IMPORTANT UPDATE

In my meeting this morning this Mr. deGarcia we worked on a number of new issues relevant to our planning both for the Facilitator training (June 14 - 21) , and for the Studio program (June 28 - August 5).

1. Location(s) for Facilitator Training. I have reserved CAS 118-120 (the conference room across from the Writing Center) & two computer labs on the third floor of CAS, 303 & 307, for the Facilitator training spaces. CAS 118-120 is all one room and will easily serve the entire group; it is available for us every day except June 21. I am still working on the choosing + reserving the Studio Spaces.

2. Delayed delivery of netbooks. The netbooks will not be available for the first week of Facilitator training, and may not be available for the first one or two weeks of the Studio Program. This means we need to have fallback print versions for the two programs. As noted above, the Facilitator training has the choice of a print space or a tech space.

3. Schedule for Studio Program. The studio program will unfold within the following schedule:

Facilitators schedule:

3-4: Facilitators prepare for studio sessions, work one-on-one with students, misc programmatic work

4-5: Facilitators participate in planning sessions with Mentors

5-6: Dinner

6-8: Facilitators conduct Studio Sessions with students

8-9: Facilitators record data, write log entries + de-brief with Mentors

Mentors' schedule:

4-5: Mentors facilitate planning sessions with Facilitators (4 hours/week)

5-6: Dinner

6-8: Check in on facilitator groups, collect data, perform responsibilities, meet as a group to share reflections + make revisions to program (7 hours/week)

8-9: Work with Facilitators on de-briefing + data documentation (4 hours/week)

3. Responsibilities List. As discussed in class, I have drafted a "Responsibilities List." This list designates the person who will oversee, coordinate, make decisions & solve problems with respect to designated areas of responsibility. The specific responsibilities may or may not be self evident - so we will discuss this list in more detail in class. As you can see I have made tentative assignments to specific tasks/responsibilities. I tried to correlate inclinations & interests with responsibilities. If any of you feel you have been inappropriately assigned - the assignments are not set in stone; they were set forward as a way to estimate whether we had a reasonable plan to cover this list of programmatic needs. In class we will talk some more + clarify exactly what responsibilities belong with which title.

Sam: Space + scheduling + enrollment + group assignments
Ryan: Netbooks (distribution issues, passwords, wireless glitches, other tech blinks)
Jessica: Dinner = choosing menus – circulating among participants + making pickups
Vanessa: MC whole group introductions/meetings (oversee master schedule)
Angela: Data collection
Musheerah + Eric: Program interface: Updates + announcements +training&studio site for facilitators (Should include the Responsibilities list!)
Dane: Counselor liason
Marie: Classroom liason

Ricardo: Facilitator liason

4. Creation of Mentor-Facilitator groups: Hopefully, by Thursday, I will have a list of all the Facilitators who will be participating in the Studio Program. I plan to designate 2 to 3 Facilitators to each Mentor (8 of you, excepting Ricardo & Vanessa - who have other roles). These Facilitators will be the group you work with.

I will keep you posted on any news as we move closer to getting this show on the road! I'm looking forward to seeing your presentations on Wednesday.

Monday, June 7

Tonight's class started out with me "modeling" a studio session. I talked about ways to handle the deciding who will present issues (going to the left, discussing topics + deciding on a logical order; going with the person who is the most talkative or most eager; etc) and then did a session with Ricardo (thank you). We noticed language patterns (the use of questions, invitations,"saying back," validations and other facilitator moves) , that there were silences, and that the computer could make communication more difficult.

You then facilitated some sessions. I was impressed both with the quality of the sessions - and with the intentional "experimentation" you engaged in to explore conversation dynamics within studio work.

In general - your pattern (and what I see as best practice for studio sessions) was to establish audience, purpose, form for the presenter's writing (if the presenter doesn't state this information, you will need to get it out there through questions/talk with the other group members), make sure to establish what the presenter wants feedback on; observe what is working; facilitate; make sure the presenter gets the feedback s/he needs; and then wrap up the session with some reflection.

These sessions were kind of in a vacuum - in that we didn't do the whole group opening, closing & transition talk that lets you move from presenter to presenter.

You then worked with your team to develop Project 2.

For Wednesday: Turn in your complete program as an electronic document (folders in files either at a web site, as google.docs, or on a usb.

This program will include: the timeline with the day by day schedule with all documents necessary for presenting the day-by-day schedule. Please use some kind of file/organization system to make program implementation as easy as possible.

In class on Wednesday, each group will present its version of the training program, day by day. We will all read along and at the conclusion of both presentations - we will consoldiate the best from both - and create the actual program you will implement on beginning June 14.

On Thursday, at 4:00, we will meet with the counselors at the LAC for on overview of the Summer Program by the Director of EEO, and for introductions. We will then return to the writing center to finalize plans for Facilitator Training.

I will ask about the Grand Study Hall on the third floor of the Library.

Thank you for your awesome participation in this project. The success of our new studio program is truly going to be a reflection of this good work. See you Thursday.

Class June 2

We began class with a review of the brainstorming documents you have posted on your blogs. I have emailed each of you individually with comments, and class discussion (really it was sort of me clarifying and deepening the directions for how to develop these brainstormy posts into the actual Design Plans you will create for Project 1 (the Studio Program) and Project 2 (facilitator training). For an overview of the comments on the brainstorming documents, see the Comments on Blog Brainstorming (at link in right panel).

Next we worked out a conceptual timeline for the overall Studio Program (linked in right panel). We noticed that there is TOO MUCH material in the first week, and that the program is going to require the creation of (or at least agreement upon) protocols/practices for certain activities. So - as you develop your timelines - you are definitely going to want to find ways to consolidate activities (so, for example, reflection on discourse & learning the software + protocols might all be folded into a single "icebreaker". . . yeah, I know that is pretty wishful thinking , but you get what I mean?), and you will want to identify activities that you feel might need written (not in stone but out there as a guide) protocols. And you will probably want to write them as part of the training program.

Next we discussed Gutierrez. My primary purpose in assigning this reading was to heighten our awareness of how our language choices can structure the spaces we teach in. I was hoping it might prompt us to work on a collaborative "semiotic toolkit" (Gee's term) - a set of language patterns that allow us to be received by our listeners. My hope is that we will model this language for ourselves, for the facilitators and for students - and that in some cases we might call attention to our choices - so that all of us can make more effective - more openly communacative choices in how we talk to one another.

Language choices called attention to in class were: modals, questions, volitional directives, verbs as evidentials, direct directives, conceptual metaphors.

Gutierrez also calls for the use of "code-switching" and for the use of metaphor. These moves, coupled with reflective talk, support students in moving from one system of meaning to another => thus helping them to become full participants across multiple discourses.

After the Project 2 presentation (posted at google.docs) and a brief but important discussion about professional dress -( no dress code but a strong recommendation that dress be "respectful" and "mindful" of your roles in the program) you worked in groups on Project 2.

For Monday:

1. Facilitator training planning document 1: List of training objectives (this should be a collaborative document)

2. Training design document 1: Conceptual timeline (this should be a collaborative document)

3. Come to class with two pieces of writing to present for a Studio session. These pieces could be protocol sheets, a data collection plan, a set of writing prompts, descriptions of reflective exercises or other interactive activity=> in other words, they should be the "sections" you are writing for the Facilitator training program. Prepare to present these pieces in Studio by 1) stating your audience, purpose, focus; 2) stating what you have done so far; 3) providing a copy of the piece you want to group to review as a google.doc; and 4) preparing a statement of the kind of feedback you are looking for.

Great class tonight! Have a great weekend and see you on Monday.