We found 246 results that contain "iteachmsu"

The following is a list of the educators receiving the #iteachmsu Educator Award from the College of Arts & Letters. For more information on these awards, check out the article entitled "#iteachmsu Educator Awards".
Marcos Serafim: Marcos Serafim is a Brazilian multidisciplinary artist working with new media and video in his third year as an MFA candidate. He has exhibited work at the 5th and 6th Ghetto Biennale in Haiti; the Oscar Niemeyer Museum in Brazil; the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC), the Queens Museum, and Flux Factory in New York. His work has been screened in film festivals in multiple countries, including the Cine Esquema Novo Film Festival in Brazil (Audience Choice Second Best Short), Israel`s Horn Festival for Experimental Films (Jury's Second Prize),Northampton Film Festival in Massachusetts (Jury's Honorable Mention for Short Experimental), and Faito Doc Festival in Italy (Young Jury's Honorable Mention for Short Documentary). His projects have been regularly funded by grants and scholarships in Brazil, Sweden and the United States; including the Collaborative Arts And Design Research Grant from Michigan State University and the Santa Catarina State Award for Film Production in Brazil. His outstanding research helped to strengthened his undergraduate teaching. With his background in film/video Marcos developed and taught an upper-level course, Experiments in Digital Video. This was a completely new course offering and is now being taught by him for the second time.
 As his Major Professor it has been my privilege to mentor such a talented artist and scholar. I thank him.
 
Michael McCune: Michael has been an invaluable support this past semester. Even though I have never taken a class with him, he helped me figure out key elements of my exhibition. He was always excited to solve problems that I was facing and offered solutions that I had not considered. His words of support, praise, and laughter have been invaluable. I am inspired by his spirit of making/doing and his ability to think outside the box, way outside of it. Thank you, Michael.
 
Alex Nichols: Alex Nichols is a storehouse of knowledge when it comes to photography, printing, photobooks, and so much else. Over the past year he has answered so many of my questions, pushed me to consider other ideas, and cheered me on as I take on projects. His support and mentorship have been invaluable to me and I am so grateful. I am inspired by his willingness and excitement to solve problems, to think through ideas, and to support in ways that only he can. Every time I walk into his office, he is excited to answer my questions. Even when it is the 897425847th one in 3 days. I have learned so much from Alex and am grateful for his mentorship and friendship.
 
Walt Peebles: Walt has had a significant impact on my doctoral journey. He has helped me in numerous ways and most importantly, his passion for teaching and problem solving are infectious. Several times this past semester I went to Walt with challenges I was facing. He always helped me out, patiently listening to me and then thinking/making/doing with me to figure out a solution. Walt is one of the most passionate teachers I have met at MSU and I am so grateful for his support, mentorship, and guidance!
 
Jacquelynn Sullivan: Jacquelynn is an educator that we don't deserve but need! Over the past year, Jacquelynn has supported my projects tirelessly, helping me think through various aspects of my exhibition. I would not have been able to do any of the work without her unending support. I am amazed and inspired by her commitment towards her work, her students, and everyone who works in the Art Department. I have learned so much from her and will continue to do so. Her ability to support students in helping them create their best work is truly stunning and inspirational. Educators like Jacquelynn allow MSU and the students enrolled here to be successful not just academically but also as whole human beings. I am grateful to know her and to be able to learn and laugh with her.
 
Kate Sonka: Kate supports education at all levels. She takes students on study away programs to teach them about accessibility, and in doing so, teaches them how to be better advocates for users. Whether it is developing a class that introduces accessibility to students in the humanities or planning a study abroad to Europe that explores international accessibility and sustainability, Kate is an inspiration to all educators as we strive to create more inclusive and accessible learning environments for students.
 
Paula Winke: Dr. Paula Winke makes room in her instruction for the whole student. Activities in her classes are experiential and relevant to students' experiences, and I have personally benefitted a great deal in our advising sessions from her willingness to broach topics of family life, seeking work/life balance, and being a parent in academia. Thank you, Dr. Winke!
 
Lorelei Blackburn: Lorelei is a BSP faculty fellow this year. She has had a very difficult section of ANR 210, but has done an excellent job stretching herself as the course convener to push the students to take ownership of their learning. You have helped to design a learning environment where students are able to build community and challenge ways of knowing. Bravo to you Lorelei!
 
Bruno Ford: Working with Bruno Ford has been such a wonderful and rewarding experience. Bruno was my student as an undergraduate, and seeing a student fall in love with Medieval Literature as I have, and to pursue it as one's life passion has been an incredibly validating journey to watch as a professor. Bruno and I are currently working on a volume of the early Robin Hood ballads as a teaching tool, and I thank Bruno for his incredible insight, knowledge, and awareness as we work together in framing these texts within a larger LGBTQ+ lens.
 
Justin Wigard: What comes to mind when I think of Justin? Dedicated, smart, and compassionate. He is committed to sharing his passion with students, friends, and colleagues. In the classroom he empowers students to be creative, in seminars and workshops he support the intellectual growth. He thinks and acts as a teacher-scholars that is ready to help make sense of the complexities of the 21st century.
 
Kaylin Smith: Kaylin will graduate this summer and we'll be sorry to lose her. She has served -- among other roles -- as president of the Linguistics program's graduate student organization, as organizer of our bi-annual grad student research conference GLEAMS, and this year as a Graduate School Writing Fellow. Kaylin has also been a tremendous academic mentor to students in the EEG/Psycholinguistics Lab, teaching them how to use neurolinguistic equipment, and as a social mentor to new and continuing students in the progam.
 
Adam Gacs: Adam is a quiet leader, whose excellence and care is only known to those, who are lucky enough to work with him or learn from him. He has single-handedly developed a two-year online German course series, which has brought language instruction to so many new audiences at MSU and beyond and has turned out to be a fabulous environment for supporting students with disabilities. Just the other day, a student disclosed that he would have quit college all together, if it had not been for the community, connection, and engagement that he experienced in Adam’s online course. But Adam is so much more than just an excellent classroom teacher. He is a full-body, whole-hearted educator. Adam exemplifies the generosity and collaboration at the heart of MSU’s teaching and learning mission. As a mentor and colleague, he is always willing to share his technical expertise, create new materials (and fix every broken link and error in existing materials), facilitate learning across platforms to meet students where they are. His patience in teaching students in his classrooms, coordinating the online TAs, and assisting his peers knows no limits. Regardless of your skills in language and/or technology, Adam always makes you feel comfortable and supported. He assumes no background knowledge and starts his educating at your level.
It is high time that we say thank you to Adam for all that he has done for the German program as an educator!
 
Amelia Stieren: Amelia Stieren is currently the graduate student representative in the German Program, and I am also serving as her MA advisor. In her role as grad rep, she is an important conduit of communication: she attends faculty meetings, bringing grad student concerns to our attention and relaying back to her fellow students our responses and other important information. She has also been very active in building up the contact among grad students across several grad programs (German, French, and Spanish). For this good work, we in the German Program are very thankful to Amelia! On a personal level, Amelia has had quite a positive impact on me. In our first advising meeting last fall, she expressed her goal to work with more intention this academic year. I shared this perspective with the other students in our graduate colloquium, encouraging them to keep this in mind as they work throughout the year, and I continue to strive to work with this kind of focus myself. From casual conversations about teaching to serious discussions of her thesis to difficult discussions of personal loss, I always come away from our interactions feeling inspired, having reflected together on what it means to be an educator, a scholar, and a “Mensch”. For this, I am very thankful!
 
Maria Buttiler: I’m so pleased to recognize Maria Belen Buttiler for her dedication and outstanding contributions to the International teaching Assistant (ITA) Program. Maria, who is an international student herself, was awarded the ITA Program Pronunciation Instruction Fellowship for three semesters and has the served the ITA Program by assisting other international students with their pronunciation and presentation skills. She is highly motivated and passionate, and always goes the extra mile to help the students she is working with, whether that means researching additional strategies and tools or preparing helpful learning materials tailored to specific student needs. Maria is also always ready and willing to share her knowledge and work with her peers. As her supervisor, I have found that I have learned a great deal from her as well. Thank you, Maria!
 
Tamoha Siddiqui: Within the first few days of classes being moved online, Tamoha created a virtual WhatsApp group chat that gathered many first and second year students in the MA TESOL and SLS PhD programs. Knowing ahead of time the challenges of isolation that this time could bring, Tamoha was proactive and sought to gather everyone together for a place of mutual support and encouragement. Thank you for spreading the love, Tamoha!
 
Catherine Barland: Catherine has been a great student in the French program. As a TA, she has a very strong commitment to teaching excellence. As a student, she is a pleasure to have in class, always making positive and intelligent comments in class. As my RA, she has saved me a lot of time by transcribing recordings meticulously. She is dedicated to her students as well as her academic work. Merci Catherine!
 
Sarah Brundrett: Sarah is full of energy and positivity. She brings both of these things to every class she teaches and takes and can always be found with a smile on her face. During her MA program, she's been working very hard on all of her classes, showing her commitment to learning. But her heart and focus are on teaching. That's why she is writing a teaching portfolio in which she is developing writing activities that the French program will be using next year. Merci Sarah!
 
Katie Rottman: Katie loves teaching the French language. During her MA program, she's been working very hard on all of her classes, showing her commitment to learning. But her heart and focus are on teaching. For her MA project, she's chosen to develop an entire chapter for the online textbook we're going to use in the future. Students are going to learn French for many years to come thanks to her work. Merci Katie!
 
Caitlin Cornell: Caitlin Cornell has been working tirelessly to improve access to education and other resources for the community at large. She has shared resources and taught people how to keep their courses accessible even during this transition to online. She has led several learning communities that have a great focus on inclusivity and equity, while also being interdisciplinary (e.g., the Applied Scholars group housed in the SLS program and an accessibility learning group that developed out of a course she taught). A Lansing native, she has also been committed to her community delivering meals and other resources to struggling families.
 
Claire Wilcher: Claire came to MSU as more of a colleague than student and inspires others to do their best work. Claire is an exceptional actor, student, and educator and will be a major force of change in our profession.
 
Kate Fedewa: Kate displays a vast knowledge of pedagogy and practice. She is consistently working with students in her writing, editing, publishing, and grammar classes to prepare them for work beyond MSU - combining her professional experience as a published author with her passion for teaching. She cares deeply about pedagogy and is developing new methods to be used to assess how we teach and support teachers of Professional and Public Writing.
 
Mike Ristich: Mike has excelled as a teacher and a mentor for students in his Prep for College Writing and First-Year Writing classes at MSU. He is deliberate in how he takes time to work with students so they can be successful in the classroom and beyond. When I think about what it means to be a caring teacher, I think about how Mike works with his students and supports them at all levels.
 
Madeline Shellgren: Maddie has made (and continues to make) invaluable contributions to MSU's campus. She volunteers her time to efforts and initiatives that are important to her, despite working full time and pursuing her doctorate. She cares deeply for her colleagues and the spartan community which she has shown as program coordinator, coach, and educator.
 
Kenlea Pebbles: Kenlea not only focuses her work on interdisciplinary approaches to help us understand the importance of environmental health, she does so in ways that can affect our lives as teachers and learners. Her presentation in my environmental writing course inspired us all to think more deeply and more compassionately about how the language and frames we use might affect environmental studies and, as one students put it, "how language and assumptions can limit how we care about and for the earth.
 
Pia Banzhaf: Upon entering Deutsch 101 I was very uncertain as to if I would continue learning Deutsch after 101 and how the class would go in general. But I was overwhelmed with the kindness of Frau Dr. Banzhaf and her abilities to make me feel conformable and welcome in our small Deutsch Gemeinde. This class made me develop a love for Deutsch Kultur and I believe that is now never going to change, and I owe that to Frau Dr.Banzhaf. Deutsch is one of the most important things in my life now because of the Deutsch Gemeinde that Frau Dr.Banzhaf created for me.
 
Leonie Hintze: Vielen Vielen Dank! You were amazing last semster and I really hope you conitnue to spread your knwoldege wherever you go! Stay safe!
Anyone can recognize a fellow Spartan for their contributions to MSU's teaching and learning mission or for how they made a lasting impression on your experience. All you have to do is click "Thank an Educator" in the left panel of iteach.msu.edu. From there you'll be directed to a form where you can enter the name, netID, and a short story of the educator you'd like to recognize.

The following is a list of the educators receiving the #iteachmsu Educator Award from the College of Arts and Letters. For more information on these awards, check out the article entitled "#iteachmsu Educator Awards".
Deric McNish: Deric is an outstanding educator, for sure. But he is also an exceptional colleague and I just want people to recognize his compassionate and thoughtful approach to holistic learning and his coordination and organization of the largest population in our department-- the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. He is a wonderful leader in that program. He also inspires me to be more thoughtful with decisions I make through his guidance and examples. He is a colleague and peer that inspires me and others.

Danielle Devoss: Danielle is an inspirational leader and guide. I have worked with her on numerous projects-- or more likely watched her work. She is tireless and completely focused and committed. I am constantly inspired by her dedication and selfless willingness to help and guide.

Krsna Santos: Herr Santos has been one of the most considerate Professors I've had in my Freshman year so far. Starting off school online with this pandemic and all has not been easy but I've never had to stress out with Herr Santos and his class, as he is very understanding of the circumstances and is willing to make compromises to help me succeed.

Hannah Allen: Professor Allen has been extremely helpful in my first year as a freshman here at MSU. Her method for preparing for and going over essays is less stressful and she is always willing to offer additional assistance if needed. She is very kind and considerate as well, especially when connection issues arise.

Adam Gacs: I dropped out of GRM 202 the first time I tried to take it. I felt overwhelmed and I was drowning. After I left nearly the entire first test blank, I dropped the class. It took two years before I tried again, this time with Adam Gacs. Under his gentle guidance, I’ve been able to maintain a 4.0 and grow in my confidence. I no longer worry about not having all the words or stumbling over grammar. I think confidence was the one place my German knowledge was really failing, and I feel like I’ve gotten to be much more capable.
He’s also done an incredibly good job at teaching a language online. We seem to all be pretty in tune with each other in class and he lets us have fun and make jokes (as long as they’re in German!) and we have a genuinely good time. The assignments are easy to find and follow, and I never feel overwhelmed with work in his class like I have in language classes previously.
Massive thanks to Adam Gacs.

Nicola Imbrascio: She has been one of the most impactful professors I have had in my time at MSU, and my field isn't even related to what I learned in her classes. She cares so much about her students in both their academic and personal lives. I learned so much in both of the classes I took with her because she is so engaging and you can tell that she is really passionate about what she teaches.

Dr. Sheila  Contreras: I would like to thank Dr. Contreras for taking the time to mentor me and other individuals like me. She has always demonstrated care and an interest to see us succeed. She is an extraordinary Latina on our campus and deserves to be recognized for her effort in supporting our community. She has gone above and beyond to see us get into graduate school. She continues to motivate other Latinx individuals to continue their education. I appreciate her effort.

Morgan Shipley: Morgan Shipley is one of the most genuine professors I have ever had. Every class he shows how much he cares for his students and lets us know he is there for us.

Kenlea Pebbles: My freshman year I had professor Pebbles and I enjoyed her class so much. She brought so much positive energy to each class and I still appreciate it today. I remember being a freshman in my fall semester and professor Pebbles made everyone feel so welcomed, it did not feel like I was a first year student that was new to everything. I still use all of the writing skills that Kenlea taught me in my junior year now. Thank you!!

Ann Larabee: I really enjoyed the chance to team-teach the grad seminar on popular culture studies. I also learned a lot from your choice of materials and general expertise in the field. It was especially cool to bring in materials and ideas from JPC. The Zoom sessions with various experts around the country were an added bonus. We created a good dynamic environment for the students.

Mohammad Khalil: A wonderful colleague, Mohammad has enthusiastically come to speak to my Music in Religion course for the last several years. Despite his very busy schedule, he makes time to speak about Muslim popular music, something I knew nothing about before he first visited. Each time he comes with fresh examples and I learn something new. Students invariably remember these visits as one of their favorite lessons from the course.

Kate Sonka: I would like to thank Kate Sonka for her continual student-perspective taking and advocacy. Her efforts have improved the numerous roles she fills across campus, representing our diversity of students and their perspectives in the policy and procedures that are developed. This recently played out more directly in Kate's own class, when one of her students presented at the national Accessible Learning Conference. When the student was asked about where she had experienced any good examples of inclusive teaching, she mentioned her experience in Kate's course. Kate supports those around her, connects relevant communities, and promotes the widest possible range of voices. With Kate Sonka at our institution, our courses, committees, and communities are richer, getting us closer to the ideal of a public land-grant institution of higher learning.

Peter Hoffman: Professor Hoffman goes out of his way to make each and every student feel connected and appreciated. I e-mailed him once apologizing for my recent late assignments due to the stress of online classes. I was struggling and felt overwhelmed, but his kind reply gave me hope that things would get better. He even told me to e-mail him any time I needed words of encouragement. He does an amazing job making online classes positive and stress free while teaching his students the importance of poetry. Aside from poetry, Professor Hoffman gives valuable life lessons and makes each student a better person because of it.

Hui-Ling Malone: In her first year at MSU, Dr. Malone has impacted all of her students so much. She re-kindled my love of teaching, and gave us all confidence in our writing skills as a class.

Amy Lampe: Amy is hands-down the best advisor on campus. She genuinely cares about her students and coworkers, and has cheerleaded me from day one. She's always there for anyone who needs an advisor, friend, or mom figure in their life.

Kate Birdsall

Dr. Birdsall believed in me when it felt like no one else did. She encouraged my best work and gave me hope for my future in academia. 


Learning from KB has truly been the highlight of my experience at MSU. This institution sucks (sorry not sorry), but Kate Birdsall ROCKS. I had the true pleasure of having her for advanced fiction writing as a fluke when the other semester was out. That was three semesters ago and I have taken class with her each semester since. In person and on zoom, Kate cultivates a powerful environment of camaraderie and caring that makes all the difference, especially during the pandemic. She asks her students how they are and cares about the answer. She pushes her students, particularly those writing for The Current in WRA 480, to produce the best work they can and, when she's your teacher, you want nothing more than to make her proud by doing just that. And you do. I am an incomparably better writer, editor, and communicator because I've worked with KB. 


KB has given me the best academic experience during my time at MSU by far. She has a way with words and working to direct a team that I have yet to see replicated at this institution. Whether it be her gracious understanding of the tricky circumstances of life or her ability to relate to the class and what concerns them the most, she's all-around fantastic. She has made a considerable and positive impact on how I will view MSU in the future as I prepare for graduation this summer. My biggest regret is not having her as a professor sooner.


Kathryn Houghton: Kathryn has been an amazing professor. During this semester, she fostered a classroom environment via Zoom that encouraged not only participation, but the challenge of arguing a dissenting opinion. I was uninterested in the subject matter before this class, but quickly became enamored by it after beginning. She utilized appropriate virtual resources to aid in better understanding her well-polished slides for class. Also, the dogs this semester were a cute and uplifting addition.

Kate Fedewa: 

Professor Kate Fedewa is personable instructor who always makes sure her students are doing their best and is very understanding when extra time is needed on an assignment. She begins ever class asking how her students are and any news in their lives. I want to thank her for making my senior year not as stressful and always being there to help and talk.


Kate's Rhetoric of Grammar class has been my favorite of this very difficult semester. I was (most) always excited to hop out of bed once a week for this 8:30 class because Kate never failed to make it more than worth my while with engaging discussion and insightful lessons. She also manages to create a fruitful discussion environment on Zoom, for which she has absolutely earned some kind of medal. Each week she came up with practical exercises to do in breakout rooms which helped to demystify complex grammatical concepts. Our big paper assignment for the year also allowed me to spend two months working with lyrics from my favorite artist which has done wonders for moral. She is empathetic, brilliant, and always ready to help. Multiple times in the semester she scheduled extra review sessions just to ensure those who wanted more time to learn would have it. She is, quite frankly, the bee's knees. 


Casey Miles: Casey has been my advisor for years (a job at which she is freaking stellar), but this semester I had her as an instructor. I have learned a lot from Casey this year and not just about the job market but about how best to be to others. Casey teaches so much about empathy through leading by example. Her motto for our class was "come as you are, as you were, as you want to be." She says this and she *means* it. Casey approaches teaching with such a fabulous sense of humor and a tremendous amount of heart. Her kindness and assurance over the course of the semester has prevented more than one anxiety spirals on my end. She is positively kick-ass at what she does and everyone should be so lucky to experience a class with Casey Miles.

Maileen Bugnaski: Maileen worked with the 4-H and MSU Broad Art Lab collaborative project called Visualizing a Year Like No Other, a Michigan Teen Photo Project. Maileen met weekly with young people ranging from ages 13-18 to take photos on prompts intended to help them make sense of the crazy world around them. Maileen expertly created each week's prompt video, providing inspiration for the youth, and facilitated a weekly small group session for the youth to talk about their photos. Maileen's creativity and ability to create a sense of community among the youth made the program incredibly impactful for the participants. One of the participants said, "My biggest takeaway from the program was probably the feeling of how amazing it was to have my own community of people who shared similar interests as me and that I felt supported me. I also learned a lot about how fun photography is and how it can have a huge impact and very deep meanings." Maileen's contributions helped to make this possible.

Dustin De Felice: Dustin spends so much conscientious and dedicated time mentoring graduate students, even those who are not officially his advisees. He is one of those mentors and colleagues who genuinely wants students to succeed not only in relation to course topics but also with respect to professionalization and academic acclimation. His door is, quite literally, always open (pre-COVID, anyway). Dustin, thank you for making students (especially non-traditional ones) feel welcome and supported.
Megan Walsh: Megan Walsh stands out as a MSU Graduate Teaching Assistant. Megan applies pedagogical approaches that promote student agency. Megan keeps students’ attention by changing their focal points. She’s like a highly organized traffic cop. She physically and mentally divides her lessons into clear, logical sequences. Each purposeful transition results in refreshed student mental states. Students could not help but be fully engaged in her fast-paced environment. It was like watching a seasoned sports coach getting team members to run different, complicated plays really well. I was very fortunate to have had Meagan as a student. She is a rising teacher-star!
Bethany Meadows: In this past year, Bethany has done phenomenal work in and beyond the writing center. She has served as an excellent mentor to new consultants, practiced trauma-informed approaches to her work, and demonstrated an enduring commitment to dismantling sexual violence. It has been a pleasure to learn from Bethany this year, especially her commitment to community engagement.
Anyone can recognize a fellow Spartan for their contributions to MSU's teaching and learning mission or for how they made a lasting impression on your experience. All you have to do is click "Thank an Educator" in the left panel of iteach.msu.edu. From there you'll see a short form where you can enter the name, netID, and a short story of the educator you'd like to recognize

The following is a list of the educators receiving the #iteachmsu Educator Award from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. For more information on these awards, check out the article entitled "#iteachmsu Educator Awards".
Jenifer Fenton: Jenifer is a fantastic mentor and constantly seeks out new pedagogical information to pass on to others. Her knowledge and direction really helped me improve my summer asynchronous online courses, and current and upcoming synchronous online courses. Additionally, she was fundamental in the redesign of our Nutritional Sciences major.
Tatiana Thomas: In a very challenging semester, Tati committed to helping me with ANS 300E, animal welfare judging. She served as both a ULA, an assistant coach for the judging team, and in both roles was a huge help to me. She came to each class with a positive attitude, always encouraging and ready to support the students and instructor. In her role as a ULA, Tati created a mock welfare scenario for the students and monitored their fact sheet submissions providing valuable practice and important feedback to the students. With such a trying semester for me, the quality of this course would have suffered had it not been for Tati. A million times over, thank you.
Jessica Kiesling: Jessica seems to be an endless well of patience, positivity, and productivity. She gives students meaningful assignments, path-plowing networking opportunities, and much-needed grace as we stumble our way into the professional world. I am so grateful to have Jessica as advisor and instructor, and the animal science community is so lucky to have her! Thank you, Jessica!
Scott Winterstein: I would like to give a huge shoutout to Dr. Winterstein for being the most exemplary mentor for the past 3 years and for his unparalleled dedication to excellence in teaching that I have witnessed the past 2 years as his Undergraduate Learning Assistant (ULA).
I met Dr. Winterstein when I was a freshman psychology major in his ISB202 course. Dr. Winterstein’s ISB202 course and our discussions after class strengthened my passion for environmental protection and showed me that I could turn my passion into a career. Near the end of the course, I changed my major to Environmental Studies and Sustainability. Now a graduating senior, Dr. Winterstein has been an amazing mentor to me and has completely shaped my career goals and introduced me to all the amazing opportunities the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) has to offer.
I have had the pleasure of working as his ULA for the last 4 semesters. In this role, I have seen him consistently go above and beyond for his students. He is incredibly committed to spreading his love of environmental science and supporting every one of his students. Dr. Winterstein’s work ethic and devotion to creating the best academic experience for his students is unparalleled. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and transition to online learning, I have seen many classes decline in quality and effort. For his ISB202 sections, I have only seen Dr. Winterstein dedicate more time and effort to perfecting his course. Moreover, he seriously takes into consideration the end of the semester surveys every time. Although he already has recorded lectures from the last two semesters online he could easily use, he re-records them every week adding new information and slight changes he makes based on survey results and careful analysis. He is extremely understanding of student difficulties, organized, and well-read. Additionally, I have seen many professors throughout my years at MSU change office hours to by appointment only, understandably, due to a lack of participation. When students would not show up to office hours due to zoom exhaustion, Dr. Winterstein opened up an extra office hour day in hopes of fitting student’s schedules better. He is always open to talking to his students about questions, related or unrelated to the course. And, many students have shared how fascinating and inspirational his memories about the history of the environmental movement and his own research is. While reading feedback he received from students on how to improve the course, a common trend I found was a deep appreciation of how enjoyable he made the science lectures through his humor and clear passion. He teaches in a way that is easily digestible to non-science major students and stimulating enough to convince me and many others to switch to science majors.
As a mentor, Dr. Winterstein has changed my life for the better. Always more than happy to help, I have asked Dr. Winterstein for endless letter of recommendation requests and his references has helped me secure over $8,000 in scholarships. Not to mention, he always forwards workshops/conferences he finds relating to environmental protection and my goals that he thinks may be of interest to me. Moreover, this year Dr. Winterstein offered to serve as the faculty advisor for my personal gap year project, a clean drinking water initiative in Mfangano Island, Kenya. Since, he has helped me apply to grants that could fund clean drinking water for 700+ residents and helped me secure an amazing summer internship.
Professor Winterstein is clearly in the top 1% of professors I have encountered at MSU based on both his dedication to his subject matter and unwavering passion in helping his students succeed. Personally, he helped me tremendously in growing from a confused freshman to a passionate and experienced professional with a clear career goal and life purpose. To be frank, MSU was not my top choice, but now I am graduating with an overwhelming sense of belonging within the CANR and forever proud to be a Spartan. His passion in helping his students inspired me to be a student mentor to a handful of CANR students and to pitch a mentorship program to the CANR Alumni Association which they will be pursuing. Thank you Dr. Winterstein for all that you do. I know the trajectory of my entire life has been significantly improved thanks to your course and mentorship. It is educators like you that make the world go round!
Aakanksha Melkani: Aakanksha is an amazing peer: she is a skillful, thoughtful woman who is as much fun to work with as she is to eat a meal or chat with! Aakanksha helps address the concerns of graduate students in her role as AFRE Graduate Student Organization Vice President. Her research work focuses on understanding marketing decisions in Zambia and trade of agricultural inputs. Aakanksha really represents excellence in all its forms :)
April Athnos: GTA April Athnos chooses to be an “usher” rather than a “gatekeeper” to knowledge for students of Ecological Economics (EEM 255). She welcomes students to identify environmental challenges and uncover the economic factors underpinning them. Said one student, “April used a variety of teaching methods, to promote an inclusive learning experience for all different types of students.” April makes the time to tailor the course to individual student needs, so that another student, “had the opportunity to write a research paper on the topic of the Coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the U.S. economy for my Honors Project.”
Ankita Bhattacharya: Ankita, is the true example of a graduate student. She started in the department as a Masters student and just recently transferred into the PhD program. Several semesters she has held the position as a TA for FSC 430, with the instructor giving her rave reviews. Ankita, is a kind student that always has a smile on her face.
Sihan Bu:

Sihan is a fantastic teaching assistant. She was instrumental in the process of converting a course from in-class to synchronous online, even though she had never assisted with the course prior. The course has a lot of "moving parts", and I was very impressed with her ability to adapt and provide input. Sihan completed every task bestowed upon her, and readily took the initiative when needed. Additionally, she has been a reference for me in using R for a course I am teaching this spring. I had never used R before, and I would often reach out to her inquiring about specific codes.


Sihan is such a kind person and always has a smile. She received her MS at MSU and is continuing on with her PhD. She has contributed to several different studies within the department and with a previous FSHN student at Wayne State University.

Rick Jorgensen: Rick, is one of the most delightful, enjoyable students to be around. He has continued to keep a 4.0 GPA, His first project was to establish a IgE-Western blot method for studying wheat allergenicity. He has presented at the AAI meeting. Is a co-author on an abstract, a co-author on 2 peer-reviewed papers, the list continues on. He is also the student representative for FSHN GAC, all this while being a TA for the fall and spring semesters.
Srishti LNU: From the time Srishti entered the MS program she has had a smile on her face. Almost everyday she would stop by my desk to just say Hi and have a short conversation. This is her last semester as she will be graduating, while I am so excited for her and her future, it is sad to see her go.
Chia-Lun Yang: Chia-Lun is planning on graduating summer semester. Her career goal is to become a nutrition scientist, delivering knowledge to the general public. We have no doubt that she will meet and exceed her expectations. Chia was/is a great addition to FSHN, always kind, always smiling and always helpful.
Lucas Krusinski: Lucas is in his second year and has maintained a 4.0 GPA. He is overseeing projects and training other student in techniques and completed work on two funded grants. He also presented his research findings at the annual meeting of the American Association of Animal Science, his abstract was published in their journal. FSHN is lucky to have Lucas as a Grad student.
Alyssa Harben: Alyssa Harben has engaged opportunities across the mission (teaching, research and service) more deeply than any other student that I have had the privilege to mentor. She is critical player in our research, collecting and analyzing data as well as mentoring students and actively engaging community partners. She is an excellent teacher former FAST fellow, who has engaged in critical inquiry related to teaching and learning. All of this has led to the creation of new knowledge and new scientists. Her enthusiasm is as endless as her energy and it has been to my benefit to have known her.
Anyone can recognize a fellow Spartan for their contributions to MSU's teaching and learning mission or for how they made a lasting impression on your experience. All you have to do is click "Thank an Educator" in the left panel of iteach.msu.edu. From there you'll see a short form where you can enter the name, netID, and a short story of the educator you'd like to recognize

New to the #iteachmsu Commons?
 
Thinking of adding content, but don't know where to start?
 
We recognize that not every educator has a history of sharing their work in digital spaces. That said, we hope that educators across MSU share about their work and work to continue to build a community of educators across roles and units at MSU. In doing so, there are many approaches you can take. Here are a few questions to get you started with thinking about adding content to the site:

What is a teaching and learning related strategy, idea, or resource that you have implemented and can share with others? Consider describing them in such a way that others could engage with them and implement them in their teaching.
Do you have a teaching and learning related question that you think about a lot? Write about it here and its significance to your pedagogy.
Have you done any scholarship on teaching and learning that you wish to share with others? Others interested in teaching and learning would benefit from you sharing your questions, methodology, and results.
Are there points about learning that you wish every educator considered when designing their courses/content? Bring those into discussion with the #iteachmsu community.
Do you have an approach to teaching or learning that is role/work/disciplinarily-based? Share it here and engage in within- or cross-unit conversations.

As you add content, search the site first.
One of our goals is to decrease the amount of duplicative content that exists within our community. While redundancy is important and sharing resources through multiple means is also important, it is far too common for individuals across campus to create resources that are incredibly similar simply because they didn't know the other existed. We hope the #iteachmsu Commons helps to decrease this practice. To help contribute to this, search the site first to see what all is out there. If there is something similar to what you had in mind, consider ways in which you can build on it, speak into it, or provide al alternative approach, viewpoint, or perspective. 
 
Looking for support on how to structure your posted content? 
 
There are a lot of strategies for adding content to the site. We have prepared three articles, however, which serve as useful starting points. These are: 


https://iteach.msu.edu/iteachmsu/groups/iteachmsu/stories/173?param=post


https://iteach.msu.edu/iteachmsu/groups/iteachmsu/stories/174?param=post


https://iteach.msu.edu/iteachmsu/groups/iteachmsu/stories/175?param=post

The following is a list of the educators receiving the #iteachmsu Educator Award from Residential College in Arts and Humanities. For more information on these awards, check out the article entitled "#iteachmsu Educator Awards".
Jeno Rivera: The Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation Kick-off Summit, held on January 14, 2022, wouldn't have been possible without participation from educators like you. I know that ongoing uncertainty and stress at work and at home mean many folx are spread thin, and your willingness to share your time with us demonstrates your commitment to not only educator development at MSU, but the university's teaching and learning mission as a whole. The insights you provided (and continue to provide through asynchronous feedback opportunities) are invaluable as we continue to listen, learn, and ultimately shape what role the Center for TLI plays for Spartans. Witnessing the level of engagement, passion, and constructively critical questioning - makes me all the more excited to be a part of the Center staff moving forward. I'm looking forward to continued opportunities to work with you in the near future. Thank you again for the service you provided to MSU by participating in the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation Kick-off Summit!
Anyone can recognize a fellow Spartan for their contributions to MSU's teaching and learning mission or for how they made a lasting impression on your experience. All you have to do is click "Thank an Educator" in the left panel of iteach.msu.edu. From there you'll see a short form where you can enter the name, netID, and a short story of the educator you'd like to recognize.

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This week, we wanted to highlight Stokes Schwartz and Garth Sabo, both educators with the MSU Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities. Stokes and Garth are also the co-facilitators of the “Reading Group for Student Engagement and Success” Learning Community this academic year! According to the Office for Faculty and Academic Staff Development (formerly AAN), this Learning Community is: A Zoom based reading group that pairs theory and praxis of student engagement techniques to drive greater student success in general education and prerequisite courses at the university. Bimonthly meetings (twice a month) consist of reading and discussing 2-3 recent articles and sharing best practices for applying methods in courses across the university. These two also use a group on the #iteachmsu Commons to share information about upcoming meetings, attach reading files, and continue to engage in asynchronous dialogue outside their meeting times!
Read more about these Learning Community co-facilitators’ perspectives below. #iteachmsu's questions are bolded below, followed by their responses! 
Q & A with Garth Sabo & Stokes Schwartz

You are facilitators of a Learning Community (LC) and decided to have a group on iteach.msu.edu for that LC. What about the #iteachmsu Commons appealed to you for this group?
Sabo: A major component of the LC structure at MSU focuses on providing some element of public dissemination of the work we do together, and Stokes and I both appreciated that #iteachmsu would allow us to make our group activities visible to the wider MSU community. We both felt a strong need for some type of digital meeting space/repository for things like meeting notes, agendas, etc., and we found that iteach.msu.edu offered a suite of those tools that were fairly easy to wrap our heads around and adopt as practice. 
Schwartz: Having a central place for learning community members (and interested parties) to check-in, share our thoughts, relevant documents, and planned talking points for meetings/discussions as well as any follow-up observations in the days following a meeting.  Personally, I have found iteach.msu.edu relatively easy to use.  
Sabo: Our LC meets digitally, and we also thought that it would be nice to structure things in a way that leaned into benefits of that structure rather than simply trying to imagine ourselves as an in-person community that only meets via Zoom, so we’ve also tried to use iteach.msu.edu as a platform for ongoing and supplemental conversations to the discussions that come up during our scheduled meetings.
Tell me more about your LC and what activity in your #iteachmsu Group looks like? (This can include, but not limited to goals, topics, general overview of membership, the kinds of things being shared in your group.)
Sabo: Our learning community is titled “Reading Group for Student Engagement and Success,” and the only thing I don’t like about it is the name. Stokes and I are both faculty in the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities, and part of the impetus for the group was a desire to dig deeper into pedagogy research that might help us crack the egg of engaging students in a required course. We wanted to find a format that allowed us to have pedagogy conversations that were data-driven and practical in focus, so that our community members could feel like our conversations were driving towards concrete actions.
Our Zoom meetings focus on talking through a few pre-designated texts that the entire group reads. We’ve been fortunate that our current roster has also agreed to take turns as interlocutors, with one person briefly presenting on some additional text(s) that add additional context to the material we all consumed
Schwartz: Typically, Garth and I plan 8-10 multipart discussion questions for our meetings on fostering student engagement and success, which we share via iteach.msu.edu a few days ahead of time. Team community members have also shared information and related ideas via our iTeach group.  We are also in the process of compiling a playlist.  
Sabo: Our iteach activity tends to be kind of evenly split between looking back at what we’ve already done with logistical stuff (like meeting agendas, Zoom links, etc.) and what we might do (like additional discussions or resources that members post or comment on in the Feed). Our current membership is a great mix of folks across the College of Arts and Letters in a range of roles, which has enriched our conversation in ways that I couldn’t have anticipated. We’re certainly open in having more folks join us if interested!
Schwartz: We have had four meetings so far and have our fifth coming up on December 3, 2021 from 10-11:30 EST and all are welcome! Please note, if you're interested in joining the 12/3/21 meeting, please reach out to either co-facilitator via email or on iteach.msu.edu, as the readings we'll be discussing are from a hardcopy book we've procured!
What has been a highlight of this semester for your LC and what are you looking forward to next semester?
Sabo: I love talking about teaching with people who love teaching, and I really feel like that has been the tone of our conversations all semester. I’ve been very appreciative of the fact that our group has been able to talk about the challenges of teaching while still being productive and hopeful about what good teaching can do for our students and the world. One thing that has certainly helped that has been the spirit of collaboration that’s breathed through this group since its beginning. Stokes and I have had a good rapport even since the planning stages of this community, and that has continued as we’ve gone from the process of proposing the group to actually planning its meetings. As you might be able to tell from how long my answers to these questions are, I tend to be wordy and big-picture in my focus, and Stokes does a great job of bringing things back around to ask, “Okay, but what would that actually look like?” in a way that has helped our conversations find a great balance between macro and micro issues of engagement and student success. Our members have been great about thinking and sharing proactively as well.
Schwartz: The highlight?  Two actually.  First, working with my co-facilitator Garth.  We seem to have established an effective working relationship and bat our ideas-plans back and forth until they take solid shape.  It has been fun sharing our ideas, developing our respective parts, coming back to the figurative table for another round of mashup, and then seeing what the final results are before the day of an actual meeting.  Second, the knowledge and personalities of our learning community members, all of whom bring interesting experience and perspectives to our meetings.  Thus far, I have really enjoyed the experience.  It has been like grad school in the best way possible (without the egos and constant stress). 
Sabo: Just to peek behind the curtain a little bit,  next semester we’re pivoting slightly to frame our conversations with the goal of producing tangible results of our collaboration, whether that be conference presentations, publications, or something else entirely. I’d love to see a step on that road being a bigger focus on producing material that we might share to the wider iteach community via the Articles feature.
Schwartz: Looking ahead, I am excited to continue working with our community in the new year and possibly develop a panel or presentation on concrete things we might do to engage our students in the general education or lower division prerequisite "classroom" (F2F or online) more effectively. Beyond that, I am already mulling over ideas for proposing another similar learning community for the 2022-2023 AY.  The cross-pollination possibilities offered/brought about by learning communities like these is fantastic and a good way to break out of our various silos here at MSU.
If you are interested in learning more about this year’s Learning Communities at MSU you can see the full list here. If reading this story peaked your interest in #iteachmsu Groups, you can view all the current groups here. Looking for a group on a particular topic or practice, but don’t see one - start it! Any MSU user can create a group, just login to iteach.msu.edu with your MSU netID to get started. Easy to follow instructions for starting a group are here. 

Love and Hate in Times of Corona
It’s been over two weeks since Michigan has been under the “Stay at home and stay safe” order and it is still necessary to follow the order.  It has become one of those phrases I add to many of my phone calls, e-mails, even birthday greetings. How bizarre! I hope everything is over when my birthday comes around and this phrase is a thing of the past.  
During this time, I have started to love activities and things I never thought I would like. Conversely, I have started hating things I was never bothered by before.
LOVE: I never imagined I would watch three-minute-long videos that joked about things I had never found funny before. I never enjoyed these, and I would tell people, but when a friend or family member overseas I haven’t heard from in a while sends one, I now interpret this as them wanting to communicate and connect.  
HATE: I used to always enjoy taking a break from work and checking Social Media every so often, and actually really liked that way of connecting in a “small-talk” sort of reactive fashion with a brief comment. After being on the computer and on Zoom calls the majority of my days, Zoom has become my new Facebook. I see someone, their snippet, their one-liner in the chat box, and that makes Facebook obsolete.
HATE: I usually like watching a good movie, but I hate any additional screens aside from my computer screen and mobile device. I don’t have the patience these days and my eyes don’t either.
LOVE: Anything three dimensional I can touch, change, tear apart or create something out of. For example, a piece of paper becomes a piece of art, either though origami, different colored pencils or markers, or anything I can cut out and glue on something else. And I love books, you know, the old-fashioned kind you can leaf through.
HATE: The fridge and pantry are so easily accessible. I can get something to eat at any time given I have done my grocery shopping.
LOVE: Homecooked food. I find cooking to be a creative outlet. Experimenting with different flavors and ingredients seems to be like creating a piece of art.
HATE: Not being able to have friends over, play with my friends’ kids and dogs, and most of all hug all those I love!
LOVE: Connecting with people through Skype, Zoom, FaceTime, etc. I would normally just send the obligatory holiday card, a quick birthday wish, or a gif, or say “How are you?” to and get the same old response. I have now started weekly conversations with people about books we are reading together, an idea we find intriguing, a riddle I can’t seem to solve, or about topics I had never explored before.
Yet, between all the HATE and LOVE I realize I have it good. I have no family member who has fallen victim to COVID-19. I would really HATE if someone I LOVE was affected in that way. So, in the grand scheme of things, nothing written above deserves LOVE or HATE. Wouldn’t you agree?