Monthly publication - January 2001 Issue
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Welcome to the LCN
Happy
new year, and welcome
to the January 2001 issue of the Learning Center Newsletter.
Do you believe this is the 12th issue of the LCN! During the past year the newsletter featured many articles that can be as useful today as when they were first published. To make it easier for our readers to find these articles, we created a special index that categorizes articles by subject (e.g. Internet resources, management strategies, publications, etc.) So if you have not been with us from day 1, or if you would like to review a past article, check out the articles index by clicking here.
In an effort to improve the newsletter, we are asking for your feedback. Your input will shape future issues, so please take a few moments to fill-in the ratings card below.
If you enjoy the newsletter, please forward its web address to a colleague. We appreciate your support. Hope you enjoy the new issue.
Mon Nasser Editor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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the LCN
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Management Strategies & Tips
By Frank L. Christ
Tip #7: Using the Web for Staff Orientation and Ongoing Training
Two major orientation and training tools are available for you and your learning center staff on the Internet. One is LSCHE, the only web portal that focuses exclusively on learning support centers in higher education; the other is the listserv LRNASST, the collegial network, that features an ongoing 24/7 dialogue among 1200 learning assistance professionals.
LSCHE, at http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/~lsche/ , contains a wealth of resources that can be reviewed at weekly staff meetings and semesterly staff retreats as a regular agenda item. Assign a staff member to preview a section of LSCHE and present it to your staff for their thoughts on what they found that may be useful for the center. Have an informal brainstorming session to determine what learning center questions or problems can be posted to LRNASST. for answers or solutions. Encourage all staff to subscribe to LRNASST. The directions for subscribing are on LSCHE and can be quickly found by using LSCHE's search box.
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Student Study Skills
Tips
By Lucy MacDonald, Chemeketa Community College
Email: lucy@chemeketa.edu
Reading your textbook and your eyes reach the end of the page but you don't remember anything on that page? This is the eyeball reading syndrome: eyeballs reach the end of page, but brain is not yet in gear. Here's a tip on how to get the brain actively involved.
Read the chapter summary first. It is usually short and contains in a nutshell all the major concepts for that chapter. Take the first concept, which is condensed in the summary and go back to the beginning of the chapter and read the full explanation for that concept. Then go to the review questions to see if you can answer the question on this concept. If you cannot answer the review question, go back to the chapter and find the clarifying material for that answer. That's one whole cycle. Check that concept off and begin with the next one.
If your textbook doesn't have a summary, you can use this same technique with the chapter objectives. Now your brain is actively engaged in the study reading process. You will read faster and remember more!
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Position
Announcement
Please pass this announcement to people who might be interested. Thank you.
The United States Naval Academy Academic Center will be hiring two Reading and Study Skills Instructors. It is expected that the positions will be filled by June 2001 with a starting date in July 2001.
Both positions require a Master's degree in psychology, education, or a related field and demonstrable knowledge, skills and abilities to provide instruction in reading and study skills, develop lesson plans and instructional materials, and evaluate student performance. The Academic Center is seeking qualified applicants who have specialized experience with computer based learning labs and/or reading course development
For more information, please e-mail the Academic Center Director, Dr. Eric Bowman at ebowman@usna.edu.
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NWCA
5th National Conference
| By Barbara Gaal Lutz, University of Delaware |
| Terry Riley, Bloomsburg University |
The Wyndham Baltimore Inner Harbor Hotel in Baltimore, MD, was the site of the National Writing Centers Association's fifth conference on November 2-4. This gathering of over 500 writing, learning, and resource directors and tutors, writing instructors, and other educators was a testimony to the attendee's strong commitment to writing center pedagogy and research. One hundred and thirty-two presentations were made over the course of the conference, with topics ranging from basic writing center concerns, such as connecting the writing center to the mission and curriculum of colleges and universities, to the newer challenges of online tutoring. Nine concurrent sessions offered workshops, demonstrations, and panel presentations, while book publishers shared information about their current listings and newest software packages and programs.
In addition to the varied selection of presentations, the conference provided opportunities for attendees to meet and mingle. A cash bar reception in the hotel's ballroom followed Thursday's session; nibbling on appetizers, people had a chance to catch up with colleagues and make new acquaintances, all the while tapping their feet to the swing rhythm of Byron's Stay's band, "Physical Therapy." On Friday, attendees enjoyed a formal breakfast buffet, which was followed by the keynote speaker, Molly Wingate, whose presentation, "Writing Centers as Sites of Academic Culture," was warmly received. Later that morning, boxed lunches allowed attendees to wander among the poster sessions exhibited in the ballroom as well as sit at the tables provided for a leisurely conversation with colleagues from every corner of the USA as well as from South Africa, Morocco, Turkey, Canada, and the UK.
Many writing center directors are old friends, but see each other only at the NWCA conference, which is held every eighteen months; the Wyndham proved to be a good place for catching up. Others attendees who had known each other only through the profession's listserv, WCenter, got a chance to meet for the first time. "Our e-community is great," said one attendee, "but meeting each other f2f ["face-to-face," in writing center lingo] is a terrific experience." Another, describing the conference later, called it "informative, moving, exhilarating, relieving, exciting, provocative."
Yet another attendee summed up the feelings of many who participated in this year's event. It was a good conference, she said, "because the company of writing center people is always good, because of the opportunities to share and trade experiences and knowledge both formally and informally, because Molly gave a terrific keynote speech, and because it's tough to beat Baltimore in the lovely poignant autumn--and it's pretty difficult to beat Baltimore food."
Look for the next NWCA conference in the spring of 2002 (site and hosting regional organization still to be determined). The NWCA web site will have updates as the conference plans evolve: http://nwca.syr.edu.
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How much of this stuff is true:
| Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula" and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size, "L.A." |
| A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. |
| An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain. |
| Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. |
| In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10. |
| Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer. |
| The only real person to be a Pez head was Betsy Ross. |
| The Ramses brand condom is named after the great pharaoh Ramses II, who fathered over 160 children. |
| The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "Its A Wonderful Life." |
| A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours. |
| A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. |
| A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. |
| On an American one-dollar bill, there is an owl in the upper left-hand corner of the "1" encased in the "shield" and a spider hidden in the front upper right- hand corner. |
| It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. |
| The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world. |
| Who's that playing the piano on the "Mad About You" theme? Paul Reiser himself. |
| The male gypsy moth can "smell" the virgin female gypsy moth from 1.8 miles away. |
| In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak. |
| The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz." |
| The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. |
| Mr. Rogers is an ordained minister. |
| John Lennon's first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles. |
| The average person falls asleep in seven minutes. |
| There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball. |
| "Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand. |
| To "testify" was based on men in the Roman court swearing to a statement made by swearing on their testicles. |
| The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched." |
| On a Canadian two-dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament Building is an American flag. |
| Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33. |
| All of the clocks in Pulp Fiction are stuck on 4:20. |
| No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple. |
| "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt". |
| All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill. |
| Almonds are members of the peach family. |
| Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance. |
| Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable. |
| There are only four words in the English language that end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous and hazardous. |
| The longest place-name still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu, a New Zealand hill.... |
[Adapted from the Fortune Business Report, on the Web at http://fortune.com/fbr]
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Internet Resource of the Month
The
World Factbook
The CIA World Factbook is a good resources for finding information about countries. For each featured country you can read vital statistics, see a map, and learn about its government, people, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues such as disputes and problems. The site is also a good source of trivia information such as each country's capital, currency, population, area, location, and boundaries.
You can find the CIA World Factbook at this address:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
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Software Pick
GuruNet
GuruNet, now called Atomica, is a powerful on-line information retrieval tool. You can think of GuruNet as an intelligent search engine that works from all your applications. Once installed, all you need to do is press down the Alt key and click on a word, and GuruNet's pop up window will appear with a wealth of information. This will work whether you are using your web browser, email program, WORD document, or any other Windows application.
The
kind of information displayed depend on the word searched. For example, if you
search on a city, you will get weather, maps, and local links. Search on a
company, and you will get news, a stock quote, stock chart, and financial
links. Search on a sports team, and you will get profile, links, and in
some cases scores. For most words, you get dictionary definition, acronyms,
encyclopedia entry, translation, and for some words a medical, legal, or
technology definition.
The searches are case sensitive. For example, search on "Magic", and
you will get information on the Orlando Magic basketball team. However, if
you search on "magic", you will get information on the sorcery kind of
magic. In either case, you can use the "Did you mean" tab to
select an alternative meaning of the word searched.
GuruNet can be a time-saver for research, writing, or trivia. If you are using a Mac or Unix computer, you can still use this tool through a search box on the company's web site. This also provies a good way to take it for a quick test-drive before downloading it.
To check it out, visit this web page:
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Conferences
WESTOP
Conference
February 25-28, 2001
Reno, Nevada
The Western Association of Opportunity Personnel (WESTOP) is an association of members who are interested in promoting access to higher education among economically and educationally disadvantages persons and persons with disabilities. For more info visit:
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NADE National Conference
March 14-18, 2001
Louisville, Kentucky
Each year the National Association for Developmental Education (NADE) offers a national conference that attracts over 1,400 educators from across the U.S. In addition to nationally-known plenary speakers, nearly 200 concurrent sessions provide a comprehensive treatment of developmental education issues.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/7005/index.html
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NTA 9th Annual Conference
April 22-25, 2001
Indianapolis, Indiana
The National Tutoring Association (NTA) conference provides the latest in tutor information, training, and the opportunity to network with other tutors and administrators. This year’s keynote speakers are Dr. Al Gronowsky and Dr. John Chaffee . For more information visit the NTA's web site at:
Windows Tips of the Month
Time for Spring Cleaning!
This is a good time for cleaning up and organizing your computer files. Here are some suggestions.
|
Email: Create a new folder in your "Sent folder", and move to it all the messages you sent in 2000. Do the same thing with your Inbox messages. I sort my Inbox messages in folders by subject or person, which makes it much easier to find a specific message. You can clean up these folders also by creating a "2000" folder in each and moving past messages to it. |
|
Documents: Create a 2000 folder and move past year documents to it. |
|
Empty your email program trash folder and your Windows temp folders. |
|
Backup your system: You can do a full backup or at least backup your email, documents, and other work files. Label the backup disk "2000 Files". |
| Tune up your computer by running scan disk and defragmenting your hard drive. See the Windows tip in the June issue for information on how to do this. |
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On the Lighter Side
Discipline
A school teacher injured his back and had to wear a plaster cast around the upper part of his body. It fit under his shirt and was not noticeable at all.
On the first day of the term, still with the cast under his shirt, he found himself assigned to the toughest students in school. Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, he opened the window as wide as possible and then busied himself with desk work.
When a strong breeze made his tie flap, he took the desk stapler and stapled the tie to his chest.
Discipline was not a problem from that day forth!
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Creative Writing
A creative writing class was asked to write a concise essay incorporating the following elements:
1. Religion 2. Royalty 3. Sex 4. Mystery
The prize-winning essay read:
"My God," said the Princess, "I'm pregnant. I wonder who did it!"
[From the Oraclehumor site.]
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Quotes
"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in
you."
Dale Carnegie
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"No
PESSIMIST ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted
land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."
Helen Keller
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"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance."
Samuel Johnson
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"If
one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same
time, insight into and understanding of many things."
Vincent Van Gogh
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"Things which matter most must never be at the
mercy of things which matter least."
Goethe
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"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have limited time on
earth - that we have no way of knowing when our time is up - that we will begin
to live each day to the fullest, as if it were the only one we had."
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
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"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you are
doing the impossible."
St. Francis of Assisi
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"Education
is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you
don't."
Pete Seeger
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Last Issue
The December issue of the Learning Center Newsletter featured:
| A management tip from Frank Christ on publicizing your center to teaching faculty. |
| A student study skills tip from Lucy MacDonald on study skills web resources. |
| Michael O'Hear, our December Person of the Month. |
| Appointments and attendance tracking software. |
| GRE. |
| Spelling web sites. |
| Blue Mountain. |
| A program for synchronizing your PC clock. |
| A computer tip on changing your screen settings. |
| Interesting bumper stickers. |
| Quotes by Michael Jordan, Harry Truman, Thomas Jefferson, Emerson, and others. |
To view the December issue, click here.
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Submissions
Guidelines
Get involved in the learning-assistance community via The Learning Center Newsletter by:
|
Submitting articles of interest to learning-assistance professionals. |
|
Reviewing books and other learning-assistance resources. |
|
Informing us about conferences and other happenings. |
|
Nominating your favorite learning center professional for the Person of the Month corner. |
|
Sharing resource information with your peers: web sites, publications, etc. |
The average article length is one page written in 12 points size and single line spacing. If the article is long, we might put it in a separate html page and show the first page of it in the newsletter with a link to the full article. Send your articles in ASCII text or MS Word format. We will take care of the html conversion. If you want to include images with the article, the preferred format is jpg or gif, but we will convert images in other formats if needed.
The newsletter is usually released during the first week of each month. For an article to appear in a certain month, it should be received by the 25th of the previous month. So if you would like to submit an article for the next issue, we need to receive it by the 25th of this month. By submitting articles, you give us the right to publish and edit them if needed.
The subject of submitted articles must be of interest to learning-assistance professionals. The editor of this newsletter reserves the right to reject articles at his discretion.
Submitting your article will make you more famous and will help your colleagues worldwide! E-mail your submissions to:
newsletter@attendance-tracking.com
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Feedback
We certainly hope you find this
newsletter useful and entertaining. We
welcome your suggestions and improvements ideas. If you have questions on
a learning-assistance subject, send them to us and we will try to find the
appropriate expert to answer them.
If you enjoy reading this newsletter, let us know. We would like to hear from you, so e-mail us your feedback by clicking here.
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About the Authors
This newsletter is sponsored by AccuTrack and edited by Mon Nasser from Engineerica Systems, Inc. My thanks to this month's contributors: Frank Christ, Lucy MacDonald, Barbara Gaal Lutz, and Terry Riley.
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