ECCTYC Sessions, Conversations, and Materials
The ECCTYC conference offered many valuable benefits to those who attended. While some of us pointed to particular sessions that peaked our interests, scholarly and instructional, others pointed to the opportunity to build a sense of collegiality among colleagues, and still others discussed the thoughtful sharing of materials during the sessions in regard to the peer editing process, research paper, and decreasing the work load.
posted by Emalsam | 7:09 AM
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There were two sessions that I attended that offered interesting insights into my scholarly interests, as well as instructional pursuits:
“Etruscans, Romans, and Me—a Teacher Scholar” and “Bridging Cultures Electronically”
This session was my favorite because it provided excellent information on incorporating technology into a classroom, bridging classrooms across the world, and communicating between cultures. Further, the woman who presented the first presentation, Terry Ferguson, was very sincere and candid in her description of her experience with a NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) grant she received. Her ideas on using visual cues for essay prompts were also quite interesting: while textual prompts can be somewhat limiting (judged according to the language contained within), visual prompts often leave more space for interpretation and evaluation of the topic.
“Composition after Democracy: Torture, Reference, and Responsibility” and “From McDonalds to Maquiladoras: Teaching a Critical Approach to Globalization”
Both of these sessions were interesting to me as a scholar, not so applicable in terms of teaching. However, the language analysis (especially in the first presentation) stimulated the idea that I would like to do further investigative work with my developmental students: why do we choose the arbitrary words we do? Why are most of the words we use in our essays, daily language, etc. so ambiguous? How do we move beyond ambiguity into a state of language that is more real, less phony and contrived? The conversation that ensued over the word torture in political documents circulated over the past couple of years was a little disturbing. It certainly opened my eyes to the thoughtlessness that often overrides our choices in political elections. If this information, the unfortunate and disturbing uses of this word—torture, would be further disseminated and widely read, I can only imagine how our humanity would be affected.
I attended a panel called "Standards and Expectations for Freshman Composition." I found it valuable as an introduction to the complexity of curriculum issues. Three English instructors spoke about Freshman Composition standards as they are defined by the Two-Year College English Association (or TYCA), Intersegmental Major Preparation Articulated Curriculum (or IMPAC)--a California grant project concerned with articulation between CCC, CSU and UC curricula--and California Articulation Number System (or the CAN system). Yikes. I still don’t know how all these organizations fit into my life, but I did walk away from this panel with some great handouts: one with a lot of statistics about the student population coming down the pike, and another with freshman comp standards (perhaps I should call them SLO’s?) that I can use.
There were many, really. I definitely got something out of every session I attended, but I also enjoyed the opportunity to hang out with my immediate peers. That is, the entire journey, not totally unlike a college-era road trip, was a good bonding experience. Also, because I went to the last ECCTYC conference in San Diego, it was great to see and talk to those I met there. Finally, not only was it nice to meet new people, it also felt good to give something back to the conference by presenting at our session, “From Part-Time to Tenure-Track: How to Get Hired for a Full-Time Gig.”
I would agree that, while much was to be gained from the conference itself, the chance to get to know my colleagues better was the most valuable experience. Traveling and sharing meals together inspired a lot of good conversation and made me feel much more connected with all my companions on the trip. I want to thank everyone who listened to my long-winded stories about everything from my from favorite college teachers to my most embarrassing Halloween costumes. I should also add that it was good to have the chance to make stronger connections with instructors I know at other schools. At conferences, it’s always nice to see some familiar faces, and I look forward to seeing more of them over the years.
“From ELL and Basic Skills to ‘AEL’: Seeing All Students as Academic Language Learners?” (proposed a broader way of looking at our composition students)
“Cultural Literacy in a Visual Society: Critical and Creative Connections for Composition” (modeled ways of incorporating the study of music, film, and images into assignments)
“Standards and Expectations for Freshman Composition” (offered standard course objectives and provided statistics showing a remarkable disparity between the funding for California community colleges and the projected number of students in coming years)
1. "Outcomes (with a capital 'O')" focused primarily on subjects typically avoided in mainstream discussions of Learning Outcomes. Presenters warned against the dangers of substituting assessment of skills for assessment of learning.
2. "I Want My Cookie: Rethinking Bloom's Taxonomy" offered a simple exercise of taking a cookie and moving through Bloom's taxonomy to help students see the deepening complexity of a topic.
Although I found most of the sessions I attended extremely valuable, I'd have to say that the bonding experience with my fellow new-hires was the most valuable. Although we all came back to a "workstorm" (Debbie's term), we also came back reinvigorated and excited about teaching. In each other, we found a tremendous treasure-trove of resources that I think will sustain us for a long time to come.
One peer editing tip that interested me was the idea of setting up a “menu” and asking students to “order” things off it so that writers could be more selective in letting reviewers know what they wanted the most feedback on. In other words, instead of giving reviewers a standard checklist with, say, eight items to comment on, give the writers the checklist as a “menu” and ask them to order, say, three items off the “menu.” If students want to make substitutions, that’s ok. If students occasionally ask each other “do you want fries with that?” that’s ok too, for the goal is not only to make students feel more involved in the review process but to jazz it up a little and make it a bit more fun.
One peer editing tip that interested me was the idea of setting up a “menu” and asking students to “order” things off it so that writers could be more selective in letting reviewers know what they wanted the most feedback on. In other words, instead of giving reviewers a standard checklist with, say, eight items to comment on, give the writers the checklist as a “menu” and ask them to order, say, three items off the “menu.” If students want to make substitutions, that’s ok. If students occasionally ask each other “do you want fries with that?” that’s ok too, for the goal is not only to make students feel more involved in the review process but to jazz it up a little and make it a bit more fun.
In regard to peer revision, I was excited to hear about “round-robin” peer editing. This is a practice that I have often employed in my classrooms, and I was re-invigorated to try it again this next time around for peer review. It’s a great practice, and, I believe, keeps students from getting off track with their responses, as well as keeps them accountable for what they’re writing.
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