Teaching Circles

What is a Teaching Circle?

At UCCS, Teaching Circles are groups of 4-8 faculty members who meet at least two times during the semester to discuss readings and activities related to their teaching.

Would you like to join a Teaching Circle?

  • A copy of the book is provided.
  • Mark your calendar and be available for sessions.
  • Prepare for meetings by reading the chapters selected by the Team Lead.
  • During each meeting, the Teaching Circles will discuss the readings and share strategies and activities to integrate into courses.
  • You can choose to join us in the Faculty Resource Center’s Web Conference Room, Columbine Hall 203B or attend virtually through a Zoom meeting link.

Spring 2025 Teaching Circle Schedule

Teaching with AI

1:45 – 2:45 pm Tuesdays 2/11, 2/25, 3/11, 3/18, 4/8, 4/22, and 4/29
Kacey Ross, Director of First-Year Rhetoric and Writing & Writing Across the Curriculum and Teaching Professor of English

In Teaching with AI, José Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson present emerging and powerful research on the seismic changes AI is already creating in schools and the workplace, providing invaluable insights into what AI can accomplish in the classroom and beyond.

By learning how to use new AI tools and resources, educators will gain the confidence to navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities presented by AI. From interactive learning techniques to advanced assignment and assessment strategies, this comprehensive guide offers practical suggestions for integrating AI effectively into teaching and learning environments. Bowen and Watson tackle crucial questions related to academic integrity, cheating, and other emerging issues.

February 11 – Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2
February 25 – Chapters 3 and 4
March 11 – Chapters 5 and 6
March 18 – Chapters 7 and 8
April 8 – Chapters 9 and 10
April 22 – Chapters 11 and 12
April 29 – AI Tool Share-out

Register for this Teaching Circle by February 2. Books are available for pickup by registered participants in the Faculty Resource Center, Columbine 203.

Archived Sessions

Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom

Mondays, February 12, 26 and March 11, 18, 1:30–2:30 p.m.
Carole Woodall, PhD, Associate Professor, History
Ann Amicucci, PhD, Associate Professor, English

The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop is a call to create healthy, sustainable, and empowering classroom communities. Award-winning educator Felicia Rose Chavez exposes the invisible politics of power and privilege that have silenced writers of color for far too long. Together, we will address how to:

  • Deconstruct our biases to achieve a cultural shift in perspective.
  • Design a democratic teaching model to create safe spaces for creative concentration.
  • Recruit, nourish, and fortify students of color to best empower them to exercise voice.
  • Embolden our students to self-advocate as responsible citizens in a globalized community.
How Humans Learn

1:00-2:00 pm, October 4, 11, 18, and 25
Chris Creighton, Ph.D., FRC Instructional Designer

How Humans Learn surveys research in psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience through which we explore the research's interaction with our teaching in the themes of curiosity, sociality, emotion, authenticity, and failure.

  • Session 1 | Introduction and Curiosity
  • Session 2 | Sociality
  • Session 3 | Emotion and Authenticity
  • Session 4 | Failure and Epilogue with author Josh Eyler
Small Teaching | Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning

Thursdays, February 2, 16 and March 2, 16, 12:30-1:30 pm
Faculty Resource Center, Columbine 203 (HyFlex format option)
Lynnane George, Ph.D., Senior Instructor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Angie Dodson, M.Ed., Faculty Development Coordinator, Faculty Resource Center

James M. Lang’s Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning provides the what and how for cultivating an engaging and meaningful teaching and learning environment in small, effective ways. In this Teaching Circle, we will explore how to expand students’ knowledge and understanding of content and inspire student academic motivation, growth, and effective practice of cognitive skills.

Circle Schedule

  • February 2 – Introductions, Small Teaching Overview, Chapter 1: Predicting | Recording | Handout
  • February 16 - Chapters 2-4: Retrieving, Interleaving, Connecting | Recording | Handout
  • March 2 – Chapters 5-7: Practicing, Explaining, Belonging | Recording
  • March 16 – Chapters 9-10: Motivating, Learning, Conclusions and Path Forward | Recording | Handout
Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom

Thursdays, February 9, 23, and March 9, 23, 2:00–3:00 pm
Faculty Resource Center, Columbine 203 (HyFlex format option)
Carole Woodall, PhD, Associate Professor, History
Ann Amicucci, PhD, Associate Professor, English

The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop is a call to create healthy, sustainable, and empowering classroom communities. Award-winning educator Felicia Rose Chavez exposes the invisible politics of power and privilege that have silenced writers of color for far too long. Together, we will address how to:

  • Deconstruct our biases to achieve a cultural shift in perspective.
  • Design a democratic teaching model to create safe spaces for creative concentration.
  • Recruit, nourish, and fortify students of color to best empower them to exercise voice.
  • Embolden our students to self-advocate as responsible citizens in a globalized community.

Circle Schedule

  • February 9 – Chapter 1 & 2 | Handout
  • February 23 – Chapter 3 & 4 | Handout
  • March 9 – Chapter 5 & 6 | Register by March 3
  • March 23 – Chapters 7 & 8 | Register by March 17
UNgrading | Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead)

Wednesdays, March 8, 22 and April 5, 19, 12:30-1:30 pm
Faculty Resource Center, Columbine 203 (HyFlex format option)
Kacey Ross, Senior Instructor, English

Explore the idea of alternative grading through Susan D. Blum’s Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead).

Circle Schedule

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Mondays, April 3, 10, 17, and 24, 9:45-10:45 am
Faculty Resource Center, Columbine 203 (HyFlex format option)
Larry Eames, Instruction Librarian, Kraemer Family Library

Join Larry in a discussion about what Paulo Freire offers in Pedagogy of the Oppressed based on our contemporary context and our individual approaches to teaching. Plan to gain a deeper understanding of how we practice instruction and hopefully enhance that practice through this study.

Circle Schedule

Bad Ideas about Writing

12:30-1:30 pm Tuesdays and Wednesdays, weeks of September 19, October 3, 17, and 31, and November 14
Faculty Resource Center, Columbine 203 (HyFlex format option)
Kacey Ross, MA, Senior Instructor, English Department, LAS

Helping students grow as writers is hard work! It’s even more difficult when we hold on to bad ideas about writing—things we’ve heard and learned that don’t help students succeed. If you’d like to interrogate those ideas and think about new possibilities, join the Bad Ideas about Writing teaching circle this Fall! We’ll meet for five weeks, with each session being offered on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, and read selections from Ball and Loewe’s 2017 book Bad Ideas about Writing. If you have questions about the group or would like more information, email Kacey Ross.

Reading Schedule:

Session 1 (9/20 or 9/21)

  • Introduction (page 1)
  • You Can Learn to Write in General (page 30)
  • Good Writers Always Follow My Rules (page 121)

Session 2 (10/4 or 10/5)

  • Teaching Grammar Improves Writing (page 144)
  • There Is One Correct Way of Writing and Speaking (page 82)
  • Leave Yourself Out of Your Writing (page 131)
  • Response: “Leave Yourself Out of Your Writing" (page 134)

Session 3 (10/18 or 10/19)

  • Failure Is Not an Option (page 76)
  • The Traditional Research Paper Is Best (page 236)
  • Plagiarism Deserves to Be Punished (page 268)

Session 4 (11/1 or 11/2)

  • You’re Going to Need This for College (page 333)
  • Excellent Academic Writing Must Be Serious (page 181)
  • Popular Culture Is Killing Writing (page 194)

Session 5 (11/15 or rescheduled for 11/28)

  • When Responding to Student Writing, More Is Better (page 268)
  • Student Writing Must be Graded by the Teacher (page 273)
  • Grading Has Always Made Writing Better (page 255)

Register for upcoming "Bad Ideas about Writing" Teaching Circle sessions or watch recordings from previous ones:

High Impact Educational Practices in Teaching

Wednesdays, March 30, April 6, and April 13

Interested in exploring how to implement a High Impact Educational Practice into your teaching? This Teaching Circle will examine courses using the High Impact Educational Practices on campus. Take it to the next level and implement one of the ideas into a course you teach. This Teaching Circle includes a deeper dive into the following practices:

Session 1: High Impact Educational Practices in Teaching and Writing-Intensive Courses

Wednesday, March 30, 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm

Kacey Ross, Director of Writing Across the Curriculum and Assistant Director of First-Year Rhetoric & Writing

This session will provide an overview of the high impact educational practices in teaching and offer high impact educational practices in teaching writing-intensive courses.

Recording | PowerPoint

Session 2: Collaborative Assignments and Projects

Wednesday, April 6, 12:15 pm – 1:30 pm

Phillip Haisley, Senior Instructor and Director, Writing Portfolio Assessment and Tracy Gonzalez-Padron, Director, Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program at UCCS and Professor, Marketing & International Business

This session will focus on high impact teaching strategies for implementing collaborative assignments and projects in different courses.

Recording | PowerPoint

Session 3: First-Year Experiences

Wednesday, April 13, 12:15 – 1:30 PM

Sarah Long, Assistant Director, Gateway Program Seminar and Ellen Burkart, Director, First Year Experience and Parent & Family Programs

This session will focus on high impact teaching strategies for teaching first-year students.

Recording