Hi Guest Lecturers!
Please take a look at David's latest brilliant discovery: Voicethread.
Here is a link to his first crack at it in his Writing 390 class:http://polaris.umuc.edu/ewc/voicethread/vt_report1.html
Let's think about and discuss what ways this tool might help us in guest lecturing. Perhaps we could use one whole thread for questions using Voicethread. David might be able to create a specific thread to post in 999 we could use for each guest lecture that offers this for students.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Meeting Spot for Writing Fellows
Monday, August 15, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Hi All :)
Hi GLers!
I have been talking to some of you about how crazy the weather has been. It seems as if we had no spring. We went from blizzards to heat advisories in a matter of weeks. :) It's supposed to cool down here (Eau Claire, WI) by 30 degrees by tomorrow. We were at 97 degrees yesterday with 60 percent humidity. I'll bet we have storms with such a fast cool down.
Anyhow, how do you all like me contacting you with the assignment information through email? I like it better because I get a chance to chit chat with each of you more. I also feel that we are all more on the same page as far as what the professor wants because you see the actual conversations. It is a bit more busy work sending out separate emails, but I think it works best until we get a system going through a database.
In addition to training Laura (she is a great addition to our team), I attended a lengthy meeting a week ago with John, David, Dan, and Aimee---along with a few others, to restructure a writing class to fit the 8 week format. I'm sure Dan will share more with you once the details are all worked out, but it has been fun helping structure a class that the EWC will be responsible for.
I will be sending out the schedule soon....I have rostered you in up until the 25th. I still need to roster from the 25th on. How are the EXCL classes going? Soon some of you will be teamed up with Laura on the schedule.
That's all for now! ;)
Have a great day!
Michelle
I have been talking to some of you about how crazy the weather has been. It seems as if we had no spring. We went from blizzards to heat advisories in a matter of weeks. :) It's supposed to cool down here (Eau Claire, WI) by 30 degrees by tomorrow. We were at 97 degrees yesterday with 60 percent humidity. I'll bet we have storms with such a fast cool down.
Anyhow, how do you all like me contacting you with the assignment information through email? I like it better because I get a chance to chit chat with each of you more. I also feel that we are all more on the same page as far as what the professor wants because you see the actual conversations. It is a bit more busy work sending out separate emails, but I think it works best until we get a system going through a database.
In addition to training Laura (she is a great addition to our team), I attended a lengthy meeting a week ago with John, David, Dan, and Aimee---along with a few others, to restructure a writing class to fit the 8 week format. I'm sure Dan will share more with you once the details are all worked out, but it has been fun helping structure a class that the EWC will be responsible for.
I will be sending out the schedule soon....I have rostered you in up until the 25th. I still need to roster from the 25th on. How are the EXCL classes going? Soon some of you will be teamed up with Laura on the schedule.
That's all for now! ;)
Have a great day!
Michelle
Friday, May 13, 2011
Update for Summer
Hi All :)
Summer semester is fast approaching and I wanted to let you know that we will be helping in the Excl classrooms again for the duration of the semester. I plan to assign you with the same professor you had last for spring term. These will be on the schedule soon.
Also, now would be a great time to let me know what kind of load you would like for summer. You will see the schedule changing each day and I need to know if any of you would want less than four a week or if four a week is fine. I'm not sure how busy we will be, but I will do my best to meet your needs.
I'll be in touch soon with a copy of the latest schedule.
Best,
Michelle
Summer semester is fast approaching and I wanted to let you know that we will be helping in the Excl classrooms again for the duration of the semester. I plan to assign you with the same professor you had last for spring term. These will be on the schedule soon.
Also, now would be a great time to let me know what kind of load you would like for summer. You will see the schedule changing each day and I need to know if any of you would want less than four a week or if four a week is fine. I'm not sure how busy we will be, but I will do my best to meet your needs.
I'll be in touch soon with a copy of the latest schedule.
Best,
Michelle
Monday, May 9, 2011
Passing Copyright Info on from David
In response to the recent discussion about copyright, generally speaking student use comes under the Fair Use Guidelines of the copyright law. "Fair Use" allows limited copying, distribution, and display of copyrighted works without the author?s permission under certain conditions
Here is the text of the Fair Use Statute of the U.S. Copyright Act, Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976: Limitations on exclusive rights/Fair use.
--
The Fair Use Statute
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified in that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
Copyright law does not specify the exact limitation of fair use. Instead, the law provides four interrelated standards or tests, which must be applied in each case to evaluate whether the copying or distributing falls within the limited exemption of fair use.
These are the four Fair Use standards:
1.The purpose and character of the use.
Duplicating and distributing selected portions of copyrighted materials for specific educational purposes falls within fair use guidelines, particularly if the copies are made spontaneously, for temporary use, and not as part of an anthology.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work.
Fair use applies more readily to copying paragraphs from a primary source than to copying a chapter from a textbook. Fair use applies to multimedia materials in a manner similar if not identical to print media.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
Copying extracts that are short relative to the whole work and distributing copyrighted segments that do not capture the "essence" of the work are generally considered fair use.
4. The effect of use on the potential market for or value of the work.
If copying or distributing the work does not reduce sales of the work, then the use may be considered fair. Of the four standards, this is arguably the most important test for fair use.
--
Following the "fair use" guidelines, segments of copyrighted electronic and multimedia materials may be captured, copied, digitized, transformed to another medium, or manipulated for educational purposes.
If any student goes on to try to make money (sell advertising space, for example) with their blog, then there would be a problem. But classwork is generally accepted as "fair use."
Here is the text of the Fair Use Statute of the U.S. Copyright Act, Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976: Limitations on exclusive rights/Fair use.
--
The Fair Use Statute
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified in that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
Copyright law does not specify the exact limitation of fair use. Instead, the law provides four interrelated standards or tests, which must be applied in each case to evaluate whether the copying or distributing falls within the limited exemption of fair use.
These are the four Fair Use standards:
1.The purpose and character of the use.
Duplicating and distributing selected portions of copyrighted materials for specific educational purposes falls within fair use guidelines, particularly if the copies are made spontaneously, for temporary use, and not as part of an anthology.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work.
Fair use applies more readily to copying paragraphs from a primary source than to copying a chapter from a textbook. Fair use applies to multimedia materials in a manner similar if not identical to print media.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
Copying extracts that are short relative to the whole work and distributing copyrighted segments that do not capture the "essence" of the work are generally considered fair use.
4. The effect of use on the potential market for or value of the work.
If copying or distributing the work does not reduce sales of the work, then the use may be considered fair. Of the four standards, this is arguably the most important test for fair use.
--
Following the "fair use" guidelines, segments of copyrighted electronic and multimedia materials may be captured, copied, digitized, transformed to another medium, or manipulated for educational purposes.
If any student goes on to try to make money (sell advertising space, for example) with their blog, then there would be a problem. But classwork is generally accepted as "fair use."
Friday, April 29, 2011
Updates
For those of you that don't have your picture up here and want it up, please send me your photo through e-mail. I don't want to leave anyone out!
If you get the chance, please join in me in congratulating Theresa Stevens for getting some of her work published. Congrats Theresa!
Kevin and Kathleen: Thank you for our input about blogging! It's fun to discuss our different experiences with workshops.
David has suggested some excellent tools for us to use in guest lecturing. Have you had a chance to check out Audioboo or Voicethread? Do you plan to try it out?
In other news, I have decided to discontinue using Google calendar for our schedule. I will still be using the Master Schedule in Google docs. Some of you have trouble opening it, but I will be sending it in a PDF or Word document via e-mail very frequently and I will be in touch with you all through e-mail whenever I have assigned you a lecture with the assignment details and any special requests the professor has for the workshop. In most cases, I will be forwarding you the email interaction I have with the professor. I believe this will prevent any miscommunications from happening and you will feel more on the same page when it comes time to retrieve the materials and post them/contact the professor. This will create more interaction in your inboxes. I apologize for that and I my suggestion would be to create a folder in your email account for all assignment details or guest lecture related information. I'm sure you all have your own methods to organizing your assigned lectures at home as well :)
Eventually, we should have a system more like John's to sort out GL requests and you will have your own GL accounts to sign into to retrieve those requests. In the meantime, I think using the Master Schedule and communicating with you over e-mail is the best way to continue on.
What does/will summer be like? Time will tell! For those that have looked at the schedule for summer so far, it's filling up slowly and this is before David and I have sent out invitations to professors. Once I notice classes starting to fill up in mid-May, we will begin contacting all the summer professors and filling up the schedule. If you get any free time, it would be great if you worked on your video messages (if you haven't perfected them already). Since you can embed an Audioboo message anywhere in David's materials, it might be fun to create a few different personalized messages that you could use for all of your guest lectures. I always begin by writing out a script and practicing it a few times first. If you need tips on this, David is obviously our audio/video pro! :)
Have a great weekend!
Michelle
If you get the chance, please join in me in congratulating Theresa Stevens for getting some of her work published. Congrats Theresa!
Kevin and Kathleen: Thank you for our input about blogging! It's fun to discuss our different experiences with workshops.
David has suggested some excellent tools for us to use in guest lecturing. Have you had a chance to check out Audioboo or Voicethread? Do you plan to try it out?
In other news, I have decided to discontinue using Google calendar for our schedule. I will still be using the Master Schedule in Google docs. Some of you have trouble opening it, but I will be sending it in a PDF or Word document via e-mail very frequently and I will be in touch with you all through e-mail whenever I have assigned you a lecture with the assignment details and any special requests the professor has for the workshop. In most cases, I will be forwarding you the email interaction I have with the professor. I believe this will prevent any miscommunications from happening and you will feel more on the same page when it comes time to retrieve the materials and post them/contact the professor. This will create more interaction in your inboxes. I apologize for that and I my suggestion would be to create a folder in your email account for all assignment details or guest lecture related information. I'm sure you all have your own methods to organizing your assigned lectures at home as well :)
Eventually, we should have a system more like John's to sort out GL requests and you will have your own GL accounts to sign into to retrieve those requests. In the meantime, I think using the Master Schedule and communicating with you over e-mail is the best way to continue on.
What does/will summer be like? Time will tell! For those that have looked at the schedule for summer so far, it's filling up slowly and this is before David and I have sent out invitations to professors. Once I notice classes starting to fill up in mid-May, we will begin contacting all the summer professors and filling up the schedule. If you get any free time, it would be great if you worked on your video messages (if you haven't perfected them already). Since you can embed an Audioboo message anywhere in David's materials, it might be fun to create a few different personalized messages that you could use for all of your guest lectures. I always begin by writing out a script and practicing it a few times first. If you need tips on this, David is obviously our audio/video pro! :)
Have a great weekend!
Michelle
Monday, April 25, 2011
Blogging Workshop Discussion
Hi All:
I would like to share this brief email from Ginna Babcock. Any input from you would be much appreciated.
I would like to share this brief email from Ginna Babcock. Any input from you would be much appreciated.
Hi Kathleen,
You sure know a lot about Blogging! Your advice and supportive comments were perfect! I’ve already asked Michelle to set up a visit for my summer BEHS 210 and 343 classes. I hope you will be available! I mentioned in my note to EWC that you, Anna, and Kevin have all given the workshop. Is it possible for you three to get together to debrief as it were? David made up great materials for the workshop, but I wonder if the same kinds of questions are coming up in the two classes and if so, if there are answers we can provide within the structure of the workshop?
The Critical Insight Blog is very popular with the students and I think they learn the material better in this way than in the traditional library paper. It also gives them skills to make their own family blog, which I think is important for this population. Anyway, I plan to continue to use the assignment in future, so any further materials from EWC would be well used! Please let me know your thoughts.
Thanks again for your visit,
Ginna
Monday, April 4, 2011
Google Calendar Issues
Hi GLers!
I am having trouble with Google Calendar today. It won't load and when it does and I record a lecture, it responds with an error message. This happens from time to time. Have you noticed issues? Anyhow, Frances Fister Stoga's Writing 391 class needs to be recorded in the calendar (Alicia will facilitate it) for April 18-24th. This workshop is for proofreading, run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement, and fragments. I will keep trying to plug it into the calendar.
With that said, I'm considering sticking to just the master schedule in Google Docs for summer. I know there have been problems with this system as well at times (merely uploading can be an issue). If I do this, I will be emailing you the assignment details each time instead of plugging them into the calendar. I will let you know as it gets closer what I decide to do.
Dan is looking into getting us a system similar to John and Anna's database. This would be wonderful. Stay tuned.
Also, I have come to solely rely on your emails to roster you out of classrooms instead of Google Docs. I realize it is difficult for some of you to comment within the document. Please keep those coming so I can keep your class lists organized for you.
So far this spring semester, we have done 158 guest lectures. Wow! Keep up the hard work. You guys are amazing! Thank you for you patience with the technical glitches we sometimes encounter.
Best,
Michelle
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
You All Think Alike :)
Tonight I received emails from the majority of you asking to be rostered out of a lot of classrooms. :) Thank you for doing that! I know that your class page can get really crowded and confusing if you let the older ones stick around for too long. I feel a sense of closure when I remove you from classrooms, like our job was completed!
Believe it or not, we are still steadily getting requests for the upcoming months of March, April, and May. We have already exceeded our number of lectures from last semester. I will let you know totals in May. I'm not so keyed in on a number, but just proud of all of us for how far we have come with this program! I really like that we are helping so many students and we receive so many compliments from the professors you help!
So, one big THANK YOU! Keep up the hard work!
Michelle
Believe it or not, we are still steadily getting requests for the upcoming months of March, April, and May. We have already exceeded our number of lectures from last semester. I will let you know totals in May. I'm not so keyed in on a number, but just proud of all of us for how far we have come with this program! I really like that we are helping so many students and we receive so many compliments from the professors you help!
So, one big THANK YOU! Keep up the hard work!
Michelle
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Hi Team!
It's been a while since my last blog update! We have been really busy!
So, you might notice that I finally figured out how to publish the Google Docs master schedule. I also embedded it to this blog. It might make it easier for some of you to check the schedule (or not). I'm working with what I have and thank you for your patience! I don't know why it won't go any bigger than that small little box, but there is a way to view the entire line by using the bottom scroll button.
Remember to let me know when you need rostered out of a classroom and to check with me if you were asked for an extension. Also, try to remember to have materials uploaded and the professor contacted about a week before your lecture starts. This eliminates any panic an instructor might be feeling about our visit and rightfully so---most instructors want to know exactly what is going on in their classroom and when. :)
We have really been getting a lot of positive feedback about the EWC and guest lecture program. It's because of your hard work! Thank you for reaching so many students.
As always, please let me know if you need any schedule adjustments or help in your classrooms.
Have a great day :)
Michelle
So, you might notice that I finally figured out how to publish the Google Docs master schedule. I also embedded it to this blog. It might make it easier for some of you to check the schedule (or not). I'm working with what I have and thank you for your patience! I don't know why it won't go any bigger than that small little box, but there is a way to view the entire line by using the bottom scroll button.
Remember to let me know when you need rostered out of a classroom and to check with me if you were asked for an extension. Also, try to remember to have materials uploaded and the professor contacted about a week before your lecture starts. This eliminates any panic an instructor might be feeling about our visit and rightfully so---most instructors want to know exactly what is going on in their classroom and when. :)
We have really been getting a lot of positive feedback about the EWC and guest lecture program. It's because of your hard work! Thank you for reaching so many students.
As always, please let me know if you need any schedule adjustments or help in your classrooms.
Have a great day :)
Michelle
Monday, January 17, 2011
Questions and answers on EXCL
Hey Michelle!
I'm thrilled to see the schedule filling out. I've never done an EXCL class before and it looks very interesting. So I'm currently reading the syllabus and reviewing the materials etc. But I'm a little confused... am I making one Guest lecture threat that's going to stay open from January through May? Or am I making a bunch of shorter ones that will activate as the semester goes on... because if so it's not totally clear when the instructor wants them to begin and end? I may have other questions about these EXCL classes too, but I figured this is a good starting point...
-Kevin
Glad to hear that, Kevin! :) The EXCL program enables those that have a lot of life experience to gain college credit for it. So, the purpose of that class is to build a portfolio. The contents of the portfolio are evaluated by EXCL professors and UMUC and they decide how many credits each person receives towards a degree. We are helping them with their materials, so they can be strong. Part of presenting strong materials and proving life experience has to come with strong writing skills. That is where we come in. We want to help them present their best selves. :)
So, yes....one conference area is fine....just present a thread or so at a time depending on what they are working on. I think there will be slow times throughout the semester when they are either in between projects or just beginning to absorb one. Just check in everyday for new posts. And yes...it stays open the whole semester. You are just there for them when they need you throughout. The instructors understanding of our role is that we are there to help all semester when needed...on standby. So, their beginning is when the class starts...and end is when the class is done. :-)
I'm not sure if David has more materials to present to them in the works. If he does, I'm sure he'll let us know.
I hope this helps! Feel free to keep asking questions! Honestly, I would love it if more classes wanted us to do this---especially required freshman courses.
EXCL
Hi All! :) Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!
Some of you may have noticed that you begin work with the EXCL classrooms beginning tomorrow (one begins a bit later). You will find the materials for this in NG 999. If you can, try to post the materials gradually according to what they are currently working on. Look at your assigned classroom's syllabus/course schedule and determine when they are working on what (narratives, resumes, ect.). These classes work on different things at different times (so, while one EXCL course might be working in narratives, a different section might be working on resumes during that time).
As you also may have noticed, you are in the EXCL classrooms until May! This is a great opportunity to work with students for a longer period of time and really assist the EXCL program. Let me know if you have any questions!
Please Note: Last semester, in Alicia's EXCL section(s), she created a "study group" for each student within the classroom. This created a private space for each student to submit their work. Some students were uncomfortable submitting drafts for all to see in the regular conference area. You are more than welcome to follow in Alicia's footsteps and do this. She had a lot of participation in her sections.
Also, these students will quite possibly be submitting entire drafts for you to look over. While most of our guest lecturing involves helping students with the process of compiling an essay (and usually involves small chunks of writing), EXCL students need feedback on full drafts some of the time. They will submit large essays. Try to remember the higher order concerns they will need help with when faced with a longer essay. Higher order concerns would be: clear thesis and/or argument, well developed paragraphs with topic sentences, ECT.
If you are unfamiliar with some of their assignments, please take the time to read through their classroom materials and syllabus and the materials David created in NG 999.
As always, let me know if you have questions! You will see that I am leaving notes to you in the Google calendar. If you are unsure about what materials to use, don't hesitate to email us! You can also look at the syllabus in most classrooms to see an explanation of the assignment details. If David doesn't have materials made for a certain assignment, he can whip some up pretty fast (I've witnessed it...it's like magic).
We are in for a busy semester :-) Happy guesting!
Michelle
Some of you may have noticed that you begin work with the EXCL classrooms beginning tomorrow (one begins a bit later). You will find the materials for this in NG 999. If you can, try to post the materials gradually according to what they are currently working on. Look at your assigned classroom's syllabus/course schedule and determine when they are working on what (narratives, resumes, ect.). These classes work on different things at different times (so, while one EXCL course might be working in narratives, a different section might be working on resumes during that time).
As you also may have noticed, you are in the EXCL classrooms until May! This is a great opportunity to work with students for a longer period of time and really assist the EXCL program. Let me know if you have any questions!
Please Note: Last semester, in Alicia's EXCL section(s), she created a "study group" for each student within the classroom. This created a private space for each student to submit their work. Some students were uncomfortable submitting drafts for all to see in the regular conference area. You are more than welcome to follow in Alicia's footsteps and do this. She had a lot of participation in her sections.
Also, these students will quite possibly be submitting entire drafts for you to look over. While most of our guest lecturing involves helping students with the process of compiling an essay (and usually involves small chunks of writing), EXCL students need feedback on full drafts some of the time. They will submit large essays. Try to remember the higher order concerns they will need help with when faced with a longer essay. Higher order concerns would be: clear thesis and/or argument, well developed paragraphs with topic sentences, ECT.
If you are unfamiliar with some of their assignments, please take the time to read through their classroom materials and syllabus and the materials David created in NG 999.
As always, let me know if you have questions! You will see that I am leaving notes to you in the Google calendar. If you are unsure about what materials to use, don't hesitate to email us! You can also look at the syllabus in most classrooms to see an explanation of the assignment details. If David doesn't have materials made for a certain assignment, he can whip some up pretty fast (I've witnessed it...it's like magic).
We are in for a busy semester :-) Happy guesting!
Michelle
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
New Semester Update
Hi All :) Happy New Year!
I'm so excited for the semester to begin! I am getting many requests and the schedule is filling up fast! Be prepared to make a huge difference (you always do and we have positive feedback to prove it) for students in all the classrooms you visit. They need us so they can feel confident and do well with their written assignments. Professors are excited for our visits as well.
Quick FYI:
Each of you need some sort of "introduction" in your workshops. Some of you have videos introducing yourself and others have avatars. If you do not have access to a web cam, video camera, or digital camera with video on it, please send a photo to David (or pick out an avatar if you are concerned about privacy) and write up a small introductory line or two. You can also record your message and send the audio to David. David can create something uniform that will look nice with the workshop. This is really important because students and faculty like to know who you are and why you are in the classroom. It is just a nice way to add to the "virtual tour" and allow others to become familiar and comfortable with your presence.
If you haven't already, please welcome Zoe, Theresa, and Kathleen to our team!
Best,
Michelle
I'm so excited for the semester to begin! I am getting many requests and the schedule is filling up fast! Be prepared to make a huge difference (you always do and we have positive feedback to prove it) for students in all the classrooms you visit. They need us so they can feel confident and do well with their written assignments. Professors are excited for our visits as well.
Quick FYI:
Each of you need some sort of "introduction" in your workshops. Some of you have videos introducing yourself and others have avatars. If you do not have access to a web cam, video camera, or digital camera with video on it, please send a photo to David (or pick out an avatar if you are concerned about privacy) and write up a small introductory line or two. You can also record your message and send the audio to David. David can create something uniform that will look nice with the workshop. This is really important because students and faculty like to know who you are and why you are in the classroom. It is just a nice way to add to the "virtual tour" and allow others to become familiar and comfortable with your presence.
If you haven't already, please welcome Zoe, Theresa, and Kathleen to our team!
Best,
Michelle
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