For more detailed information on any of these activities, consult the current Instructor’s Guide.
Required Professional Activities
- Attend Orientation
- Include at least one project in their course plans that could potentially be submitted by students to Grassroots Writing Research Journal.
- Collect Student Work Electronically (for archiving)
- Allow Writing Program Instructors to Observe Your Classroom
Professional Development Opportunities Sponsored by the Writing Program
- Coffee Klatches
- These are informal get-togethers (bring your lunch!) where instructors share research or practices they think other instructors might be interested in. Contact Amy Hicks.
- Program Papers
- Program Papers sessions allow instructors to collaborate on documents that clarify key concepts in the Writing Program. Contributors will be listed as authors on these documents–a great line for your CV!
- Technology Initiatives
- Also known as Tech Times, these sessions are beginner-level introductions to hardware, software, and other technologies that instructors may want to use in their teaching. Contact Ryan Edel.
- Contributing to the Writing Program Archive
- This an ongoing practice instigated by the Writing Program to collect and share materials that represent the theoretical and practical values of the Program. Sample documents are available that should guide the format, quality, and quantity of information necessary for contributing to the archive. Possible contributions might include: research summaries, individual projects/activities, annotated course plans, and genre description packets. For more information, please Contact Amy Hicks.
- This an ongoing practice instigated by the Writing Program to collect and share materials that represent the theoretical and practical values of the Program. Sample documents are available that should guide the format, quality, and quantity of information necessary for contributing to the archive. Possible contributions might include: research summaries, individual projects/activities, annotated course plans, and genre description packets. For more information, please Contact Amy Hicks.
- Peer-to-Peer Mentoring
- Any instructors who are interested in becoming a peer mentor should contact Emily Johnston: erjohns@ilstu.edu.
- Experimental Teaching Groups
- Groups are on rotating topics. Contact Joyce Walker.
- Grassroots Writing Research Journal
- Beyond creating an assignment for your students that would allow them to contribute to the journal, instructors are also encouraged to submit their own work. Instructors can also work as volunteer editors for the journal. For more information on contributing, please Contact Sarah Hercula.
- Beyond creating an assignment for your students that would allow them to contribute to the journal, instructors are also encouraged to submit their own work. Instructors can also work as volunteer editors for the journal. For more information on contributing, please Contact Sarah Hercula.
- The Good Day Archive
- The Good-Day Archive is an ongoing project that instructors can contribute to during any of the Writing Program’s open hours in STV 133. Instructors are invited to sit down in front of one of our computers with camera and microphone and record a short (<10) narrative about a particular class session that went really well. Stop by the Writing Program to set up a session!
Additional Professional Development Opportunities
Instructors interested in developing other professional development activities should write a brief (<1 page) proposal that outlines a project, event, or activity they would like to develop and then schedule a meeting with the program assistant in charge of professional development (Amy Hicks: please see her Contact Page) to determine what resources (like money, people, space, etc.) or authorization (like IRB approval) you will need to proceed with the project and how to go about obtaining them.
