September 6 Class

It took me a while to get time to write this.  In general, I hope to post "what we did in class" by 9:00 am the morning after class, but the WC Admin class is late - so I am thinking I may need until later in the day.  We'll see.


For the first half of class, Angela and Eric led us in a staff meeting.  We discussed the "chain of command" in terms of GA authority = who you need to "keep in the loop" during your work in the name of the writing cneter - and when (and who) you need to ask.  One point we didn't get to that we should have - is that if ever their is overt aggression, either verbal or physical, call in the appropriate authority (Dr. Kubow, Security, some other official staff) IMMEDIATELY.  Do not try to "fix" heated dynamics - you do not have the appropriate authority to do so.


 And we had some talk about how to handle instances when you are in charge - issues that may arise in terms of needing to support inexperienced coaches on WC practice, behavioral and caring for WC space issues, timliness (and missing work); and doing a professional job on recordkeeping.  The WC has policies in all of these areas, and as discussed, staff meetings and everyday culture are used to re-introduce (and revise) them so that they "work" in terms of making quiet space so the Center accomplish its goals.

The discussion of WC coaching philosophy hit the basics:

• individuals talk about where they are in their writing process
• coaches provide support if writers are stuck
• coaches talk with writers - don't write on their papers
• physical set up of the session = back and forth, student in control
• talking WITH people, back and forth => value what students have to say
• ask questions

You then took some time to set some short and longterm goals - which I am not going to reproduce here.


During the second half of class we revised the syllabus to reflect the fact that we are going to use class as a combination staff meeting & class.  Your "project" will be a written, professional version of your project for first semester, and our group project will be a 5-year strategic plan for the center - given points as listed on the [revised] syllabus posted to the right.


We also re-ordered the calendar to reflect your immediate administrative needs.  I have posted a "draft" and we will go from there.

For next week:
Staff meeting:  During next class, we will begin with another staff meeting (perhaps shorter? - but then I guess that depends what happens this week).  During the staff meeting you should raise any issues that you feel you would like to talk over as a group - with me as a consultant.  Angela and Eric will create the agenda - and you should submit your topics to them prior to class.


Read + prepare to discuss:  During the second half of class we will read through 4 case studies of how particular writing centers operate (their social, political, and economic positioning) and think about these WC theory & politics in light of Stephen North's "Idea of a WC" and "Idea of a WC revisited" (in the opening section of the Longman handbook on WCs = in the GA office.  


Each of us will take the "lead" for one part of the discussion = though we will all read all the essays.
Tim: Abels, 393; Joe: Gardener & Rousculp, 135; Simone:  Childers, 379; Sally: Paoli, 165
 Josh - we will miss you and have a good time.