Join a Current Teaching Circle

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is pleased to announce the following Teaching Circles for Fall semester 2026. If you are interested in joining one of these circles, email the facilitator as early as possible but no later than Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. Circles typically hold their first meeting during Week 3 of the semester. 

Kendra Evans, Spectrum Support Programs, Student Affairs; and SOIS

The goal of this circle is to help faculty build greater confidence in recognizing and responding to diverse learning needs through course design, communication practices, classroom structure, and relationship-building. Together, participants will examine common classroom challenges such as executive functioning, sensory needs, participation expectations, group work, and flexibility in assessment.

This teaching circle will be facilitated through collaborative discussion, case studies, shared reflection, and practical strategy exchange. Participants will be encouraged to bring classroom experiences, questions, and challenges for group exploration. As a collective deliverable, the circle will develop a shared resource guide and practical toolkit of neuroinclusive teaching strategies that can benefit the broader RIT community.

Participants can expect to deepen their understanding of neurodiversity, reflect on their own teaching practices, and leave with concrete strategies to create more accessible, inclusive, and effective learning environments.

Participants will be polled to establish a meeting time and to determine if in-person, Zoom, and/or hybrid discussion format is preferred for the six, 50-minute meetings. If you are interested in joining this circle, email Kendra Evans.

Jessamy Comer, Center for Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellow in Humanities/Social Sciences; Department of Psychology, COLA

In this teaching circle, we will discuss some unique challenges that female faculty face in the classroom. We will read research articles and discuss how faculty gender influences things like student course evaluations, student requests for exceptions/extensions, student attitudes in the classroom, etc. We will ultimately work towards a list of best practices for handling these challenges in our own classrooms. The format of this teaching circle will be biweekly zoom meetings, with dates determined via polling. If you are interested in joining this circle, email Jessamy Comer.