The Open Classroom: Two Days of Teaching Visits Overview

This event took place on September 5^th and 6^th, 2017

On September 5^th and 6^th the Center for Teaching hosted our program, The Open Classroom: Two Days of Teaching Visits, for the second year. The event featured 50 different hosts who graciously and bravely opened their classrooms to a total of over 75 visitors. This gave the visitors the valuable opportunity to observe high quality teaching, discuss common challenges with an informal mentor, and refine their practice.

At the end of the two days, the CFT hosted a reception for all of the hosts and visitors with some structured dialogue about lessons learned from the visits. The rich conversation that ensued revealed many insights from a range of faculty perspectives across the disciplines about anything from creative assignments to discussion leading, from student engagement techniques to educational technology. In these discussions, we hope that the hosts and visitors alike found an opportunity to surpass the pedagogical isolation of day-to-day teaching, and find support and and mentorship in a community of their peers.

We sincerely want to thank the many hosts (listed below) who participated in the event for their exemplary teaching and for being willing to serve as sage mentors to their colleagues. Your example and the community you help us to build through the visits program helps to sustain us at the CFT and to fulfill the teaching mission of Vanderbilt. Thank you.