THE CELEBRATION OF STUDENT WRITING (CSW)   

What is it?

Modeled after the celebration by the same name held at Eastern Michigan University (see http://www.emich.edu/english/fycomp/celebration/), our own "Celebration of Student Writing" at Texas A&M-Commerce serves as the culminating activity for many sections of English 102 and even a few sections of English 100 and 101. English 102 students involved will bring their ready-for-presentation Research Portfolios and perhaps outlines of their Final Ethnographic Projects to serve as communication points through which they'll share their hard work with faculty, students, and administrators throughout the university and surrounding community.

Unlike the original CSW at EMU, however, you may not be expected to develop an extensive visual representation of your research project: the ready-for-presentation Research Portfolio and an outline of your Final Ethnographic Project may suffice. However, many instructors will require/encourage their students to develop posters or other visuals that promise to make the CSW that much more interactive. If you have any questions about what is expected of you, ask your instructor.

For information about previous events, visit http://faculty.tamuc.edu/scarter/archive/csw.htm

What's it for?

This is your chance to show off all you have learned throughout the course of the term. You are the developing expert in the research site you investigated, so it only makes sense that you should have the chance to share your work with audiences that extend beyond your classmates and instructor.

How will it happen?

A week or so before the event, your instructor will ask you to fill out this form (see below) indicating your name, project title, and a brief project summary. This form will then be submitted to Christy Foreman (Christy_Foreman@tamuc.edu), Interim Director of First-Year Composition. At that time, you should have completed and deeply revised your Final Ethnographic Project and carefully revised your Research Portfolio so it offers visitors an excellent understanding of the steps you took to collect, analyze, and otherwise make sense of your evidence via the Final Ethnographic Project. Your instructor may also require that you develop one or more of the following artifacts: (1) a poster offering a visual representation of your research process and findings (perhaps excerpts from your fieldnotes, interviews, or other items collected and analyzed); (2) a one-page handout that outlines your project and the findings.

The day of your presentation, you should arrive at the Student Center about 30 minutes early in order to locate your table and get ready to discuss your project with others. You should probably group up with 2 or 3 others working from tables near you so that you can rotate duties and perhaps even spend a little time visiting with other writers and learning from them what the learned and did for their own Ethnographic Projects. Bring your Final (deeply revised) Ethnographic Project, your ready-to-present Research Portfolio, and your outline/poster (if required/desired).

As soon as the Celebration begins, visitors will begin circulating among tables, asking writers questions, and viewing your posters/Research Portfolios/outlines.

Who will attend?

Many English 100 and 101 students will be visiting to interview one or more of you researchers in order to learn more about your experiences and your writing/research process so they'll be in a better position to do these same kinds of projects when they find themselves in English 102. These English 100/101 students will likely ask you questions like the following: (1) What did you research? (2) What led you to that topic? (3) What'd you learn from your experience? (4) What advice do you have for me as I write my own ethnographic project? Faculty and administrators may have questions about your experiences and your project, as well.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Before Monday, May 4th, please complete the following form and submit it to your instructor, who will then forward it to Shannon Carter (Shannon_Carter@tamuc.edu ) so she can include your name and project title in the materials announcing this event.

Name of researcher: _________________________________________________________

Name of instructor: __________________________________________________________

Title of Project: _____________________________________________________________________

Brief description of project (in no more than 15-20 words):

Location: MSC, American Ballroom

Time: Thursday, December 6, 2007, from 2pm-3pm