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Spring 2026
Teaching Effectiveness Institute
Teaching Beyond Perfection: Embracing Challenges, Inspiring Growth
Thursday, January 8, 2026
9 a.m. to Noon CST
Online
by Jessamyn Neuhaus, Ph.D., and NIU Faculty Teaching Mentors
Click the "Register Now!" button above to log in and register online
Overview
Ever had a class where the tech failed, an activity flopped, or your students looked utterly lost?? You're not alone - and that's the point. Teaching is a journey, not a performance. Join us in embracing imperfection as a catalyst for growth through Dr. Jessamyn Neuhaus's keynote and dynamic sessions with NIU Faculty Teaching Mentors - empowering educators to build resilience, spark innovation, and create thriving teaching communities.
Keynote
Normalizing Educators' Setbacks, Struggles, and Professional Faceplants
Teaching isn't about perfection; it's about progress. Popular culture often depicts professors as flawless experts, dubbing them "Super Professors." These Super Professors deliver lectures so entertaining that students learn effortlessly just by sitting in the lecture hall. However, real classrooms are dynamic environments where challenges and mistakes are a natural part of the learning process. Educators and their students are human, and it's a fact that people can sometimes make mistakes, regardless of how well we plan a class or how effectively we facilitate the learning experience. "Glitches" happen!
In this keynote session, based on the book Snafu Edu: Teaching and Learning When Things Go Wrong in the College Classroom, Dr. Jessamyn Neuhaus will lead an interactive session exploring why normalizing these realities of teaching matter. She will examine the myths and misconceptions that shape popular and scholarly discourse depicting teaching as a perfectible activity. Dr. Neuhaus will show why we urgently need to normalize the ongoing challenges of effective teaching, including the ways that things can routinely go wrong in the college classroom. While evidence-based course design and teaching practices can reduce the odds of snafus, struggles and setbacks are "situation normal" for teaching and learning. Dr. Neuhaus argues that one specific, proven way we can normalize mistakes as both individuals and institutions is by talking more about teaching and strengthening our pedagogical communities of practice.
Dr. Jessamyn Neuhaus is the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) and Professor in the School of Education at Syracuse University. A scholar of teaching and learning, Jessamyn is the author of Geeky Pedagogy: A Guide for Intellectuals, Introverts, and Nerds Who Want to be Effective Teachers and editor of Picture a Professor: Interrupting Biases about Faculty and Increasing Student Learning, both published in the West Virginia University Press series, Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Her new book, Snafu Edu: Teaching and Learning When Things Go Wrong in the College Classroom was recently published in the Oklahoma University Press series, Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Education.
Dr. Neuhaus holds a Ph.D. in history and is editor of Teaching History: A Journal of Methods. As a professor of history at SUNY Plattsburgh, she earned the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and has over twenty years of classroom experience at a range of higher ed institutions, teaching courses on U.S. history, gender studies, history of sexuality, popular culture history, and most recently, the history and discourse of traditional grading systems. As an educational developer, Jessamyn supports and promotes faculty's scholarly teaching and pedagogical reflection at every stage of their careers. As a collaborative campus leader, she prioritizes building and sustaining strong communities; recognizing, documenting, and celebrating effective teaching practices; and increasing equitable teaching and learning environments for faculty, students, and staff.
Discussion and Practice
Embracing Growth: Normalizing Teaching Challenges and Celebrating Learning
Building on Dr. Neuhaus's inspiring keynote, NIU's Faculty Teaching Mentors will share their classroom experiences and engage NIU colleagues in discussions on effective techniques for addressing teaching challenges. We will delve into four high-impact strategies for normalizing the acknowledgment of educators' mistakes and missteps:
- Documenting Teaching Success - Keep track of your accomplishments and gather diverse evidence to demonstrate that you are employing effective teaching practices.
- Getting and Giving Better Feedback - Seek frequent student feedback throughout the course, not just through anonymous end-of-term evaluations. Develop a shared definition of effective teaching and create ethical, informed peer feedback processes.
- Prioritizing Pedagogical Learning - Approach teaching as an ongoing intellectual endeavor. Build on your existing knowledge by experimenting with new methods, assessing their effectiveness, and reflecting on your experiences, which will naturally involve making mistakes.
- Fighting the Super Teacher Myth - Challenge the stereotypes and assumptions that both we and our students hold about the 'ideal' faculty member. Use evidence-based reality checks about teaching and learning in discussions with colleagues and students, as well as in self-reflection.
The event concludes with the NIU teaching community sharing insights on how to effectively "talk about teaching" with colleagues, and more broadly helping to normalize mistakes and setbacks by fostering a supportive network of individuals who are passionate about teaching.
Registration Information
The Institute is open to all NIU faculty (including tenured / tenure-track, clinical, research, visiting, and instructional faculty), SPS, and Civil Service staff. Please register by the deadline so that we can ensure you have access to the technology used for the virtual Institute.
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Please register online.
After you register, if you are unable to attend, please cancel your registration by Thursday, January 8, 2026 at citl.niu.edu/myprograms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions? View answers to commonly asked questions below.
The Institute is open to NIU faculty (including tenured / tenure-track, clinical, research, visiting, and instructional faculty), SPS, and Civil Service staff. Note that "instructional faculty" is the official term for "instructors".
The Teaching Effectiveness Institute is typically offered every fall and spring. We invite presenters who are well-known for their expertise and experience in higher education teaching. The Institute is geared toward those who are new to teaching as well as experienced faculty wanting to learn about new and exciting teaching topics.
The Spring 2026 Teaching Institute will be delivered virtually via Zoom. While we love getting together in person, the unpredictable weather in January makes it challenging for speakers to travel and for participants to attend.
You will need a computer with speakers or headphones or a smartphone (Android or iOS). You will need a webcam or microphone to share your audio or video with other participants, but this is not required. There is a text chat for discussion if you do not have a microphone available. You will also need a reliable Internet connection.
The institute will take place via Zoom, so it would be helpful to have Zoom installed on your computer prior to the institute.
There is no fee for attending the Teaching Effectiveness Institute; the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning offers the institute free of charge. However, it is expensive to provide the Institute, not to mention the time our staff devotes to planning and executing the program. The center does not receive student fees or grants to fund the Teaching Effectiveness Institute and other programs. Therefore, we would appreciate that you attend as much of the Institute as possible. If, after you register, you know that you will be unable to attend, please cancel by the deadline so that those on the waiting list can be given the opportunity to register and/or program expenses can be reduced.
We understand that the week before classes is busy for many faculty. We encourage you to attend as much of the Teaching Effectiveness Institute as possible, but you may leave if you have other commitments.
Yes, if the presenter makes their handouts and presentation materials available electronically, we will make them available just prior to and after the event. Contact the center at citl@niu.edu for further information on receiving institute handouts.
Yes, the institute will be recorded. The full recording will be made available to those who attend the institute. We hope to make portions of the recording available to those who are unable to attend, but there will be a delay for editing and captioning before we can share the recording.