Great Teachers Seminar
select the image to enlarge -- alternate image that won't make it into the yearbook
Spring 2013: April 5-7, 2013 at UCLA Conference Center
Interested in improving your craft in teaching? Interested in doing that with other commited teachers from BC? Interested in doing that in a gorgeous setting? If you answered yes to all three, then Great Teachers Seminar (GTS) is for you! (Extra bonus: you get 16 hours of Flex credit too!)
For a number of years now, faculty from BC have gathered for a weekend-long retreat during the spring semester to share their successes/innovations in teaching practices, what challenges/problems they have in the classroom, and other tricks of the trade. For the past several years we have met at the UCLA Conference Center at Lake Arrowhead to learn from each other, support each other, enjoy the amenities at the conference center (including great food), and have some fun!
For 2013, GTS was on April 5-7 at the UCLA Conference Center and the cost was $200/night (two nights).
Basic Schedule
Friday: carpool up to the retreat location arriving in the afternoon/early evening. Share our innovation papers and our problem papers with each other in the evening.
Saturday: Share "tricks of the trade". Brainstorm on the topics people want to discuss in the rest of the retreat, vote on which topics people want to cover to determine what are the top 4-6 "hot topics", and then break out into small group sessions on those hot topics. In the afternoon, enjoy some free time by taking a walk around the lake, going into town for shopping, playing a game at the center or by taking a nap! In the evening small group facilitators share what their groups came up with.
Sunday: Create action plans and task forces to carry out the action plans. Depart after lunch.
BC Faculty Links
- Photo album
- Faculty Discussion Moodle. After logging in, go down to "Non-Course Spaces" and then choose the "Faculty Discussions" link.
- How to use Faculty Discussion Moodle . A visual guide tutorial for how to use the faculty discussion area.
- Comments/testimonials from past participants
- Getting to UCLA Conference Center -- driving directions from the college plus detailed maps. (3-page PDF)
- GTS 2013 Packet --- shows you how this year's GTS is set up. (3-page PDF)
Outside GTS Links
- National Great Teachers Movement website. Includes a resource library with in-depth papers about the Great Teachers Movement.
- California GTS (through the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges).
- Their "Preparing for the Seminar" document (PDF) is the same as the one we use (with adjustments for the number of participants).
- Also see their paper on local GTS retreats for more on how the BC GTS is set up.
last updated: April 20, 2013
Webpage contact: Nick Strobel
