Re: FW: high school writing centers -Reply (fwd)

[Sara Kimball <skimball@uts.cc.utexas.edu>]

Christy, hi.  I guess if I respond to the main WCenter list you'll get my
response or Eric will forward it to you (*hint* *grin*).  Our high school
contacts come from a couple of sources.  The school in Roma and McAllen
Texas that we've worked with online have special relationships with our
College of Liberal Arts as does the local Austin high school with which my
writing center intern class did the paper exchange.  The teacher of the
Canadian students we've had email exchanges sought us out in the spring of
1995 after we'd set up a Web page and email address.  One thing about
online writing centers is that you're open to the world, which provides
both interesting opportunities and areas for caution.

As for teacher oversight, I can't say that's been a huge issue.  I glanced
through some of the papers and print notes in the local exchange, but I
didn't really have time for any thorough review, and I don't think it was
necessary.  The interns particpating were a great group--thoughtful and
smart, and both the students and teachers seemed pleased with the results.
I think things worked without my having to review everything in great
detail just as they work in the real writing center without my having to
sit in on each consultation the interns do. Since the project was new I
asked the interns to write short essays
reflecting on the experience and giving suggestions for future exchanges.
I'm presently reading the interns' portfolios, including these essays,
and once I'm through I'm going to contact the teachers with my own
relfection and suggestions.  I'm also going to try to hit up my dean's
office for a little cash to bring the students to UT and give them lunch
or something, an idea we talked about at the beginning of the exchange,
but didn't have time to do.

The email messages to and from students all get forwarded to me, and I've
archived them and read through some, but again, i've had little time to
study them in detail.  Since the Roma class has only one Internet account,
the teacher's, everything gets channeled through that account and he gets
a sense of things from that end. He's also doing individual conferences
with the students and they work with the email messages. Again, I've got a
good staff, and I don't
think there have been huge problems. Again, the teacher and student seem
pleased. One of the consultants did offer a
student various supportive remarks (along with suggestions for changes)
but the student got a "C" on the final result, apparently having
misinterpreted support for "don't change things."  But that sort of thing
can happen f2f.  

I haven't coordinated or participated in the Canadian exchanges, though
again, I have read some of the messages.  The teacher is very enthusiastic
about these exchanges, and apparently he's very active in Canadian
distance education scholarship, so we're famous all over Canada (or some
part thereof).


Sara


> >---------- Forwarded message ----------
> >Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 17:52:21 -0500
> >From: Sara Kimball <skimball@uts.cc.utexas.edu>
> >
> >All of these projects have been fun and intellectually interesting.  One
> >thig we've learned is that high school students really enjoy getting
> >detailed, thoughtful responses in the form of letters, electronic or
> >otherwise.
> >
> >Sara Kimball
> >UT Austin
> 
> 
> Sara, I was interested in your comment about your work with ninth graders and
> was wondering how one developed an on list in the high schools.  Is the
> original
> work done on-line or is it a hands on development option.  Also, is there a
> "lurking" capablibility that teachers can use to be sure their correspondence
> does not get out of hand.  When the topic of censorship on the web arises, I'm
> sure those responsible for what goes out have a means to know what actually
> goes out before it reaches it's final destination.  With certain age groups
> the
> temptation to pust the boundaries is real.
>                             Christy Lee
> 
> 
> 
> 
>