Teaching Sparks Overview
Ignite Your Teaching in Just 30 Minutes
Teaching Sparks are dynamic, focused 30-minute sessions designed to quickly ignite new ideas and enhance your teaching practice. Each Spark dives deep into one specific, high-impact teaching strategy or technique that you can implement immediately in your classroom.
Think of Teaching Sparks as your professional development espresso shot—concentrated, energizing, and designed to deliver maximum impact in minimal time. Whether you’re looking to refresh familiar strategies, discover new approaches, or adapt techniques across different learning environments, these sessions provide the perfect blend of expert guidance and peer collaboration.
What Makes Teaching Sparks Special?
Laser-Focused Learning – Each session tackles one specific practice, giving you deep, actionable insights rather than surface-level overviews
Quick Implementation – Walk away with strategies you can use in your very next class
Interactive Experience – Move beyond passive listening to active participation, idea-sharing, and collaborative problem-solving
Practical Application – Explore real tools, resources, and templates that work across different class sizes and learning modalities
Peer-Powered – Learn not just from instructors, but from the collective wisdom and experiences of fellow educators
Adaptable Strategies – Discover how to scale and modify techniques whether you’re teaching 15 students or 150, in-person or online
Perfect For Busy Educators
Teaching Sparks sessions encourage active participation, resource sharing, and the kind of authentic educator-to-educator exchange that sparks innovation in your teaching practice. Come ready to share your own “go-to” strategies while discovering new ones that will energize both you and your students.
Upcoming Sessions
Teaching Sparks: Simple Syllabus Walk-through with Faculty
Instructor: Garrett Beatty
2/20/2026 | 9:35 AM – 10:05 AM
ONLINE
Join us for a one‑time, informal Teaching Sparks session on implementing the Simple Syllabus. In each session, faculty will share with participants their experience building a course syllabus in Simple Syllabus. You’ll see how it connects to Canvas, learn practical tips for completing key sections, and hear what they wish they’d known starting out. These sessions are not recorded, so bring your questions and learn directly from a peer—live, candid, and immediately useful.
Passport categories: Evidence-Based Teaching, Student-Focused Teaching
Register for Teaching Sparks: Simple Syllabus Walk-through with Faculty
Teaching Sparks: Simple Syllabus Walk-through with Faculty
Instructor: Mark Bishop
2/23/2026 | 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM
ONLINE
Join us for a one‑time, informal Teaching Sparks session on implementing the Simple Syllabus. In each session, faculty will share with participants their experience building a course syllabus in Simple Syllabus. You’ll see how it connects to Canvas, learn practical tips for completing key sections, and hear what they wish they’d known starting out. These sessions are not recorded, so bring your questions and learn directly from a peer—live, candid, and immediately useful.
Passport categories: Evidence-Based Teaching, Student-Focused Teaching
Register for Teaching Sparks: Simple Syllabus Walk-through with Faculty