January 18, 2023
Vaughan and Weaver to present professional development event today
Mariya Vaughan, assistant director of K-State First, and Brent Weaver, K-State First's learning assistant coordinator, will present "Finding Your 1,001st Idea: Strategies for Supporting First-Year Students in the Classroom" from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, via Zoom. The presentation is part of the Teaching and Learning Center's Professional Development Series.
First-year students are a joy to teach, as they are typically excited about this transition point and the new opportunities available to them at K-State. There are also unique challenges though, as they often struggle with lack of connection, sense of belonging and a general feeling of being overwhelmed by coursework, expectations and activity on campus. These concerns have been heightened more recently, as students are coming to K-State after two years of hybrid and virtual learning.
In a rapidly changing environment and when students seem to need so much from us, this can feel overwhelming to teachers, too. Vaughan and Weaver want to share that strategies, activities and skills that have helped first-year students in their transition before the pandemic do continue to help them, they just need them now more than ever.
The presentation title is inspired by a quote from "The Good Place": "You fail and then you try something else. And you fail again and again, and you fail a thousand times, and you keep trying because maybe the 1,001st idea might work. Now, I'm gonna go and try to find our 1,001st idea."
The session will discuss some of the activities, practices and strategies that have been used to address first-year student concerns with a focus on the following four topics: building community, communication and empathy, technology use and its flexibility, and timely connection to campus resources.
View the promotional video.