Connections to Area High Schools

One component contained in our Title V writing grant is to make connections with the area high schools that send students to the college and with other New Jersey college writing programs. The high school connection was a focus for us in year 3 (2010).

“Connections,” as we have branded that particular effort, involves collaborating with area schools to share the best practices in teaching writing across disciplines. Our website for the Connections program is at pccc.libguides.com/connection

These connections to other schools could also help PCCC increase general student success by providing coordination prior to and after their PCCC experiences.

Two sessions for high school teachers were held during the summer of 2010 at the Writing Center on the Paterson campus. Alexandra Della Fera coordinated contacting area high schools with a focus on those schools that participate in the PCCC dual enrollment program. Teachers needed to complete an application with information about their current use of writing and how they hoped to expand their use of writing.

Attendees received a stipend of $500 for attendance at the two days and completion of the activities and received professional development hours for their participation.

Though the invitations went to teachers in all disciplines, the majority of applicants were English teachers. In session two, we targeted other disciplines as much as possible and the participants included teachers of social studies, Spanish, and business.

We discussed strategies to address the topics applicants were most interested in and shared approaches and tools that the participants have found effective. The “big ideas” for the two days were the topics we use with our own WI faculty: teachers as writers, the writing process, using critical thinking and information literacy in writing, writing to learn and learning to write, and using technology in the writing process.

Some of the topics on the schedule were: discussing their schools and student populations, a discussion of the results of some pre-seminar questions we asked them to write about, giving feedback to writers, using Wikipedia, using writing prompts, online Microsoft resources, useful grammar web sites, rubrics, holistic scoring, portfolios & reflection, using podcasts, and critical thinking.

The most interesting and longest sessions were devoted to having the teachers share their own “best writing lesson.” These lessons are being archived along with our other resources online.

High School Connections 2

Professor Della Fera presenting at the Connections seminar.

Last week, the Writing Initiative held its second two-day High School Connections seminar. One component of the Writing Initiative is to make connections with the area high schools and share with them what we are doing with the teaching of writing across disciplines.

We have held two Connections seminars this summer for a dozen high school teachers. We invited teachers in all disciplines and got registrations from teachers of English, social studies, business, Spanish.

Participating schools included Clifton HS, Passaic County Technical Institute, Wayne Valley HS, Manchester Regional HS, the Paterson Pre-Collegiate Teaching Academy and JFK High School in Paterson.

In these sessions, teachers shared best practices and lessons that they use in their classrooms.

Amongst the topics we discussed during the seminars, we asked participants to consider these:

• What are the top 5 things PCCC should know about what your school and students are doing in regards to writing?
• Does your school have: a writing center; writing across the curriculum program; portfolios; or writing magazine?
• What technology works and doesn't work in your classroom?
• What would you like to know about the expectations that PCCC has for entering students?
• What might a college (PCCC and others) offer to your school that would improve your ability to use writing in the disciplines?

Using technology to help teach writing is a popular topic but most of the high schools have limitations on their Net access, especially to things like blogs and podcasts. We asked participants to check their school's access to a list of sites linked on our website.

We hope to continue the conversation next year with some participants and their schools. Several of the teachers who attended also teach as adjuncts for PCCC in our dual enrollment program. The dual enrollment program offers area high school students to take PCCC courses and receive college credit in a number of subjects.

We continue to update our Connections online resources that were used during the seminars and added to by the participants.

During the 2010-2011 academic year, the Initiative will be making additional connections to the writing center and writing programs at the 4-year colleges that our students often transfer to after completing their Associate degree at PCCC.

Visit the Connections website

Tech Tips for Teachers

The Learning Network at The New York Times published a good article on "Tech Tips For Teachers: Free, Easy and Useful Creation Tools."

These tools can help students visualize texts with tools like Wordle, Tagxedo or The New York Times Visualization Lab, create timelines using  Xtimeline, Time Glider or Timetoast and design presentations that go beyond PowerPoint using things like Glogster.edu and Museum Box.

For prewriting, mind maps on paper, and now electronically, are popular idea-processing tools. Their use was popularized by the British IQ specialist Tony Buzan starting in the 1960s.

Bubbl.us, CoSketch.com and Cacoo are good starting places that also allow collaboration by student pairs or groups.

Of course, students can also use The Times for generating ideas on many topics across disciplines from math to fine arts.

• Student-Powered Podcasting 
• English Language Arts Units for Grades 9-12 (National Educational Technology Standards for Students Curriculum Series) 
• A Teacher's Guide to Using Technology in the Classroom 

 

August Connections Seminar for High School Teachers Open for Registration

The Writing Initiative at Passaic County Community College fosters connections with area high schools and other colleges.

With a commitment to promoting writing across the curriculum, we offer the second of our small-group seminar sessions for high school teachers in all disciplines this summer.

How do teachers capture the attention of a visual, online, Net Generation of students in a time of fragmented instruction, high-stakes testing and the social and economic tensions?

We will discuss some strategies to address these concerns and share approaches and tools that you have found effective.

The Writing Initiative at PCCC works with faculty across disciplines to create varied opportunities in writing-to-learn rather than the traditional learning-to-write approach that might apply only to the English classroom. We incorporate technology, from advanced features in Microsoft Word to online tools.

Applications are now being accepted for the August seminar from teachers from high school in the Passaic County district that surround our Paterson, Wanaque and Passaic campuses.

With the school year ended, take this opportunity to both renew your own approach to writing and explore ways to use these approaches in your classroom.


DATE: August 23 and 24 (Mon/Tues) from 9am – 3pm
LOCATION: PCCC, Paterson campus

Attendees will receive a stipend of $500 for attendance at the two days and completion of the activities, and will also receive professional development hours for their participation.

Deadline for receipt of application: July 30, 2010

Application information is online at http://pccc.libguides.com/connection

High School Connections

The Writing Initiative at Passaic County Community College fosters connections with area high schools and other colleges. With a commitment to promoting writing across the curriculum, we offered our first small-group seminar sessions for high school teachers in all disciplines this summer.

How do high school teachers capture the attention of a visual, online, Net Generation of students in a time of fragmented instruction, high-stakes testing and the social and economic tensions?

We discussed with the high school teachers strategies to address these concerns and shared approaches and tools that they have found effective.

The Writing Initiative at PCCC works with our own faculty across disciplines to create varied opportunities in writing-to-learn rather than the traditional learning-to-write approach that might apply only to the English classroom.

Our wide-ranging discussions included these topics:

• Conversation: What can PCCC gain? What can we share?
• Teachers as Writers
• Using writing prompts
• Technology that works in the classroom
• Using Word (summary, readability, templates...)
• Effective Feedback
• Sharing best lessons
• About PCCC's writing courses
• EN004, comp 1 & 2
• Learning to write and writing to learn
• Portfolios & reflection
• Sharing lessons in progress
• Information literacy vs. research
• Using rubrics
• Where does grammar fit into the disciplines?
• Incorporating critical thinking
• Second language learners as writers

This first Connections seminar was held June 28 and 29 in the Writing Center on the Paterson campus. Attendees receive a stipend of $500 for attendance at the two days, and also receive professional development hours for their participation.

The next Connections seminar for high schol teachers will be held August 23 & 24. Information on Connections is online at http://pccc.libguides.com/connection

PCCC Making A Writing Connection With Area High School Teachers

A component of the Writing Initiative this year is to make connections with the area high schools that send students to the college.

The Writing Initiative's Connections involves collaborating with area schools to share the best practices in teaching writing across disciplines.

This connection to other schools should help PCCC increase student success by providing coordination prior to and after their PCCC experiences. We also hope to provide faculty and staff development opportunities that support student success.

Research shows that integration of critical thinking and writing skills into all classrooms helps student performance and understanding of the discipline being taught. The Initiative has created Faculty Institutes for PCCC faculty that offer hands-on, collaborative activities designed to strengthen the integration of critical thinking and writing skills in general educations courses. Teachers earn classroom action-research activities and strategies for gaining immediate feedback on student learning.

The Initiative team will hold two 2-day seminars for area high school teachers in any discipline who are interested in fostering writing across the disciplines.

The first of these will be next week - June 28 & 29 - with a second event on August 23 & 24.

During the 2010-2011 academic year, we plan to spread those connections to to the 4-year colleges where our students often matriculate after completing their Associate degrees.

For more on the Connections program, go to http://pccc.libguides.com/connection

Making Our High School Connections

A component of PCCC's Writing Initiative five-year grant is to make connections with the area high schools that send students to the college during year three.

The Writing Connection involves collaborating with area schools to share the best practices in teaching writing across disciplines.

During Year 3, we have now added Professor Alexandra Della Fera as our mentor to work with high school teachers in our High School Connections. Alex was the clear choice not only because of her background in writing, but because she is already connected to area high schools by her work with the PCCC Dual Enrollment program.

In addition to her teaching in the English Department, she coordinates the English Composition teachers at county high schools who are teaching PCCC's college-level Composition I course in the high schools.

Professor Della Fera will be working with the Initiative team to invite teachers in all disciplines to apply for our Summer 2010 seminar.

How do high school teachers capture the attention of a visual, online, Net Generation of students in a time of fragmented instruction, high-stakes testing and the social and economic tensions?

Research shows that integration of critical thinking and writing skills into all classrooms helps student performance and understanding of the discipline being taught. The Initiative has created Faculty Institutes for PCCC faculty that offer hands-on, collaborative activities designed to strengthen the integration of critical thinking and writing skills in general educations courses. Using those Institutes as a model, participating teachers will work with classroom action-research activities and strategies for gaining immediate feedback on student learning.

Sessions for the two day event will be designed and facilitated by Professor Della Fera, Elizabeth Nesius (Coordinator of the Writing Center) and Ken Ronkowitz (Director of the Writing Initiative).

At least one summer session will be held at the Writing Center on the Paterson campus. Attendees will receive a stipend of $500 for attendance at the two days and completion of the activities, and also receive NJ professional development hours for their participation.

In year 4 of the grant, we plan to connect with the 4-year colleges where our students often matriculate after completing their Associate degrees.

For more information on our high school and college Connections program, see our site at http://pccc.libguides.com/connection.