Talking about Teaching

Talking about Teaching is a Community of Practice (CoP). A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of people, sharing a common interest, who come together to share experiences and ideas in an effort to develop personally and professionally. A CoP is designed to be shaped by the members’ needs and goals.

In Spring 2024 we launched our instructional CoP – Talking about Teaching (see session recaps below). This spring we continue the conversation emphasizing important topics based on an analysis of the 2023-2024 SET results. Join your colleagues to discuss classroom challenges, share effective teaching practices, and innovate and create new ideas to support learning at WSB.

Keep reading for more information about this semester’s topics and the special guest instructors who have volunteered to lead the conversation.

How does a CoP operate?

Most importantly, as the name implies, a Community of Practice is created by and for its members. As such, we need YOU to make this CoP a success.

As we start this new program we are providing some structure by pre-selecting this semester’s topics (see calendar below). However, each session will remain open and flexible to the interests of those in attendance. Keeping that in mind, this is how a typical Talking about Teaching session will go:

    • Join us in-person or on Zoom (when available) and a T&L team member will kick off the session by introducing the topic and special guest instructor(s).
    • Special guest instructor(s) will share their experiences related to that day’s topic. This presentation can be as long or short as they wish; it can be a pure presentation, a panel, or an interactive discussion, we want to leave the presentation style up to you!
    • After the special guest instructor(s) presents their perspective, we encourage open discussion, Q&A, demonstrations, etc. Again, as a CoP, these sessions are intended to be driven by you, the community of practitioners rather than being overly structured like a formal workshop or training would be.

Upcoming Meetings

Community of Practice meetings have concluded for the Spring 2025 semester. Stay tuned for the schedule of meetings for Fall 2025!

Past Meeting Recaps

Explore our prior meeting recaps and additional resources below. Explore them all or click on a specific topic for more information about panelists, topics discussed, and slides/handouts (when available). If there is a topic you would like to see discussed, please reach out to Karin Spader (kspader@wisc.edu). 

Spring 2024

Fall 2024

Spring 2025

Additional Resources

Learn more about CoPs by exploring these resources below: