Making Writing Work in Your Course:
Practical Strategies to Promote Student Learning
A faculty development workshop, June 7-9, 2011
The Brooklyn College Writing Across the Curriculum Program (WAC) invites you to participate
in our three-day summer workshop, which offers a comprehensive overview of the principles and
practices most useful for teaching with writing in any discipline. It’s open to anyone who teaches
undergraduate courses at Brooklyn College, in any field, full-time or part-time. This workshop is
a great chance to share and explore practical pedagogical techniques with your colleagues.
On the first day of the workshop, led by members of the WAC team, you will learn what goes
into an effective writing assignment and how to assess the results; you will also work on an
assignment of your own that you can use in your classes. The second day will show you how to
use online writing tools such as blogs and discussion boards to engage your students with lowmaintenance, informal writing assignments. And on the third day, you will focus on how to
incorporate writing into your syllabus through staged assignments, as well as what to do about
teaching grammar and disciplinary writing conventions.
Our goal is to improve your students’ writing as well as their comprehension of course content.
Each participant will receive a copy of John Bean’s Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to
Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom, an indispensable
and practical resource. This workshop is presented as part of WAC’s mission to make writing
central to the learning experience of every Brooklyn College student.
SCHEDULE AND LOCATION:
JUNE 7, 8, AND 9 (TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND THURSDAY)
10:00 am – 4:00 pm, with a lunch break and a coffee break (we provide the food).
The State Lounge of the Student Center (on Campus Road at E 27th).
ELIGIBILITY AND PAYMENT:
All full-time and part-time instructors in any discipline are welcome. We especially encourage
teachers of writing-intensive courses and lower-tier Core courses to sign up. If you have
participated in a WAC workshop in the last year you will be wait-listed. Each participant will be
compensated for 15 hours at the non-teaching adjunct rate (60% of hourly teaching rate).
TO APPLY:
Please email Ellen Belton and Corey Frost, WAC Co-coordinators (wac@brooklyn.cuny.edu),
with the following information: your name, department, job title, and the courses you teach most
often. You can also send us a note through campus mail (WAC, Boylan 2420). You must
respond by May 30, but sign up early to secure a space. Please spread the word to your
colleagues.