MyGCC
Moodle
cloud.gcc.mass.eduDon’t Cancel That Class offers full-time and adjunct faculty members an alternative to canceling class. If you know that you need to be absent this semester, you can select from the menu of workshops listed below and a GCC faculty or staff member will come to your classroom and teach during your normal class period. Workshops scheduled through Don’t Cancel that Class will not count as an absence, but please contact your dean ahead of time if you need to miss more than one class period or have other questions.
Please plan ahead! You have the best chance of scheduling your top choice workshop if you submit the request form two weeks or more in advance. Instructors and students have also indicated that these workshops are most effective when:
- Students are notified in advance about the change.
- Workshop instructors drop-in ahead of time and are introduced by the professor.
- Faculty share upcoming assignments or coursework with the workshop instructor so that the workshop content can be tailored to the class.
- There is some curricular integration between the workshop and the course (for example, a forum prompt in Moodle reflecting on the workshop).
Not all classes are available in a given semester. Only currently available classes will be selectable below in the request form.
Academic Advising
Career Exploration
This workshop will help students understand the career exploration process. Whether they have some ideas in mind or are completely unsure what they want to do, this workshop will get them started. Students will create Career Cruising accounts and be guided through the basic assessments and features. They will leave with strategies for continuing to use the Career Cruising platform and other related (free) services. This workshop requires use of a computer classroom.
Academic Advising
How to Be a Successful Online Student
Are your students thinking about signing up for an online course next semester? They may be wondering what to expect, as well as what is expected of them that might be different from an in-person class. This workshop will provide information about about the pitfalls to watch for, the resources to draw on when they struggle, and how they can maximize the benefits of online learning.
Academic Advising
Resume Writing
Don’t let lackluster resumes hold your students back from job, internships, or scholarships! This workshop will help students learn the ins and outs of resume writing, avoid common pitfalls, and focus on making sure their resume stands out (for good reason). Whether students need to create their first resume or make edits to one they already have, this workshop will get them started.
Academic Advising
Scholarship Essay Writing
The GCC Foundation offers more than 50 awards and scholarships to GCC students annually, and all applications require at least one essay. This workshop will focus on Foundation scholarships, but students will learn strategies and tips that will help them write any personal statement.
Academic Advising
Time Management
Do you suspect your students are pulling all-nighters to write papers or cram for exams? Do you notice them seeming overwhelmed, like they’re scrambling just to keep up with everything? This workshop will guide them through some organizational tools to help them take charge of their semesters. They’ll learn strategies to balance responsibilities, cut down on procrastination, and create time to relax without the guilt!
Academic Advising
Transfer Planning & Preparation — Kathy Maisto
Transferring to a four-year college or university is a process that involves much more than just filling out an application. Researching and choosing the right school involves a lot of questions: What are the different types of schools out there, and what are the pros and cons of each? How will credits taken at GCC transfer? What are the costs and what tuition breaks or scholarships exist? This workshop addresses these questions and more in order to help students get a jumpstart on the transfer process…because it’s never too early to start!
Financial Aid
Financial Aid 101: From Applying to Fund Disbursement — Amy Proietti
This is a basic overview of the application process, funds available through the FAFSA, eligibility requirements, limitations, and the payment of funds.
Financial Aid
Financial Literacy Jeopardy! — Amy Proietti
Questions from a broad range financial literacy topics in a Jeopardy! Game format. Best used in classes longer than 60 minutes.
Financial Aid
Student Loans: The Inside Perspective — Amy Proietti
This session focuses on financial aid funds that must be repaid. The loan limits, program eligibility, interest rates, and repayment terms are included.
Asset mapping for inclusion and diversity
What are our assets for diversity and inclusion and how can we utilize those to help our community become stronger and more inclusive?
Community Economies and Asset Based Community Development — Leo Hwang
A look at the diverse economic practices that make up our local economies (capitalist and non-capitalist) and some interactive exercises to develop our own visions of what is possible in a local community economy utilizing the assets that are already present in the region
Creating Living Definitions of Terminology
An exercise in creating web definitions of diversity and inclusion terminology that help us gain an understanding about how different people have different definitions of terms and how those different definitions can sometimes exacerbate misunderstanding, but also how recognizing different definitions can also increase understanding and empathy.
Library
GCC Tech Tools — Library staff
This workshop, for developmental classes and 100-level classes, will give students hands-on practice using the various tools available through their GCC account, including Google Drive and Moodle, along with strategies for how to use these tools effectively. This workshop must take place in a computer classroom.
Library
Interpreting Visual Representations of Quantitative Data — Library staff
In this interactive workshop, students will work with real graphs, infographics, and other data visualizations to develop strategies for evaluating visual presentations of quantitative information.
Library
Media Literacy: Beyond “Fake News” — Library staff
In this participatory workshop, students will develop criteria they can use to analyze news sources in order to make educated guesses about their credibility.
Library
Online privacy and security
This workshop will help students identify risks to their data security and present them with tools they can use to protect themselves from identity theft and hacking. The workshop content can be adapted to address risks faced by specific populations, such as domestic violence survivors or undocumented immigrants.
Library
Scholarship and citation — Library staff
Using assignments or content from the course in which this workshop occurs, students will discuss the scholarly process and take part in hands-on activities that will help them decide when citations are needed in order to correctly integrate information in their creations.
Library
Strategies for Reading Scholarly Articles — Library staff
Students will work in small groups to dissect academic, scholarly journal articles relevant to the field of study for this course and develop a strategy for reading scholarly literature. This activity uses a worksheet which can be collected and evaluated or graded.
Library
Tailored Instruction Around a Research Assignment — Library staff
This workshop requires an initial consultation with one of the GCC librarians, in which we talk about the specifics of the assignment including the timeline for it and your students’ research needs.
Outdoor Leadership
Evaluating the Environmental Impact of Different Activities — Bob Tremblay
Classroom discussion and introduction of the Green Compass tool.
Outdoor Leadership
Group Initiatives — Bob Tremblay
Indoor classroom activities designed to get a group functioning as a coordinated team
Outdoor Leadership
Team Building — Bob Tremblay
Low-risk activities held outside on campus grounds.
Outdoor Leadership
Trust — Bob Tremblay
Trust walks, trust leans, trust carries held outside.
Peer Tutoring
Reading, Note-taking, & Anticipating Test Questions — Cindy Snow
This workshop reviews the reading and study strategy SQ3R (survey, question, read, recite, review), as well as strategies that utilize multiple learning styles. If you provide a reading assignment that students haven’t done yet, we’ll use it to practice these strategies during class time.
Student Development
Supports for Substance Abuse and Recovery on Campus — Judy Raper
Substance abuse disorders affect about 21.5 million people in America. Numbers on community college campuses tend to be higher. Education can be a critical component of recovery for many of our students. In this presentation I will shared lived experience as a vehicle to understanding as well as discuss the resources on campus that are available for students impacted by substance abuse disorders.
Wellness
Healthy Body, Healthy Brain — Kathleen Keough
Students will leave this workshop able to recognize the relationship between healthy behaviors and academic achievement and identify healthy strategies for reducing stress and improving brain health. They will practice tools and strategies for optimal brain health.
Wellness
How to Be More Assertive — Kathleen Keough
Students will recognize behaviors that distinguish assertive, passive and aggressive behavioral styles, assess their personal areas of strength and areas for growth related to assertiveness, and demonstrate assertive behaviors by use of verbal and visual examples.
Wellness
Test Anxiety and Test Taking Strategies — Kathleen Keough
This workshop will help students identify the main causes of test anxiety, explore various study skills to prepare for tests, an identify methods/techniques to combat text anxiety.