CTEI Yorkville University & Toronto Film School

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option One
2025-04-07 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Toronto)
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option One
Date: Monday, April 7th, 2025
Time: 12:00-1:00pm (AT) / 11:00-12:00pm (ET) / 8:00-9:00am (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option Two
2025-04-08 12:00 - 13:00
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option Two
Date: Tuesday, April 8th, 2025
Time: 1:00-2:00pm (AT) / 12:00-1:00pm (ET) / 9:00-10:00am (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option Five
2025-04-11 15:00 - 16:00
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option Five
Date: Friday, April 11th, 2025
Time: 4:00-5:00pm (AT) / 3:00-4:00pm (ET) / 12:00-1:00pm (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option One
2025-04-22 15:00 - 16:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option One
Date: Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025
Time: 4:00-5:30pm (AT) / 3:00-4:30pm (ET) / 12:00-1:30pm (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option Four
2025-04-25 12:00 - 13:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option Four
Date: Friday, April 25th, 2025
Time: 1:00-2:30pm (AT) / 12:00-1:30pm (ET) / 9:00-10:30am (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option One
2025-05-05 13:00 - 14:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option One
Date: Monday, May 5th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:30pm (AT) / 1:00-2:30pm (ET) / 10:00-11:30am (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

Journal Club – May 2025 Meeting
2025-05-07 13:00 - 14:00
Journal Club – May 2025 Meeting
Date: Wednesday, May 7th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Sign up to join!
“Journal Club” CTEI Communities Description:
Join the CTEI for monthly get-togethers where members will gather to share and discuss ideas on teaching, learning, and education more broadly. Discussions will be guided by selected journal articles balancing theory and practice.
For May 2025’s Meeting, we are reading and discussing Silvia F. Rivas, Carlos Saiz, and Carlos Ossa’s “Metacognitive Strategies and Development of Critical Thinking in Higher Education” article (Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 913219 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.913219)
Meetings are on the first Wednesday of each month at 10-11AM PT / 1-2PM ET / 2-3PM AT.
Check out our CTEI Communities page for more details and to register!

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option Three
2025-05-07 15:00 - 16:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option Three
Date: Wednesday, May 7th, 2025
Time: 4:00-5:30pm (AT) / 3:00-4:30pm (ET) / 12:00-1:30pm (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option Five
2025-05-09 12:00 - 13:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option Five
Date: Friday, May 9th, 2025
Time: 1:00-2:30pm (AT) / 12:00-1:30pm (ET) / 9:00-10:30am (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

SoTL Scholars [Fellowship Program] Information Session
2025-05-13 13:00 - 14:00
SoTL Scholars [Fellowship Program] Information Session
Date: Tuesday, May 13th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Committed to scholarly, reflective teaching? Interested in not only conducting a SoTL research project but also representing Yorkville U and TFS as an exemplary SoTL scholar? This year, we are launching SoTL Scholars, a 2-year fellowship program which will provide funding of up to $20,000 CAD and ongoing consultative support to participants to complete a SoTL research project from start to finish. SoTL scholars will also participate in monthly community of practice meetings, as well as co-design and deliver workshops on teaching and learning. Full- and part-time faculty members and instructors in all programs offered by Yorkville U + TFS are eligible to apply.
Join us for our Information Session on our new SoTL Scholars program to learn more, ask questions, and see what it’s all about!

Tiny Teaching Tales
2025-05-22 14:30 - 16:00
Tiny Teaching Tales
Date: Thursday, May 22nd, 2025
Time: 3:30-5:00pm (AT) / 2:30-4:00pm (ET) / 11:30-1:00pm (PT)
Register here!
Workshop Description:
Inspired by Chris Anson and Nancy Sommers’ work with “Writing and Sharing Tiny Teaching Stories,” this interactive workshop aims to bring together Yorkville U and TFS faculty and staff to do just the same: write and share some of our tiny teaching tales together! In the vein of the NY Times’ “tiny love stories” series, Anson and Sommers shift the lens of love to that of teaching to see what happens when we capture something interesting or memorable about our teaching experiences in no more than 100 words.
Come ready to write in this CTEI workshop, in whichever medium you prefer! We’ll start with an overview of the genre of tiny teaching tales as well as hear some examples, and then we’ll draft, share, and share back some of our own. We’ll end our session together by reflecting on our experiences writing these tales and on the feedback we received in sharing them as well as brainstorm together how we might use this genre not just to hone our teaching crafts but in our teaching practices with our students, too.

Journal Club – June 2025 Meeting
2025-06-04 13:00 - 14:00
Journal Club – June 2025 Meeting
Date: Wednesday, June 4th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Sign up to join!
“Journal Club” CTEI Communities Description:
Join the CTEI for monthly get-togethers where members will gather to share and discuss ideas on teaching, learning, and education more broadly. Discussions will be guided by selected journal articles balancing theory and practice.
The article for June 2025’s Meeting will be determined together closer to the date – stayed tuned!
Meetings are on the first Wednesday of each month at 10-11AM PT / 1-2PM ET / 2-3PM AT.
Check out our CTEI Communities page for more details and to register!

Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice – June 2025 Meeting
2025-06-16 13:00 - 14:00
Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice – June 2025 Meeting
Date: Monday, June 16th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Sign up to join! (you may be prompted to log in to your Google account)

Fictional Classrooms National Community of Practice Description:
Over the past three years, our very own Matthew Dunleavy (CTEI Senior Educational Developer, Faculty Excellence and Development) and his colleague, Robin Sutherland-Harris (York University), have facilitated the Fictional Classrooms community. The current iteration brings together educational/curriculum/faculty/instructional developers and instructors from across Canada and the US to explore and reflect on narratives of education in films, television, short stories, and novels. These works may speak to us as learners, educators, developers, researchers, artists, and/or simply as humans.
For Summer 2025, the Fictional Classrooms community is delving into Donna Tartt’s novel The Secret History (1992).
The Secret History Synopsis:
Under the influence of their charismatic Classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality, their lives are changed profoundly and forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill.
The Fictional Classrooms Community Summer 2025 Schedule:
The novel is nicely split into two books, so we will meet twice on the following Mondays from 1:00-2:00pm EST via Zoom:

Monday, June 16th – Book 1 of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History

Monday, August 18th – Book 2 of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History

To join the Fictional Classrooms Community for Summer 2025:
Please sign up as follows:

Visit https://groups.google.com/search?q=FictionalClassroomsED (you may be prompted to log in to your Google account)

On the right-hand side, click the small “Join” icon (next to the star) and ask to join group

Matthew and Robin will approve your request within 2 working days, and you will then have access to the group, including their shared Google Folder and Calendar.

Note from Matthew and Robin: We approach the Fictional Classrooms program with a “read-what-you-can” mentality. We understand that we can get busy and may not finish readings each month, but we encourage you to attend each session regardless of how much you have been able to engage with the text or film so we can still have fruitful conversations and build community.

Dr. Ben Lee Taylor on the Generative AI and Assessment (GAIA) Project and the value of SoTL
2025-06-23 13:00 - 14:00
Dr. Ben Lee Taylor on the Generative AI and Assessment (GAIA) Project and the value of SoTL
Date: Monday, June 23rd, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Register here!
SoTL Speaker Session Description:
When ChatGPT launched publicly in November 2022, Ben Lee Taylor was teaching writing-intensive courses and serving on an academic integrity committee at Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto. By December 2022, the committee was already adjudicating its first case of suspected AI misuse by a student, sparking questions about how this new technology might forever reshape the landscape of higher education. For Dr. Taylor, these questions ultimately evolved into the Generative AI and Assessment (GAIA) project, a multiphase study funded by McMaster University’s MacPherson Institute involving surveys of Canadian instructors, analysis of sample assessments, and follow-up interviews.
This session will introduce some of the project’s findings and outputs (including a descriptive assessment design framework), while also detailing some key practical steps involved in SoTL research, from question formation to ethics approval, recruitment, and data management. In doing so, the session will explore how SoTL research offers opportunities to investigate specific teaching contexts, contribute to broader pedagogical conversations, engage in meaningful cross- and interdisciplinary collaboration, and develop new technical and professional skills.
If you’ve ever had questions or thoughts about teaching and learning that are worth investigating systematically, this session will hopefully make the SoTL research process feel more accessible and less intimidating.
SoTL Speaker Bio:
Ben Lee Taylor received his PhD in English from York University in 2021, where his dissertation examined the intersections of gender politics and artistic production in early 20th century satire. His experiences teaching during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, however, led him to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship with McMaster University’s MacPherson Institute. In this position, he conducted a study (results pending) investigating how university and college instructors in Canada continue to respond to generative AI through assessment practices. He currently oversees writing support programs and services for undergraduate and graduate students with McMaster’s Student Success Centre, and his thinking about the role that generative AI can and should play in the writing process fluctuates daily.

Academic Drag Story Time and Community Conversations with Dr. Tommy Mayberry
2025-06-25 14:00 - 15:00
Academic Drag Story Time and Community Conversations with Dr. Tommy Mayberry
Date: Wednesday, June 25th 2025
Time: 3:00-4:00pm (AT) / 2:00-3:00pm (ET) / 11:00-12:00pm (PT)
Register here!
Celebrate Pride Month with the Library!
The Library at Yorkville U + TFS is excited to announce Dr. Tommy Mayberry, the Director of the Centre of Teaching Excellence and Innovation (CTEI), is joining us for a free webinar about drag scholarship and research on June 25th, 2025.
As an academic drag queen, Dr. Tommy Mayberry (he/she/they) has published their work in numerous journals and edited volumes and has performed and presented their scholarship and research findings nationally as well as internationally. Tommy is co-editor (with Lindsay Bryde) of the award-winning book, RuPedagogies of Realness: Essays on Teaching and Learning with RuPaul’s Drag Race (McFarland 2022), which is available in both the TFS and YU libraries. There is currently an equity and justice focused follow-up “shequel” edition of RuPedagogies in the works, too! Tommy is also a recipient of the University of Waterloo’s Award for Exceptional Teaching (2015) as well as of the 2024 CCCC Lavender Rhetorics Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship. They hold a PhD in English as well as an MA in English and Cultural Studies.
Are you curious about what it means to be a drag scholar? Join us for the opportunity to ask Dr. Tommy any and all of your questions.
Special Pride Event hosted by Library Services, Teaching and Learning

Journal Club – July 2025 Meeting
2025-07-02 13:00 - 14:00
Journal Club – July 2025 Meeting
Date: Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Sign up to join!
“Journal Club” CTEI Communities Description:
Join the CTEI for monthly get-togethers where members will gather to share and discuss ideas on teaching, learning, and education more broadly. Discussions will be guided by selected journal articles balancing theory and practice.
For July 2025’s Meeting, we are reading and discussing Gurnam Kaur Sidhu and Yuen Fook Chan’s “Authentic Assessment and Pedagogical Strategies in Higher Education” article (Journal of Social Sciences, 6(2): 153-161, 2010)
Meetings are on the first Wednesday of each month at 10-11AM PT / 1-2PM ET / 2-3PM AT.
Check out our CTEI Communities page for more details and to register!

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option One
2025-07-07 11:00 - 12:00
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option One
Date: Monday, July 7th, 2025
Time: 12:00-1:00pm (AT) / 11:00-12:00pm (ET) / 8:00-9:00am (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option Two
2025-07-09 13:00 - 14:00
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option Two
Date: Wednesday, July 9th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option One
2025-07-21 15:00 - 16:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option One
Date: Monday, July 21st, 2025
Time: 4:00-5:30pm (AT) / 3:00-4:30pm (ET) / 12:00-1:30pm (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option Two
2025-07-23 13:00 - 14:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option Two
Date: Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:30pm (AT) / 1:00-2:30pm (ET) / 10:00-11:30am (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option One
2025-08-05 13:00 - 14:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option One
Date: Tuesday, August 5th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:30pm (AT) / 1:00-2:30pm (ET) / 10:00-11:30am (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

Journal Club – August 2025 Meeting
2025-08-06 13:00 - 14:00
Journal Club – August 2025 Meeting
Date: Wednesday, August 6th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Sign up to join!
“Journal Club” CTEI Communities Description:
Join the CTEI for monthly get-togethers where members will gather to share and discuss ideas on teaching, learning, and education more broadly. Discussions will be guided by selected journal articles balancing theory and practice.
For August 2025’s Meeting, we are reading and discussing: Debelius, M., Chehak, M., Le, K., Oh, S., Lyons, S., Kim, G., … Holtschlag, J. (2025). Designing an AI policy: An experiment in co-creation. International Journal for Students as Partners, 9(1), 151–160. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v9i1.5836
Meetings are on the first Wednesday of each month at 10-11AM PT / 1-2PM ET / 2-3PM AT.
Check out our CTEI Communities page for more details and to register!

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option Two
2025-08-06 14:00 - 15:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option Two
Date: Wednesday, August 6th, 2025
Time: 3:00-4:30pm (AT) / 2:00-3:30pm (ET) / 11:00-12:30pm (PT)
Register here!
Session Description:
Join the Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation to kick off the Ready-to-Teach program as you begin your time with Yorkville University and Toronto Film School.
The session will utilize active learning strategies which may include small breakout rooms and the use of other digital engagement tools.
Remember: You only need to sign up for one synchronous session in each of the scheduled synchronous weeks (Week 1, 3, and 5 of the CTEI Ready-to-Teach program).
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the Centre at ctei@yorkvilleu.ca.
The virtual doors will be closed to late attendees after 15 minutes.

Dr. Lisa Endersby on Experiential Learning and Reflective Practice: From "What Happened" to "What Matters"
2025-08-11 13:00 - 14:00
Dr. Lisa Endersby on Experiential Learning and Reflective Practice: From “What Happened” to “What Matters”
Date: Monday, August 11th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Registration link
SoTL Speaker Session Description:
Learning through experience promises meaningful, impactful student outcomes, but navigating the path from “experience” to “experiential” can be daunting with varied definitions, critical demands on our time, and new challenges for assessment. In this session, we’ll unpack what EE, EL, WIL and other acronyms mean for our pedagogy and practice. Beginning with a review of current theories and context, we’ll explore reflection as the pedagogical “glue” that binds these ideas together and can help make learning “stick”. The session will include time for discussion and hands-on practice with reflective methods.
SoTL Speaker Bio:
Dr. Lisa Endersby brings over a decade of experience at the intersection of teaching and learning. She has held numerous teaching and learning roles in colleges and universities across Ontario, while also contributing to national and international professional organizations in several volunteer leadership roles. Across all of these experiences is a human-centred approach to teaching and learning alongside an organized, detail-oriented, forward-thinking approach to co-designing online, in person, and hybrid teaching/training sessions. Whether puttering in the garden, picking a book from a large to-be-read pile, playing with her two cats, or reading up on the latest in reflective pedagogies, she brings a curiosity, openness, and genuine joy to unique teaching and learning journeys.

Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice – August 2025 Meeting
2025-08-18 13:00 - 14:00
Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice – August 2025 Meeting
Date: Monday, August 18th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Sign up to join! (you may be prompted to log in to your Google account)

Fictional Classrooms National Community of Practice Description:
Over the past three years, our very own Matthew Dunleavy (CTEI Senior Educational Developer, Faculty Excellence and Development) and his colleague, Robin Sutherland-Harris (York University), have facilitated the Fictional Classrooms community. The current iteration brings together educational/curriculum/faculty/instructional developers and instructors from across Canada and the US to explore and reflect on narratives of education in films, television, short stories, and novels. These works may speak to us as learners, educators, developers, researchers, artists, and/or simply as humans.
For Summer 2025, the Fictional Classrooms community is delving into Donna Tartt’s novel The Secret History (1992).
The Secret History Synopsis:
Under the influence of their charismatic Classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality, their lives are changed profoundly and forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill.
The Fictional Classrooms Community Summer 2025 Schedule:
The novel is nicely split into two books, so we will meet twice on the following Mondays from 1:00-2:00pm EST via Zoom:

Monday, June 16th – Book 1 of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History

Monday, August 18th – Book 2 of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History

To join the Fictional Classrooms Community for Summer 2025:
Please sign up as follows:

Visit https://groups.google.com/search?q=FictionalClassroomsED (you may be prompted to log in to your Google account)

On the right-hand side, click the small “Join” icon (next to the star) and ask to join group

Matthew and Robin will approve your request within 2 working days, and you will then have access to the group, including their shared Google Folder and Calendar.

Note from Matthew and Robin: We approach the Fictional Classrooms program with a “read-what-you-can” mentality. We understand that we can get busy and may not finish readings each month, but we encourage you to attend each session regardless of how much you have been able to engage with the text or film so we can still have fruitful conversations and build community.

Taskmaster for Community Building
2025-08-19 13:30 - 15:00
Taskmaster for Community Building
Date: Tuesday, August 19th, 2025
Time: 10:30-12:00pm (PT)* / 1:30-3:00pm (ET)* / 2:30-4:00pm (AT)*
Registration link
Workshop Description:
Taskmaster is a British comedy game show running since 2015, but with foundations in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2009 and 2011. The show sees five comedians engaged in a combination of pre-recorded and live weekly tasks, facilitated by creator and Taskmaster assistant “little” Alex Horne, and judged by the Taskmaster comedian Greg Davies. From individual to team tasks and from the simplest to the most absurd requests, Taskmaster (and its related spin-offs and international versions) is a treasure trove of inspiration for community-building, experiential learning, and team-building activities.
Join the CTEI over three workshops as our educational developers and technologists challenge you to some tasks and facilitate reflections on conversations on how you can use game shows and reality television as great starting points for designing learning activities.
Each workshop will explore three different activities, and you are invited to attend all three workshops or just one or two! No knowledge of Taskmaster required (although all the episodes are free-to-watch on the #Taskmaster YouTube channel).
By the end of each workshop, we hope participants will:

Discover the value of problem-based/inquiry-based learning and active learning;
Experience firsthand an active learning/inquiry-based activity; and,
Begin to design engaging learning activities based on their specific teaching context.

*This session will be 90 minutes (60-minute interactive workshop + 30 minutes optional conversation and Q&A)

Taskmaster for Group Work
2025-09-02 13:30 - 15:00
Taskmaster for Group Work
Date: Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025
Time: 10:30-12:00pm (PT)* / 1:30-3:00pm (ET)* / 2:30-4:00pm (AT)*
Registration link
Workshop Description:
Taskmaster is a British comedy game show running since 2015, but with foundations in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2009 and 2011. The show sees five comedians engaged in a combination of pre-recorded and live weekly tasks, facilitated by creator and Taskmaster assistant “little” Alex Horne, and judged by the Taskmaster comedian Greg Davies. From individual to team tasks and from the simplest to the most absurd requests, Taskmaster (and its related spin-offs and international versions) is a treasure trove of inspiration for community-building, experiential learning, and team-building activities.
Join the CTEI over three workshops as our educational developers and technologists challenge you to some tasks and facilitate reflections on conversations on how you can use game shows and reality television as great starting points for designing learning activities.
Each workshop will explore three different activities, and you are invited to attend all three workshops or just one or two! No knowledge of Taskmaster required (although all the episodes are free-to-watch on the #Taskmaster YouTube channel).
By the end of each workshop, we hope participants will:

Discover the value of problem-based/inquiry-based learning and active learning;
Experience firsthand an active learning/inquiry-based activity; and,
Begin to design engaging learning activities based on their specific teaching context.

*This session will be 90 minutes (60-minute interactive workshop + 30 minutes optional conversation and Q&A)

Journal Club – September 2025 Meeting
2025-09-03 13:00 - 14:00
Journal Club – September 2025 Meeting
Date: Wednesday, September 3rd, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Sign up to join!
“Journal Club” CTEI Communities Description:
Join the CTEI for monthly get-togethers where members will gather to share and discuss ideas on teaching, learning, and education more broadly. Discussions will be guided by selected journal articles balancing theory and practice.
For September 2025’s Meeting, we are reading and discussing: Sharafizad, F., Brown, K., Jogulu, U., & Omari, M. (2020). “Letting a Picture Speak a Thousand Words: Arts-based Research in a Study of the Careers of Female Academics.” Sociological Methods & Research, 52(1), 438-479. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124120926206 (Original work published 2023)
Meetings are on the first Wednesday of each month at 10-11AM PT / 1-2PM ET / 2-3PM AT.
Check out our CTEI Communities page for more details and to register!

ISW – Yorkville U + TFS (British Columbia – September 15, 17, 18)
2025-09-15 12:00 - 20:00
ISW (Instructional Skills Workshop) – Day 1
Location: British Columbia (Yorkville U Vancouver Campus)
Dates: September 15th, 17th, and 18th, 2025
Time: 9:00-5:00pm PT each day
Registration link
Workshop Description:
The Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) is offered within a small group setting and is designed to enhance the teaching effectiveness of both new and experienced educators. During the three-day workshop (24-hour contact time), participants design and conduct three “mini-lessons” and receive verbal, written, and video feedback from the other participants who have been learners in the mini-lessons. Using an intensive experiential learning approach, the workshop encourages reflection and examination of one’s teaching practices with feedback focused on the learning process rather than on the specific content of the lesson.
Visit the Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) page of the CTEI website for more information and to register.

Taskmaster for Active Learning
2025-09-16 13:30 - 15:00
Taskmaster for Active Learning
Date: Tuesday, September 16th, 2025
Time: 10:30-12:00pm (PT)* / 1:30-3:00pm (ET)* / 2:30-4:00pm (AT)*
Registration link
Workshop Description:
Taskmaster is a British comedy game show running since 2015, but with foundations in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2009 and 2011. The show sees five comedians engaged in a combination of pre-recorded and live weekly tasks, facilitated by creator and Taskmaster assistant “little” Alex Horne, and judged by the Taskmaster comedian Greg Davies. From individual to team tasks and from the simplest to the most absurd requests, Taskmaster (and its related spin-offs and international versions) is a treasure trove of inspiration for community-building, experiential learning, and team-building activities.
Join the CTEI over three workshops as our educational developers and technologists challenge you to some tasks and facilitate reflections on conversations on how you can use game shows and reality television as great starting points for designing learning activities.
Each workshop will explore three different activities, and you are invited to attend all three workshops or just one or two! No knowledge of Taskmaster required (although all the episodes are free-to-watch on the #Taskmaster YouTube channel).
By the end of each workshop, we hope participants will:

Discover the value of problem-based/inquiry-based learning and active learning;
Experience firsthand an active learning/inquiry-based activity; and,
Begin to design engaging learning activities based on their specific teaching context.

*This session will be 90 minutes (60-minute interactive workshop + 30 minutes optional conversation and Q&A)
