Today is national Poem In Your Pocket Day. April 26, 2012 is the day during National Poetry Month to select a poem you love and carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends.
You can also share your poem selection on Twitter by using the hashtag #pocketpoem.
The hope is that poems from pockets will be unfolded throughout the day with events in parks, libraries, schools, workplaces, and bookstores. Along with your library, bookstore, or shelf at home, you can find the perfect poem for your pocket by browsing the Poets.org website. You can also download pocket-sized Poem PDFs to print and share.
My poem will be in my pocket but on my phone. I have several mobile poetry archives (including the app from poets.org) so I actually have thousands of poems, as well as poet biographies and historical essays at my fingertips, anytime and anywhere.
Occupy the Classroom is the theme of the 2012 NJCTE Conference this Saturday, March 31st.
NJCTE is hardly a radical organization. And "Occupy the ______ " (fill in the blank) has been a popular meme the past six months.
We best know it for the Occupy Wall Street protest movement that began September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district.
OWS has led to Occupy protests and movements around the world. These protests are focused on social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the influence of corporations on government—particularly from the financial services sector.
Their rallying slogan, We are the 99%, addresses the growing inequality between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population in America when it comes to income and wealth.
So, why Occupy the Classroom? Since the movement was intended to effect change by "direct action" (instead of petitioning authorities) maybe it is a call for teachers to take action in their classrooms.
I read a piece by Nicholas Kristof on Occupy Wall Street that also touched on education. He wrote about the expansion of early childhood education and the inequity that may well result if many young people never get the skills to compete.
He quotes Kathleen McCartney, the dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, as saying “This is where inequality starts.The reason early education is important is that you build a foundation for school success. And success breeds success.”
She shows Kristof a chart showing that even before kindergarten
there are significant performance gaps between rich and poor students that widen further in school.
Do we need to occupy the classroom in order to point to inequities in childhood education, technology use and access to resources?
Kristof also mentions that President Obama "often talked in his campaign about early childhood education, and he probably agrees with everything I’ve said. But the issue has slipped away and off the agenda."
PCCC faculty and staff are presenting at the NJEDge.net Best Practices Faculty Showcase on March 16, 2012, held at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ.
The Best Practices Faculty Showcase is a place for NJ faculty and academics to share innovative teaching methods that involve technology. Each year, over 20 sessions are presented at this one-day event.
PCCC will have the following presenters this year.
Kenneth Ronkowitz, "Unintended Consequences: Measuring Faculty Buy-in to Instructional Technology"
"Besides redesigning 25 GenEd courses across disciplines to include more writing, an initiative at PCCC has been to introduce instructional technology into those same courses. Now in its fifth year, we have found varied success with the six technology components. This presentation looks at the assessment of "faculty buy-in" (or lack thereof) for e-portfolios, video lecture capture, supplementary websites, streaming media, reusable learning objects and online gaming. Through surveys of faculty and students and focus groups, we have tried to determine the best practices that led to faculty using technology in the intended and some unintended ways. Through data from institutional research, we have determined what impact the initiative has had on overall student success. Our efforts have been the 2012 National Council of the Teachers of English (NCTE) Award for Two-Year Colleges in fostering student success."
Elizabeth Nesius, "Creating a Helpdesk Where None Exists"
"As the use of technology in education continues to increase, so does the need to train people to use it effectively. When an institution cannot provide a 24/7 helpdesk to assist students, faculty are often level one support for students, although the faculty themselves may not know how to help with technological issues students have. At PCCC, one way we have found to address the growing need for technology training is through the use of "lecture capture" software like ECHO 360 or Camtasia Relay to create short training videos on specific topics. Not only have training videos reduced the amount of technology training faculty need, but they also have had the unintended consequence of reaching a broader audience than a help desk or in-person training session, which has allowed for broader adoption of new technology. It can also reduce costs, as it provides an alternative to a help desk when dealing with common problems. In the future, we intend to develop short videos not only for technology training, but also for concepts that apply across disciplines so that some content can be offloaded from the classroom, giving faculty more time to spend on course content."
Richard Lauria, "Wiki-fy Your Class"
"A wiki is web page that you create and use to help you teach your classes. It's more than a blog and less than a LMS (Learning Management System). At a minimum, wikis can be used for organizing your class: an electronic bulletin board with your syllabus, course schedule and contact information posted. Another possibility is to use it as a resource: a repository of links, articles and videos to supplement what gets taught in the classroom. To truly wiki-fy your class, you let the students build it. You start with an address and a skeleton structure, but you give students access and let them populate the pages of the wiki. Regardless how you decide to use it, a wiki can be a very powerful tool. I will demonstrate how to create your very own wiki and start using it in your class today."
NJEDge.net is a consortium of academic and research institutions in NJ. Their main focus is innovative uses of education technology and the development of new technologies.
Announcing PCCC's Second Annual Student Writing Contest!
All PCCC students are invited to enter!
The Writing Center is accepting submissions in the following genres:
Poetry 75 line maximum
Short Fiction 15 page (4,500) word maximum
Academic Essays 5 page (1,500) word maximum
We will accept typed submissions via email to writingcenter@pccc.edu or delivered by hand to our Paterson location (in the library.) Unfortunately, submissions cannot be returned. In addition, winners may be asked to provide a digital copy if they submit by hand.
Submissions are being accepted between Monday, Feb. 6 and Friday, March 9.
Judges will choose a first, second, and third place winner in each category. Winners will be announced on April 5.
Winners will receive a gift package and have the opportunity to read their work at a student reading in April.
October 20, 2011
Writing is a daily practice for millions of Americans, but few notice how integral writing has become to daily life in the 21st century.
To draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing we engage in, and help make writers from all walks of life aware of their own craft, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) created a National Day on Writing.
The U.S. Senate passed a resolution in 2009 declaring October 20 the National Day on Writing.
Today, a gallery of submitted works is opened up for everyone to view a wide variety of pieces. Many groups, classrooms and writing centers will also be celebrating the day across the country.
On April 19, 2011, PCCC held the the third annual PCCC Faculty-Staff Poetry Reading, sponsored by the Writing Initiative. The reading, part of the College's celebration of National Poetry Month (April), was held in the Founders Hall Theater.
Ken Ronkowitz
Featured readers were: Dave Bolger, Reading faculty; Christine Redman-Waldeyer, English faculty; Mark Hillringhouse, English faculty; Ken Ronkowitz, Director of the Writing Initiative; and Maria
Mazziotti Gillan, Founder and Executive Director of the PCCC Cultural Affairs Poetry Center. The event was coordinated and emceed by Elizabeth Nesius, Writing Center Coordinator.
The featured reading was followed by an open reading. PCCC faculty,
staff, and students were invited to read original poems of their
own.
The reading was open to students, faculty, and staff. Tomas Feliciano, PCCC student and winner of the WI Writing Contest, was among those who shared their work with the audience.
The national Poem In Your Pocket Day is today, Thursday, April 14, 2011. The idea is simple: select a poem you love for National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends.
But you can continue the practice all month )and beyond!). Poems from pockets will be unfolded throughout today with events in parks, libraries, schools, workplaces, and bookstores. And in this age of mechanical and digital reproduction, it's easy to carry a poem, share a poem, or start your own event.
Some ideas of how you might get involved:
Start a "poems for pockets" give-a-way in your school or workplace
Post pocket-sized verses in public places
Pass out poems in your community
Post a poem to your Facebook wall or Tweet a haiku or opening line from a poet with a link
Distribute bookmarks with your favorite immortal lines
Add a poem to your email footer
Post a poem on your blog or social networking page
The New Jersey Department of Community announces this year’s NJ Governor’s Conference for Women, scheduled for May 3, 2011 at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
Students attending the Conference can join other women leaders at informative workshops, networking events and educational meetings.
College students receive a discounted rate of $75 per person.
PRESS RELEASE
Looking for an opportunity to meet inspiring, influential women from all across the Garden State? Want to join other women leaders at informative workshops, networking events and educational meetings? Look no further than the 2011 NJ Governor’s Conference for Women, hosted by the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Division on Women. The conference, scheduled for May 3, 2011 at the Atlantic City Convention Center, seeks to empower and educate women from across the state on today’s important topics. It is the largest educational and networking opportunity of its kind for New Jersey women.
This year’s conference will provide a wide variety of resources for its attendees - including workshops on women’s health and wellness, politics, personal finance, community, business, and the economy. There will also be a day-long health fair complete with giveaways and free health screenings. The conference also features a networking reception so that attendees can meet and mingle with New Jersey’s top female leaders and executives.
“The theme of this year’s conference, ‘Read All About It’, is to inspire attendees to make headline-worthy changes in their life and community,” said Commissioner Grifa. “In these challenging times, the latest edition of the Governor’s Conference for Women will offer positivity, encouragement and support through educational workshops, networking opportunities and motivational stories.”
The NJ Governor’s Conference for Women is hosted by the DCA’s Division on Women and the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, a DCA affiliate. The New Jersey Division on Women advocates for the rights and opportunities of all women in the State of New Jersey. The Division helps develop, coordinate and evaluate public policy that affects programs and services for women.
Registration is now open for the 2011 Governor’s Conference for Women. For more information or to register, log on to www.njwomensconference.com
It's a month when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its place in American culture.
Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.
Some events online include:
Poem In Your Pocket Day: Join thousands of individuals across the U.S. by carrying a poem in your pocket on Thursday, April 14.
Poetry & the Creative Mind: Each April, The Academy of American Poets presents a star-studded celebration of American poetry.
Poem-A-Day: Great poems from new books emailed each day of National Poetry Month. Sign up for your daily dose of new poems from new spring poetry titles.
Spring Book List: Check out the new books of poetry available each spring.
National Poetry Map: Find out what is happening in your state by visiting our redesigned and updated National Poetry Map.
The Writing Center is beginning its writing workshop series for the Spring semester. The following workshops are being offered in January and February 2011.
Intro to the CWE
This workshop provides a basic overview of the College Writing Exam. It discusses what is involved in the exam, frequently asked questions by students, and gives sample questions and papers.
Location:
PCCC Writing Center
(Paterson campus--in the Library)
Date/Time:
Mon., January 31, 2:30
Thurs., Feb. 3, 5:30
Preparing for the CWE and Other Essay Exams
This workshop will focus on helping students manage their time when taking a timed essay exam. It offers strategies for planning the essay and writing within a time constraint so that you maximize abilities and chances of passing the exam. This is especially helpful for students who have never taken the CWE or who have problems with running out of time or going off topic. Materials needed: pen and paper.
Location:
PCCC Writing Center
(Paterson campus--in the Library)
Date/Time:
Mon., Feb. 7, 5:30
Tues., Feb 8, 2:00
Attacking the Question
Ever sit down to write a paper only to realize you don't even know where to start? The place to begin an essay is with the question. What is being asked of you? What is required in the answer? This workshop will teach you how to attack an essay starting with the question. You'll learn to decode "professor speak" and figure out what's really being asked of you. From there, you'll learn how to formulate and organize an answer. This workshop will help students taking the CWE to figure out exactly what a question is asking and how to go about answering it.
The focus of this workshop will be topics on the November CWE theme: Consumerism.
If you have a paper that you're struggling with, feel free to bring the topic to the workshop to get some examples of how to get started. Materials needed: pen and paper.
Location:
PCCC Writing Center
(Paterson campus--in the Library)
Date/Time:
Tues., Feb.15, 5:30
Wed., Feb. 16, 1:00
Proofreading Strategies for Essay Exams
This workshop will help students overcome some of the problems with editing of writing an essay in a timed setting. This workshop will give you some strategies geared specifically toward timed exams and allow you to notice more of your errors before you turn in the test! It will be especially helpful for students who are not confident in their writing abilities, haven’t written in a while, or have problems with grammar and editing.
Location:
PCCC Writing Center
(Paterson campus--in the Library)
Date/Time:
Thurs., Feb. 24, 1:10
Fri., Feb. 25, 5:30
Studying for Exams
This workshop aims to help students prepare for lengthy exams. It will help students figure out how to organize the information in their notes and readings, understand the broad themes in the course and discover the best study strategies. If your instructor has handed out a study sheet, please bring it to the workshop. You can also bring in your lecture notes, textbook and any exams and/or quizzes taken during the semester.
Location:
PCCC Writing Center
(Paterson campus--in the Library)
Date/Time:
Mon., Feb., 28, 1:10
Tues., March 1, 5:30
For full descriptions of the workshops and a schedule of upcoming workshops for the summer, go to http://pccc.libguides.com/writingcenter and click on the "Student Workshops" tab.
If you have any questions about upcoming workshops or the Writing Center, please contact Elizabeth Nesius at enesius@pccc.edu.
Announcing PCCC’s First Annual Writing Contest winners!
Writing is alive and well at PCCC. We had 78 total entries in the 4 categories. There were many outstanding entries, and students were enthusiastic about the contest.
Special thanks to the dedicated judges who generously donated their time (right at finals!) to choosing our winners:
Poetry
Mark Hillringhouse
Elizabeth Nesius
Ken Ronkowitz
Academic Essays
Martha Brozyna
Alexandra Della Fera
Randy Jenkins
Short Fiction
Kelly Bender
Mark Hillringhouse
Latoya Reid
Creative Nonfiction
Emily Eklund
Mark Hillringhouse
Maggie Holland
Thanks also to the very generous individuals who donated prizes:
Martha Brozyna
Greg Fallon
Sally A. Handley and Sally Handley Inc.
Mark Hillringhouse
Anita Kumar
Elizabeth Nesius
Jim Thoubboron
And now, without further ado, the winners of the Writing Contest are….
Poetry 1st Place: Jennifer Torres, “Almost There” 2nd Place: Javier San Juan, “Ideal” 3rd Place: Leonel Quintanilla, “Fatherless infant with earsplitting cry”
Honorable Mention:
Patrick Fortunato, “Audio Blind”
Mark J. Holmes, “Happy Anniversary”
Maryam Ishak, “Snow Falls on All”
Jose F Serrano, “Don Jose”
Linda Swanson, “In fields of green, I cry”
Academic Essays
1st Place: Guillermo Aguilar, “An Oligopoly on Wall Street” 2nd Place: Cynthia Retuerto, “The Humane Society” Tied with Kevin Fetish, "Differences in Democracy/The Song Remains the Same" 3rd Place: Kristopher Perovic “Science and Skepticism”
Honorable Mention:
Jason De La Cruz, “Othello and A Midsummer Night's Dream”
Kevin Fetish, “Ethical Monotheism Among Ancient Peoples”
Kathy Lopez, “Is Google Making Us Smarter or Stupider?”
Fiction 1st Place: Brionne Ramsingh, “Prequel to Iliad” and “Sequel to Iliad” 2nd Place: Cynthia Andreux, “The Boy Who Wanted to Be Tall” 3rd Place: Thomas Feliciano, “Familiar Enemy” Tied with Genessa Terrizzi, “Death Walker”
Honorable Mention: Kevin Byrd, Untitled
Kimberly Gomez, “Don't Go”
Honorable Mention:
Jason De La Cruz, Untitled and “My name is Jason De La Cruz”
Carolyn Guevara, Untitled
Thank you to everyone for your support in making the contest a success! We will be publishing the winning entries in a writing contest magazine and holding a reading of winning entries in spring. We hope to see you there!
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
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
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.
Professors Griedanus and Risher bonding during the June Institute.
They are preparing Biology II and Public Speaking respectively
as WI offerings for this fall.
The Writing Initiative team held its seventh Faculty Institute this month for instructors preparing courses as Writing Intensive for fall 2010.
This four-day Institute was held June 1-4, 2010.
The topics addressed during the 4 days of seminar-style sessions included:
The Course Development Handbook
Defining a Writing-Intensive Course
Faculty Professional Development
Goals: Initiative goals and alignment with discipline-specific goals
Requirements of a WI Course
WI Courses Syllabi
Formal and informal writing
Creating formal writing assignments
Responding to student writing
The Writing Center and Support for Students and Faculty
Creating LibGuides and using media
Critical thinking through writing – assignment creation and rubric use
Information literacy – creating assignments, rubric and template
Assessment of WI Courses and the Writing Initiative
Portfolios – structuring student use, tech support, use by the instructor, student reflections, and Initiative assessment
Featured speakers included Art Young, Clemson University, speaking on "WAC Today and Tomorrow: Composing in Many Modes and Media" and Terry Myers Zawacki, George Mason University, on "Researching the Local/Writing the International: Developing Culturally Inclusive WAC Programs and Practices"
The 2010 Conference was hosted by the Campus Writing Program at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. This biannual conference, the only U.S. conference dedicated exclusively to writing across the curriculum (WAC) and writing in the disciplines (WID), is typically of interest to people who are concerned with using writing to improve teaching and learning—faculty, administrators, and students from post-secondary institutions, as well as faculty and administrators from secondary schools.
Writing Across the Curriculum is a philosophy that maintains that writing is a valuable learning tool that can help students to synthesize, analyze, and apply course content; clear writing helps to develop clear thinkers in any curriculum.
Our own Writing Initiative philosophy is that All Teachers Teach Writing. While English teachers are traditionally charged with teaching "learning to write," we promote other disciplines using "writing to learn" techniques.
Some useful links for more information on WAC & WID efforts:
Our first annual Writing Initiative Faculty Institute was held June 9-12, 2008. The four-day institute was hosted by The Writing Initiative with the targeted audience of faculty and support staff who will be directly involved in developing the Writing Intensive courses that are at the center of the Initiative.
Though only three courses are scheduled to launch as Writing Intensive this fall, we invited 23 faculty members who have been involved with writing on campus and have shown an interest in developing a WI course in the future.
Through a combination of hands-on and informational sessions by the Initiative, PCCC staff and guest speakers, we hoped to inform and prepare faculty for the curricular redesign and implementation of Writing Intensive GenEd courses.
Professor Nesius discussing eTutoring protocols.
We surveyed attendees about the sessions and here are the results that received a 25%+ response, in order:
MOST USEFUL SESSIONS
1. LibGuides
2. Using Rubrics
3. Creating assignments
4. Using media
5. eTutoring
6. WebCT
7. Creating rubrics
8. WI requirements
9. Holistic scoring
10. ePortfolios
TOPICS REQUIRING ADDITIONAL TRAINING
1. LibGuides
2. Media sources
3. ePortfolios
4. Creating assignments
5. Writing in the disciplines
The clear winner in popularity was the use of LibGuides. They are one of the technology tools we plan to use with Title V courses, but they are just one tool in that effort and like other tools, they certainly have usefulness for the larger PCCC community. They are a good example of aspects of the grant that we are able to financially support that should help the academic community at large.
. While English teachers are traditionally charged with teaching "learning to write," we promote other disciplines using "writing to learn" techniques.
