CUNY Academic Commons

August 2015 WAC Fellows Professional Development Schedule

WRITING FELLOWS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM August 25, 2015 Hostos Community College Cafeteria NOTE: All sessions have readings to be completed in advance--they are available at https://commons.gc.cuny.edu/groups/wac-resource-center/ Please read and be prepared to discuss. Please print out and bring with you. At the same location are in-session materials to be printed out and brought with you to the workshops. Time Session Topic and Leader(s) 8:45-9:15 Registration, coffee, and pastry 9:15 Welcome Lucinda Zoe, University Dean for Undergraduate Studies 9:30-11:00 Writing to Learn and WAC Principles Jonathan Hall, York College Topics to be covered: A brief history of WAC, defining WAC/WID, WAC at CUNY, informal writing, and the writing process. Through the discussion of readings, Fellows will come to understand basic WAC Principles, such as “low-stakes writing,” its applications, and the meaning of “writing to learn.” Readings: Advance Readings: McLeod and Miralgia "Writing Across the Curriculum in a Time of Change"; McLeod Writing to Learn; Young, "Teaching Writing Across the Curriculum" ; Monroe, "Writing and the Disciplines" In-session: Questions for Writing in the Disciplines; Unified Writing Curriculum; Resources 11:00-11:15 Break 11:15-12:45 Reading Across the Curriculum Rifat Salam, Borough of Manhattan Community College Topics to be covered: reading challenges, using writing strategies to improve student reading skills Fellows will discuss connections between reading and writing and practice strategies for teaching “difficult” reading assignments. Readings: 12:45-1:45 Lunch Video: “What Does It Mean to Be a Writing Fellow?” (Aneta Kostrzewa, York, 2012). Discussion 1:45-3:15 Developing and Scaffolding Assignments Craig Levinsky, City College of New York Dennis Paoli, Hunter College Topics to be covered: Elements to consider when developing an assignment, what makes a prompt “achievable,” how to design an effective, scaffolded an assignment. Readings: 3:15-3:30 Break 3:30-5:00 Responding to Student Writing Rebecca Devers, City Tech Topics to be covered: Identifying “good writing,” higher-order and lower-order concerns in student writing, and commenting to promote revision. Fellows will develop an understanding of WAC perspectives on the writing process and gain knowledge of commenting strategies aimed at promoting revision. Readings: Advance reading: Williams, "The Phenomenology of Error"; Haswell, "The Complexities of Responding to Student Writing; or, Looking for Shortcuts via the Road of Excess" ; print out and bring session agenda and handouts A and B with you