November 2011 Articles
Story ideas? Opinions? Questions, Compliments, or Complaints? Send us an email at facultyadvocate@gmail.com.
With Gratitude by Ken Gray
Talking Derby by Mary Jean Cravens
Counseling at COD: Responding Flexibly to Complexity by Carol Giegerich
Spanish Over Skype by Elizabeth Mares
With Gratitude by Ken Gray
As I sit down to write this, it is November 1. Yesterday was Halloween, and three weeks from now is Thanksgiving.
According to the calendar, it would be appropriate for me to talk about what scares me
or about what I am thankful for (or maybe about scary things that I am thankful for). If you have been reading my
columns in the Faculty Advocate or paying attention to my other communications, it will not surprise you which one I
chose. Of course, I have many areas of my life in which I should express gratitude. I will focus on the College of
DuPage for now.
I am thankful for the opportunities that my employment at the College of DuPage has provided. I get to play a positive role in my students' lives. I get to give advice and tell people things all day long, and they have to listen to me! I get to do something that I love every day of the week.
I am thankful for my students. It is because of them that my hours in the classroom are among the most enjoyable in my life. And of course, it is because of them that my job even exists.
I am thankful for my talented and dedicated colleagues among the full-time faculty ranks. On a daily basis, these colleagues devote their full energies to helping their students achieve their goals. Their dedication is contagious, as are their enthusiasm and caring. They inspire me to do my best.
I am thankful for my talented and dedicated colleagues among the part-time faculty, classified and supervisory ranks, and other areas of the College. I know that the College of DuPage could not last one day without you. In my role as the Faculty Association president, I have had the opportunity to get to know many people from different areas of the College. It is without a doubt, one of the most rewarding aspects of the position.
I am thankful for the administration. Yes, the administration. To be sure, I do not always agree with their decisions, but I am convinced that they ALWAYS act with the best intentions and in the interest of the College of DuPage. They, too, are talented and dedicated. They are doing an essential job for the College, one that I cannot do, and I really appreciate that.
I am also thankful for the Board of Trustees. This all-volunteer group has embraced the enormous responsibility of making decisions and setting the course for the entire College. They are the ones who have to answer to the community for everything that they do. Again, I might disagree with some decisions, but I have never had cause to doubt the sincerity of their dedication to the College of DuPage.
Well, I guess that is enough for starters. I am always embarrassed when I need the calendar to remind me that I should be doing something. I think it means that I should be doing it more throughout the rest of the year. I will work on it.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse. Oh, wait, that was the "what scares me" column…
Talking Derby by Mary Jean Cravens
Last spring, thanks to an inspiring colleague, I joined a women's flat track roller derby league. Everything about
the sport enticed me: the aggression, the skating, the risqué outfits and DIY
mentality. Yet I was doubtful that I could pull it off. For starters, the practices are late at night and rigorous.
Also, I am an amateur skater, not one of those women who grew up on skates. And I have never played a sport. It is
generous to say a young Mary Jean was not sought-after goods in PE class. Nevertheless, I wanted to give it a shot. I
endured by telling myself that "this will be my last night of practice." Not a strategy I'd encourage among my students,
but it has worked for me.
Like most women who have "done derby," I fell in love. There are many aspects of derby that make it addictive, and I'm still not sure what is most intoxicating. Meeting awesome people is surely one of them, and I am continually in awe of the wide range of people drawn to the sport. Just when you think you know the "derby type" you meet someone new who obliterates the stereotype. In many ways, we are all different from one another, yet the dedication to the sport, and the sheer amount of time we spend together makes community-building inevitable. As cliché as it sounds, derby leagues feel more like family than anything else. Any derby girl will tell you this. If you are part of a religious community or a military unit, you likely know how good this feels.
Sentimental attachment aside, the sociologist in me is fascinated by derby. The feminist in me is appreciative of what derby does to challenge gender inequality. Yes, I know we wear fishnets. Derby is still a major combatant to patriarchy, and for that reason it will always have a place in my heart, long after I hang up my skates. Women are re-socialized in derby communities, and for the better. Derby takes women of all sizes and requires them to abandon the cultural baggage that taught them to hate their bodies. It rejects the sexist contempt that still lingers outside the rink doors. This isn't achieved through some sort of self-help, "we are all ok" narrative. It is taught via the demanding drills and bootie blocks and hits we give and take in playing the game. Every body (not everybody) has a place in derby. This may sound trivial, but if you've learned that your body is not ok—and most women learn their bodies are not ok—it's liberating to realize that not only is it ok, it can kick ass. Skaters use their bodies to hit other skaters out of bounds, to block the opposing team's jammer, and to resist opponents inflicting the same thing on them. Derby hurts, but we are tough, in a way most of us have never been allowed to be. We use our bodies to control what happens on the track. And that is the beauty of derby: it's a place where women have control. Control over the sport (skater-run) and control over our body. We use our bodies to control what's happening on the track. Doesn't get more exciting than that.
Counseling at COD: Responding Flexibly to Complexity by Carol Giegerich
A wide variety of counseling, consultative, evaluative and teaching functions are performed by faculty in Counseling
Services as an expression of their part of the College Mission. While there are
basic similarities in the overall goals of various types of institutions, differences in student populations and
institutional priorities may affect functions within individual counseling services. For these reasons, counseling at
College of DuPage may emphasize different combinations of personal counseling, academic counseling or student development
services.
College of DuPage counselors' interactions with students will vary depending on their needs. Students may present themselves for educational counseling and career planning, but in the course of meeting with them, it evolves that they are experiencing personal issues (personal life or academic) that are preventing them from reaching the goals they have established for themselves or that interfere with successful completion of coursework. To effectively respond to the educational needs of the institution and the personal academic needs of students, faculty in Counseling Services offer complementary functions: Developmental where the focus is to assist students in adjusting to college and enhancing their personal growth as to promote positive and realistic self-appraisal, intellectual development, appropriate personal and occupational choices and the ability to relate to others in both an academic environment and in a work environment. Remedial in an effort to support students who may experience significant adjustment problems to college (and at times personal problems) that impact current academic skill deficiencies. And Preventive, anticipating environmental conditions that may negatively influence the student's welfare and initiating interventions that will assist such conditions.
Services that we provide include offering Counseling Workshops that are both affective and behavioral and that will assist students in the development of successful academic strategies. We offer career counseling to assist students in developing a direction and focus and establishing reasonable short term and longer term goals. We visit classrooms upon request; we offer services through our liaison connections throughout the college. We teach Career Development, Interpersonal Skills for Life and Work, and College Success Skills courses.
Counselors are professionally trained to utilize the counseling skill set in order to assist students in identifying and achieving their educational goals and in developing their maximum potential as individuals and as citizens. Counseling at College of DuPage also includes educational counseling, counseling for students on academic probation/suspension, career counseling, personal counseling, and life transition counseling. While counselors may provide information about college programs and policies, their work extends beyond the typical advising contact. Counselors are educationally trained to increase academic success, provide academic alternatives, promote health and wellness and provide support to students pursuing their educational and career goals, as well as their life planning efforts. They are skilled at listening not only to what is being said, but also to what hasn't been said. They will probe to find out the concerns lying below the surface that may be interfering with the student's academic and personal success. Counselors address thought patterns, feelings and behaviors that inhibit the student from realizing their goals. Counselors help students to identify strategies to change their self-defeating behaviors and that help them achieve success in their academic efforts.
Spanish Over Skype by Elizabeth Mares
In October of 2009, I was invited to a symposium in Key West, Florida, as a member of the Digital Board of Advisors for
McGraw-Hill. During the first night at a roundtable discussion, one of the
facilitators asked the Board to close their eyes and envision the future of second language acquisition. Our instructions were
to imagine no limits, to think outside of the box, and to let our minds take us wherever we wanted to go. Where did mine go?
Skype tutoring.
The Languages Department at College of DuPage has one of the most cutting edge and pedagogically current online programs in the country. Our elementary and intermediate Spanish Internet courses are highly interactive and communicative, as they incorporate a webcam component for instructor-student, student-student, and instructor-virtual classroom interactions. Instructors and students use the webcam for introductions to the course, weekly webcam chats based on the grammatical, lexical or cultural topic for that session, virtual office hours with a white board feature for additional comprehension exercises, and midterm and final oral interviews. The Spanish language essentially comes alive via the webcam for both students and instructor.
Late last summer, with the support of my Associate Dean, Laura Ortiz, we met with Rae Maslana, Coordinator, Academic Support Center & Tutoring Services, to discuss starting a new Skype tutoring program for all online and hybrid students studying Spanish at the College. At first, Rae was skeptical, as this branch of tutoring had never been offered before, and she was unsure of the logistics. She commented:
When we first met over the summer and you and Laura proposed the idea of tutoring via Skype, I have to admit, I felt hesitant. Quite frankly, I thought we were doing a lot already for students enrolled in Spanish courses: appointment-based, drop-in and online tutoring. Then, the more I thought about it and did some research about Skype, the more I not only embraced the idea, but wanted to move forward to have it come to fruition. With the support of my administration, Dr. Ellen Sutton and Dr. Lisa Stock, and the blessing of the College's IT Department, we're launching Tutoring via Skype for Fall Semester 2011. I am very excited about this opportunity to bring yet another mode of service to our students enrolled in Spanish 1101/1102/2201/2202! Many great suggestions are made by faculty—and here is one of them! Thank you! Who knows what the future will hold for other courses using this wonderful relationship of Student, Tutor and Skype?
How does Spanish Skype tutoring work? First, students create a Skype account. Second, in the search bar, students type in, College of DuPage Tutoring, and voila, they get their very own Spanish Skype tutor. I worked with Rae to select weekly times that the Skype tutor would be available to students.
I have received very positive feedback from our online Spanish students. Katharine Mraz, a College of DuPage online Elementary Spanish I student, writes:
I wanted to let you know that I ended up using the Skype tutoring last Monday. My session went really well!
I had [the tutor] actually listen to your suggestions, and she helped me go through the "gustar" verb a little more. The fact that Skype lets you type out the words with her, while talking live, helps to understand both the reading/writing and speaking elements of Spanish. She also knew exactly where I was in the class, just by hearing what I've learned, and what I don't know. I felt that her knowledge of not only the language and culture, but also of how the class usually runs works at COD, was especially wonderful. There wasn't any moment where I felt she'd push me beyond what I've learned thus far in the class.
Thanks for telling the class about the Spanish Skype tutoring. I found it VERY HELPFUL, and suggest all my classmates to try it out. I found it very fun practicing my new skills with someone who's fluent, patient, and can correct my errors before I slump into bad habits!
Muchas gracias.
The Spanish Skype tutoring program is still in its early stages. The Languages Department hopes it grows and becomes the model for supplementing more online academic programs at College of DuPage. We have seen the demand for online courses grow exponentially: why not grow with the demand and implement an effective resource to help our students succeed on their virtual journey to a quality education? I see a bright future for Skype tutoring, for both the instructor and online student.
Thinking back to the Symposium in Key West, if I close my eyes once again, where do I see virtual second language acquisition going next? Face to face cell phone tutoring? Perhaps. Cell phone application for our Spanish online program? Another possibility. An interactive and collaborative virtual classroom that comes alive and makes our College of DuPage students feel as if they were actually in the classroom, learning with their fellow classmates and instructor. Definitely! We're on our way, Spock!
