Rachel Gets Lost in Baltimore: Part 2

by: Rachel Olsen

THE IDEA OF THE WRITING CONSULTANT 

"The expectations students and faculty
have for writing consultants are high,
 and it is important for consultants to
have a strong understanding of their
role in academic support . . ."

My first blog post about the IWCA conference was about how we define students in writing centers.

Today I want to focus on issues surrounding the writing consultant.

The expectations students and faculty have for writing consultants are high, and it is important for consultants to have a strong understanding of their role in academic support and why that role is valuable.

As I made the rounds each day of the conference, I tried to attend a fair number of sessions centering on professional development for consultants/tutors.

Those who do writing center and tutoring work still believe that tutors not only put theory into practice, but also turn practice into theory, and this tenet was at work in Baltimore.

Rachel Gets Lost in Baltimore: Musings on the 2010 IWCA-NCPTW Conference

by: Rachel Olsen

Rachel Olsen is the supervisor at

OCCC's Communications Lab

Hello readers!

I attended the 2010 IWCA-NCPTW conference in Baltimore last month, and I'd like to share my thoughts.

This conference is a gathering of writing center administrators, teachers, and writing consultants. 

I had a great time connecting with fellow writing center colleagues, plus the keynote talk given by Andrea Lunsford was phenomenal! 

If you have not read her 1991 article, “Collaboration, Control, and the Idea of a Writing Center,” it is a must-read for writing consultants and lab assistants.

Conference obligations notwithstanding, I even made time for a scrumptious brunch, a mini-trip to a local museum, and a reunion with some of my former writing center colleagues at Kansas State University. 

Anyhoo, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to distill all of the information I took away from my conference experience, and I have come up with three overall areas on which to focus. 

Since I am also getting more and more long-winded as I age, I am going to break my conference reflection into a series of somewhat bite-size segments (Take note, gentle reader! This means I really want you to read what I wrote and chat with me about it.) 

Admittedly “Northian” in their origins, I decided that the central ideas are the ideas we use to conceive of the student, the writing consultant, and assessment. 

Comm Lab thrills with holiday caroling

Lab staff perform in front of the Communications Lab
Tuesday, December 14, 2010, to spread a little holiday
cheer and to raise money for lab events.

Communications lab staff spread some holiday cheer today during a festive fundraiser which included a round of caroling and a bake sale featuring fudge, cookies and other chocolate treats.

The Communications Lab fundraiser raised money during the holiday fundraiser through sales of confections and donations from caroling.

Notables attending the fundraiser included former Comm Lab supervisor Tonya Kymes and Dean of Arts and Humanities Susan VanSchuyver, as well as several students and well wishers.

Carolers consisted of Comm Lab assistants and tutors singing songs including "Jingle Bells", "Silver Bells" and other holiday classics.

Tutor Charlton Rigsby accompanied the carolers on a guitar.

Tutors Bethany VanderSchans (left)
and Marijah Adams (right) take
donations for bake sale goods.

The fundraiser will benefit lab events including the purchasing of folders for workshops and activities for the  Comm Lab's ESL Conversation Groups.

Lab assistant Lydia Rucker stated she planned on incorporating more collaborative activities into the ESL groups including a movie night and a video project that teaches persuasive techniques.

MLA Shortage Leaves Students and Comm Lab Staff Short "Cited".

The Communications Lab's handout rack
has been missing MLA Style Guides
since Monday.

The Communications Lab is currently experiencing a shortage of MLA Style Guides.

Increased pre-Finals Week demand from students has caused supplies of the lab's most popular handout to dwindle to one copy.

The MLA Style Guide is a 13 page condensed version of the Modern Language Association Handbook 7th ed. containing instructions for formatting and citation examples.

Currently, the Communications Lab is using a single copy they are making available for students to use while in the lab.

Students needing a personal copy of the MLA Style Guide can still access them online.

Communications Lab assistant Brandon Isaak entered the order with OCCC print services for the MLA Style Guide Monday; the order is expected to be completed around 1 PM.

Spanish Tutor and Comm Lab Friend Wins Award

Bill Smiley has wins a local
radio station contest
for Teacher of the Week.

OCCC Spanish tutor Bill Smiley and long-time Communications Lab friend has been named Teacher of the Week by Oklahoma City's Magic 104.1 FM KMGL radio station.

According to an email from OCCC Arts and Humanities Dean Susan VanSchuyver, the accolade was bestowed to Smiley following a letter written to the radio station by a student.

The unnamed student said, "Bill ... not only built award winning choirs, he touched lives. His laugh & voice can easily fill a room & with his playfully sarcastic sense of humor, he has the uncanny ability to motovate a lot of young people to keep practicing, pay attention, listen to & work with one another"

Smiley is currently a teacher at Bridge Creek High School in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma, where he has taught for over 20 years.  Smiley plans to retire in December of this year.

Smiley teaches music appreciation and choir and has taught Spanish at the high school.

Halloween in the Comm Lab

Comm Lab Works Study Marva Ward assists students
with signing in during the lab's Halloween festivities.

There were more than spooks and spectors in the lab today when lab assistant Nick Webb pulled out the Wheel of Grammar to challenge students' knowledge of writing concepts.

Topics covered by the wheel's quiz questions included commas, fragments, documentation and even Comm Lab trivia.

According to lab assistant Tonja Nelson, the Wheel of Grammar benefits students because it exposes them to the topics and, whether they get the question right or wrong, they hear the correct answer and why that answer is correct.

Happy Documentation Day

Lab Assistant Nicholas Webb and tutor Charlton Rigsby
look on as two students help themselves to the Comm
Lab'sDocumentation Day refreshments.
(Photo by: Brandon Isaak) 

The Comm Lab would like to thank all of the tutors and lab assistants who helped make Documentation Day 2010 a success.

This year's event was the second Documentation Day we've had, and I think it went well.