Event
HomeColumbia University Teachers College Writing Center Presentation; A Gateway to Collaborative Learning
Sunday, July 10th, 2011, 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Speaker: Jennie Roloff, Robert Moreau and Peter Cassidy; Sonoko Ogawa
The workshop will have as its focus the writing center movement, highlighting its background as well as some common misconceptions about writing centers, and will demonstrate some key practices that can be applied to a variety of institutional contexts. Participants will be given the opportunity to consider and discuss their existing knowledge of this movement's history, and the underlying philosophies and practices that best serve their institutional contexts. Participants will also observe a brief tutorial session, and actively participate in discussions in order to help clarify and prepare them for a better understanding of the dynamic nature of today's writing center.
Jennie-Roloff-Rothman is currently a lecturer in the English Language Institute at Kanda University of International Studies, located in Chiba, Japan. She received her M.A. in TESOL from Teachers College Columbia University, Japan campus (TC). She has also been the manager of TC's Writing Center since its inception in 2008. Her interests include writing, writing centers, international relations, and the development of critical thinking skills in the classroom.
Robert Moreau is a graduate of Teachers College Columbia University. He is currently working at International Christian University High School and the University of Electro-Communications. His research interests include self-reflective practices, autonomy, writing centers, and genre-based language instruction.
Peter Cassidy entered the field of child-care education after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Carleton University in 1990. He has recently completed a Master of Arts degree (TESOL) through Columbia University Teachers College, and his current research has as its focus the benefits of respecting mother tongue (L1) in L2 learning environments. His thesis paper on "Language Revitalization" touches on the importance of respecting all languages regardless of their perceived importance in a "globalized" world. His love for teaching young learners keeps him motivated in his writing and the "Cole the Mole" stories have been dedicated to his two-year old daughter and his supportive wife.
Effective collaborative learning, a careful design of the material is important. I'd like to introduce an example of teaching materials for collaborative learning that I and my colleagues devised last year, with guidance of Saitama board of education and University of Tokyo. Then, I'd like to explain the rational of three learning stages called Expert, Jig-saw, and Cross-talk. Thirdly, I'd like to report pre/post comparisons of students' output. This presentation would be interest to the teachers at higher level junior high schools, all senior high schools, and freshman college classes.
Sonoko Ogawa B.A. in Linguistics and M.A. in Intercultural Communication English teacher at Prefectural Urawa High School.
Organization: Saitama Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (Saitama JALT)
Cost: JALT Members: free
Non-members: 1000 yen
Venue: Sakuragi Kominkan 5th floor, Shiino Omiya Center Plaza 1-10-18 Sakuragicho, Omiya Saitama 330-0854
Location: Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
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