The Coe Writing Center has a different mood at different times of the day: and you can see that when you visit. I’ve worked the 8 am shift, where everyone is sleepy and the people coming in mostly just want some coffee, except for the rare time someone has a paper due the next hour. The WC is almost dead quiet, and not much goes on. And then there’s the noon shift, where we have fresh bread and people are in here studying or talking and the WC feels more awake, but it’s not as active as it gets in the afternoon. Then there are always people working on the computers, reading out funny jokes or interesting quotes, and unwinding from their last classes of the day. This is when the WC is the liveliest, but don’t come expecting to get homework done unless you’re really determined or very good at not being distracted. Things quiet down for dinner, because almost everyone (except for our dutiful consultants, of course) is in the caf eating. The energy picks up again in the evening, around 8 or so, as people start settling down to do some serious work on homework—or take a break from serious stuff and chill, have some coffee, and wait until they get inspired again. Sometimes we have baking adventures late at night: brownies and cookies, maybe even bread or cinnamon rolls. Sometimes they’re absolutely delicious, and sometimes the mishap is simply worth the story. The moral is there’s no “best” time to come to the WC in general: it depends on your mood and how much you need to get done. There are always interesting people, who are always willing to talk or help with a paper, but the real fun is coming down here, spending some time, and seeing the different people come into the WC as the atmosphere changes.
-Justina Cline, '13Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
2010 Retreat Photos
Hey all your WCers!
I just wanted to post a link to some AWESOME photos from our 2010 Writing Center Retreat to Saint Peter's and Paul's Church near Solon, Iowa. The photos were taken by the lovely Ms. Haley Welby, a first year here at Coe. The link is to her blog and she's captured some great moments from the day. Thanks Haley!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
ESL Professor Speaks to CWC Staff
At last Monday's staff meeting Joanna Shaver, an English as Second Language (ESL) Professor came to give an informational talk about the types of aids that she expects the writing center to provide to her students, and strategies for us as consultants to use in order to most effectively serve them. In a hand out, she constructed a pyramid that listed priorities that she wanted to see in her students' papers. She deemed expression of ideas as the most important element, and grammar, spelling etc as the least. In this way, she viewed the writing center as a place more for her students to come and discuss the ideas in the paper first, rather than simply dealing with just the conventions of paper writing.
A large portion of the "walk in" students seeking conferences are ESL students, who are primarily Japanese, so this talk will be very useful to us as a staff moving forward.
- Matt Barnd, '13
A large portion of the "walk in" students seeking conferences are ESL students, who are primarily Japanese, so this talk will be very useful to us as a staff moving forward.
- Matt Barnd, '13
Monday, November 15, 2010
Coe Football Team makes Playoffs
For the second consecutive year the Kohawk football team has made the Division III national playoffs. O why do you care? Well maybe you don't...But that's okay! For those of you who do it's really quite the feat. You see, there are over 420 teams in NCAA division III athletics, and just 32 of these teams qualify for the playoffs. That's 7.6% for all you math majors out there (over half of Division teams go to a bowl game by comparison). But the really incredible thing is that out of those 32, 26 of them qualify by winning their conference and earning automatic bids, leaving just 6 at large bids for the remaining teams. Coe has earned an at-large bid each of the last two years, marking the first time in school history that this has occurred. The team travels to Wheaton, Illinois to square off against the Thunder this upcoming weekend.
O yeah I also play football for the Kohawks (I am just one example of essentially all writing center staffers involved in numerous activities)...I actually had to miss the staff meeting tonight due to practice...whoopsies...But in any case that's the update for now! GO KOHAWKS!
O yeah I also play football for the Kohawks (I am just one example of essentially all writing center staffers involved in numerous activities)...I actually had to miss the staff meeting tonight due to practice...whoopsies...But in any case that's the update for now! GO KOHAWKS!
-Matt Barnd, '13
Friday, November 12, 2010
Friday Fun Times...Writing Center Scavenger Hunt
Hey all your WCers!
An important consultant skill is the ability to find literally anything to keep a conference on a happy note. We need to satisfy the needs of our student writers and if they ask for a hot dog bun, well gosh darn it, we should know where they are. So, the two o'clock Friday consultants put together a scavenger hunt, can anyone find them all? If you can, come to Hailley to pick up your "semi-valuable" prize.
1. Bob Dole
2. Red tape dispenser
3. Inquiry : Questioning Reading and Writing
4. Dr. Bob
5. Writing Center Scrapbooks
6. Hot dog buns
7. Half a cup of bottle caps
8. Bob the Builder and friends
9. Wigs
10. Fire extinguisher (because Courtney M. says that everyone must know where that is)
11. Yellow sign that says "Workshop Corner"
12. Coffee beans
13. Find the Macaroni and Cheeseaspargus crayon
An important consultant skill is the ability to find literally anything to keep a conference on a happy note. We need to satisfy the needs of our student writers and if they ask for a hot dog bun, well gosh darn it, we should know where they are. So, the two o'clock Friday consultants put together a scavenger hunt, can anyone find them all? If you can, come to Hailley to pick up your "semi-valuable" prize.
1. Bob Dole
2. Red tape dispenser
3. Inquiry : Questioning Reading and Writing
4. Dr. Bob
5. Writing Center Scrapbooks
6. Hot dog buns
7. Half a cup of bottle caps
8. Bob the Builder and friends
9. Wigs
10. Fire extinguisher (because Courtney M. says that everyone must know where that is)
11. Yellow sign that says "Workshop Corner"
12. Coffee beans
13. Find the Macaroni and Cheeseaspargus crayon
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Baltimore Highlights!
Hey gang!
The crew from Baltimore is back and we are now in the process of catching up on all the homework we missed since our train didn't have Wi-Fi. It was a blast and here are some highlights from the people who went:
- Amber running out to the train platform with the tickets high in her hand saying, "I've got the tickets from Dr. Bob!!" - Amber and Holly
- Wandering around the harbor in Baltimore and the seafood on Friday night. - Katie Selinger
- The free food. - Emily Hipps
- Mango Laisses. - Krista
- When I (Alex) texted Amanda asking, "Are we boarding the train yet?" Amanda texts back, "Yeah we're already on the train and we saved you seat." (This was problematic for Alex because she was still in the station) - Alex
- Interpretive reading of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on the night train complete with Gryffindor scarves and hat. - Hailley Fargo
More highlights to come! If you did come and have highlights, comment on this post! :)
Hailley
P.S. Here's a group photo, compliments of Anna Barton!
The crew from Baltimore is back and we are now in the process of catching up on all the homework we missed since our train didn't have Wi-Fi. It was a blast and here are some highlights from the people who went:
- Amber running out to the train platform with the tickets high in her hand saying, "I've got the tickets from Dr. Bob!!" - Amber and Holly
- Wandering around the harbor in Baltimore and the seafood on Friday night. - Katie Selinger
- The free food. - Emily Hipps
- Mango Laisses. - Krista
- When I (Alex) texted Amanda asking, "Are we boarding the train yet?" Amanda texts back, "Yeah we're already on the train and we saved you seat." (This was problematic for Alex because she was still in the station) - Alex
- Interpretive reading of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on the night train complete with Gryffindor scarves and hat. - Hailley Fargo
More highlights to come! If you did come and have highlights, comment on this post! :)
Hailley
P.S. Here's a group photo, compliments of Anna Barton!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
BALTIMORE INFORMATION
Hey kids! I'm reposting Dr. Bob's email here for point of reference. Information on Baltimore!!
"What follows is travel schedule, housing information, and some basic guidelines on our participation in the conference. For those of you flying to Baltimore, I will send you a separate e-mail tomorrow morning; I'll also send some suggestions/guidelines for the final steps in preparation of the posters.
Travel schedule for folks driving to Chicago on Tuesday, Nov. 2. We load the two 15-passenger vans and the two automobiles (my Honda Odyssey and Jacquie’s vehicle) at 12:00 noon. Meet at the Writing Center, and we’ll load in the loading dock driveway. Our goal is to be on the road by 12:10. Be sure all Baltimore support materials for poster presentations are packed and ready to go by 11:00 a.m. Each team will be responsible for getting their poster materials to the conference. We will not stop to eat after we depart, so be sure you have either eaten before hand or bring food with you.
Luggage and clothes: everyone can bring one small travel bag and one book bag or school bag. If you need a pillow or sleeping blanket or Teddy Bear to help you sleep at night, be sure those items are packed in your travel bag. There may be instances when you will have to walk some distance with your bags, so travel light. There’s also a chance we can be walking in rainy or inclement weather so plan accordingly. And we could enter some fairly chilly weather so bring clothes that are appropriate for early November. With regard to your choice of clothing at the conference, we do want to give a good impression so nice, casual professional clothing. If possible avoid clothing with insignia or advertising (exception: items with Coe College; it would be okay to wear Coe Writing Center shirts/sweaters at some points at the conference).
Travel Schedule on Train
When we arrive in the Chicago area we will park our vans & autos (at a place not yet determined) and then take the train (or some other public transportation) to Union Station. We are all traveling by train on one group ticket (Reservation # 10BFF7). Our travel schedule is as follows:
Depart on Train #30 out of Chicago at 6:40 p.m.
Arrive in Washington D.C. on November 3 at 1:10 p.m.
Department on Train #198 from Washington, D.C. at 8:45 p.m.
Arrive in Baltimore at 9:26 p.m.
Between our departure at noon on Tuesday and our evening meal in Washington on Wednesday, you will be responsible for your own meals. You will each receive $10 to help cover your food costs; food will be available on the train, but you might also want to plan on traveling with some food to prevent starvation.
We have dinner reservations in Washington, D.C. at 6:00 p.m. at the White Tiger restaurant, an Indian cuisine restaurant about two blocks walking distance from the train station. At the dinner we will be joined by some Writing Center alums and perhaps my son and his wife. I think there should be lockers at the station where we can check our bags so we don’t have to carry them while walking around D.C. It’s not likely the train will arrive exactly at 1:10, but I trust we will arrive early enough that folks will have several hours for seeing the sites. You will be on your own schedule while in Washington, D.C.: we will make no effort to travel as one large group so you will be free to visit what you want to visit. I would recommend that you travel in small groups and you might want to do some planning ahead of time. It will be your responsibility to at the White Tiger at 6:00 p.m. That meal will be paid for by Coe.
When we arrive in Baltimore, we will go to the Mount Vernon Hotel, located in the historic Mount Vernon District at 24 West Franklin Street. Their web address is www.mountvernonbaltimore.com. For a web tour, you can visit www.easyviewmedia.com//Mount-Vernon-Hotel/index.html. This is a 2 ½ star hotel so it should be okay but not luxurious. It does come with complimentary hot breakfast, and it’s about half of the cost of staying at the conference hotel. We have 10 rooms reserved: one room for Singleton and Marrs, one room for the other three men on the trip, and 8 rooms for 32 women (I’ll let you ladies decide how you want to divide yourselves up).
The conference is at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel, just a few blocks from the Inner Harbor. Here’s the web site with full information, including the schedule of presentations for the conference: http://www.mawcaonline.org/iwca/index.html. The conference begins Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. On Thursday you will be on your own for the noon meal; the Friday schedule includes a luncheon at the conference. Conference events are over by 6:30 on Thursday and 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both evenings you will be free to do whatever you wish in the evening; on both evenings we will arrange for a group meal in the area for folks who want to eat a meal paid for by Coe.
Our poster session is scheduled for Friday afternoon, 2:10-3:10. There are no other sessions scheduled at that time so we should meet a lot of people.
With regard to participating in the conference, here are the basic ground rules:
• Everyone is expected to participate fully in the conference and attend a broad sampling of sessions. In addition to keynote addresses and our poster session, you need to attend a minimum of six sessions–which will ensure that you have time for escaping the conference and doing some sightseeing in the daylight hours.
• Everyone is required to keep a detailed journal during the conference and submit a report on your conference experiences. That report should be submitted no later than midnight on Sunday, 7 November to a forum on the Writing Center Moodle site (same site where we keep the database). For those of you in Topics, this trip and report can take care of your “publication” assignment.
• During the conference, please divide into small groups; except for meeting for evening meals or preparing for our poster session, there should be no big mass of Coe consultants traveling around together. This includes spreading yourselves out during the Friday luncheon. A major reason for going to this conference is to meet as many people as possible from as many different Writing Centers as possible. It’s okay to talk about Coe if people ask, but my advice is to ask people about their Writing Centers and about their programs. Ask questions during presentations. When presentations are concluded, go up and talk to presenters. Pick up handouts. Be active participants, looking for ideas and practices that might be applicable to our Writing Center. Prior to the beginning of each day, we will distribute groups to different sessions so we ensure a broad sampling of presentations.
Our train (#195) departs Baltimore at 1:40 p.m. on Saturday, so we will be leaving the conference at approximately 12:00 noon on Saturday. Our return trip will go through Washington, D.C., but we only have about 90 minutes before our train departs for Chicago. We are scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday morning, November 7. Depending on the time of our arrival (and how people feel), we will have a final group meal in Chicago–and then drive back to C.R.–or drive part of the way and have a noon meal (paid for by Coe) somewhere between Chicago and C.R. Assuming the train is not too late and we don’t have any other unforeseen problems, we should be back in C.R. before 5:00 p.m. If everything went perfectly, we might be back as early as 3:00–but I wouldn’t count on it.
Tomorrow morning I will send out a travel information e-mail for the folks flying to Baltimore and send another e-mail with updated information concerning final preparations for the four presentations." - Dr. Bob
"What follows is travel schedule, housing information, and some basic guidelines on our participation in the conference. For those of you flying to Baltimore, I will send you a separate e-mail tomorrow morning; I'll also send some suggestions/guidelines for the final steps in preparation of the posters.
Travel schedule for folks driving to Chicago on Tuesday, Nov. 2. We load the two 15-passenger vans and the two automobiles (my Honda Odyssey and Jacquie’s vehicle) at 12:00 noon. Meet at the Writing Center, and we’ll load in the loading dock driveway. Our goal is to be on the road by 12:10. Be sure all Baltimore support materials for poster presentations are packed and ready to go by 11:00 a.m. Each team will be responsible for getting their poster materials to the conference. We will not stop to eat after we depart, so be sure you have either eaten before hand or bring food with you.
Luggage and clothes: everyone can bring one small travel bag and one book bag or school bag. If you need a pillow or sleeping blanket or Teddy Bear to help you sleep at night, be sure those items are packed in your travel bag. There may be instances when you will have to walk some distance with your bags, so travel light. There’s also a chance we can be walking in rainy or inclement weather so plan accordingly. And we could enter some fairly chilly weather so bring clothes that are appropriate for early November. With regard to your choice of clothing at the conference, we do want to give a good impression so nice, casual professional clothing. If possible avoid clothing with insignia or advertising (exception: items with Coe College; it would be okay to wear Coe Writing Center shirts/sweaters at some points at the conference).
Travel Schedule on Train
When we arrive in the Chicago area we will park our vans & autos (at a place not yet determined) and then take the train (or some other public transportation) to Union Station. We are all traveling by train on one group ticket (Reservation # 10BFF7). Our travel schedule is as follows:
Depart on Train #30 out of Chicago at 6:40 p.m.
Arrive in Washington D.C. on November 3 at 1:10 p.m.
Department on Train #198 from Washington, D.C. at 8:45 p.m.
Arrive in Baltimore at 9:26 p.m.
Between our departure at noon on Tuesday and our evening meal in Washington on Wednesday, you will be responsible for your own meals. You will each receive $10 to help cover your food costs; food will be available on the train, but you might also want to plan on traveling with some food to prevent starvation.
We have dinner reservations in Washington, D.C. at 6:00 p.m. at the White Tiger restaurant, an Indian cuisine restaurant about two blocks walking distance from the train station. At the dinner we will be joined by some Writing Center alums and perhaps my son and his wife. I think there should be lockers at the station where we can check our bags so we don’t have to carry them while walking around D.C. It’s not likely the train will arrive exactly at 1:10, but I trust we will arrive early enough that folks will have several hours for seeing the sites. You will be on your own schedule while in Washington, D.C.: we will make no effort to travel as one large group so you will be free to visit what you want to visit. I would recommend that you travel in small groups and you might want to do some planning ahead of time. It will be your responsibility to at the White Tiger at 6:00 p.m. That meal will be paid for by Coe.
When we arrive in Baltimore, we will go to the Mount Vernon Hotel, located in the historic Mount Vernon District at 24 West Franklin Street. Their web address is www.mountvernonbaltimore.com. For a web tour, you can visit www.easyviewmedia.com//Mount-Vernon-Hotel/index.html. This is a 2 ½ star hotel so it should be okay but not luxurious. It does come with complimentary hot breakfast, and it’s about half of the cost of staying at the conference hotel. We have 10 rooms reserved: one room for Singleton and Marrs, one room for the other three men on the trip, and 8 rooms for 32 women (I’ll let you ladies decide how you want to divide yourselves up).
The conference is at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel, just a few blocks from the Inner Harbor. Here’s the web site with full information, including the schedule of presentations for the conference: http://www.mawcaonline.org/iwca/index.html. The conference begins Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. On Thursday you will be on your own for the noon meal; the Friday schedule includes a luncheon at the conference. Conference events are over by 6:30 on Thursday and 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both evenings you will be free to do whatever you wish in the evening; on both evenings we will arrange for a group meal in the area for folks who want to eat a meal paid for by Coe.
Our poster session is scheduled for Friday afternoon, 2:10-3:10. There are no other sessions scheduled at that time so we should meet a lot of people.
With regard to participating in the conference, here are the basic ground rules:
• Everyone is expected to participate fully in the conference and attend a broad sampling of sessions. In addition to keynote addresses and our poster session, you need to attend a minimum of six sessions–which will ensure that you have time for escaping the conference and doing some sightseeing in the daylight hours.
• Everyone is required to keep a detailed journal during the conference and submit a report on your conference experiences. That report should be submitted no later than midnight on Sunday, 7 November to a forum on the Writing Center Moodle site (same site where we keep the database). For those of you in Topics, this trip and report can take care of your “publication” assignment.
• During the conference, please divide into small groups; except for meeting for evening meals or preparing for our poster session, there should be no big mass of Coe consultants traveling around together. This includes spreading yourselves out during the Friday luncheon. A major reason for going to this conference is to meet as many people as possible from as many different Writing Centers as possible. It’s okay to talk about Coe if people ask, but my advice is to ask people about their Writing Centers and about their programs. Ask questions during presentations. When presentations are concluded, go up and talk to presenters. Pick up handouts. Be active participants, looking for ideas and practices that might be applicable to our Writing Center. Prior to the beginning of each day, we will distribute groups to different sessions so we ensure a broad sampling of presentations.
Our train (#195) departs Baltimore at 1:40 p.m. on Saturday, so we will be leaving the conference at approximately 12:00 noon on Saturday. Our return trip will go through Washington, D.C., but we only have about 90 minutes before our train departs for Chicago. We are scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday morning, November 7. Depending on the time of our arrival (and how people feel), we will have a final group meal in Chicago–and then drive back to C.R.–or drive part of the way and have a noon meal (paid for by Coe) somewhere between Chicago and C.R. Assuming the train is not too late and we don’t have any other unforeseen problems, we should be back in C.R. before 5:00 p.m. If everything went perfectly, we might be back as early as 3:00–but I wouldn’t count on it.
Tomorrow morning I will send out a travel information e-mail for the folks flying to Baltimore and send another e-mail with updated information concerning final preparations for the four presentations." - Dr. Bob
Friday, October 29, 2010
Baltimore Preparation
Hey gang!
As November 2nd draws nearer, I can't contain my excitement for the Baltimore conference. I'm psyched for the night train, time in Washington DC and then the conference in Baltimore. Right now my group, Do We Practice What We Preach, is working hard to get our project done. Big meeting on Sunday to finish the presentation up. I have never been to either Washington DC or Baltimore so I'm excited to explore both cities and see all they have to offer. Well, off to work on Baltimore preparation, I'll will write more later, maybe an update from Baltimore!
Hailley
As November 2nd draws nearer, I can't contain my excitement for the Baltimore conference. I'm psyched for the night train, time in Washington DC and then the conference in Baltimore. Right now my group, Do We Practice What We Preach, is working hard to get our project done. Big meeting on Sunday to finish the presentation up. I have never been to either Washington DC or Baltimore so I'm excited to explore both cities and see all they have to offer. Well, off to work on Baltimore preparation, I'll will write more later, maybe an update from Baltimore!
Hailley
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
the winter cometh
Folks, maybe you haven't noticed, but it's getting cold outside! I even see snow in our near future! What does this have to do with the Coe Writing Center, you ask?
The answer: THE WRITING CENTER PARKA.
(Me. In the parka...)
Getting cold just means getting warm in the Writing Center. Come drink coffee, tea or cocoa. Cuddle up with your papers and a consultant AND get work done! And, if you have the guts, try on the parka! (If you try on the parka, take a picture and send it to me. It may appear here!)
- Taylor E.
The answer: THE WRITING CENTER PARKA.
(Me. In the parka...)
Getting cold just means getting warm in the Writing Center. Come drink coffee, tea or cocoa. Cuddle up with your papers and a consultant AND get work done! And, if you have the guts, try on the parka! (If you try on the parka, take a picture and send it to me. It may appear here!)
- Taylor E.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
"Take a Loaf Off!"
Hey everyone!
It's Hailley, a newbie consultant, writing my first blog post of this school year! Today was priceless and showed me why I love the Writing Center so. I came into the WC around 12:15 to wait for my roommate, Heidi, to finish her shift before heading to the caf for lunch. Ashley C. and Jon A. were also working with Heidi. We were all just relaxing and catching up on some homework when Heidi informed me that someone had put some bread it and it would be done soon. After confirming with the Speaking Center it was our bread, Heidi and I waited, somewhat impatiently, for the bread to be done. The buzzer rang and Heidi took the bread out of the bread maker. Then came the challenge and the fun part. I tried to pry the bread out but couldn't since the bottom was attached to the spinner. After a few unsuccessful tries, Heidi and I switched places and she too couldn't get the bread out of the bucket. By this time, bread crumbs were everywhere and Ashley came onto the scene. She tried to pry it out but she also failed. The three of us were now laughing at how hard it was get the bread out. Finally Heidi used her big muscles to pull the bread out. Success (finally). We put the bread on a plate and gathered around the table near the coffee. Jon joined us and we chowed down, devouring the bread like there was no tomorrow. The bread was delicious and the four of us thank whoever made it because it was WONDERFUL. In my slightly crazy mood I imagined a scene where a student would come in, looking for a conference. We would tell them to "Take a loaf off and have some bread!" When I told Heidi, Ashley, and Jon this I truly believe they thought I was crazy because that was definitely a horrible pun. But horribly funny as well.
Well there's your random story of the day! :)
- Hailley
It's Hailley, a newbie consultant, writing my first blog post of this school year! Today was priceless and showed me why I love the Writing Center so. I came into the WC around 12:15 to wait for my roommate, Heidi, to finish her shift before heading to the caf for lunch. Ashley C. and Jon A. were also working with Heidi. We were all just relaxing and catching up on some homework when Heidi informed me that someone had put some bread it and it would be done soon. After confirming with the Speaking Center it was our bread, Heidi and I waited, somewhat impatiently, for the bread to be done. The buzzer rang and Heidi took the bread out of the bread maker. Then came the challenge and the fun part. I tried to pry the bread out but couldn't since the bottom was attached to the spinner. After a few unsuccessful tries, Heidi and I switched places and she too couldn't get the bread out of the bucket. By this time, bread crumbs were everywhere and Ashley came onto the scene. She tried to pry it out but she also failed. The three of us were now laughing at how hard it was get the bread out. Finally Heidi used her big muscles to pull the bread out. Success (finally). We put the bread on a plate and gathered around the table near the coffee. Jon joined us and we chowed down, devouring the bread like there was no tomorrow. The bread was delicious and the four of us thank whoever made it because it was WONDERFUL. In my slightly crazy mood I imagined a scene where a student would come in, looking for a conference. We would tell them to "Take a loaf off and have some bread!" When I told Heidi, Ashley, and Jon this I truly believe they thought I was crazy because that was definitely a horrible pun. But horribly funny as well.
Well there's your random story of the day! :)
- Hailley
Thursday, October 7, 2010
writing center minutes
September 27th WC Meeting
The meeting was only required for those going to Baltimore on the conference, where we are responsible for four different poster presentations. A two-page handout that summarizes the information on the poster will also need to be made for each poster.
The four different posters that will be presented at the conference include:
1. Tybee Island Staff Development Course (a.k.a. The writing center beach orgy)
2. Moodle as a Writing Center Management System
3. A Writing Center Assessing a WAC Program
4. A Writing Center Staff: Do They Practice What They Preach?
We broke into semi-equal groups to discuss plans for the poster presentations. One group member was selected to communicate the group plans to Dr. Bob, and he would like to hear sometime this week about any plans that have already developed.
If you were not at the meeting and you are planning on going to Baltimore, you need to talk to Dr. Bob about being placed in a group. Work has already started on the plans so doing this sooner rather than later would be appreciated by the rest of the group.
Dr. Bob will be sending out an email to staff and faculty, excusing those going on the conference from class November 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. If you encounter any problems with staff or faculty just let Dr. Bob know and it will be taken care of.
The meeting was only required for those going to Baltimore on the conference, where we are responsible for four different poster presentations. A two-page handout that summarizes the information on the poster will also need to be made for each poster.
The four different posters that will be presented at the conference include:
1. Tybee Island Staff Development Course (a.k.a. The writing center beach orgy)
2. Moodle as a Writing Center Management System
3. A Writing Center Assessing a WAC Program
4. A Writing Center Staff: Do They Practice What They Preach?
We broke into semi-equal groups to discuss plans for the poster presentations. One group member was selected to communicate the group plans to Dr. Bob, and he would like to hear sometime this week about any plans that have already developed.
If you were not at the meeting and you are planning on going to Baltimore, you need to talk to Dr. Bob about being placed in a group. Work has already started on the plans so doing this sooner rather than later would be appreciated by the rest of the group.
Dr. Bob will be sending out an email to staff and faculty, excusing those going on the conference from class November 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. If you encounter any problems with staff or faculty just let Dr. Bob know and it will be taken care of.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
ringing in the new year (on the blog)
"The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said."
A man by the name of Peter Drucker said that. When I stumbled across it, I thought about how well it sums up our jobs in the Writing Center as consultants. We are, after all, communicators. We are listeners. We are fellow classmates, searching for what isn't being said.
The fun part has been learning how to listen for it and what to do with it once it's been found.
On another note - this is officially the first posting of the 2010 - 2011 school year. May many more follow after.
- Taylor E.
A man by the name of Peter Drucker said that. When I stumbled across it, I thought about how well it sums up our jobs in the Writing Center as consultants. We are, after all, communicators. We are listeners. We are fellow classmates, searching for what isn't being said.
The fun part has been learning how to listen for it and what to do with it once it's been found.
On another note - this is officially the first posting of the 2010 - 2011 school year. May many more follow after.
- Taylor E.
Monday, February 15, 2010
On Coffee and the threat of Disestablishment
February is already half over... time flies by. There was a Cosmos article recently talking about the different organizations that all sat outside the Cafeteria in Gage fund-raising over Valentines day. From the FDAC's breakfast in bed for Flunk Day activities to Choir's singing Valentines to support a tour to Thailand, the diversity of the petitioners was rather spectacular. The appeal of such an organizational drive is also difficult to match; choir, for in stance, made over $2oo alone. Why do I bring this up? I bring this up because I fear that this is the way the Writing Center might be forced to conduct business in the future.
It is a relatively open secret that the Writing Center is willing to lose money to keep providing its food and coffee services, and recent signs put up around the Writing Center seem to suggest that people are willing to take full advantage of this generosity. The message I would give to those people: Stop. The Writing Center offers these functions on an honors system of payment, and when you choose not to pay for your daily cup of coffee, you jeopardize that. You jeopardize the legitimate use in providing beverages, which we would like to have at least break even. Free drinks with a conference or one during your hour of work are one thing, and you are entitled to that. Outside of this case, however, and in the words of the handbook (p. 8, as a matter of fact) "you are responsible for paying for your drinks--just like everyone else."
- Ben B '13
It is a relatively open secret that the Writing Center is willing to lose money to keep providing its food and coffee services, and recent signs put up around the Writing Center seem to suggest that people are willing to take full advantage of this generosity. The message I would give to those people: Stop. The Writing Center offers these functions on an honors system of payment, and when you choose not to pay for your daily cup of coffee, you jeopardize that. You jeopardize the legitimate use in providing beverages, which we would like to have at least break even. Free drinks with a conference or one during your hour of work are one thing, and you are entitled to that. Outside of this case, however, and in the words of the handbook (p. 8, as a matter of fact) "you are responsible for paying for your drinks--just like everyone else."
- Ben B '13
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