Excelsior College OWL

Excelsior College has launched a new version its Online Writing Lab for students who want additional support with their writing skills. It provides students with extensive information and activities to help them improve their writing skills.

Check it out here: owl.excelsior.edu

Craft of Composing Panel TONIGHT!

Please join us this evening as we kick off SNL's 5th Annual Month of Writing with our Craft of Composing panel! Our talented panel of writers—Jennifer Finstrom, Travis Moore-Murray, Jack Murphy, and Ann Stanford—will discuss topics from genre to inspiration to process. Enjoy meaningful conversation and delicious refreshments with our SNL community, and don't forget to register for the Month of Writing!

• What: The Craft of Composing - Writers Discuss the What, Why, and How of Writing
• Who: SNL Writing and four distinguished panelists
• When: Thursday, September 29 (tonight!) from 6-8 p.m.
• Where: Daley 1451 (14 E. Jackson in the Loop)

Check out the flyer below and be sure to visit our Month of Writing Digication page for more information.

Syllabi Insert - Writing @ SNL

The SNL Writing Program is happy to provide the information below as a convenient summary of events and support that we offer for SNL students throughout the academic year. This year your students can get support, be recognized, and win money for their writing!

Please share this information with your students—you can insert it into your course syllabus, post it on your course D2L site, or email the link to our student blog. Contact SNLwriting@depaul.edu if you'd like a version of this document in Word formatting. 

Writing @ SNL

In addition to overseeing SNL's core writing courses (Writing Workshop and Writing for Competence), the SNL Writing Program offers the following events to support student writing. Email SNLwriting@depaul.edu for more information.

Month of Writing

This October, SNL Writing will host the 5^th annual Month of Writing where all SNL students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to write their hearts out to celebrate writing.  To register, visit the MOW Digication page and learn about the two-credit SNL scholarship available for one student participant in this event.

Craft of Composing Panel

The Month of Writing kicks off each year with the Craft of Composing panel consisting of dynamic writers who discuss the what, why and how of writing. This event is open to all of DePaul and will take place on Sept. 29^th from 6-8 p.m. in room 1451 of the Daley building. For more information, visit the MOW Events page or the DePaul Events page.

Writing Showcase & Writing Showcase Live

The Writing Showcase celebrates outstanding student writing. If you received an A on a paper or glowing feedback on an ILP, fill out an application and submit your work by April 1. You may submit up to three poems, stories, essays, reports, ILPs, Capstones, Advanced Projects, or e-Portfolios. Share your accomplishment and inspire others.  Excellent submissions are recognized at the annual SNL Spring Awards Luncheon. Writing Showcase participants are invited to recite selections from their submissions and discuss their writing processes at our annual Writing Showcase Live event, which will be held on April 20, 2017 from 6-8 p.m.

Writing Boot Camps

Each quarter SNL Writing schedules Writing Boot Camps to assist students with their writing projects. These faculty-led sessions are designed for undergraduate or graduate SNL students who currently have an incomplete grade on their transcripts or who have current projects they wish to complete. 

• Fall 2016 Boot Camps: Naperville, 10/22; O’Hare, 10/22; Loop, 11/1; Loop, 11/12
• Winter 2017 Boot Camps: O’Hare, 2/18; Naperville, 2/25; Loop, 3/4; Loop, 3/9
• Spring 2017 Boot Camps: O’Hare, 5/13; Naperville, 5/20; Loop, 5/24; Loop, 6/3

*Specific times and lab locations for Writing Boot Camps are posted each quarter.

For more information about all of these events and for resources, tips, and writing samples to support SNL students throughout their time at DePaul, check out the SNL Writing Guide.

Write & Win - SNL's 5th Annual Month of Writing

The month of October marks SNL’s 5th annual Month of Writing, and to celebrate, we’re offering a scholarship for one student winner and a $75 gift card for one faculty or staff winner. Click here to register and visit our Digication page for official entry rules.

Everyone is welcome to help us kick off the Month of Writing at our Craft of Composing panel on Thursday, September 29th from 6-8 p.m. in Daley 1451. Join us for insightful conversation and delicious refreshments!

Contact MOW@depaul.edu with questions or for more information. Happy writing!

Melania Trump in the Classroom

Last week, Melania Trump made headlines when it came to light that portions of her speech at the Republican National Convention had been "borrowed" from a 2008 speech by Michelle Obama without citation—plagiarism. Many in academic circles are using the speech as a teachable moment, including Terri Coleman, a professor at Dillard University.

In a recent Chronicle of Higher Education interview with Coleman, she unpacks her reasons and methods for using Trump in the classroom. She also dives into the root of plagiarism, the difficulty of the concept, and how she tackles it on multiple levels:

"For me, and I teach freshman composition, it’s trying to unteach the systematic five-paragraph essay, the thoughtless writing, the 'just put 500 words on the page and get it done.' So I’m trying to shift them from 'Oh, I have to write something' to 'Oh, I’m participating in a conversation and I have something I want to say.' If I can get them on the team of 'I want to have thoughtful conversations,' then it automatically fixes the other stuff. I try to shift them into a different goal."

Click here to read "How One English Professor Plans to Turn Melania Trump Into a Teachable Moment."

Keeping Time

by Kamilah Cummings
 

As much as I enjoy teaching writing, I must confess that there are times when I loathe giving written feedback to my students.  This is not to say that I do not enjoy the concept of feedback. Despite spending the last two decades as a professional editor and writing teacher, I still feel a sense of satisfaction when I assist a writer in transforming his thoughts from a rough first draft to a polished final product. However, the journey from draft to final can often be time consuming, particularly when it comes to feedback.  Last quarter I realized just how time consuming it can be. 

In researching the average times teachers spend per paper on written feedback, I could not find much beyond “a lot” or “too much.” However, I did see 10 minutes offered as the maximum time a college professor could likely afford to spend per paper in a term (Jacobs and Hyman).  I must say that I have never spent 10 minutes grading an essay. A girl can dream, but in reality I usually aim for 20 minutes per paper. After speaking with some of my writing colleagues, I learned that 20 minutes is their feedback holy grail as well. 

Last quarter I put my 20-minute average to the test when I taught two classes with a combined total of 32 actively engaged students. By actively engaged I mean students attended classes and submitted required assignments. In both classes students were required to submit a weekly writing assignment. One class was a writing course where the weekly assignment was a three-four page essay. Depending on the week, student essays were either at the first draft or revision stage of the writing process.  In the other class, students submitted a one-two page writing assignment. Although it was less demanding than the essays in the other class, it still required written feedback. 

As always, I set about providing written feedback for my classes with tried-and-true strategies in tow. Gottschalk and Hjortshoj suggest that teachers “give reading essays priority over grading them” (58). Although this is probably the most time consuming aspect of providing feedback, it is essential to helping students learn to effectively communicate their ideas. So, I allow myself time to read every writing assignment my students submit. Additionally, research dictates that a less-is-more approach to feedback is far more beneficial to students. Therefore, to assist student learning, I focus my feedback on key issues rather than correcting errors. I also try to limit my number of substantive feedback comments to five because limiting comments helps ensure that students will understand and use the feedback (Gottschalk and Hjortshoj 48). My comments align with the stage of the writing project. For example, comments on first drafts focus on global revision while comments on subsequent drafts focus on local revision.  

Best practices suggest that teachers provide written feedback within seven days of receipt. I set aside two days a week for giving feedback - one day per course to meet this timeframe. However, I soon found that I needed two days per class for grading. I never completed a set of papers in one day. Of course, I answered emails and tended to some administrative responsibilities during those days, but I was still at a loss for why I could never make it through one class on my “grading” days.

One afternoon, after seemingly making no progress despite having spent the last three hours giving feedback, I was compelled to click on my desktop calculator to calculate how much time I dedicated to providing feedback each week. I calculated 34 papers per week at an average of 15 minutes per paper. I allotted 20 minutes per paper for the writing class and 10 minutes per paper for the other one. My results - 510 minutes or 8.5 hours per week. My results suggested that I should be able to complete my grading in two days.  I was perplexed.

To test my findings, I set the stopwatch on my phone to time my feedback. To my dismay, I found that I spent 33 minutes on the first paper that I assessed. I chalked that up to the paper. Considering it an anomaly, I reset the stopwatch and moved on to the next paper – 27 minutes. Another reset – 29 minutes; so much for my imagined 20-minute-per-paper limit. No wonder it felt like I wasn’t making a dent in my grading. I wasn’t. At an average of 29 minutes per paper, I was actually spending 986 minutes or 16.4 hours per week grading. 

Feeling a bit dazed and dejected by these numbers, I realized that I needed a strategy to keep myself on track when providing feedback. I decided to switch from using my phone’s stopwatch to the timer. I set the timer at 20 minutes and continued providing feedback. I was still providing feedback when the timer sounded. This happened again and again. Each time it occurred, I continued. The faint digitized ringing was easy to ignore. However, the hours that passed were not. I knew that I could not survive the quarter grading at this rate. 

So, I went out and bought myself an old-fashioned, no frills cooking timer. It had a big dial that I had to manually reset for each paper. Its loud, jarring buzzer was just what I needed. It could not be ignored or drowned out by whatever random Prince song I listened to while grading. Initially, I found the incessant ticking of the timer exceedingly annoying. I actually considered abandoning my strategy because of it. However, I noticed that the ticking rate increased during the last five minutes of my set time. In the beginning my heart would skip a beat when the ticking rate increased, and anxiety would set in. However, after some time, I found that I was actually getting better at managing my time. This turned out to be a great checkpoint tool. The five-minute mark became a measure for where I should be in the paper at that point. After a few weeks of using the timer, I had significantly cut back on the amount of time that I exceeded the 20-minute timer. I even started to play games with the timer to improve my efficiency.  

My loud, white cooking timer revealed that I was not maximizing my feedback strategies. Although, I had prioritized reading over grading, limited and focused my comments, I was taking too long to do these things. I was reading and re-rereading the papers when I was confused instead of simply commenting on the lack of clarity and moving on. I was also overthinking the comments that I wrote or simply writing too much.  This was quite the revelation, and I put it to good use. By the end of the quarter, I was completing some papers in less than 20 minutes. Numerous voices hail the benefits of timed writing to improve writing. Therefore, the benefit of timed feedback should have come as no surprise to me. I only regret taking so much time to realize it.

Works Cited

Gottschalk, Katherine and Keith Hjortshoj. The Elements of Teaching Writing. Boston: Bedford /St. Martin's, 2004. Book.

Jacobs, Lynn F and Jeremy S Hyman. 10 Things You Didn't Know About College Grading. 4 November 2009. Article. 6 July 2016. <http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/professors-guide/2009/11/04/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-college-grading>.

Summer Writing Boot Camp

Be sure your students don't miss this summer's only Writing Boot Camp, taking place in the Loop on Saturday, July 16th! Students can register for the Boot Camp by emailing SNLevents@depaul.edu and walk-ins are also welcome.

Summer Writing Boot Camp
Date: Saturday, July 16th
Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Location: 14 E. Jackson, Lab 1325

Faculty-led Boot Camp sessions are designed for undergraduate or graduate SNL students who currently have an incomplete grade on their transcript or a current project they wish to complete. 

Please remind students to bring a flash drive, their copy of the incomplete contract (if needed), and all prior assignment preparation (including research material, assignment instructions, and assignment writing format). Students should also let their faculty mentor know that they plan to attend if they are working on an assignment for an incomplete grade.

Click on the image below for more information or email SNLwriting@depaul.edu.