 2 2:00-3:00pm “Issues in Pedagogy.” This session has a broad theme, and an equally broad range of presentations by our speakers. These speakers will address challenges, issues, and solutions that teachers face on a daily basis. Many of these subjects are not even on your radar as a new teacher and continue to be important and difficult subjects after teaching for years. Dr. Schreiber has elected to speak on a variety of pedagogical issues specific to teaching literature courses. Both Elizabeth and Nedda are going to speak to their experiences in the classroom and what they believe to be important pedagogical issues. 

Break and Light Refreshments 3:00-3:30pm

Session 3 3:30pm-4:30pm “Using Technology for the Classroom.” This session will focus on using basic technology for teaching as well as more advanced, creative uses for technology in the classroom. For many new (and experienced) teachers, Blackboard is something like a dinosaur - mysterious and cumbersome. I will address the ways in which I personally use technology for my own teaching, and how I use blackboard specifically. Dr. Huang has kindly agreed to share his own innovative uses of technology for enabling students to engage more critically with online media. He may also address the importance of cultivating a professional online presence for graduate students. Dr. Hsy will be our final speaker to address his way of using technology for teaching by exploring an alternative to Blackboard for course management. He will also address the possibilities for power-point presentations in literature courses. 

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