Facilitators
The staff for a Great Teaching Seminar includes lead facilitators and several small-group facilitators. The facilitation team provides structure, guidelines, and leadership during seminar activities to ensure the effective use of meeting time. Lead facilitators train and monitor small-group facilitators to help them successfully fulfill their roles during a seminar. In this online implementation, all participants will be trained to serve as small-group facilitators, taking turns as directed. These lead facilitators have many years of experience with Great Teaching Seminars and have participated in training with leaders of the National Great Teachers Movement.
Tom Cunningham
Tom has been involved in online/distance education since 2001, when he designed and taught his first fully online course. He has a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology (Utah State University) and over 30 years of higher-education teaching experience in several different public and private institutions with courses offered in-person, online, and via interactive video conferencing. Since 1997, he has served as the coordinator and lead facilitator of numerous events based on the professional learning model of the National Great Teachers Movement, promoting the quest for great teaching. He has led Great Teaching workshops, retreats, and seminars in several states, including Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois as well as outside the U.S. in Canada, Mexico, China, and the U.K. Tom has also participated in leadership training provided by movement founder David B. Gottshall and other movement leaders in 2001 (West, TX), 2005 (Salter Path, NC), 2014 (Hendersonville, NC), 2016 (Bryce Canyon, UT), 2017 (Lake Geneva, WI), and 2019 (Grafton, IL). He coordinates the annual Red Rock Great Teaching Retreat near Moab, Utah, and is one of the movement leaders, coordinating and co-directing the 2016, 2017, and 2019 International Great Teachers Leadership Summits.
Larry Smith
Larry has taught most Physics and Math courses offered at Snow College (Ephraim, UT) since 1991, utilizing various modes of instruction (in-person, online, and via interactive video conferencing). He has also taught Computer Science and Philosophy courses and clarinet lessons. He is a member of the Snow College Honors Program faculty. He has a Ph.D. in Science Education and an M.A. in Physics and Math from The University of Texas at Austin, and a B.S. (with honors) in Physics and Math from Brigham Young University. He has served as a department chair, dean, and faculty development director at Snow College. Regarding the National Great Teachers Movement, he has attended eight of the annual Red Rock Great Teaching Retreats, serving five times as a small-group facilitator and twice as a lead facilitator. Larry also participated in leadership training provided by movement founder David B. Gottshall and other movement leaders in 2017 at the International Great Teachers Leadership Summit (Lake Geneva, WI).