Smart Grammar Teaching

Date and Time: Tuesday, May 13 from 2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Location: Room E255
Facilitator: Sue Livingston, Program for Death Adults/Communication Skills

What is the interplay between authentic writing instruction and grammar instruction? How can we help students discover grammatical principles without using overwhelming terminology in ways that assist them in accumulating their discoveries from lesson to lesson? How might we help our students become improved "noticers" of grammatically correct chunks of text they might need for a particular assignment?

Let's explore answers to these questions as we see firsthand how principles of X-Word Grammar have been used in basic writing courses with deaf students who learn language primarily through their eyes alone.

This Brown Bag will be based on a presentation given at an English Think Tank conference at Gallaudet University.

Teaching Critical Thinking, Writing, Reading, & Information Literacy Skills in American History By Using Primary Documents & Sources on the Internet

Date and Time: Tuesday, May 20 from 2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Location: Room E255
Facilitator: Timothy Coogan, Social Science Department

Students in my Themes in American History I class (up to 1865) will be working on a class project that requires each of them to find specific information about public opinion from the sources they uncover on the Internet. During this seek and search pedagogical mission, each student will be responsible for doing three things: 1) finding the term "public opinion" in a primary source such as a newspaper, broadside, or autobiography; 2) connecting that primary source with the person(s) who used the term "public opinion"; and 3) providing the historical context in which the term "public opinion" was used and how one could interpret its meaning during the historical moment it was employed. Part of this intellectual exercise is to have the students search key words and look up pertinent primary and secondary sources in their efforts to complete this task. Another significant aspect of this process is to get students to think historically while working with the term "public opinion." By becoming cognizant of how the political term "public opinion" is embedded in the our political culture, students will gain a broader understanding and become better informed about the linkages between ideas, culture, society, and political thought.

In order to expedite this exercise in building information literacy in the disciplines and developing critical thinking skills, I have incorporated into the syllabus different stages of research activities and writing assignments on Discussion Board for students to do as they undertake this month-long task. Thus, by the time I present this exercise to the Brown Bag lunch in late May the students would have already completed their assignment, including sharing their experiences with each other and comparing what they have dug up on the meaning and importance of "public opinion" in American history before the advent of opinion polls and other "scientific" measurements.

African American Male Students’ Success

Date and Time: Tuesday, May 27 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Location: Room E255
Facilitator: Peter Grant Jordan, Vice-President, Enrollment Management and Student Development

The participation of Black men in American society is important to social justice. Low educational attainment, high levels of unemployment, outrageous rates of incarceration and short life expectancy are evidence of the crisis Black men face. The good news is that attainment of a baccalaureate degree contributes to the reversal of these deadly trends. Community colleges are an important gateway to higher education for minority students and Black male students in particular. Based on the findings of a single site case study of African American male students at LaGuardia Community College, this “Brown Bag Discussion” will focus on factors African American male student in the study perceive as facilitators and/or barriers to their success. We will also explore implications for institutional and public policy as well as strategies students, faculty and staff may employ to help African American male students succeed.

For further information on the series, contact Judit Torok at x5499.

The topics for these faculty-led Brown Bag discussions fall into four categories: