Check out Steffanie Triller and Edward Evins on DePaul Radio this past Friday! They were guests on the UCWbL's Scrawl Radio show and talked about what makes SNL unique, how to work with SNL writers, and the Month of Writing.
http://ucwbling.chicagolandwritingcenters.org/live-from-depaul-its-snl-scrawl-s11-e02/
Monday, September 29, 2014
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Month of Writing Challenge
For more information about the Month of Writing Challenge, see our website: https://depaul.digication.com/snl_month_of_writing_2014
Monday, September 8, 2014
Upcoming DePaul Workshops on Teaching and Learning
The DePaul Teaching Commons is offering the following workshops in September and October:
Commenting on Writing to Encourage Revision
Responding to student writing can be time consuming and difficult to approach strategically. In this interactive online workshop, presenters will offer guidelines for prioritizing comments, composing helpful summary notes, and avoiding over-commenting on student work.
Connecting Your Classroom to the World: Developing Global Learning Experiences
This workshop focuses on a range of global learning assignments and contexts that can link current local students’ coursework to international perspectives. Participants will learn about internationalizing course materials, online learning technologies that can facilitate cooperative global learning, and teaching partnerships with colleagues in other countries. Lunch will be provided.
Promoting Student Dialogue Through Online Education Modules
Using technology to “flip the classroom” and teach concepts online, class time can be maximized for student dialogue and deeper levels of meaning making. Participants will explore best practices for online module design, module integration into live classes, and learning evaluation design. Light refreshments will be served.
Writing and procrastination: What type of procrastinator are you?
Based on the research of DePaul's Dr. Joseph Ferrari, Lifehacker created a flowchart to help you decide what type of procrastinator you are. The site also provides a nice synopsis of Ferrari's theories about why procrastinators procrastinate (and my personal favorite, why "procrastinators hate procrastinators").
When I talk with students about writer's block, I introduce some sort of cool digital tool for invention, draw a cluster or brain map, create an outline and start to flesh out the essay as an example, or direct students to "talk to someone, be observant, read something, and some ideas will develop." When it comes to procrastination, I tend to suggest using a daily calendar, setting small goals, or finding a buddy to be accountable to.
Yet, the following week, I still wind up with several late papers and incomplete work, and then a sour feeling comes over me. I ask them, "What happened?" One third of the guilty will say "writer's block", one third will say "I'm a procrastinator", and the other third will tell me about their sick kid, late nights at work, flooded basement, or one of the ten plagues that came across their path in the last seven days. Are "writer's block", "procrastination", and "my kid was really sick" all variations on the same behavioral pattern?
I'd say there are similar, and possibly more forms of procrastination that are task-specific. When it comes to my experience with academic writing and writers, there are likely several variations of procrastination. A bit of research confirmed my suspicion. According to Onwuegbuzie and Collins, "students apprehension about writing appears to be related to academic procrastination stemming from fear of failure and task aversion. This result is consistent with work of Boice who found that procrastination was one of seven cognitive components of writing block. A reciprocal relationship is likely between these constructs" (562). Boice's seven cognitive components include: (1) work apprehension, (2) procrastination, (3) dysphoria, (4) impatience, (5) perfectionism, (6) evaluation anxiety, and (7) rules. Yep, I'm pretty sure I have experience most, if not all of these, myself during my academic career, so I imagine that some these are just now rearing their ugly heads for adult students returning to college.
More recent research has shown that procrastination and writer's block go beyond the cognitive to the social and affective (Wellington 147). Attitudes, beliefs, history, and culture all contribute to those seven cognitive components. Wellington suggests that solutions to procrastination lie in (1) the support and communities that universities provide for writers, (2) opportunities for giving and receiving feedback, (3) educators helping students think about writing as a form of developing and growing their knowledge and understanding (writing as learning), and (4) confronting and talking about the affective elements of writing such as joy, relief, fear, pain, or stress.
I've realized over the years that the process of learning and writing is more than a classroom, a brain, a computer, and textbooks, and that teachers should be required to take at least a few courses in psychology. Procrastination is a real thing that affects real people in achieving their life goals. While I'm not trained in helping people get through these heavy issues, I can at least talk about them in my classroom and offer some food for thought.
For more guidance on avoiding procrastination, check out Ferrari's new book, Still Procrastinating: The No Regrets Guide to Getting it Done. Just don't wait too long.
Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J., and Kathleen MT Collins. "Writing apprehension and academic procrastination among graduate students." Perceptual and motor skills 92.2 (2001): 560-562.
When I talk with students about writer's block, I introduce some sort of cool digital tool for invention, draw a cluster or brain map, create an outline and start to flesh out the essay as an example, or direct students to "talk to someone, be observant, read something, and some ideas will develop." When it comes to procrastination, I tend to suggest using a daily calendar, setting small goals, or finding a buddy to be accountable to.
Yet, the following week, I still wind up with several late papers and incomplete work, and then a sour feeling comes over me. I ask them, "What happened?" One third of the guilty will say "writer's block", one third will say "I'm a procrastinator", and the other third will tell me about their sick kid, late nights at work, flooded basement, or one of the ten plagues that came across their path in the last seven days. Are "writer's block", "procrastination", and "my kid was really sick" all variations on the same behavioral pattern?
I'd say there are similar, and possibly more forms of procrastination that are task-specific. When it comes to my experience with academic writing and writers, there are likely several variations of procrastination. A bit of research confirmed my suspicion. According to Onwuegbuzie and Collins, "students apprehension about writing appears to be related to academic procrastination stemming from fear of failure and task aversion. This result is consistent with work of Boice who found that procrastination was one of seven cognitive components of writing block. A reciprocal relationship is likely between these constructs" (562). Boice's seven cognitive components include: (1) work apprehension, (2) procrastination, (3) dysphoria, (4) impatience, (5) perfectionism, (6) evaluation anxiety, and (7) rules. Yep, I'm pretty sure I have experience most, if not all of these, myself during my academic career, so I imagine that some these are just now rearing their ugly heads for adult students returning to college.
More recent research has shown that procrastination and writer's block go beyond the cognitive to the social and affective (Wellington 147). Attitudes, beliefs, history, and culture all contribute to those seven cognitive components. Wellington suggests that solutions to procrastination lie in (1) the support and communities that universities provide for writers, (2) opportunities for giving and receiving feedback, (3) educators helping students think about writing as a form of developing and growing their knowledge and understanding (writing as learning), and (4) confronting and talking about the affective elements of writing such as joy, relief, fear, pain, or stress.
I've realized over the years that the process of learning and writing is more than a classroom, a brain, a computer, and textbooks, and that teachers should be required to take at least a few courses in psychology. Procrastination is a real thing that affects real people in achieving their life goals. While I'm not trained in helping people get through these heavy issues, I can at least talk about them in my classroom and offer some food for thought.
For more guidance on avoiding procrastination, check out Ferrari's new book, Still Procrastinating: The No Regrets Guide to Getting it Done. Just don't wait too long.
Works Cited
Boice, Robert. "Cognitive components of blocking." Written Communication 2.1 (1985): 91-104.
Wellington, Jerry. "More
than a matter of cognition: An exploration of affective writing problems
of post-graduate students and their possible solutions." Teaching in Higher Education 15.2 (2010): 135-150.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Save the Date
Coming this October: the Month of Writing Challenge.
Challenge yourself to write as many words as you can. Your words will count toward a scholarship for the DePaul school of your choice. Check back for more details--including a brand-new website--in September.
Until then, feel free to contact snlwriting@depaul.edu with questions.
Challenge yourself to write as many words as you can. Your words will count toward a scholarship for the DePaul school of your choice. Check back for more details--including a brand-new website--in September.
Until then, feel free to contact snlwriting@depaul.edu with questions.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Making Laptops a Valuable Teaching Tool
Today's guest blogger is Maria Rodriguez, an SNL student.
One can find much debate when discussing laptops and their
use in the classroom. Some students I have talked to believe laptops are needed
in class, and others think they are just a distraction. However, Benedict Carey,
in “Frequent Tests Can Enhance College Learning, Study Finds,” thinks laptops can
be used as a teaching tool to benefit students.
In his article, Carey mentions Professors James W.
Pennebaker and Samuel D. Gosling, two psychology professors at the University
of Texas who conducted an experiment that consisted of asking 901 students to
bring their laptops to class so they could take a short and personalized online
quiz before class began. Experts believe this approach can help prevent
students from failing class, especially students from low-income households,
according to Carey.
Dr. Gosling seems to agree with him. According to Dr.
Gosling, students with low-income backgrounds who also come from “poor-quality”
schools need to be quizzed regularly because too often these students fail the first
and second midterms, and this happens, he adds, because they once “were always smartest
in class,” so when they don’t pass their first midterm they believe it was a
mistake, Dr. Gosling says. He also believes once these students fail their second
midterm, chances to pass the class are lost. Therefore, by quizzing them
regularly students not only excel in class but also pass the class. In my
opinion this experiment shows measurable outcomes. Students’ class attendance increased
by 30 percent. Class scores went up 10 percent, and total high grades had noticeable
growth. Better yet, students from lower-income households didn’t fail the class,
and their grades showed the most improvement.
After learning the results of this experiment, one can say
that computers used in the classroom can “act as an aid to teaching.” While students
might not like the idea of taking quizzes at the beginning of each class, I
would say that the advantage of these quizzes is practice that yields a
results. For example, regular quizzing is already being practiced by Community
Colleges of Chicago. As a former student of Truman College, I had a few
professors who gave our class regular quizzes. Therefore, we knew to be
prepared for the following class. Though their quizzes were not personalized as
Pennebaker and Gosling’s, this regular testing helped me to retain more
information, and as an adult learner it forced me to form good study habits and
to develop better study routines. I learned to use collected quizzes as study
guides and lessen the stress.
So, while quizzes can be given without the use of computers,
I think the use of them (especially the students’ own laptops) cuts any strain
between the professor and the student. Students don’t like to be told what to
do, yet professors don’t want to waste precious time telling adults what to do.
In addition, the use of this technology in the classroom helps preserve the
environment and saves the school money on paper, ink, and electricity.
Work Cited
Carey, Benedict. “Frequent Test Can Enhance College
Learning, Study Finds.” New York Times.
20 Nov. 2013. Web. 21 June 2013.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Free Writing Class at StoryStudio Chicago
StoryStudio Chicago is an organization dedicated to providing a supportive community for writers of all levels, and on Wednesday, August 27, StoryStudio is hosting an open house and free class:
What: Open House and Free Class
Where: StoryStudio Chicago, 4043 N. Ravenswood, Chicago, IL 60613
Cost: Free!
Click here for more details and to RSVP.
Join us for coffee, tea, and conversation with other writers, and then stay for Your Life As Fiction, a fun, all-levels free class that will explore what happens when you combine personal experience with your imagination.
What: Open House and Free Class
Where: StoryStudio Chicago, 4043 N. Ravenswood, Chicago, IL 60613
Cost: Free!
Click here for more details and to RSVP.
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