Aloud! Including Writers from DePaul's SNL

SNL Advanced Elective "Write Where You Are" class and the Writing Center's Jennifer Finstrom

When I arrived at the DePaul Writers Guild Aloud! open-mic on October 20^th, current students and alumni were already gathered, waiting. They tried to keep their voices low as the Loop Writing Center tutors finished their work. But the overwhelming sense of camaraderie could not tamp their exuberance. 

Later SNL students from Steffanie Triller’s Write Where You Are Advanced Elective class joined the event. The regular attendees were cheerful and supportive. It was a pleasure to watch them interact with themselves and the newer SNL readers.

Although the Writers Guild holds an Aloud! reading every quarter, this day was special. It was dedicated to both NCTE’s National Day on Writing and The School for New Learning’s Month of Writing. A common thread through all of these events is an idea that accountability helps us write. If we have a group of writers to encourage and push us, writing becomes easier.

SNL Writing Videos

Writing can seem like a solitary task. But at its core it is an active and engaged form of communication. This is something that Michelle Navarre-Cleary, Steffanie Triller Fry, and Katie Wozniak understood when they helped create a series of videos in which students and faculty talk about various topics about writing at SNL and generally.

Recently, many of these videos have been placed in a Vimeo folder. They are an invaluable resource for SNL students and writers in general.

SNL Writing Center album

https://vimeo.com/album/4216128

Individual Videos:

How to Succeed at Writing at SNL

https://vimeo.com/album/4216128/video/188733864

Getting Around Writer’s Block

https://vimeo.com/album/4216128/video/188733863

Helping Students with Writing

https://vimeo.com/album/4216128/video/188733861

Writing for MAAPS

https://vimeo.com/album/4216128/video/188733860

Business vs Academic Writing

https://vimeo.com/album/4216128/video/13370623

Other Videos:

How Mary Wrote 10 ILPS

https://vimeo.com/6400067

Ty Kahdeman Talks about the Writing Process

https://vimeo.com/9216896

8th National Day of Writing (Oct. 20th)

On Oct. 20th, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) celebrates the eighth National Day on Writing on Oct. 20. They are encouraging people to participate in the #WhyIWrite social media campaign.

Share the reasons why you write to help promote writing and literacy!

Watch Now: The 2016 Craft of Composing Panel

We at SNL Writing had a wonderful time kicking off the 5th Annual Month of Writing with our Craft of Composing panel on September 29th. For those of you who were unable to make it to this edifying event, the panel is now available online!

Click here to watch the 2016 Craft of Composing panel, featuring Ann Stanford, Jennifer Finstrom, Jack Murphy, and Travis Moore-Murray. You can also visit our Month of Writing Digication page to see Craft of Composing panels from previous years and other exciting MOW events.

It's also not too late to participate in the Month of Writing! SNL students, faculty, and staff can register and write 1000 words or more to earn raffle entries toward our grand prizes: a two-credit scholarship for students and a $75 gift card for faculty and staff! Click here for more information and here to register. Happy writing!

Four Fall Boot Camps Coming Up!

Every quarter, SNL Writing offers Writing Boot Camps to help students complete their assignments. 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. This fall, we offer the following sessions:

• Saturday, October 22, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at O'Hare
• Saturday, October 22, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Naperville
• Tuesday, November 1, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Loop
• Saturday, November 12, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Loop

Register for one or more of these free sessions by emailing SNLevents@depaul.edu; walk-ins are also welcome. Please bring a flash drive, a copy of your 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 detailed information or email SNLwriting@depaul.edu.

Feedback in Motion: Screencasting Student Feedback

The Teaching Commons Workshop Series will hold two screencasting workshops this month presented by Margaret Poncin of WRD and Edward Evins of the UCWbL. See below for the "Feedback in Motion: Screencasting Student Feedback" description and event information.

Compared to written comments, video commentary can provide more efficient and effective feedback on student work, encourage additional growth and revision by preventing misunderstandings, and allow students to feel a more personal connection with their instructors. Not only that, it doesn’t require sophisticated video editing skills or additional time on the part of the instructor. No matter what the discipline—art history, sociology, biology or theater—screencasting can be used for a wide variety of assignments including research projects, digital and multimodal assignments, recorded performance and beyond.

 In this workshop, the presenters will demonstrate a few different strategies for giving feedback as well as a brief pedagogical rationale. Then, participants will gain hands-on experience working with screencasting tools to create videos for students. Participants are encouraged to bring samples of student work to use during the workshop.

By the end of the session participants will:

• Understand several strategies for using screencasting software to give feedback.

• Create a sample feedback video and understand how to post it to D2L.

• Evaluate the different opportunities afforded by video feedback versus traditional written comments.

• Identify potential occasions for using video feedback in their courses. 

The first workshop will be held this Friday, October 21, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in room 11013 of the DePaul Center in the Loop. The second will take place on Friday, October 28, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in room 301 of the SAC in LPC. Click here and here for more information about both events.

A Celebration of the Short Story

SNL faculty member and DePaul alum Kristin FitzPatrick will be a featured presenter at this week's  A Celebration of the Short Story event. Listen to her read from her collection My Pulse is an Earthquake (Vandalia, 2015) and discuss her craft.

Thursday, October 13, 6pm, Richardson 115