Orientation - April 2017

On April 1, 2017 the facilitators of the 5-Star Consortium Orientation met with new associate faculty from the 5-Star Colleges, Everett. Edmonds, Shoreline, Lake Washington Tech and Cascadia to share best practices for successful teaching and learning.

The goals of the Consortium are: to purposefully welcome new employees, to provide ongoing support for the work of new employees, to increase institutional scholarship, and to increase reflective practices.

During the orientation participants network with other new associates using a BINGO activity, and meet not only new faculty from other colleges but Deans and Vice Presidents (and even Presidents) who have come to show their support for the work faculty do. We always begin the session with an exercise called “Shared Expectations.” We love this activity because it immediately engages the participants in developing the culture for the day. We ask, “What can YOU do to learn best in this session and help others learn, too?” and “What can WE do as facilitators to help you learn best in this session?” This activity sets the tone for the entire morning.

Two of our faculty developers, Peg & Nataša

We let the participants know that they are not just bystanders in the learning process, but active participants, and we are listening to them! Those expectations are on display throughout the entire morning, and we refer to them no matter what the following presentations cover. We also encourage new faculty to try this in their classroom – an activity like this on the first day of class can begin building the community that we hope to achieve in our classes, and it’s certainly a lot more fun than just reviewing a syllabus! Want to know more about how to incorporate either a BINGO or shared expectations activity in your class? Just let us know! Email fivestarcolleges@gmail.com