Colorado Community College Conference on Composition

9:00 – 10:00

Welcome and Thanks: Chuck Fisher, Aims Community College

Keynote Address

Dr. Russ Ward

Faculty Emeritus, Aims Community College

"Thinking Real Good about English"

For composition teachers, things don’t seem to be improving much. Students still submit papers filled with groaning prose, and we continue to grind our grading pencils to the nub after every third paper. We often bemoan our lot when students enroll in our courses with spelling, punctuation, and paragraph “skills” that are mediocre at best (on a good day) and downright scary on others. But perhaps it’s some students’ poor attitudes about language correctness that troubles us the most. Maybe student attitudes only reflect our culture’s overall concern for good language skills: “Good writting ain’t all that importent no more.”

Richard Betting, author of A Skeptical Grammarian
Writes the New American Language and Grammar Primer

Panel participants will present their views regarding the role of grammar instruction in college composition classes. A question-answer period will follow.

12:00 – 1:15 Lunch

Lunch will be served in the Lobby, and the main dining area is in 129C, the same room for the keynote presentation. However, you may eat lunch wherever you want. We only ask that you return to the main dining area for the award presentation.

12:15-12:45

Writing Exemplary Conference Proposals

Bring your lunch to this roundtable discussion moderated by Rosalyn Zigmond of CU

Boulder to discuss how to prepare professional-looking conference proposals.

12:45 5C's Award for Teaching Excellence

"Project Nonprofit" is an assignment designed to help students to relate their writing to real life. Each student selects a nonprofit organization, develops appropriate questions, and interviews a nonprofit representative. Finally, the student writes informative and persuasive essays, which are presented to the class and also sent to the nonprofit organization.

Panel: " From College Freshmen to Scholars: Teaching the Academic Discourse Community"

In order for college freshmen to become students of particular disciplines, they must alter and expand notions about the purpose of study and about their own places in the academic world. This panel will present ideas and activities intended to induct students into academic discourse communities. Specific goals include guiding students to become

ü familiar with the names and philosophies of the founders and the current leaders in their fields

ü experienced in using what Susan McLeod has called "the discourse of the discipline," or in our students’ cases, disciplines.

Unlike previous generations, millennial students have been exposed to technology and the use of computers from an early age. They are used to instant communication, instant feedback, and frequent visual stimulation. By integrating WebCT or similar website based teaching tools into the classroom, instructors can improve the learning environment for these students. In addition to creating a more learning centered environment, the WebCT classroom addresses the problem of high absenteeism which is seen in many developmental courses. Students are better able to keep track of assignments and more likely to complete a course if they have 24-hour access to a class site.

“Experimenting with Sentence Combining: A Pragmatic Approach to Teaching Sentence Patterns and Grammar”—

I have been experimenting with ways to teach basic grammar, punctuation, and sentence fluency in my already busy writing courses, and what I have re-discovered are the practical advantages of sentence combining. Sentence combining doesn’t provide language rules per se, but it does allow for the student to see the reasoning behind some of the decisions they make about their language choices. It also demystifies some of the “rules of engagement” with language, about how a variety of same-meaning sentences can be so different but still be correct.

What is the role of grammar instruction in meeting the Millennial Challenge? Because “grammar in isolation” may be useless if not actually harmful to the writing process, grammar has come to be taught primarily as a tool to fix mechanics, or “grammar in the context of writing.” Grammar, however, can also be used effectively throughout the entire writing process. This is “writing in the context of grammar” – or, “grammar for the right brain” – a method that can empower Basic Writers to use grammar as a creative agent to construct complex levels of meaning, all the while learning “good grammar!”

This presentation will report primary classroom research that investigates the question, how do students perceive our comments and assessments on their writing? Discussion of perception theories, idiosyncrasies of millennial students, and learning-centered pedagogies will also be included in the presentation. Writing instructors today have the opportunity to work with learners who bring a unique set of skills, attitudes, and experiences to their writing and it is our responsibility to become acquainted with them. This presentation will lend such insight by sharing how our writing students truly perceive our comments.

“When Pigs Fly in the Classroom: Making Critical Thinking Fun for Writing Students”

No matter how we characterize it, “critical thinking” steadfastly retains the reputation among students of cerebral castor oil. However, through our strategic use of the well-known human addictions to humor, food, music, romance, mystery, stirring visuals, and discovering an ounce of creativity within ourselves, writing instructors can make analysis, synthesis, and evaluation activities manageable and inspiring for students. Attendees will take away ready-to-use activities and the know-how to present more to educators across the curriculum.

Roundtable: It’s All about the Millennial Generation: Best Practices for Engaging the Composition Classroom

The unique qualities of millennial students may tempt us to become apathetic or frustrated. However, we can prepare the millennial student for lifelong learning. Understanding this audience will help us to accomplish our critical work of demanding and maintaining high standards in the classroom. This roundtable discussion focuses on documented challenges and successes with millennial students as well as explores practical composition teaching suggestions. Participants are invited to bring proven strategies and materials.

Here's a chance to share your own creative efforts. If you are interested in reading your work, please sign up at the registration table in the Lobby in the morning, prior to the keynote presentation. Readers will read in the order on the sign-up sheet. Please limit your reading to 10 minutes.

Keri Bjorklund earned her Master of Arts in English Composition, Rhetoric, and Teaching English as a Second Language. Before earning her MA, she worked as a proofreader and editor in an advertising agency in Nebraska and as a tutor for non-native English speakers. She has taught several writing courses at Laramie County Community College. Currently, she coordinates and teaches the English for Academic Purposes program for international students and teaches composition on-line.

Ellen Hajek taught in Nebraska and Iowa before coming to Colorado with her husband Stan (now deceased). She was employed by the Greeley Tribune and from there went on to do freelance writing and grant writing as well as teaching. Ellen also wrote, self published, and marketed materials for home schoolers. Currently, she teaches developmental English at Red Rocks Community College.

Holly Hartwick has been teaching primarily composition and literature at Aims Community College since 1995.

After 30 years as an advertising agency copywriter, creative director, account manager, and owner, Geoff earned his high school English teaching certificate and taught for several years at an alternative high school for “at risk” inner-city students on the west side of Chicago. He now divides his time between graduate composition studies at Northeastern Illinois University, substitute teaching, and looking for a full-time job.

Phyllis Prawl currently teaches Developmental English courses at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She has taught numerous ESL and English courses since receiving her Master’s in Linguistics at the University of Montana, at Missoula, Montana, in 1988. In addition to teaching at language institutes and community colleges throughout the US, Phyllis has also taught overseas in Slovakia, Poland, and Egypt.

Weekdays, Randy Russell is an English department faculty member of Front Range Community College in Westminster, Colorado. Weekends, he practices samurai carpentry on his old house and patience on the menagerie masquerading as his children.

Liz Skrabacz teaches developmental and freshman-level English Composition, literature, and creative writing full-time at Laramie County Community College. She holds an M.A. in English from Kansas State University and a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from Truman State University in Missouri. She has worked as an Account Manager at a Public Relations firm in St. Louis, and has taught and tutored English in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Ben Varner is a Professor of English at the University of Northern Colorado. He is also former Director of Composition and a Feature Editor of Academic Exchange Quarterly.

Ben has taught lower-division and upper-division writing courses for over thirty years as well as serving as a writing consultant for many businesses and organizations.

Dr. Zigmond holds a Ph.D. in Education, specializing in teaching writing, problem-based learning, critical thinking, and composition studies. She earned her master's degree in Rhetoric and Composition and has taught a wide gamut of writing courses in higher education in online and face-to-face venues. Included in more than thirty years as a professional writer, is writing entertainment critiques for The Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post and writing business and grant proposals. She is a full time instructor with the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Program for Writing and Rhetoric.