THE WRITING CENTER

HELPING YOU HELP YOUR STUDENTS THROUGH WORKSHOPS, TIP SHEETS,

AND TUTORING

NOT JUST AN ENGLISH RESOURCE• COMMUNICATIONS

• HISTORY

• POLITICAL SCIENCE

• PSYCHOLOGY

• NURSING

• SOCIOLOGY

• PHILOSOPHY

WHO WE ARE: OUR TUTORS• ADJUNCT INSTRUCTORS WITH TUTOR TRAINING

• PEER TUTORS WHO HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED COURSES TUTORED IN WITH AT LEAST A “B” AVERAGE AND ARE RECOMMENDED BY FACULTY

• COMMUNITY TUTORS WHO HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED A DEGREE IN THE AREA/RELATED AREAS THEY TUTOR IN, HAVE TUTORING/TEACHING EXPERIENCE AND EXCELLENT REFERENCES

ALL TUTORS IN THE WRITING CENTER RECEIVE CONTINUOUS TRAINING IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF TUTORING SERVICES. TRAINING INCLUDES SUBJECTS SUCH AS WORKING WITH CLIENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES, WORKING WITH CLIENTS WHO ARE ESL, VARIOUS APPROACHES TO USING TECHNOLOGY DURING A TUTORING SESSION, AND MANY OTHER TOPICS…

WHAT WE DO• TUTORING—DROP IN AND APPOINTMENT BASED

• HANDOUTS, STYLE GUIDES, TEXTBOOKS, AND HANDBOOKS

• WORKSHOPS—FOR FACULTY AND STUDENTS

• NEWSLETTER

• COMING IN FEBRUARY: BOOK/WRITERS’ CLUB MEETINGS

• ALSO COMING IN FEBRUARY: SESSION NOTES—WE WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED ABOUT YOUR STUDENTS’ PROGRESS AND PROVIDE YOU WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO OFFER FEEDBACK/RECOMMENDATIONS

OUR MISSION• THE FOLLOWING GUIDE THE WRITING CENTER:  

• A DESIRE TO CREATE A NON-THREATENING, COMFORTABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENTS,

• AN INTENTION OF DEALING WITH THE STUDENT RATHER THAN SIMPLY HER PAPER,

• A HOPE OF CONNECTING PRINCIPLES OF GOOD WRITING WITH SOCIAL ISSUES,

• A RECOGNITION OF THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND AN ASSIGNMENT IN CONTEXT,

• A PRACTICE OF ADDRESSING PRIORITIES (A HIERARCHY) IN THE WRITING PROCESS (E.G. CLARITY OVER COMMAS),

OUR MISSION CONTINUED…• A PRACTICE OF ATTENTIVELY LISTENING TO STUDENTS,

• A PRACTICE OF STARTING TO WORK WITH STUDENTS AT WHERE THEY ARE RATHER THAN WHERE THEY SHOULD BE,

• A PRACTICE OF SHOWING STUDENTS CHOICES AS WELL AS ENCOURAGING THEM TO SET GOALS,

• AN EVIDENCE OF PROFESSIONAL COURTESY TO THE FACULTY,

• A DESIRE TO PARTICIPATE IN SELF-REFLECTIVE PRACTICES THAT JOINS A NATIONAL CONVERSATION ABOUT WRITING CENTER PRACTICE.

A COLLABORATIVE WORKSITE, A PLACE OF TRUST

•A WRITING CENTER, AS A STUDENT-CENTERED COLLABORATIVE SITE, SEEKS TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’ SELF-WORTH AND CONFIDENCE BY WORKING WITHIN NON-EVALUATIVE RELATIONSHIPS OF TRUST.

WORKSHOPS FOR FACULTY

• FREE RESOURCES FOR YOUR CLASSROOM THAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW EXISTED

• GUIDES FOR TEACHING DOCUMENTATION STYLE

• GUIDES FOR LOCATING, EVALUATING, USING, AND DOCUMENTING SOURCES IN APA AND MLA FORMAT

FREE WEB RESOURCES FOR YOUR CLASSROOM

PRESENTATIONS (SIMILAR TO POWERPOINT BUT MORE APPEALING AND VERSATILE): HTTP://PREZI.COM/

DISCUSSION STARTERS (A FLIPPED CLASSROOM APPROACH THROUGH TED TALKS VIDEOS): HTTP://ED.TED.COM/LESSONS/WHAT-ARISTOTLE-AND-JOSHUA-BELL-CAN-TEACH-US-ABOUT-PERSUASION-CONOR-NEILL#REVIEW

BRAINSTORMING IDEAS (ONLINE CLUSTERING THAT CAN BE SAVED AND PRINTED): HTTPS://BUBBL.US/

THESIS GENERATOR: HTTP://WWW.MPCFACULTY.NET/MOLLY_MAY/THESIS_GENERATOR.HTMLCAUSE/EFFECT ARGUMENTS/EXPERIMENTS AND PREDICTIONS: HTTP://WWW.PFSD.COM/UPLOADS/GRAPHICORGANIZERS.PDFHTTP://WWW.READWRITETHINK.ORG/FILES/RESOURCES/LESSON_IMAGES/LESSON1035/CAUSE.PDF

APPS

• LEARNING DISABILITIES: HTTP://DYSLEXIAHELP.UMICH.EDU/TOOLS/APPS

HTTP://WWW.NCLD.ORG/STUDENTS-DISABILITIES/ASSISTIVE-TECHNOLOGY-EDUCATION/APPS-STUDENTS-LD-DYSGRAPHIA-WRITING-DIFFICULTIES

GUIDES FOR TEACHING DOCUMENTATION

• MLA FORMATTING: HTTP://PREZI.COM/RBMKS2U-G7FV/?UTM_CAMPAIGN=SHARE&UTM_MEDIUM=COPY&RC=EX0SHARE

• APA: HTTP://PREZI.COM/IZ5VD4IYIVDG/APA-FORMATTING/

HTTPS://OWL.ENGLISH.PURDUE.EDU/OWL/RESOURCE/949/01/

WORKSHOPS FOR STUDENTS• IVY PREP WORKSHOPS LATER THIS SPRING/SUMMER (ACCUPLACER)

• THESIS STATEMENTS

• ACTIVE READING AND ANNOTATING

• FINDING, EVALUATING, USING, AND DOCUMENTING ACADEMIC SOURCES IN MLA AND APA

• FINDING AND USING RESOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH CENGAGE TEXTBOOKS

RESULTS FROM THE FALL ONLINE SURVEY• “I HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE WRITING CENTER. I KNEW ONCE I ENROLLED IN MY ENGLISH CLASS

THAT I WOULD NEED HELP. THEY DEFINITELY HAVE BEEN HELPFUL AND MADE ME COMFORTABLE IN ASKING FOR HELP AND HELPING ME WITH IDEAS WHEN I AM STUCK. IT'S A PLACE WHERE I CAN GO TO BE FOCUSED.”

• “THE STUDENTS FOUND THEIR ASSISTANCE HELPFUL. IT WAS REINFORCING WHAT I WAS TEACHING.”

• “I HAD PRETTY FAST SERVICE. THEY MADE SURE THAT EVERYTHING FROM FORMATTING TO SENTENCE STRUCTURE WAS GOOD. I DON'T THINK THERE IS ANYTHING THAT CAN BE IMPROVED. THEY DO AN AMAZING JOB.”

• “I ENJOY GOING TO THE LEARNING CENTER BECAUSE I KNOW I CAN GET SOME KIND OF HELP, IT COULD BE GETTING STARTED AND FINISHING UP PAPERS.”

• “HELPFUL, VERY UNDERSTANDING, KNOWLEDGEABLE, PATIENT.”

• “HELPED ME MAKE MY IDEAS MORE FREE FLOWING AND COMPLETE.”

• “HELPED WITH MY HISTORY PAPER. GAVE ME A LOT OF CRITICAL THINKING IDEAS FOR RESEARCH.”

OUR RESULTS

• WRITING CENTER IN ITS FORMER LOCATION REPORTED 560 VISITS IN FALL 2012

• NEWLY OPENED AND RELOCATED WRITING CENTER REPORTED 941 VISITS IN FALL 2013

COME BY AND SEE US AT WORK AND ENCOURAGE YOUR STUDENTS TO USE OUR FREE SERVICES•MONDAYS, TUESDAYS, WEDNESDAYS, AND THURSDAYS:

OPEN 9:30-12:00 FOR DROP IN TUTORING

(CLOSED FROM 12:00-1:00 FOR WORKSHOPS)

OPEN 1:00-4:30 FOR DROP IN TUTORING

• FRIDAYS:

OPEN 9:30-12:00 FOR DROP IN TUTORING

ONE-TO-ONE TUTORING IN VARIOUS SUBJECTS AVAILABLE BY APPOINTMENT

CONTACT MISTY AT MSTANDAGE@IVYTECH.EDU , 230C, OR 421