Block 6 Newsletter

If you’ve never considered participating in Instructional Coaching as a coach or coachee, we encourage you to explore the program’s offerings for individuals and groups. Instructional Coaching provides a confidential space to explore pedagogies and receive supportive feedback from a trusted colleague.

Our coaches are talented teaching faculty of all ranks, trained in dialogic coaching and the Inclusive Pedagogies Observation Protocol (IPOP). The IPOP features research-based pedagogical approaches to establishing an equitable classroom environment, inclusive instruction, authentic assessment, generative classroom dialogue, and critical consciousness. In tandem with one-to-one instructional coaching, the program also offers team coaching for programs, departments and groups of colleagues invested in collaborative learning and instructional growth. 

Have you missed a Crown workshop or want to refresh your memory about a workshop you attended? Crown has got you covered! We continue to add to our repository of asynchronous materials from past and present Crown sessions.  Visit our Canvas page for information from the following 2025-26 academic year workshops:

Contact Jessica Hunter for page access.

Thursday, Feb. 19, 12:15-1:30 p.m.
Media Relations Program Info Lunch
Registration
Ready to bring your scholarship into the public conversation—on air, in print, and beyond? Join us for a Crown Center-hosted lunch as we partner with the Office of Communications & Marketing to share an exciting opportunity for faculty to showcase the impactful work done here at CC. The Media Relations Program enhances CC's visibility, reputation, and influence through strategic, proactive media engagement that raises awareness of our faculty experts and builds affinity and value for CC. During this session, we’ll explore the ways we will embark on this exciting endeavor.

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 12:15-1:30 p.m., Tutt Library 327 
Crown Lunch Workshop: Exploring Advising Case Studies by Marion Hourdequin 
Registration
In this workshop, we'll use a series of advising scenarios to prompt a broader discussion of the opportunities and challenges of faculty advising at CC, and to consider how we can effectively advise students across a wide range of contexts and situations. 

Thursday, March 5, 2-3:30 p.m., Honnen 101
 Polarity Thinking by Kris Stanec
Registration
Polarities, also called dilemmas, tensions or paradoxes, are differences between two alternatives. Each pole brings something positive to the interdependent pair and each pole becomes a liability without its pole partner. This workshop will explore this phenomenon and the dynamics by which it functions to more creatively and effectively leverage its energy.

Students from the National Geographic Career Catalyst Block pose with Explorer Bob Ballard, who rediscovered the Titanic.

One moment captured what Career Catalyst Blocks are all about: midway through the National Geographic experience, students walked into a routine lunch with the storytelling team and found legendary explorer Bob Ballard waiting to share stories about discovery and career paths. Within minutes, the room transformed into an hour-long, unscripted conversation where students asked questions, exchanged ideas, and were treated as emerging colleagues rather than visitors. That spontaneous encounter—equal parts networking, inspiration, and real-world connection—perfectly embodied the CCB ethos: immersive, relationship-driven learning that helps students see how their liberal arts education translates into meaningful professional futures.

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