CTEI Yorkville University & Toronto Film School

Building Better Lessons: Frameworks for Intentional Plans
2026-01-20 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Toronto)
Building Better Lessons: Frameworks for Intentional Plans
Date: Tuesday, January 20th, 2026
Time: 1:00-2:30pm (AT) / 12:00-1:30pm (ET) / 9:00-10:30am (PT)
Registration link
Workshop Description:
In this workshop, we will explore two models for lesson planning. Whether you are teaching online or on-site, these models can offer you a framework to plan lectures, tutorials, seminars, discussions, labs, experiential learning, and everything in between. Time will be spent discussing aligning lesson plans with learning outcomes, designing learning activities, and considering time management (both for you and your students!).

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option One
2026-01-19 12:00 - 13:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option One
Date: Monday, January 19th, 2026
Time: 1:00-2:30pm (AT) / 12:00-1:30pm (ET) / 9:00-10:30am (PT)
Registration link
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 5 minutes.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option Two
2026-01-07 13:00 - 14:00
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option Two
Date: Wednesday, January 7th, 2026
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Registration link
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 One
2026-01-05 12:00 - 13:00
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option One
Date: Monday, January 5th, 2026
Time: 1:00-2:00pm (AT) / 12:00-1:00pm (ET) / 9:00-10:00am (PT)
Registration link
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.

Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice (Fall 2025) – December 2025 Meeting
2025-12-15 14:30 - 15:30
Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice (Fall 2025) – December 2025 Meeting
Date: Monday, December 15th, 2025
Time: 3:30-4:30pm (AT) / 2:30-3:30pm (ET) / 11:30am-12:30pm (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 Fall 2025, the Fictional Classrooms community will be discussing:

Community S05E02 “Introduction to Teaching” (TV show) – September 22

“The Unknowable Pleasures” by Susie Yang (short story) – October 27

Legally Blonde (dir. Robert Luketic) (film) – November 24

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott (novel) – December 15

You can read about all these selections (and previous selections) in our what to read/watch list.
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.

Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice (Fall 2025) – November 2025 Meeting
2025-11-24 14:30 - 15:30
Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice (Fall 2025) – November 2025 Meeting
Date: Monday, November 24th, 2025
Time: 3:30-4:30pm (AT) / 2:30-3:30pm (ET) / 11:30am-12:30pm (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 Fall 2025, the Fictional Classrooms community will be discussing:

Community S05E02 “Introduction to Teaching” (TV show) – September 22

“The Unknowable Pleasures” by Susie Yang (short story) – October 27

Legally Blonde (dir. Robert Luketic) (film) – November 24

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott (novel) – December 15

You can read about all these selections (and previous selections) in our what to read/watch list.
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.

What is a Teaching Philosophy?
2025-11-24 12:00 - 13:00
What is a Teaching Philosophy?
Date: Monday, November 24th, 2025
Time: 1:00-2:00pm (AT) / 12:00-1:00pm (ET) / 9:00-10:00am (PT)
Registration link
Workshop Description:
In this session, we will give a brief introduction to teaching philosophies – the unique and personal statements that articulate your beliefs and values in teaching and learning.
This introduction is paired with activities to help you explore your beliefs and values so that you can identify what you may wish to include in your own teaching philosophy statement.
This is a timely opportunity to reflect in anticipation of the 2026 Yorkville University President’s Awards for Teaching Excellence or the 2026 Toronto Film School President’s Awards for Teaching Excellence early next year.

Sarah Silverman on An Introduction to Neurodiversity for Educators: History and Applications to Our Teaching
2025-11-17 13:00 - 14:00
Sarah Silverman on An Introduction to Neurodiversity for Educators: History and Applications to Our Teaching
Date: Monday, November 17th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Registration link
SoTL Speaker Session Description:
Neurodiversity, or the naturally occurring variation in human cognition, is becoming a popular topic in higher education and adjacent fields as more of our students identify as “neurodivergent” and neurodiversity gains recognition as an important component of inclusive teaching efforts. But what is neurodiversity, and what is the history and political importance of this concept? This workshop will introduce educators to the basic terminology of the Neurodiversity paradigm (including the terms “neurodivergent” and “neurotypical”) as well as the history of Neurodiversity as a disability rights movement with roots in the Autism rights movement. This participatory workshop will offer attendees opportunities to reflect on their own experiences with neurodiversity in and out of the classroom and to consider what neurodiversity-informed teaching looks like in their own fields.
SoTL Speaker’s Bio:
Sarah Silverman, PhD is an independent faculty developer and instructor of Disability Studies. As an autistic educator, she has a personal stake in Neurodiversity as well as extensive college teaching and faculty development experience. Her interests include accessible and feminist pedagogy, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and disability-informed critiques of educational technology. Her writings appear in To Improve the Academy, the Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, the blog Feminist Pedagogy for Teaching Online, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, and on her newsletter Beyond the Scope. Her book An Introduction to Neurodiversity for Educators is forthcoming from the University of Oklahoma Press.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option Two
2025-11-05 15:00 - 16:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option Two
Date: Wednesday, November 5th, 2025
Time: 4:00-5:30pm (AT) / 3:00-4:30pm (ET) / 12:00-1:30pm (PT)
Registration link
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 – November 2025 Meeting
2025-11-05 13:00 - 14:00
Journal Club – November 2025 Meeting
Date: Wednesday, November 5th, 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 November 2025’s Meeting, we are reading and discussing: Michalinos Zembylas’s article “‘Pedagogy of Discomfort’ and Its Ethical Implications: The Tensions of Ethical Violence in Social Justice Education.” (Ethics in Education, 10(2), 1-12, 2015, DOI:10.1080/17449642.2015.1039274)
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 One
2025-11-03 13:00 - 14:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Five – Option One
Date: Monday, November 3rd, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:30pm (AT) / 1:00-2:30pm (ET) / 10:00-11:30am (PT)
Registration link
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.

Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice (Fall 2025) – October 2025 Meeting
2025-10-27 14:30 - 15:30
Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice (Fall 2025) – October 2025 Meeting
Date: Monday, October 27th, 2025
Time: 3:30-4:30pm (AT) / 2:30-3:30pm (ET) / 11:30am-12:30pm (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 Fall 2025, the Fictional Classrooms community will be discussing:

Community S05E02 “Introduction to Teaching” (TV show) – September 22

“The Unknowable Pleasures” by Susie Yang (short story) – October 27

Legally Blonde (dir. Robert Luketic) (film) – November 24

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott (novel) – December 15

You can read about all these selections (and previous selections) in our what to read/watch list.
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.

Elyana Matos and Juan Carlos López on We Matter: Together We Can Resist Imposterization
2025-10-24 13:00 - 14:00
Elyana Matos and Juan Carlos López on We Matter: Together We Can Resist Imposterization
Date: Friday, October 24th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Registration link
SoTL Speaker Session Description:
In this session, we will be framing our experiences navigating academic spaces by articulating how the intersectionalities of our identities have shaped our academic careers as migrant scholars. We will argue that instead of placing the onus on academics belonging to equity deserving groups for ‘feeling’ as imposters, many of the common practices in academia are the root cause of these feelings. Rather than having imposter syndrome, these academics are being made imposters…have been imposterized. We will then describe how these feelings may also be experienced by learners with marginalized identities as they navigate university and, later, professional life.
We will discuss how to dismantle the barriers that keep marginalized people from fully participating in academic spaces. We advocate for recognizing such barriers by sharing our experiences – among ourselves as well as with others – and naming them for what they are. We propose the creation of focused groups and communities of practice, as well as inviting allies in the process of empowering marginalized learners and scholars and fostering their rightful sense of more than belonging, actually really mattering in academic spaces.
SoTL Speakers’ Bios:
Elyana Matos (Acadia University, Wolfville, Canada) is an experienced adult educator with over 15 years specializing in teaching Spanish and English as additional languages in different settings. Over the years, Elyana has worked in non-academic spaces assisting minoritized populations in gaining new language and job readiness skills, and in academic spaces as a language instructor. Elyana is driven by a commitment to creating equitable and inclusive learning environments, where all learners feel empowered to succeed. To spark engagement in the learning process, Elyana recognizes, sustains, and values learners’ unique interests and identities. Using active learning techniques, she creates opportunities for students to connect what they are learning with their personal interests, to encourage student autonomy. Elyana believes that teaching is a political act, and that the language classroom is an ideal space for students to develop intercultural competencies, and to gain understanding of the relationships between language and power.
Juan Carlos López (Maple League of Universities, Wolfville, Canada) is a soil microbial ecologist who has worked and trained in Europe, and North and South America. Over the years, working in collaboration with students and colleagues, Juan Carlos has addressed aspects of education that deal with pedagogy, inclusion and student success. In 2023, Juan Carlos became the inaugural Director of the Virtual Maple League Teaching and Learning Centre developing new programming and continuing with existing initiatives to showcase pedagogical practices and strategies, always infused with social justice practices in higher education. Juan Carlos has worked in advancing EDIAR principles in the way our academic systems function and was appointed as the inaugural Associate Dean of Equity Diversity and Inclusion for the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science at Acadia University in 2024.

CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option Two
2025-10-21 14:00 - 15:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option Two
Date: Tuesday, October 21st, 2025
Time: 3:00-4:30pm (AT) / 2:00-3:30pm (ET) / 11:00-12:30pm (PT)
Registration link
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
2025-10-20 15:00 - 16:30
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week Three – Option One
Date: Monday, October 20th, 2025
Time: 4:00-5:30pm (AT) / 3:00-4:30pm (ET) / 12:00-1:30pm (PT)
Registration link
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
2025-10-08 13:00 - 14:00
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option Two
Date: Wednesday, October 8th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
Registration link
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 One
2025-10-07 12:00 - 13:00
CTEI Ready-to-Teach – Week One – Option One
Date: Tuesday, October 7th, 2025
Time: 1:00-2:00pm (AT) / 12:00-1:00pm (ET) / 9:00-10:00am (PT)
Registration link
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 – October 2025 Meeting
2025-10-01 13:00 - 14:00
Journal Club – October 2025 Meeting
Date: Wednesday, October 1st, 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 October 2025’s Meeting, we are reading and discussing: Kristian D. Stewart’s article “Classrooms as ‘Safe Houses’? The Ethical and Emotional Implications of Digital Storytelling in a University Writing Classroom.” (Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning (CriSTaL), 5(1), 85-102, 2017, https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-84b116da2)
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 (Fall 2025) – September 2025 Meeting
2025-09-22 14:30 - 15:30
Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice (Fall 2025) – September 2025 Meeting
Date: Monday, September 22nd, 2025
Time: 3:30-4:30pm (AT) / 2:30-3:30pm (ET) / 11:30am-12:30pm (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 Fall 2025, the Fictional Classrooms community will be discussing:

Community S05E02 “Introduction to Teaching” (TV show) – September 22

“The Unknowable Pleasures” by Susie Yang (short story) – October 27

Legally Blonde (dir. Robert Luketic) (film) – November 24

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott (novel) – December 15

You can read about all these selections (and previous selections) in our what to read/watch list.
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.

ISW – Yorkville U + TFS (British Columbia – September 15, 17, 18)
2025-09-18 12:00 - 20:00
ISW (Instructional Skills Workshop) – Day 3
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.

ISW – Yorkville U + TFS (British Columbia – September 15, 17, 18)
2025-09-17 12:00 - 20:00
ISW (Instructional Skills Workshop) – Day 2
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)

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.

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!

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)

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)

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.

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.

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.

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!
