Welcome to the Weekly UTLC Newsletter |
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Teaching Tips: Managing Large Classes |
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Oftentimes, teaching resources may not address the logistics of managing large groups of students at one time. However, the reality of everyday life in higher education is many of us may find ourselves teaching large auditorium style classes. The good news is that there are strategies you can use promote quality instruction even when teaching large classes.
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Learn as many names as possible. Encourage students to use name tents. Ask students to lead off with their names when contributing to class. Use the ID photo roster feature in Canvas to match student faces with names.
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Use small group and pair share activities to break up class time and encourage students to interact with each other. Use interactive tools – such as a One Drive document that students can edit – to have groups report in their results and observations so that you can hear from more students. Use activities such as Poll Everywhere and Mentimeter to check in with students and for realtime in-class formative assessment on difficult points. Active learning techniques are still both doable and essential, even in large classes.
- Consider incentivizing attendance at office hours with small amounts of extra credit or other rewards to help students realize that they do have instructor support, even in large classes.
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Pleas use accessibility equipment, such as microphones. You can’t see students with hearing loss or auditory processing disorders. If you are in a room with accessibility equipment such as microphones, please use the microphone. It will feel awkward to begin with and become natural with practice and make your voice both amplified and more clear.
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Tech Tips: How to Use Canvas “Message Students Who…” |
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Do you to follow up with students quickly but find it overwhelming with a large class? Use Canvas’s “Message Students Who…” tool to send targeted messages without emailing the whole class. Here's a quick step-by-step on how to do this.
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- Open your course and go to "Grades".
- Find the assignment you want to message students concerning.
- Click the three‑dot menu (⋯) next to the assignment name.
- Select Message Students Who….
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Choose a category from the dropdown (such as "Haven’t submitted yet", "Scored less than", "Scored more than", "Haven’t been graded").
- Canvas will automatically populate the list of students who match that filter.
- Type your message in the text box.
- Click Send Message
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You can also refer to this video from our Learning Technology Team or guide from Canvas which has screenshots of each step!
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Community Engagement Book Club |
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Please join the University Teaching and Learning Commons, the Institute for Community and Economic Engagement, and the University Community Engagement Council as we collaborate and sponsor the Spring 2026 Community Engagement Book Club. Together we will be reading Rewriting Partnerships: Community Perspectives on Community-Based Learning by Rachael Shah. The book invites us to rethink our partnerships, emphasizing the potential for valuable knowledge co-creation. Drawing on interviews with partners and examples from courses and research projects, Shah shows how community-engaged teaching and research are enhanced by ethical collaboration with the community at program design, implementation, and evaluation.
There will be 3 meetings total on March 5, March 26 and April 23. We will be meeting 2:30 to 4:00ish, but please feel free to drop in and out depending on your needs. Location is TBD. Coffee and light snacks will be provided.
There are a limited number of print books available. Please register by February 13 to be entered into a drawing for a print book. The ebook is available through the UNCG library.
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We are pleased to share that the UTLC is now active on social media. We encourage you to follow us on Instagram (@utlc.uncg), Facebook (UNCG UTLC), and LinkedIn (University Teaching & Learning Commons) to stay informed about weekly teaching tips, upcoming events, and resources that support teaching and learning at UNCG.
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Open Office Hours with ITS |
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Open Office Hours with ITS: Learning Technology’s Instructional Design Team: Tuesdays 10am–12pm
Drop in for a conversation with an instructional designer! We can assist with course and assessment design, discuss teaching questions, and help with Canvas, Teams, and other learning technology.
No registration is needed; you can just join online.
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Spring 2026 Graduate Teaching Assistant Network Meetings |
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We are pleased to announce the Spring 2026 GTA Network dates! The GTA Network is open to all graduate teaching associates and is a space to connect, learn from colleagues, and receive collaborative support.
What can you expect at GTA Network Events:
Fresh Ideas & Teaching Tips – Explore new strategies, tools, and approaches to elevate your teaching practice.
Real-Time Demos – Get walk-throughs on essential processes like submitting grades, using Canvas tools, and more.
Timely Updates – Stay informed about important UNCG events, deadlines, and teaching-related resources.
Safe Space for Sharing – Bring your questions, wins, and challenges. This is a judgment-free zone where your voice matters.
Campus Connections – Learn how to collaborate with key support offices and student services across campus.
Meetings are all Mondays: January 23, February 9, February 23, March 23, April 6, and April 20 from 2 to 3pm.
You can access the MS Teams call through the GTA Network Teams Channel or .
If you have questions, please contact Judy Fowler at JAFOWLE3@uncg.edu.
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| Free Subscription to The Teaching Professor from Magna Publications |
Magna Publications has a weekly newsletter with teaching tips, strategies, and the latest best practices of teaching offering approaches on a wide range of teaching topics, such as:
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- Planning and designing courses
- Promoting academic integrity
- Increasing student engagement
- Responding to course evaluations and feedback
- Developing effective activities and assignments
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| Access to Quick Teaching Workshops with Magna Publications |
Magna Publications offers a series of 20-minute and 40-minute workshops on teaching and learning topics from national experts in teaching and learning.
The UTLC has secured campus access to over 20 trainings on topics such as teaching effectiveness, generative AI, student engagement, course design, and much more.
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Faculty Engagement & Development Opportunities |
Check out these upcoming opportunities from the UTLC and other partners on campus. Additionally, the university workshop calendar has opportunities.
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- Self-Paced Training Options| Online, research-based workshops cover a range of essential topics.
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UNCG Libraries Webinars | Research and Application Webinar Series (Spring 2024 recordings) | Zotero Webinar Series (recordings)
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New to Teaching | Access this Canvas site to learn about how students learn, preparing for class, grading, office hours, engagement, active learning, and more.
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Safe and Trans Zone Training on Canvas | Enroll in this self-paced online course to complete Safe Zone 1.0, 2.0, and Trans Zone if you cannot attend an in-person workshop.
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Web Accessibility 101 | This asynchronous, self-paced course focuses on the fundamentals of making online content accessible.
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