Our friend and mentor Mark Dorsey stopped by for a chat this week.  It was a lively and exciting one, and as always, Mark had lots of informative and interesting information to share about the value of liberal arts in post-secondary education, the importance of saying no and choosing projects and the way we spend our time wisely (we could have done an entire episode just on this concept alone!), and on how he makes the time fill his cup through his love of music and songwriting.  Mark is living legend around Georgian (and beyond!) and we are sure you'll enjoy the chat with him as much as we did!

This week we had a bit of a field of dreams moment ("if you build it, they will come") when we had the pleasure of interviewing Josh and Caitlin from Assiniboine Community College.  Josh and Caitlin shared their knowledge, and also some awesome resources around academic integrity, and give us the feels when they talked about AI through a lens of trust, honesty, community, and proactivity.  They also provided a little peak behind the curtain into some of the other incredible work they are doing at Assiniboine and the resources they are helping to create for their students and faculty.  You don't want to miss this one!!!

The last year and a half has required us to be more resilient than we ever thought possible, but we STILL tend to underestimate (like, by a TON) our ability to face challenge and adversity in our lives.  This week, we take a look at resilience through both personal and professional lenses, and we consider the ways in which we can recognize and appreciate our own ability to overcome, and also promote these skills through our teaching, and help our students to learn them as well.  We hope you'll join us for a chat about resilience in our lives and teaching.

Our chat with Ishaan was a BLAST!  He is a bright light of joy, enthusiasm, innovation, and knowledge.  He is also humble, kind, friendly, motivated, and fun!  In our time together, Ishaan shared information about some of the incredible initiatives he and the GCSA are championing across all seven Georgian campuses, he expanded on our discussion of breaking down silos (discussed previously with Sheona as well), and invited faculty and staff to get involved, to ask questions, and to be a part of the student experience in whatever ways they can.  We loved our chat with Ishaan so much, we pledged our full endorsement of any future political campaigns in his future, and promise that we'll be door knockers to get the word out there and share our thoughts on how incredible Ishaan and his work are #IshaanForPrimeMinster !!!

We wrapped up our "What's in a week" series with the amazing Rob Harrison this week.  Rob is a highly valued member of the Liberal Arts portfolio, and also a "friend of CTL" frequenting courses and sessions as a past participant and expert on a variety of teaching-related topics.  This week, we had the chance to learn a little about Rob's design and development process, to hear about why he believes asking for feedback and being vulnerable in our classes helps our students to learn, and some of the ways that Rob has reconnected with his love for teaching after a challenging 18 months for the world of education.  So many valuable tips, strategies, and ideas shared here - this one is a must listen!  We hope you enjoy our chat with Rob!

Continuing on with our "What's in a week" series - we got to sit down (virtually!) with Rena Lang this week, and loved every minute of our time together.  Rena has tackled the seemingly impossible over the past 18 months as she and her team were able to take a hands on program (Hair styling) and find ways to connect with, share information, observe, and interact with students virtually in ways we never thought possible.  Rena is one of the most humble people we've ever met and would never sing her own praises, but we're very happy to do it for her.  Rena and her team are incredible, and in this episode, she shares some of the many ways that she makes connection a priority in her teaching, and helps her students to do the same as they prepare to enter the workforce.  You don't want to miss this one!

We LOVED our chat with recent recipient of a Teaching Excellence Award - Eleanor Gittens!!!  Like, really, really loved it.  Kim had goosebumps listening to Eleanor share about the organization in her course. Kelly said Eleanor was singing a tune from our favourite songbook.  And, most importantly, Eleanor shared SO many valuable tips, strategies, and ideas, about how she designs and delivers her course.  You do not want to miss this one.  Practical application strategies, manageable, realistic ideas for how to organize, design, and deliver content.  The first of our "What's in a Week" series is a an absolute gem!  We know you'll LOVE this episode with Eleanor!

Our friends from Cambrian popped into our virtual meeting space today to chat about some of the amazing work that they're doing at Cambrian's Teaching and Learning Innovation Hub.  Sarah, Chris, Mel, and their team are finding ways to meet faculty where they are, they're finding unique and inspiring ways to help faculty connect with one another and with PD, and they are gearing up to host and facilitate their Northern Lights: Reflection on Teaching Conference - October 26th and 27th, 2021.  This chat left us feeling excited, gave us the giggles (as we explored MS Teams "together mode") and provided so much inspiration as we continue to find our stride in this '21/'22 academic year.  We hope you enjoy our chat with our friends from Cambrian as much as we did!

Today we tackle a topic that we've danced around a little in our podcast journey, and have definitely thought about a lot in our teaching careers - the love of learning, and how we reach, connect with, and teach those who don't love learning (and why it's ok with us that they don't).  This is basically an episode about how we can connect with our students, and help them connect with the content - it's the age old question of engagement, with a twist!  Oh, and we did some research, which means there are actually some valuable tips and information that extend beyond the small pool of knowledge that we have! :)  We hope you'll take a listen!

We had the pleasure of chatting with the lovely, knowledgeable, and thoughtful Erica Kelly this week, and are thrilled to share our chat and lots of great information about humanizing practices, external professional development, intercollegiate relationships and more.  Erica shares some wonderful practical application tips and strategies that she uses to connect with her students in online and remote environments, and also reminds us of the importance of being context-centered in our interactions with our students by recognizing that their comfort level and ability to participate may vary week to week.  Erica and Kim met at a the virtual CALL (College Association for Language and Literacy) conference this past spring, and Erica shares what the CALL conference (and others like it) bring to her teaching practice and her passion for what she does.  We hope that you'll enjoy our chat with Erica as much a we did!