Creating Community for Community College Instructors, Part II

At both community colleges at which I teach, today and tomorrow are Flex Days. A Flex Day is designed for a mixture of meetings and professional development. Between College of Marin and Skyline, it is a mix of convocations, department meetings, curriculum meetings and new staff orientations. Skyline is also opening a new Science, Math and Technology wing this semester, so there was unpacking of boxes, distribution of keys and trying not to get too lost in the hallways.

In the process of my meetings today, I was introduced to a fellow instructor who teaches evening classes. His comments confirmed my earlier thoughts: Teaching evening classes can be especially isolating for instructors, as the chance to meet up with peers is very limited. Like myself, he is eager to improve his teaching, and notes that it is very difficult to do a straight lecture class such as Anatomy, in the evenings. He has been looking for ways to improve his teaching, but with few colleagues to interact or share with, it makes the teaching rather lonely.

Luckily, he and I may be able to meet up once a week, as my lab ends about an hour before he is scheduled to teach. My hope is that he and I could meet up periodically for an evening meal and talk about how to make lectures more engaging. Perhaps we'll also have the chance to observe each other teaching, and collect data about our practice and our students. I have a similar project going with three other colleagues called a Teaching Square, which I will discuss in an upcoming post, and while I don't see it appropriate for him to join us now, the intention is that our Teaching Square program will be expanded in the future.

Another benefit I am seeing from working at community college, which I have sorely missed at the K-12 level, is the chance to talk to my colleagues about research. Since community college instructors in science typically have a Master's or Doctorate, I have peers who have done scientific research, and I can draw from their research experience to further inform my teaching. I am very excited about that.