English Department Projects at Skyline College

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Projects for Fall 2019:

Project	Activities & Accomplishments
Create a series of AB705 Workshops for English and ESOL faculty:	(1) Chris, Katie and I met on 9/12 to discuss ideas for AB705 focused workshops. (2) Afterward the meeting, Katie sent on workshop ideas from her experience with CAP, and I shared this with our upcoming meeting facilitators: Hi Jarrod, Lucia, Katie and Rob, We are the facilitators for the upcoming English meetings and with all the AB705 work happening as well as accreditation, I wanted to get a jump on our meeting planning so we can optimize our time.  Since Katie and Chris have done so much work on acceleration, I met with them last week to get some ideas.  Below are our English meetings for Fall.  Even though the "Grading & Commenting" workshop isn't designated as AB705 related, anything that helps us become more aligned and stronger teachers is of course related.  I'm attaching here a handout Katie shared with me about Growth Oriented Grading.  Katie also shared these materials: Laziness Does Not Exist, Case Study: Classroom Going Awry, and Attending to the Affective Domain. Since this group is leading the charge on the English meetings, I wanted to get your feedback on the content of the upcoming meetings.  Also, below that is a list of different topics Katie has worked with through CAP.   From Katie: As many of you know, I've been leading professional development through the California Acceleration Project since 2010. Chris and Rachel and I have been talking about what professional development would help faculty be effective in our post-AB 705 classrooms. Below are some activities we've done in CAP to support faculty to teach with high-challenge, high-support pedagogy. I know that the Skyline English dept has been doing a lot of local PD for years, and since I wasn't part of those conversations, I don't want to presume to know what folks might need. Below is a menu of possibilities we might consider, based on things we've done statewide in CAP.  Collaborative Brainstorming re: Issues Coming Up in Our Classrooms What problems are we seeing in English 100 & 105? Are there particular students we are concerned about and not sure how to help? Growth-Oriented Grading Practices AB 705 may mean that we have a more heterogeneous mix of students in our English 100 and 105s than in the past, and that some students' early writing may be more rough than we've come to expect. How can we support their growth to reach the exit outcomes over the semester, even if they arrive further from the goal? This may involve revising our mental models of what "college readiness" looks like. Supporting English Language Learners in English Classes How can faculty teaching English composition support students' continued language development and help English language learners succeed with challenging reading/writing tasks? (Workshop in collaboration with ESL colleagues) Writing Effective Prompts Sometimes when students are turning in papers that we aren't happy with, the problem can be our prompts. Looking at examples of "bad prompts" -- that is, prompts that faculty say did not elicit the quality of papers they wanted -- we can collaboratively generate a list of criteria for effective/ineffective prompts Developing Relevant Thematic Courses Collaborative group activity re: developing composition/ESL courses around a relevant, compelling theme that gives students a way to enter an academic conversation with some experience and expertise to offer of their own (good way to build curricula for future semesters) Processing the Reading When students have a strong understanding of what they've read, they write much stronger papers. What are effective classroom activities faculty can use to make space for students to really process what they've read -- e.g., speed dating, poster sessions, expert groups? Revisiting the Affective Domain Often when students aren't successful, the problem isn't strictly their reading and writing; instead, the emotional side of learning can derail students and lead them to not turn in work, or stop coming to class, or not do rewrites...How can we understand these issues and what can we do as faculty members to keep them from derailing students. (3) After meeting with TLC manager Chelssee and SI leader Gavin, we decided to add in some TLC and SI pieces to the last 2 English meetings of Fall 2019 to explore additional classroom support post AB705.
Plan, co-facilitate and take notes for all English meetings:	The individual meeting notes, outcomes and materials produced are all posted on our Division Canvas site: https://smccd.instructure.com/courses/8220/discussion_topics/19827 FALL 2019 Tuesday August 12th 3:30-4pm in 8319 Meeting Facilitator:  Rachel Bell Meeting Topic/Activity:  Selecting Fall meeting content & facilitators OUTCOMES: (1) FALL MEETINGS: The Fall 2019 Meeting Content and Facilitators were selected: Sept 6th Friday 4-5:30pm in 8319: FACILITATORS: Liza, Kathleen, Michael and Nathan TASK: Literature courses (rotation, what online, student demos, what matriculates, assessment, lit teachers) October 4th Friday 4-5:30pm in 8319:  FACILITATORS: Jarrod and Katie TASK: AB 705 Best Practices  November 1st Friday 4-5:30pm in TBA: FACILITATORS: Lucia & Rob TASK: Grading & Commenting on Student writing First 15 minutes: Chelssee from the TLC talking about English-specific support in TLC ADDED: October 25^th Friday 12:30-5:30pm in the Multi-Cultural Center Language Arts Presentation by Department In a 7-10 minute presentation: a. Where you are and want to go b. Major initiatives, projects, and goals c. Challenges + possible solutions English LA Retreat Presentation December 6th Friday 4-5:30pm in 8319: FACILITATORS: Jarrod and Katie TASK: AB 705 Best Practices First 30 minutes: Making S.I. the most effective for English post AB705
Present update on AB705 projects to Legislative Accreditation team:	(1) Received an email from Cherie Colon on 9/13/19 letting us know who was on the AB705 presentation team for the upcoming Legislative Visit: Dear David, Chelssee, Melissa & Rachel, Please block off your calendar for a Legislative Site Visit on Wednesday, October 16, 2019 from 11am to 12pm. The meeting will be held in Building 12 in one of the new classroom spaces, specific room tbd. We are honored to be hosting and look forward to having your expertise as part of the conversation. We will need you to present at 11:00am for a 60 minute session about what we are doing to respond to AB705. The following is the background information and attached is a draft agenda. Next steps – Theresa Tentes will invite you to a cabinet meeting in the next couple of weeks for a planning session so we can discuss goals, strategy, messaging, etc. Summary Skyline College received a request from Laura Metune, Vice Chancellor of Government Relations from the California Community College State Chancellor’s Office to host a legislative staff site visit. Skyline College is at the top of the list of colleges the team plans to visit due to its progress in the areas of the Promise Scholars Program, Guided Pathways and AB705. Areas of Discussion ·         Promise/ASAP (including innovation award program) ·         Guided Pathways        ·         Strong Workforce Program ·         AB 705 Implementation Participants ·         Approximately 20-25 people ·         2-4 CCCCO Staff ·         2-4 Foundation Success Center Staff ·         15-20 Key Legislative Staff, Legislative Analysts’ Office, Governor’s Office, Department of Finance Background on Format The Chancellor’s Office indicated they make the commitment to legislative staff that these visits are about seeing how our colleges really work; we will show them the “good, bad and ugly” of systems reforms. These visits are about exposing state-level policy makers to what works and what doesn’t work across the colleges. The agenda usually consists of a series of group meetings, which are organized around the discussion topics.  The team would like to hear a short presentation from the college, and then enjoy an open conversation. The team likes to have time to speak with students, and it’s always key to meet with the President and leadership team.  Sincerely, Cherie Colin Director of Community Relations & Marketing Skyline College (650) 738-4346 colinc@smccd.edu (2) Met with those tapped to present on AB705 on 9/18: Chelssee De Barra (TLC), Melissa Matthews (DRC), David Hassan (math) to discuss preparation for upcoming legislative visit. Materials Chelssee, manager of TLC, shared with the team: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RVjqCZEahOoEAAadrRzdnMuKE_TgUOdhwdvK9GphpQQ/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BKbmjPCCu7DTkeAspS5smk4LWZWG3U3_p324Qe6s-Zw/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BKbmjPCCu7DTkeAspS5smk4LWZWG3U3_p324Qe6s-Zw/edit?usp=sharing Materials Melissa from the DRC shared with the team: AB705 Presentation to Cabinet April 2019 (3) The presentation team met with the president and cabinet Weds 9/25 9:30-10:30am to discuss the Oct 16^th site visit. Notes from the meeting. (4) For the Legislative Visit to Skyline, the team presented on October 16, 2019 and I presented the English portion updating how our campus is actively responding to AB705.
Continue working closely with TLC on joint projects:	(1) Chelssee, manager of TLC, and I are meeting on Weds 9/25 1-2pm to discuss projects. Advice from Chris: I would be interested in a few things: Expanding online tutoring Planning for/recruiting embedded tutoring/Supplemental Instructors (2) Here are the notes from the 9/25 meeting. (3) Chelssee and I met again on Mon 10/7/19 and decided to focus on the following English-TLC projects for Fall: Hi Chelssee, Here are my notes from our meeting on Monday and I'm adding Chris just to keep him in the loop.   I added in notes in red for each item to update you on what I've gotten done so far: Chelssee and Rachel will do a quick 10-minute presentation at the top of the next English meeting on November 1^st to highlight the English and ESOL specific services and programs going on at the TLC.  (this is scheduled, I have the advertising you gave me that we will distribute, and I'll let you know once a room is designated) Rachel will ensure that the TLC connection and reminder of services and programs will be on-going and happen in the first English meeting of each semester.  (I have a reminder in my calendar a week before school starts so we are sure to schedule this) Rachel, Chelssee and Gavin Townsley will meet to discuss English and Supplemental Instruction and potential ways to improve student attendance and also brainstorm alternative models that might better fit for English. (I sent this email to Gavin and Chelssee on 10-10: Hi Gavin, Chelssee and I met this week to discuss different ways the TLC and the English Department can collaborate and work together and how I can help as the English Department Coordinator.  During this meeting, we discussed S.I. and she suggested that perhaps the 3 of us could get together and discuss the particular challenges you have been experiencing regarding English and S.I..  Would you be available in the the next week or two to meet for an hour or so?) Rachel will send a reminder to all online English faculty that all online students can receive tutoring in Canvas through Net Tutor by enrolling in LSKL 803 (free zero-unit class). (Chelssee do you have any particular language you would like me to use for this?) Rachel added the TLC designed syllabus statement to the Language Arts syllabus template. (this is done) Rachel and Chelssee will work together to create a meeting in Spring with English faculty and the English tutors. Ideally for the TLC the meeting would be on a Friday 2:30-4pm.   Rachel will send Chelssee the Division email list so the TLC can send us specific and useful updates and reminders of services. (attached here) (4) Chelssee and I met with Gavin, the Supplemental Instruction leader, on 10-21-19. Here are the meeting notes.
Undergo ePortfolio Training and bring back ideas to department:	(1) Carla Grady reached out to me at the beginning of the semester as the English coordinator and asked if I would participate in the ePortfolio training and bring the information and potential for wider spread use in English and I accepted. (2) ePortfolio training will be on October 1^st 1-5pm in 5134 Hello All, Thank you for your continued interest in incorporating ePotfolio into your courses and programs. We have scheduled two training options in an effort to engage as many people as possible.  Please choose one of the workshops: 9/26 or 10/1. (The curriculum will be the same for the two, so just sign up for one date.) We will have a follow-up workshop during the 10/7 Flex Day. In the training, participants will: Learn ePortfolio Pedagogy; Develop the technical tools needed to use ePortfolio with students; Create your own ePortfolio in Portfolium; and Adapt or create an assignment in ePortfolio. For the training, please bring the following: · Laptop; · Resume/CV, personal statement/teaching philosophy/leadership philosophy, any other information that you would want to highlight in your personal portfolio; and · An assignment that you would like to adapt to using with ePortfolio. We hope that you will be able to incorporate ePortfolio into your courses in Spring of 2020. If you have questions in advance, please contact myself or Bridget Fischer (fischer@smccd.edu). Best, Carla (3) I attended the ePortfolio training on 10/1 and on 10/8, sent all the ePortfolio materials to the English Department with this message: Hello English, As many of you know, we now have access to Portfolium and it links up through Canvas, so if you have been interested in using ePortfolios in your class, now you can.  I'm sure more workshops and training are on the way but in the meantime,  I'm attaching here the guidelines from the last ePortfolio training led by Bridget Fischer, and you can request an ePortfolio sandbox in Canvas to get started: ePortfolio Guidelines and Training Rachel
Work with English Department coordinators at sister campuses to have 3-campus meeting on AB705:	(1) At the beginning of the semester, I started working with the English coordinators at our sister campuses to get a 3-department flex meeting planned and organized: Doniella Maher, David Lau and Madeleine Murphy. (2) Email sent on Weds 9/11/19: Cross-Campus English Retreat at CSM (blg 14-room 213) Wed 10/9/2019 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM CSM building 14 in room 213 Hello, I've been working with our sister campuses to create a shared meeting between our 3 campuses.  We have not had one of these joint meetings in many years so this is exciting to reconnect.  I hope you all can make it! Save the Date! Cross- Campus English Retreat on Flex Day, October 9 from 12-4 pm at CSM in Building 14, Room 213. We are excited to announce that we are organizing a cross-campus retreat for the next flex day, October 9th.  Our tentative idea is to allow for a space to discuss pedagogy in the aftermath of the full implementation of AB705 (plus some time to eat lunch and mingle). We would love to hear from you to get an idea of what we might want to focus on at the meeting. What shall we prioritize as a topic? - instructor pedagogy (i.e., effective teaching strategies) - academic support (i.e., how to use learning centers, student tutors, other resources) - institutional support (i.e., ensuring $$$ and time for faculty, engaging adjunct faculty, etc.)  - other concerns you'd like to address (we can talk about our teaching, or about other issues that have emerged) Thanks for all that you do! Doniella (Cañada) Rachel (Skyline) Mick, David, and Madeleine (College of San Mateo) (3) The 3 English Departments meet during Flex on Oct 9^th with 23 attendees (6 from Skyline): The first half of the meeting was discussing the changes and challenges of teaching after the passing of AB705 and the second half was focused on sharing effective teaching strategies post AB705. Here are the meeting notes. (4) I sent the notes and pictures to the English Department on 10-10-19: Hello English, We had an excellent collaborative meeting with English instructors from our sister campuses yesterday at CSM on Flex Day!  Attached are the notes.  The first half of the meeting we spent discussing the changes and challenges of teaching after the passing of AB705, and the second half was focused on sharing effective teaching strategies.   A big thanks to the English coordinators on the other campuses who helped make this happen: Doniella, David and Madeleine!  We hope to gather and collaborate together again in the future!
Connect English and DRC regarding DSKL English-related classes:	(1) Met on 9/18 with Melissa Matthews in the DRC to discuss the courses DSKL 821 & DSKL 824: sentence to the 5-paragraph essay. Update to Dean on 9/23: When I met with those presenting on AB705 last week,  Melissa Matthews asked me to join her in her office afterward to discuss Dskl 821 & 824.  She pulled in the woman who teaches this class and they asked me if English wanted to take advantage of this class and widen the students taking it beyond DRC.  They even said they could revamp the curriculum (i.e. make it text-based) to better map up to English 100/105.  I wanted to make sure I mentioned this to you in case you think there are some good potentials here. Dean response on 9/23: Yes, this has been discussed as a way to provide additional support for students who could use/want additional basic skills support.  This would be a great thing to work on with DRC. (2) At the next English meeting, I will share this information.
Create new English 105 Challenge Prompt:	(1) The ESOL Department asked English to replace the current English 105 challenge prompt. Bell, Rachel K. Thu 10/24/2019 10:36 AM Hello English! The ESOL department has asked for our help in revising the English 105 challenge exam for their ESOL students who wish to move up faster in the ESOL sequence. Attached is the current reading and prompt.  The current reading is (removed to keep test private) which was published in 1971. The ESOL department is meeting with Counseling on 11/13 and they were hoping we could have a replacement reading and prompt by then.   ESOL has asked English for help with the following by 11/13: (1) Review the current Engl 105 challenge reading and prompt (attached here). (2) Replace the older reading from 1971 with one about the same length. (3) Draft a writing prompt to go with the reading. And this is note from ESOL with additional details about the challenge: 105 challenge: ESOL students wishing to challenge into ENGL 105, must speak with the Language Arts dean and explain their reasons. If the dean feels this might be a possibility for the student, then we have a 105 challenge for the student; the challenge consists of an in-person reading and writing sample that can take, at minimum, 50 minutes. With the dean’s recommendation the ESOL student can take ENGL 105.