VCCS Regional Centers for Teaching Excellence Commitment to Teaching, Learning, Professional Enrichment

Center Activities  Regional colloquia for VCCS faculty  Instructional Leadership  Inquiry the VCCS journal on teaching and learning  Mentoring programs to enhance teaching  Print and electronic resource clearinghouses

Center Activities: FISH! What is the Fish Philosophy? One drizzly day in a small fish market on the West Coast, a group of workers muddled through their jobs of chopping and selling fish. Suddenly, there was a revelation: If they had to show up and do these somewhat mundane tasks anyway, why not HAVE FUN? The employees of the fish market started to change their attitudes. It became common to see fish flying across the bins of the kiosk. Shoppers were brought into the act, and were prompted to catch the fish being thrown across the room. Businessmen from the commercial buildings across the street began to come during their lunch hours just to watch the spirit of play being such a success in the workplace. Eventually, the workers of the fish market developed an entire philosophy about work, which involves the following rules: Have Fun!Have Fun! Choose your attitude! Make someone's day! Be There!Choose your attitude!Make someone's day!Be There!

Go FISH!  Participants enjoy lunch at a recent FISH! Workshop at New River CC

The BIG Guy  Chancellor DuBois presents on his favorite topic—great teachers—at TNCC and NVCC

Brain Gym  Tidewater region faculty work out at a Brain Gym seminar.

The Master Teachers  Dr. Terry Whisnant takes his Master Teachers Seminar on the road for the RCTEs

Mentoring and Leadership  Eric Hibbison describes professional development opportunities at the VCCS New Faculty Seminar

Regional Center for Teaching Excellence Fall Refreshers 2003: Motivation, Inspiration, Interaction The Regional Center for Teaching Excellence, Central Virginia Region, serving Blue Ridge, Central Virginia, Dabney S. Lancaster, Danville, Patrick Henry, and Virginia Western Community Colleges hosted its first Professional Development activity for the academic year on Aug. 22, 2003 at Central Virginia Community College. Twenty-five full time and adjunct faculty from CVCC, DCC, DSLCC, as well as personnel from CVCC’s Center for Workforce Development participated in the animated, motivational, and interactive exercises presented by Professor Steven Piscitelli of Florida Community College at Jacksonville, and Dr. Susan Coffey, formerly of CVCC and currently VCCS Director of Professional Development. Professor Piscitelli also signed copies of his book Study Skills: Do I Really Need This Stuff? Susan Coffey 4-MAT: Which quadrant are you? Steve Piscitelli “….Keep Austin weird!”

Whose Center IS this anyway?  Who makes the Centers for Teaching Excellence work?  YOU  ME  US! We’re all in this together. We can’t do it without YOU.

The tip of the iceberg: A sampling of RCTE Events  Global Education Boot Camp videoconferences  Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences  James Eison on Creating a High Impact Classroom Environment  Teaching the “new” English 111 and 112  Virginia Humanities Foundation grant workshop  Teaching ADHD/LD students seminar  VADE regional conferences, Sp ‘04

The tip of the iceberg: A sampling of RCTE Events  “Fireside Chat” dialogues with Deans and VPs  Symposia on Service Learning  Workshops on helping students cope with threats of terrorism and war  Holistic evaluation workshop  “Training for World Class Manufacturing” seminar  Colloquia on teaching for retention

Who benefits from your participation and input?  Faculty  Administrators  Students  Teachers  Facilitators  Learners  Everyone!