Re: blah center

["Maura J. Taaffe" <mtaaffe@mtu.edu>]

In the writing center at Wright State they worked on de-blahing the walls
in a couple of interesting ways.  One was by opening the project up to
tutors, who voted on doing a mural with fish, underwater plants, etc.
painted on one wall; because the director insisted on a link to writing,
a mermaid and merman (?) appeared along one side, one holding a piece of
paper and the other a long plume.  Actually, it turned out to be a great
conversation starter and since paints and brushes were left in an
available place, tutors whose clients did show up would grab a brush and
add more to the painting--took a long time to finish.

The other idea was that the director bought fancy, handmade paper of all
different colors and went to several international student gatherings and
official meetings to ask for their help.  She opened the center for one
week in the evenings, provided pizza and supplies so that groups of
students from other countries each made posters in their own languages
that had writing (a few added sketches to hint at what country the writing
came from) that meant something to them.  They had lullabies from
Thailand, literature quotes from Russia, recepies from Norway, etc.  The
idea was to add a multicultural dimension and to help international
students feel more at home.  They were very pretty, too--some done with
gold pens, etc.  WHen students coming into the center saw posters from
their country with meaningful messages IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE, they would
just light up!  (below each one a very small white card had the
international students' reasons for choosing to write what they wrote,
rather than a word-for-wrd translation.)  It also introduces US students
to seeing what CHinese or Hebrew or Russian looked like.

Maura J. Taaffe
Department of Humanities
Walker Arts and Sciences
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, MI 49931
(906)487-3274 - office

mtaaffe@mtu.edu

On Mon, 12 Oct 1998 MCCANNJ@BAYDENOC.CC.MI.US wrote:

> 
> On a lighter note, I'm wondering if anyone has any decorating ideas for 
> writing centers? This is my first year in our center, and I'm trying to 
> liven it up a bit. After the last director took down her kitty posters, 
> the walls are now a sterile white. I've looked in several catalogs, but 
> most of the posters are too kiddish. I'm torn between trying to create an 
> academic, inspirational atmostphere (utilizing those motivational posters 
> that I'm actually not too fond of) or a fun, upbeat center with lots of 
> color and an eclectic mix of posters. I know this may seem like sort of a 
> lame concern to many, but, to me, it's all part of creating a comfortable 
> atmosphere. Anybody have any ideas? What sort of stuff is hanging on your 
> walls? Thanks.
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Jennifer McCann				Bay de Noc Community College
> Writing Specialist/TRIO			2001 N. Lincoln Road
> mccannj@baydenoc.cc.mi.us		Escanaba, Mich. 49829
> 					(906)786-5802, Ext. 1277		
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>