I was invited by the MSU Graduate School (one of my favorite campus collaborators!) to lead a session on inclusive teaching during the Fall 2021 Graduate Teaching Assistant orientation program. Here's the link to the slides from my session: Inclusive Teaching: Understanding, Navigating, and Addressing Barriers to Student Learning.
Applying the Quality Matters Rubric
Professional development alert! I completed a two-week workshop focused on Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (offered by Quality Matters and facilitated by a QM-Certified colleague at Michigan State University). I'm excited to be able to draw upon this resource in the coming year for my colleagues in language teaching as they design their online, hybrid, and blended courses. General Standard …
Accessibility for Learners with Disabilities in Foreign Language Assessment
I was recently invited to speak to instructors of Arabic and Russian about foreign language assessment accessibility for learners with disabilities as part of the STARTALK Critical Language Assessment Program at Michigan State University. I had the pleasure of answering some fantastic questions about accommodations and assessment fairness for learners with disabilities, and the differences …
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Offering Students Choice in Assessment
In the spring of 2020 (pre-pandemic), I designed a 5-week course on Race, Language, and Disability. As part of that course, I explored the concept of incorporating student choice in assessment. I developed a rubric to evaluate students' learning within critical reflections. The rubric was bare of any binding information regarding the form students' critical …
Trauma-Sensitive Teaching Practices
I just hosted a fantastic and timely discussion by my colleague Elizabeth Ablan about trauma-sensitive pedagogy for language teaching contexts during the pandemic. In fact, the Language Collaboratory (a collaborative endeavor among 5 Big Ten universities) dedicated its entire spring 2021 professional development series to discussions of how to (try to) achieve balance in COVID-affected …
Web Resource: Accessibility Basics for Language Teaching
Together with various collaborators at Michigan State, I spearheaded the beginnings of what I hope will grow to become a robust online resource for making university second and foreign language teaching more accessible. This resource is proudly housed on the Center for Language Teaching Advancement website, and takes its first step as a quick-read overview …
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Accessible Yoga at the Accessible Learning Conference
I was delighted to be able to connect the 2020 Accessible Learning Conference (ALC) at Michigan State with my talented and dear friend Ryan McGraw. I attended one of Ryan's virtual accessible yoga sessions in the summer of 2020 when I was rather pregnant and very uncomfortable, and thought that his unique approach to yoga …
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Is my language course ableist?
I was invited by the Language Collaboratory (a shared professional development endeavor developed by several language centers and institutes in the Big Ten) to informally discuss a concern centered around accessibility. I chose to initiate a dialogue focusing on how to identify elements of ableism in language course design. I asked participants several reflective questions …
Introduction to Accessible and Inclusive Teaching for Graduate Teaching Assistants
This September, I was asked by the MSU Graduate School to speak to Graduate Teaching Assistants about accessible teaching and learning as part of their professional development series. I discussed some easy-to-implement habits that can quickly improve the accessibility of content and materials, considerations for cultivating participation and interaction opportunities that are as equitable as …
Survey of Accessibility in University Second/Foreign Language Courses
I developed a survey about the accessibility of university second/foreign language courses for disabled learners/learners with disabilities. The survey inquires about accessibility in face-to-face, remote delivery, and online language courses. I hope to use the responses to help instructors as they navigate making their language courses more accessible. Please feel free to share with other university …
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Caitlin Cornell 