Pictures from the Conference

On Saturday, February 21st, the WRC tutors along with Lead Instructor Denise and Instructional Support Specialist James attended the 6th Annual SoCal Writing Centers Association's Tutoring Conference. Here are a few pictures from the day.


Tutors Bri, Alex, Heather, Sue, Megan, Lead Instructor Denise, and Tutor Mikey arriving at Moorpark College.



The tutors did a little last minute preparation during breakfast at Moorpark.



Heather, Megan, and Alex, however, still found time to pose for the camera.



Tutor Megan started the presentation off by discussing Internet resources. (Look for her post on the topic below.)



Tutor Bri discussed grammar podcasts with only slightly catastrophic technical difficulties. (Look for the post on grammar podcasts to learn more.)



Tutor Mikey presented a PowerPoint about how to utilize PowerPoint presentations.



This is Tutor Alex leading one of the small group breakout sessions.



Tutor Heather talked about how to utilize whiteboards during her breakout session.



All in all, we felt we did pretty good.



*dramatic pause* Or did we?! *cue foreboding music*

Awesome Web-Resource Links!!

MLA Reference
http://www.nwmissouri.edu/library/CITING/MLA.HTM
This site provides helpful color coded examples of MLA citation. It also provides tabs you may click to Reference MLA style in an eassy, in text citations, and even how to use MLA with Government documents!

Grammar Reference
http://www.sparknotes.com/writing/style/
This site I found to be incredibly helpful due to its large A-Z archive of helpful grammar examples. This site is also fairly well known by students and is easy for them to use at home after you’ve shown it to them.
Help with Writing papers

Writing Help
http://essayinfo.com/
This is a great site because it can help you convey how to write different types of essays to the student. Often students don’t come to college with the knowledge of the different between a response paper and an argumentative one. This site tells you how to brainstorm and how to execute the writing process for each essay type. I liked that it didn’t provide any sample essays, because that may often lead to plagiarism. (watch out for any ads that sell pre-written essays on this site)!

Plagiarism
http://www.plagiarism.org/index.html
Although you may never use this site in a tutoring session (unless you're trying to discourage a student from plagiarizing), this site may be helpful for you, the tutor, to explore yourself. It provides information from the rules of plagiarism to even why many students plagiarize. I thought it was pretty handy.

Best Over All
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
This is the best over-all site. Almost everything listed above can be found here. However the draw back is that the site is HUGE! If you're going to use the Owl at Purdue site, please be sure to navigate the site on your own first. That way you'll save time trying to find anything during your session.

On Grammar Podcasts

One category of grammar resources that is becoming more easily accessible via the Internet are grammar podcasts.

Grammar podcasts are a fairly new resource that greatly benefit auditory learners. Many also feature visual accompaniment that can benefit even more students.

Two podcasts we look at in our presentation on New Media are featured below.

Grammar Grater (http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/podcasts/grammar_grater/)
Grammar Grater comes from Minnesota Public Radio. Host Luke Taylor takes the listener through various skits and excerpts from literary and journalistic sources to cover the finer points of grammar. Some of the concepts Taylor reviews are for more advanced grammar students (looking at style conventions) while other posts are more for entertainment value (dissecting idiomatic expressions).
Though Grammar Grater posts transcripts of its episodes, it's primary value is as an audio resource.

Grammar Girl (http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/)
Mignon Fogarty's Grammar Girl from Quick & Dirty Tips, conversely, provides multivalent resources for all kinds of learners. Though the emphasis is on the auditory aspect, Fogarty provides additional cartoons, charts, and video to illustrate her points. To access the additional media, users must go to the transcript hosted at the Quick & Dirty site. The site is clearly written and easily searchable. Fogarty takes listener feedback and questions, often addressing listener questions directly in her episodes.
What makes Fogarty's podcasts so effective is that she offers tips and tricks that resonate with the listener. She often utilizes pop culture references and current events in her answers, making grammar issues relatable.

* * * * * *

As a tutor, it's important to remember that not all students learn things in the same way. Keeping on top of new trends--like podcasts--is one way a tutor can be more proactive in the Writing Center.

Welcome!

Welcome to the official blog of the Riverside Community College Writing and Reading Center's Tutors on the Riverside campus.

This site was begun to document work from and for our presentation at the SoCal Writing Centers Association's 2009 Conference at Moorpark College on Saturday, February 21st, 2009.

Please check back for updates, particularly after the conference.