January 9 Flex Day

Yosimar Reyes, By sharing his lived experiences as a queer undocumented writer, Yosimar Reyes offers powerful insights into the complexities of identity, intersectionality, belonging, and resilience through poetry readings, narrative sharing, and guided dialogue. His perspective will enrich our college’s ongoing work in understanding and supporting students from diverse cultural and social backgrounds.

Program Services Coordinators (PSCs) play essential and often complex roles across Skyline College, yet our duties, workflows, and unit needs can vary widely depending on the division we serve. This session will bring together PSCs from across campus to build community, exchange best practices, and deepen our collective understanding of the work we each do.

In this interactive one-hour session, faculty will explore RSI Navigator, an AI-powered chatbot built in PlayLab to help instructors quickly check whether a course meets federal Regular and Substantive Interaction requirements. Then, we’ll take a behind-the-scenes look at how RSI Navigator was built—prompting, structure, data integration, guardrails, and design decisions. We’ll conclude with a collaborative brainstorming session on how faculty might use AI chatbots to enhance teaching, student interactions, and RSI compliance in their own courses. Come curious and leave empowered with new ideas!

Being repeatedly shamed for making mistakes is a sure-fire way to kill joy and turn meaningful exploration into an unbearable slog. So how do we recover from such trauma? First, we recognize what happened in the past as well as why. Second, we play. So please come join us and discover how an old enemy can become a new friend.

Come and learn about the benefits of board games and enjoy the company of your colleagues over a cooperative or competitive game! We'll have a a short (10 mins or less) presentation on the benefits of board gaming cognitively, emotionally, and socially, followed by open board gaming time! Feel free to bring your favorite board game to share. Helpers will be present to assist with rules, directions, and facilitation of games.

Join us to learn how students may receive support from the Educational Access Center, including the intake process, requirements for documentation, and testing options. We will also discuss how to identify students who may benefit from EAC services, and how to refer them. You will have the opportunity to try a common assistive technology accommodation yourself (Otter.ai) and learn how the EAC supports responsible use of the AI embedded in some technologies. We will expand the discussion beyond learning accommodations to explore accessibility standards that support all learners. To fully participate in this workshop, please sign up for a free account with the Otter.ai notetaking and transcription app.

Hosted by FYE students, join members of Skyline’s birding club, The Birders’ Brigade, as we view and identify various birds that are found on Skyline’s campus. Birding offers students and faculty many benefits; in fact, a North Carolina State University study found that “university students who went birding reported higher gains in subjective well-being and more reduction of psychological distress” (Forbes). Ever wonder what the difference is between a crow and a raven? Why are some blackbirds brown? And how did killdeer earn their name? These and other questions will be answered. Join the Brigade!

Sometimes students don’t get it on their first attempt. Allowing students to receive feedback on drafts, revise assignments, and retake exams is a powerful way to increase student learning and success. It can also produce more equitable results, giving all students the opportunity to excel, not just those arriving with already strong preparation and skills. Come hear how faculty from different disciplines use retakes, revision, and do-overs in their classes without unduly burdening their workload.

Whether working on your comprehensive program review or program review update, join us in an interactive work session to draft responses to the prompts in a supportive environment and get answers to your questions.

An estimated 70% of Skyline's student population speaks a language in addition to English. How can content instructors best support students with varying levels of language comprehension and production while still maintaining outcomes standards? While no magical solutions exist, this workshop will give a window into the background and experiences of our language learners, explain the ESOL department offerings, and share tips and tools. Bring your questions and scenarios to share.

This workshop equips participants across our institution with the critical knowledge and practical strategies needed to effectively support immigrant students, documented or undocumented and international students on the F-1 student visa. Participants will practice using inclusive and affirming language alongside a sample self-evaluation tool to assess which office the student should be referred to. This presentation is a collaboration between ESL Connect, the International Student Program, and the Undocumented Community Center.

We all see the growing impact of generative AI in our classrooms. How should we respond: Stick our heads in the sand? Play Whack-A-Mole with punitive anti-AI policies? Or embrace our new normal? In this workshop we will review current research on generative AI and student learning, then explore assessment strategies that build AI literacy and critical thinking skills. We will also share authentic assessments that sidestep use of generative AI altogether. Come prepared for a lively discussion on generative AI and learning.

In this interactive workshop, faculty participants in the RSI Mentorship program will share their strategies for supporting Regular and Substantive Interaction in their online classes, and reflect on how their students have responded. Ample time will be provided for discussion and Q&A.

While AI has powerful advantages, it can also be a way for students to completely bypass the learning process and shortchange their own growth. This session will feature strategies that faculty in different disciplines are using to prevent this, including handwritten in-class exams, approaches that discourage and detect AI cut-and-paste jobs, and using Proctorio to deter cheating in online classes.

Just got the call to assess the course SLOs? Don’t stress- we’re here to help! In this engaging online flex workshop series, you’ll take a step back to reflect on what really matters in your courses- and how you know students are truly learning it. This third of three interactive workshops focuses on designing practical, meaningful assessment plans that likely connect directly to your existing assignments. You’ll explore ways to enhance current assignments or draft new ones that align more clearly with your course outcomes—and your grading. You’ll leave with the core elements of a draft assessment plan, setting yourself up for success in turning assessment into actionable improvement (the focus of the third workshop). You need not have participated in the first two workshops to join this one-- but those who complete all three and submit a draft assessment plan by December 1 will earn a professional development badge recognizing their commitment to student-centered teaching and assessment.

Be introduced to simple and practical Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies. Power up your course, website, slides, etc. with tips for equitable engagement and student success, while empowering comprehension across an expanding neurodivergent landscape. Ideal for anyone who wants to create a more inclusive and effective online materials—without the extra workload.

This hands-on session introduces participants to a small but mighty collection of primary sources in print and digital formats documenting the local anti–Vietnam War movement (ca. 1969–1973) at SMCCD. Drawing on student newspapers and poetry, photographs and memos from the college archives, attendees will browse and discuss pedagogy and strategies for finding and integrating archival materials into their courses and co-curricular activities.

In this information session, we will cover what Common Course Numbering (CCN) is, as well as its history and purpose. We will look at the different phases of CCN, what courses have already been addressed, and what courses will be addressed in the next phase. Furthermore, we will very generally review the general process of course conversion and resources to help with the up-and-coming CCN course conversions. This presentation would be ideal for faculty or classified personnel who do not know what Common Course Numbering is and/or for faculty who will likely need to participate in Phase III course conversions. (Not sure if that means you? See the Curriculum Committee’s Listing of Phase III Courses https://www.skylinecollege.edu/curriculumcommittee/ccn.php.)