Flex Week Spring 2023

MON, JAN 9

12 pm - 12:45 pm

Zoom

Mindful Moment Break: Emotional Intelligence at Work

This is a special Mindful Moment Session that we are offering during Pre-Flex Week: Emotional Intelligence at Work. Take a few minutes to recharge and refresh during your busy day, which can also help you reframe your thoughts and feelings for the busy semester ahead. Throughout the spring semester, the COM Wellness Program will be offering Mindful Moment Breaks where we focus on a different aspect of emotions, stress management, or resiliency, and we will talk about how to take better care of ourselves at work, school, and/or at home. There will be a 10 to 15-minute meditation and deep breathing practice followed by a discussion period. Sessions will last about 30-45 minutes.

Session Outcomes

• Slow down, breathe, meditate, and reflect
• Share how the meditation exercise resonated and the lessons learned from the exercise
• Describe the role wellbeing can play in our happiness and the importance of meditation and reflection as a consistent habit

Dayna Gowan
Keenan Health and Wellness Manager

TUE, JAN 10

11 am – 12:30 pm

Zoom

My Retirement Decisions

This hands-on online workshop is designed for CalSTRS members who are close to retirement and looking for information to make informed decisions. You’ll learn how to calculate your retirement benefit and how to choose your retirement date. You’ll also find out about beneficiary options, service retirement forms, your Defined Benefit Supplement account and working after retirement parameters. Prepare for the retirement you want by getting the information you need.

Note: This will be an “open” webinar for all CalSTRS members around the state to attend, not personalized for COM.

Session Outcomes

• Describe how your CalSTRS monthly retirement benefit is calculated
• Identify your option choices if you want to provide a lifetime monthly benefit to your survivors and how each option would affect your monthly benefit
• Describe your choices for receiving the funds in your Defined Benefit Supplement account
• Describe the ways to submit your Service Retirement Application
• Learn what you need to know if you return to work in the California public school system in retirement

CalSTRS

WED, JAN 11
10 am – 11 am

Zoom

Your Retirement Plan at Work

Learn the differences between 403(b)s and 457(b)s, 2023 contribution limits, different investment options and how they work, rules and restrictions of the plans and process for enrolling.

Session Outcomes

• Gain a better grasp on how much they need to start saving for retirement based on multiple factors including age, tenure and cost of living
• Identify the different investment risks and know how these risks will affect their long- time goals
• Gain a better understanding of how each retirement benefit works together with the others to provide a comprehensive path to retirement

David Creech
Jeff Isley
Retirement Services, VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc.

THUR, JAN 12
10 am – 11:30 am

Zoom

The Three C’s for Team building: Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity

Applied Improvisation uses the tools and techniques of improvisation that you see in comedy and theater and applies these skills to the workplace and our personal lives. During this interactive session, attendees will participate in engaging improvisation exercises to learn how to improve and enhance their communication and collaboration skills. Participants will work together as a group and challenge themselves to communicate quickly and effortlessly. Take a break from the mundane and try out this new, unique training!

Please note:
This is a highly interactive workshop, meaning no multi-tasking allowed. Participants will be asked to turn their audio and video on in order to participate in the activities. Everyone will have a chance and be asked to contribute. However, participants always have the option to just watch and listen if requested.

Session Outcomes

• Participate in exercises that will challenge them to find the best ways to communicate with each other
• Improve collaboration skills by working together as a team to build new realities and scenarios
• Think quickly and respond effectively
• Develop feeling of contributing, creating something together, getting to interact, and most importantly, having fun while doing it

Dayna Gowan
Keenan Health and Wellness Manager

9 am – 10 am

FH 110 & Zoom

COM Care: Balancing Classroom Management and Student Support

During this presentation, you will have the opportunity to meet COM’s new Student Conduct and Community Standards Coordinator and learn about the resources and tools COM offers to help you with classroom management. You will learn how to effectively use the COM Care intervention system, explore how to manage challenging classroom situations through case studies, and understand expectations and resources to support students with various experiences.

Session Outcomes

• Effectively use the COM Care intervention system
• Utilize tools to manage challenging classroom situations through case studies
• Identify expectations and resources to support students with various experiences.

Sadika Sulaiman Hara

10:15 am – 11:15 am

FH 110 & Zoom

COMmon Read Call to Action: The 1619 Project

As book banning efforts continue across the country, join us to discuss how the 1619 Project can be incorporated into your curriculum this spring. We’ll share experiences from fall semester and discuss events that we are planning for spring (and events you might want to lead!), brainstorm ways you and your students can participate, and empower one another to take diversity, inclusion, and equity to the next level – into our curriculum and into our hearts. Join us whether you’ve read or taught the book— or whether you’re just diving in!

Session Outcomes

• Identify major themes in the 1619 Project
• Consider ways to easily include the themes of the book in your curriculum
• Learn how you and your students can access the book and attend events

Sarah Frye

David Patterson

10 am – 1 pm

AC 103

New Faculty Orientation

Are you new to teaching at COM? If so, welcome! We’re glad to have you as part of our faculty. We want to give you the support and information you need to be successful, so please join us for this orientation session. You will meet other new faculty and learn important information about COM policies and procedures to help ensure that you are ready for the first day of classes and beyond.  We will be in AC 103 from 10-12 and move to AC 114 computer lab from 12-1:00.  

Session Outcomes

• Gain key information about College policies and procedures
• Learn about resources and support services
• Meet new colleagues

Cara Kreit

Cari Torres-Benavides

11:30 am – 1 pm

AC 240

Compassion Fatigue: Supporting our Students and Ourselves

Learn about the effects of working with traumatized students and in traumatized systems and discuss how to foster supportive, caring spaces for our campus community.

Session Outcomes

• Identify and describe trauma and vicarious trauma and its individual, systemic and community impacts
• Learn how to counteract the impact of trauma and foster a culture of care

Danila Musante

Aneissa Rosas-Sanchez

1 pm – 2:30 pm

Zoom

UndocuAlly Training: Supporting Undocumented Students

This presentation will provide participants with knowledge, tools, and resources to support undocumented students at COM. We will cover common terms, state and federal laws affecting undocumented students, resources available on and off-campus, and share best practices.

Session Outcomes

• Identify state and federal laws that impact undocumented students
• Learn mindful ways of connecting with undocumented students
• Connect undocumented students to resources on and off campus

Hugo Guillen

1:15 pm – 2:15 pm

FH 110 & Zoom

Canvas Updates and New Releases

In this session, we will introduce and demonstrate new and upcoming Canvas features including releases and updates pertaining to: New Quizzes, Assignments, Gradebook, the Rich Content Editor, and more! To learn more about these features and future updates, visit the Canvas Release Notes.

Session Outcomes

• Apply new Canvas features to course Quizzes, Assignments, and Gradebook Review
• Modify existing content for improved course accessibility

Stacey Lince

2:30 pm – 4 pm

AC 240

Understanding White Supremacy and Racial Justice

White supremacy is often discussed as a "thing of the past" or a “taboo topic.” With the pandemic came an increase of awareness around the stark understanding of how deeply rooted systemic racism, classism, and oppression is for marginalized communities, which stems from practices and policies steeped in White supremacy. Join us in a conversation about how institutions, including higher education, are rooted in white supremacy and how we can individually and collectively work to counter and dismantle racist systems to create equitable access and support for students who historically and currently experience the most impact.

Session Outcomes

• Learn about the historical and current context of White supremacy and racial justice in the U.S. higher education system
• Reflect on current practices in teaching and/or positions at the college
• Take away tips and tools to actively dismantle oppressive practices in their teaching and/or professional positions

Sadika Sulaiman Hara

Patricia France

Teresa Perales

2:30 pm – 4 pm

FH 110

Learning Outcomes Basics and Curriculum Mapping: A Two-Part Workshop

Come for either session or stay for both!

SESSION I, 2:30 pm — 3:15 pm: Learning Outcomes Basics
Part I of this workshop will cover the basics of Student Learning Outcomes; what they are, how they are measured and assessed, why we assess SLOs and how data from outcomes can lead to innovative teaching.

SESSION II, 3:15 pm — 4 pm: Curriculum Mapping
Part II of this workshop will take a deeper dive into how the assessment of our learning outcomes can provide us with information on disproportionate impact on student subpopulations. We will begin by taking a look at how SLOs are mapped to PLOs and ILOs and discuss how mapping can provide faculty with disaggregated data at the program and institutional level.

Session Outcomes

• Describe what makes a good student learning outcome
• Identify how CLSOs, PSLOs and ISLOs are mapped
• Identify what is required to meet this year’s accreditation requirements

Logan Wood

SLOAC

2:30 pm – 5 pm

FA 214

Learning to See, Drawing Exercise

This workshop is a hands-on activity encouraging participants to trust the relationship between looking and drawing. This process reveals the universal relationship between learning visual skills and the application to other subjects. No prior experience with drawing or charcoal is necessary. (Some mess will be created. Don't wear clothes that shouldn't get dirty)

Session Outcomes

• Encourage alternative modes of experiencing learning
• Support employees to continually improve to perform at a higher level
• Build awareness of the experiences of COM students in Fine Arts classes

Carol Lefkowitz

8:30 am — 9 am

James Dunn Theatre
Kentfield Campus

Meet and Greet – Coffee, tea, and light refreshments

9 am – 11 am

James Dunn Theatre

Convocation

FOR ALL EMPLOYEES:
Join us at the James Dunn Theater as we kick off the spring semester. After College updates led by Dr. Coon, keynote speaker Dr. Pedro Noguera will take the stage to discuss equity in education, the “missing chapter” in the 1619 Project.

FOR FACULTY ONLY:
Convocation Preparation – Earn one hour of Flex Credit
To prepare for Dr. Noguera's presentation, we are offering one hour of Flex credit for reading one of his articles or watching one of his videos and submitting one question for him. These questions will help guide his presentation and Q&A time. 

To receive Flex credit: 

1. Visit COM Library Guides on Dr. Noguera and read/watch/listen to 1-2 items.  
2. Email a question for Dr. Noguera via askalibrarian@marin.edu
3. Claim one hour of Flex credit by following the directions to add external training to your ProLearning transcript. 

David Wain Coon
Superintendent/President

Dr. Pedro Noguera
Keynote Speaker

11 am - 12 pm

James Dunn Theatre

Breakout Session with UEI and Dr. Pedro Noguera

Join with Dr. Noguera to continue the discussion on equity in education, facilitated by the Umoja Equity Institute (UEI).

Umoja Equity Institute

Dr. Pedro Noguera

12 pm — 1:30 pm

Student Services Center
Cafeteria

UPM Meeting and Lunch

Faculty are encouraged to attend this meeting to hear the latest on the UPM activities.

Patrick Kelly

1:30 pm — 3:30 pm

Various Locations

Department Meetings

Join your department meeting for updates and planning information. Check Your ProLearning Workshop Calendar for room locations.

9 am — 11 am

AC 255

Department Chairs’ and Coordinators’ Meeting

All chairs/coordinators, deans, and directors should attend. This meeting will offer a concentrated, dedicated time for chairs and coordinators to discuss important topics for the semester. The information and discussion will be applicable to share at department meetings.

Jonathan Eldridge

9 am – 10 am

AC 240

Pump Up Your Writing Prompts in any Discipline

Want to receive better student writing in your classes? Looking for some tips and feedback on your assignments? Interested in seeing what innovative writing prompts others are using? Curious about how you can incorporate equity-based teaching practices into your writing assignments? Then connect with faculty from across the curriculum in sharing and workshopping our writing assignments--from research papers to in-class essays and anything in between. Bring your prompt(s) and roll up your sleeves for this hands-on activity facilitated by your friendly local English Department! 10 minutes of talk. 50 minutes of action.

Session Outcomes

• Revise their writing assignments for the spring semester
• Apply composition- and equity-based principles to writing prompts and assessments
• Share writing assignments and strategies across the curriculum

Dave King

Meg Pasquel

Blaze Woodlief

10 am – 11 am

Zoom

Canvas Quizzes and Question Banks: Tips and Tricks to Avoiding Headaches

Join us for an in-depth look at some of the trouble spots, workarounds, and solutions to using Canvas quizzes and quiz question banks, including html issues, quiz and question imports, and archiving questions. This session is intended for advanced Canvas users who are currently using New Quizzes and/or Classic Quizzes. If you would like to join the panel to demonstrate how you use Canvas question banks or present solutions you have found to navigating known quiz issues, please contact Stacey Lince at SLince@marin.edu

Session Outcomes

• Discuss problematic aspects of Canvas quizzes and question banks
• Explore solutions for working with question banks
• Brainstorm solutions for importing quizzes and question banks across courses

Stacey Lince

Jeff Yates

10:15 am – 11:15 am

AC 240

The Faculty Diversity Internship Program: Inspire Others!

This is the second year of the Faculty Diversity Internship Program (FDIP), which provides opportunities for diverse faculty interns and students to receive a broad range of educators and experiences at COM. This workshop is to share different experiences through the program and also recruit mentors who would like to participate in the program.

Session Outcomes

• Build on bringing more diversity to College of Marin by learning about COM’s Faculty Diversity Internship Program and opportunities to participate
• Share equity-minded practices facilitated during the program

Patricia France

FDIP Mentors

11:15 pm — 12:45 pm

FH 110 & Zoom

Canvas Content Reboot for in-Person Classes

While many of our classes have returned to in-person after remote instruction, this doesn’t mean you need to leave the online content you worked so hard on behind! In this session, we will explore how using Canvas for in-person classes supports diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and instructional continuity. We will also discuss how to incorporate and integrate Open Education Resources (OER) and other learning tools and applications into Canvas courses and content.

Session Outcomes

• Identify course content and activities to support in-person teaching practices.
• Explore communication methods in Canvas.
• Discuss Canvas features and integrations that support accessible student materials and Open Educational Resources

Stacey Lince

1:15 pm - 2:45 pm

AC 255

Imposter Syndrome: From the Student Perspective

"I don't belong in college. I can't major in that; I'm not smart enough." Many of our students have similar internal dialog floating around their heads as they sit in class. How do you as faculty and staff help our students feel a sense of belonging, both in the classroom and on campus? In this session, you will hear from COM students about how they have experienced Imposter Syndrome. You will have an opportunity to brainstorm ways to help our students find a sense of belonging at COM.

Session Outcomes

• Describe the student experience of imposter syndrome
• Develop strategies to help students feel a sense of belonging on campus

Kristin Perrone

Caitlin Escobar

MAPS Mentors/Students

Counseling Interns

2 pm – 3 pm

FH 110 & ZOOM

Finding and Funding Open Educational Resources (OER) for Your Classroom

Increase equity in your classroom through the use of Open Educational Resources (OER). Need help finding or funding OER? In this session, your OER Librarians will guide you through the recent updates to California centric OER repositories. In the last few years, there has been a growth in OER and the ability to fund, create and locate material for your courses. This will be a hands-on session where you will get an opportunity to search for OER. Please bring your questions.

Session Outcomes

• Locate OER materials in Libretext and the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges OERI website
• Identify funding sources for OER creation and adoption

Ron Oxford

Michele Alaniz

3 pm - 4 pm

AC 240

A Dialogue on Universal Design for STEM at College of Marin

In this session we will discuss principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and how faculty in physics and biology are implementing them at College of Marin. Participants will share ideas on principles of UDL currently used in their classes, results, and opportunities for improvement.

Session Outcomes

• Identify examples of the principles of Universal Design for Learning applied to the STEM field
• Compare the results of applying UDL principles in STEM classes, contrast the use of UDL principles in science and other disciplines,
• Determine what support is needed to more widely use UDL in STEM classes

Fernando Agudelo-Silva

David Everitt

George Rothbart

3 pm – 4:30 pm

Zoom

The COM Post-Bacc Student: Creating Learning and Engagement Opportunities

Are you talking with your students about graduate school (already)? Many students are interested in learning about their educational options and what is possible if they continue on their path. At COM, we currently serve a number of students who have bachelor degrees and are completing prerequisite requirements for graduate school. In this session, we will discuss our experiences in introducing students to the graduate school experience, how to leverage our knowledge of graduate programs to support our post-bacc students with their successful transition, and how to cultivate learning opportunities for all of our students. Our session will include COM student Emily Kasai, who is currently applying to graduate school and will share her personal experiences of how COM prepared her for her next educational goal

Session Outcomes

• Identify opportunities to engage students in activities that foster a greater understanding of education systems
• Support students with successful completion of graduate school process
• Identify critical practices that address continued focus on equity in the classroom

Yashica Crawford

9 am – 12 pm

AC 255

Active Assailant Training

The IMReady “Surviving an Active Assailant” (SAA) training can empower employees with knowledge and tactics that increase their odds of surviving an incident. Even if you know what to do during an active killer situation, practicing will reinforce the concepts.  The training addresses threats in the work environment; however, the principles of SAA apply to situations occurring outside of work too. SAA is live interactive training presented to your population in their work environment by a subject matter expert.

This training involves:
9 am — 10:30 am: Classroom instruction
10:30 am – 12 pm: Breakout groups

Note: Post-training, an optional light lunch will be available from 12 pm – 12:45 pm for registered participants to de-stress and/or reflect, hosted by COM’s Psychological Services.

Session Outcomes

• Rehearse Run-Hide-Fight and Develop a survivor’s mindset
• Recognize red flag indicators
• Learn improvised device recognition, visual weapons screening, and barricade techniques

Jeff Marozick

12:30 pm – 2 pm

Zoom

Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies for Your Classroom

Faculty from the Sciences and from the English Department invite you to attend this workshop where we come together as a community of teachers to share how we have implemented culturally responsive and equity-based teaching practices in our classrooms. Research shows that teachers who use culturally responsive teaching are better able to respond to student needs, and it is an effective way to combat educational inequities that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Come learn about specific strategies used in the classroom to increase student engagement, cultivate critical thinking, reading, writing, and problem-solving skills, and ultimately, improve students’ sense of belonging in the classroom.

Session Outcomes

• Identify Universal Design for Learning principles and transformative practices
• Implement diverse instructional delivery modalities following the principles of anti-racism and universal design
• Apply culturally responsive and anti-racist practices in the classroom

Emily Fox

Dayna Quick

Susan Rahman

Beth Sheofsky

Dave King

Trine Miller

Patty France&

Stephanie Wells

Jamie Tipton

Ingrid Kelly

12:45 pm – 1:45 pm

FH 110 & Zoom

Library Services and Resources: Textbooks, eBooks, Controversial Books, Just Plain Books, and More!

Join us to learn ways the library can support you and your students this spring! We will discuss the library’s technology lending program, three textbook initiatives (course reserves, Library Textbook Program and Open Educational Resources), our most popular online resources (Yes, The New York Times online is available for free!), vaccinating our students against the pandemic of disinformation with information literacy instruction (in person, online, synchronous or asynchronous!), and ways to participate in the COMmon Read this spring!

Session Outcomes

• Identify ways the library can help you with free or cheap textbooks
• Use library instruction to inoculate your students against disinformation
• Describe library services that support your teaching and your students’ learning
• Celebrate the struggle to keep the conversation around controversial or complicated topics going

Sarah Frye

David Patterson

2 pm – 3 pm

Zoom

Mandatory Revision in eLumen

This workshop will provide step-by-step instructions about how to complete mandatory revision in eLumen for faculty who need a refresher or are new to eLumen. We will also review criteria for revisions that require a presentation to the Curriculum Committee when there are substantive changes to a course outline of record.

Session Outcomes

• Refresh your knowledge of or learn to use eLumen
• Understand when changes require presentations to the Curriculum Committee

Gina Cullen

Cari Torres-Benavides

Grace Mengqi Yuan

2 pm – 3 pm

Zoom

Work-Based Learning Opportunities for COM Students!

Learn about COM's new virtual online Job Board (Handshake), COM's Learning Aligned Employment Program (LAEP), and how the Work Experience Program (WEXP) are creating work-based learning opportunities and providing transferrable credit for students in a variety of disciplines.

Session Outcomes

• Identify and/or create work-based learning activities for COM Students
• Inform COM students about the benefits of the LAEP program and WEXP program, and how these programs support their educational and career goals.
• Inform students about COM's new virtual online job board (Handshake)

Alexander Jones

Chelsey Perez

3 pm – 4:30 pm

Zoom

Discover Contemporary Latinx, Black, Asian-American and Native American Artists

Exciting art is being made all over the Americas and it’s virtually unknown in this country. Join me on Zoom while I share some of my favorite artists from Peru, Brazil, Mexico and the United States. When my students in Art History of the Americas finish the class, they are often so delighted with countries and artists they’ve never encountered before that they travel to ancestral homelands and develop a deep appreciation of the variety of cultures within which they are really living. A PowerPoint lecture will be followed by group discussion about integrating the arts of the Americas into your disciplines.

Session Outcomes

• Gain knowledge of lesser-known American artists and their experiences of their diverse worlds as expressed in art that can lead to assignments in English, Humanities, Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy, and Ethnic Studies.

Katrina Wagner