Plan

Getting Started

Whether you’re new to teach­ing or it’s been a while since you’ve taught, this sec­tion guides you through the impor­tant first steps toward cre­at­ing inclu­sive and engag­ing learn­ing spaces.

1. Prin­ci­ples of Learn­ing — Before plan­ning a course and/or a class, we need to remind our­selves of how learn­ing works. Lovett et al. (2023) pro­vide eight research-based prin­ci­ples of learn­ing along with teach­ing strate­gies we can imple­ment to sup­port stu­dents across these prin­ci­ples.
2. Course Out­lines — The course out­line is an essen­tial doc­u­ment. It is both a con­tract with stu­dents and a vital com­mu­ni­ca­tion tool. Course out­lines set the tone of a course and let stu­dents know what to expect and who we are as instruc­tors. This sec­tion out­lines the col­lege’s pol­i­cy on course out­lines, along with strate­gies for cre­at­ing inclu­sive and acces­si­ble course out­lines. (Edit — may want to include info from Craft­ing Inclu­sive Course Out­line and Align­ing Assess­ment)
3. First Day(s) of Class­es — First impres­sions count. Stu­dents often decide whether or not to con­tin­ue with a class based on this first expe­ri­ence. In this sec­tion, we explore quick tips for cre­at­ing a wel­com­ing and engag­ing first day of class (Cre­ate NIC’s own First Day(s) of Class­es page — these are just links to oth­er insti­tu­tions)
4. Class­room Man­age­ment — As instruc­tors, it’s our respon­si­bil­i­ty to ensure all stu­dents feel wel­come in the learn­ing space. Co-cre­at­ing with stu­dents from the out­set, guide­lines on how every­one will come togeth­er, com­mu­ni­cates to stu­dents that their voic­es mat­ter. (Edit — move Man­ag­ing Group Work to Assess and Engage > Engage Learn­ers > Group Work)
5. New Fac­ul­ty Resources - New to North Island Col­lege? This sec­tion pro­vides use­ful resources to get you start­ed.

(Edit and con­dense to essen­tials)