The first spring session of IPA convened last week in a classroom tucked away in the Apprentice area of the college. IPA is training program for new faculty at NWTC. Our class of 31 new instructors has been meeting since the first week in August 2011 when we all began our new careers as part- or full-time instructors. Some of us had experience as adjuncts, but a good number of us had never taught in a classroom before. IPA helped show our way.
The first session of IPA was 10-day crash course before the fall semester about NWTC: employee benefits, strengths finding, a rather detailed tour of the Green Bay campus with Dr. Rafn, Cliff Notes of Educational Psychology and Teaching Methods, and a preview of all the resources available to us at the college. It was a blur, even for me who had been an adjunct for five years. I can't imagine the head spin inflicted on the brand-new instructors by pages and pages of information. After that initial marathon, we met on a monthly basis and then weekly through a Blackboard course, strengthening our cohort.
Somehow, we all survived the first semester, and assembled again this past Friday to meet five new instructors hired in January, to catch up on gossip, to exchange classroom stories, and to celebrate our one semester of experience. Last August we knew we didn't know what we didn't know and had more than a little self-doubt as we walked to our first class. Now, we still know we don't know a lot about teaching, but have a semester of experience to build upon. I believe the college is constantly renewed by the work experience and naive energy of new instructors, and our students will benefit as we reform that experience and energy into dynamic teaching practices. Again, IPA shows the way.
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