Day 2 - reflections

After a long pause at the end of Day 1 Pauline volunteered to provide the daily log for Day 2.  She began Day 2 with her recording of the Day 1’s activity mingled with reflections.  The daily log helps us to remember the previous day and to situate our Day 2 efforts.  Pauline’s recounting was comprehensive and insightful.  Once we have had a chance to listen to her account of the day, we take about five minutes to write our own journal of how we experienced it. 

From our own scribblings of Day 1 we moved into the second demo of the summer institute.  James, a post-primary teacher chose the topic of form which we explored through various pieces of texts whose form he had manipulated or deconstructed.  We began with one piece of text where we are asked to engage in a guessing game around its genre.  Was it a memoir?  Was it micro fiction?  An anecdote?  It was projected on the wall, just a string of words, its form only defined by where the page ended.  We considered the piece assisted (and equally challenged) by questions posed by James.  Low-key, quiet, questions which leave your head spinning.  James revealed the text to be a poem by Rita Ann Higgins It wasn’t the father’s fault and when presented as the writer intended it seemed that everything had changed. Nothing seemed to have impacted so much on the tone and meaning of the text as the insertion of sentence breaks; their inclusion bringing something ominous to the text - a rattling sense of the sinister.  Where some of us had considered the unbroken text trivial in tone, maybe even mildly amusing, with the insertion of sentence breaks and the dividing of the text into stanzas the effect was immediate and malicious.  The impact/influence of form is stark, masterfully revealed in a most understated manner.  James continued to help us to explore form moving from free text to poetry, from prose to poetry, allowing us to pilfer lines and to rework them, to swipe phrases or single words.  He moved from the west of Ireland writing to works from the United States with a poem by William Carlos Williams To a Poor Old Woman and an extract from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Of the former, the rhythm of the piece caught our attention; the repetition of the line ‘They taste good to her’ and the way the poet breaks it, creating a sound where you want to move to the cadence (I managed to stay seated – just).  With the latter, we shared our concocted efforts succumbing to the temptation to tamper with evocative sentences such as ‘Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum’.  We could have been in the Deep South.

Transported from there, after the break, we considered writing/writers’ groups and how these work, or don’t.  We were reminded of John McKenna’s advice to SWIFT 2014 to, in essence, run, very far away, from writers’ groups about a year or two in; that there would be no point beyond that.  But colleagues in the room had had different experiences and some of those had involved groups that had been meeting successful over years.  It was remarked that it’s usually women in these groups (in the interest of time/space, no comment).  We agreed that we would brainstorm around how groups might operate and that we would then review the guidelines agreed by SWIFT 2015 to see how we might wish to repurpose them for our intentions.  I will post the consensus here tomorrow.

Following lunch, we returned to our childhood as Annette presented Demo 3.  Annette is a primary school teacher and most recently taught 3^rd class (9 year olds mainly).  She told us about how she used writing notebooks in her class and what they mean to the children.  The notebooks are used for first drafts, for free-writing and for capturing ideas.  Sometimes, Annette asks her students to just write spontaneously on topics that bubble up during the day, for example, an interesting visitor.  In terms of what we can learn from across the education levels, I am always struck by how we might capture the enthusiasm with which primary school students write; in Annette’s class they all want to write.  They just do!  Annette explained how she uses word chunks with her classes and gave us a handout of these.  From this page, she identified three chunks that we were to work with and from which we could develop a short piece of text.  To finish her demo, she shared finished booklets from her 3^rd class writers with us.  These were beautiful handwritten publications, illustrated by the children and containing such wild, generous texts as:

I love ice-cream, it’s better than mice.

I don’t know about you

but I’ll save it for tonight. 

Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and banana. 

I’ll save it for my friend Santana. 

William Carlos Williams eat your heart out J

The day finished with a session from our Maynooth University colleagues Aine Neeson (University Writing Centre and Department of Applied Social Studies) and Carmel Lillis (Education Department and Professional Development Service for Teachers).  Aine and Carmel talked about professional conversations (a phrase I have learned from Carmel and which I employ regularly now) and deliberately presented to the group what they describe as a ‘dialogic space’ between them.  They consider reflective writing, reflective practice, its purpose; they talk about what reflective practice looks like and the use of ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘my’.  Their starting point was an improvised conversation between them on reflective practice and its meaning and place in their own lives and work. Among other things, Aine spoke of knowledge generation and meaning that can be gained from critical reflection, and Carmel spoke about possible value to the school community. After a few minutes, they opened the conversation to a group discussion which went off in many directions - from mindfulness and self care in professional reflection, to an imagined world where reflection would be a normal element of professional teaching practice. There was some reflective writing, of course, and a further discussion around the ethics of revealing our reflections publically, and in doing so, how we represent both ourselves and others. Food for thought then.     

Deirdre closed the day with Day 3 on the horizon … bring it on.

Day 1 - reflections

The first peer review of the day was provided unprompted by Jane in response to the haphazard and crooked sign I had created to point to where SWIFT 2016 was taking place: 'It looks like a ransom note!' she declared, her uncompromising New Yorker accent adding to the candid declaration.  A good friend from the sector, (and I have heard her described as a 'legend' among librarians), I accepted the comment in the manner in which it was intended and responded with my first burst of laughter of the day.  

SWIFT 2016 is the third summer writing institute that we have hosted in Maynooth University.  With the unwavering support of the University, we invite in or around 20 participants, teachers from primary, post-primary, further and higher education to work together for a week in order to spend time developing as writers and to learn about how we can support our students as writers.  If you are fortunate to love to what you do, and I am, choosing the best part of your job is impossible; like selecting between offspring.  Generally, when put wriggling to the pin of my collar, I cave and say 'you are all my favourites'. As is the case with SWIFT; it is one of my favourite times on campus and a genuine privilege to be involved.

Yesterday, Day 1, we spent some time meeting up and writing.  By coffee we had spoken with numbers, written a story that began 'A long time ago' and finished with a zebra, considered what it is we think we know about writing (and a lot of what we are unsure of - always interesting), and spent some time writing about the foods we remember from when we were young.  Some of this writing is private, some semi-private where you can share if you want.  Many participants were happy to read fragile, unformed, early work; the sort of work that you sometimes stumble over but that has an integrity in it that when successfully shared does something that might be plotted at some point along a continuum of transformation; it's just a little bit transformative, but then that might be enough to start out with ...

The day continued with Joan who shall forever be known as the Superhero of Day 1 where she did the first demo of the week.  A demo at SWIFT is a class that we teach to each other; it is not a finished piece as such, more like a work in progress.  Joan did the smart thing and began by showing us a movie clip (in my experience groups rarely complain if you begin by creating a cinematic atmosphere).  We sat back and looked at the opening scenes of Little Miss Sunshine and were charged with watching carefully and being ready to write about what we saw around 1 or 2 of the characters.  Joan wanted us to show, not tell.  Colleagues volunteered their writing, some choosing to scribble descriptive pieces, others turning the assignment on its head and getting into the mind of minor characters.  Joan continued the class with reference to Raymond Carver and a short story called Careful. She peppered her class with references to writers and her own experience of working with groups.  Her contribution truly set the tone for the demos and modeled the good practices that we aim for during the week.

After lunch, two Fellows from SWIFT 2014 returned to work with us.  Donna is a teacher of some of the luckiest girls in Dublin; she is a phenomenal teacher.  Donna spoke with great authenticity about what being at SWIFT had meant to her; how she had 'signed' up for it in order to learn how to help her students to become more 'effective' writers and then realised that the goals of the week were so much more expansive than that and that in our 'reckless optimism' (and what was rebranded as ‘reckless wobble’ yesterday), we actually want our students to adore writing and to turn to it with a sort of fizzing anticipation and an excitement about what could actually happen if you took the time to put words on a page; as Margaret, also SWIFT 2014 Fellow, asked later that afternoon, 'What if writing changes lives?'  Heady stuff. 

Donna told us about how she worked with her student to create screenplays.  Besides the experience of these efforts for her students, their produced play achieved some notoriety in the national press.  In addition, Donna bid for and achieved funding to make this happen.  I am confident that Donna provided her students with an experience that they will never forget (and this may rank it under the general heading of 'writing changes lives' perhaps?  Not too big a leap). 

Margaret finished the day in a circle which physically brought us back together after the directions we had gone wandering.  She talked about her work, which can only fairly be described as part of the revolution, which goes beyond her passion to a way of being.  She shared with us the steps she had taken and typically underplayed her achievements in providing spaces and opportunities for people to write.  Her vision for the work is profound and reaches to the heart of what drives many of us in education; to help others, and ourselves in the process, to make meaning, to find meaning and to learn to be more human. It is a spectacularly ambitious goal which is achieved incrementally and with more faith than certainty.  Margaret told us about Storyhouse www.thestoryhouseireland.org and her work with this project.  She also led us through two writing exercises.  The first reinforced that all writing is fiction, that there is a writer who is narrator, that in that role we draw on our experience but it isn't quite our experience, it's an interpretation, a recounting at best.  We were asked to talk about the history of our name but to include one lie.  When volunteers read their pieces their mendacious intentions went largely undetected.  Following this we wrote about pieces of treasure that we discovered in the now lesser-known film containers.  There were pieces of crepe paper, a block of Lego, a ribbon, a spool of red thread.  From everyday objects tentative texts were crafted.

The day finished with an agreement that we would come back tomorrow and see what happens next …

Summer Writing Institute For Teachers - SWIFT 2016

SWIFT 2016 starts on campus on 4th July and runs until July 8th.  We are really looking forward to welcoming and working with this year's participants.

Follow us during the week here.

Alison

Writing Centre reopens this week

The University Writing Centre will reopen on Tuesday 9th February.

If you would like to make an appointment to work one-to-one with a tutor please email us on writingcentre@nuim.ie

Announcing Summer Writing Institutes For Teachers - SWIFT 2016

We are delighted to announce two summer writing institutes for July 2016.  The offerings this year  will build on previous institutes (in 2014 and 2015)  which were originally designed in consultation with a range of teaching and learning networks, including Maynooth University Early Childhood, the Further Education Support Service, the Reading Association of Ireland and the Irish Network for the Enhancement of Writing.  The institutes draw from the US National Writing Project model and are designed to provide an opportunity for teachers, from all education levels, to meet, share good practice, and learn more about writing and the teaching of writing.

At the institutes you will look closely at your own writing and student writing, explore issues and ideas in the teaching of writing, work toward becoming teacher leaders and share classroom practices or activities.  

Dates for these events are as follows:

Maynooth University SWIFT - daily from 10.00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. from Monday 4th July until Friday 8^th July inclusive.  

Letterkenny Institute of Technology SWIFT -  daily from 10.00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. from Monday 25th to Friday 29th July inclusive.  

Both institutes are free to all participants but places will be strictly limited and allocated across the education levels.

If you are interested in attending either of these events please contact us for an application form.  The completed form should be submitted to us before Monday 16^th May 2016.  All applications must be made by email to writingcentre@nuim.ie. All shortlisted applicants will be contacted by Friday 20th May 2016. 

All queries about the project should be directed to the writingcentre@nuim.ie

Two new practice guides

Follow this link to access two new practice guides, one on writing centres and the other on writing in the disciplines.

https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/centre-teaching-and-learning/news/three-new-practice-guides

Alison

Referencing Style Guide

Last academic year the Maynooth University Writing Centre worked with colleagues from several departments on campus to create the second edition of the Maynooth University Guide to Harvard Referencing.  Colleagues Fionnuala Ní Mhórdha and Adrienne Hobbs authored this Guide.  

The guide is available here

https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/sites/default/files/assets/document/The%20Ref%20Point%202nd%20ed%20final_0.pdf

Setting up a Writing Centre

Over past year, with the help of colleagues across the sector, we have put together a guide to How to Set up a Writing Centre.  The link is here

https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/sites/default/files/assets/document/Writing%20Centre%20Set%20Up%20final_0.pdf

We would be very interested in feedback from any colleagues who access and use the guide.

Writing Centre reopens on 5th October

The Writing Centre will reopen on the week beginning the 5th October.  We are really looking forward to working with you this year as part of your efforts to become a better writer.

Our resources are available here, in Moodle

https://2016.moodle.maynoothuniversity.ie/course/view.php?id=5945

You will also find our timetable there.

Don't be a stranger!  Email us and arrange to meet with a tutor on writingcentre@nuim.ie

Reflections on Day 5 - last day of SWIFT

Friday 24th was the last day of Maynooth University SWIFT 2015.  It's an odd feeling getting to the end of the week.  There is certainly some relief around getting to this point relatively unscathed but there is some sadness that the magic is ending, at least for the moment.  Because this is our second summer institute I know that the Day 5 also marks the beginning of this group continuing to connect and collaborate.  I am confident that it also marks the next stage in the development of this idea (movement?) in Ireland.  We can say that we have now completed our second summer institute.  We can say that there is every likelihood that we will run a summer institute again next year - 2016.  We can be relatively sure that we will expand the work to a second site on the island of Ireland, maybe even a third.  So, on the last day it's a blend of endings and beginnings.

On this last day we had two demos - one from Sarah and one from Claire.  My life spilled over into the day and I had to miss the best part of Sarah's demo and all of Claire's so I cannot comment on them.  All I can say is that I heard they were wonderful and model examples of what we are hoping for from demos.  I urge my co-director Deirdre to reply to this blog post to fill in the gaps.

Following the demos we had author's chair which was wonderful.  Last year I was anxious about how author's chair would work - I think that was more about how I would feel sitting up there reading my work than about how it would work conceptually!  This year, as last year, it was a great success.  The diversity of the work, the honesty, the variety of voice and the range of emotions was breathtaking.  We had such a talented group of writers in the room that I am sorry we didn't hear more of their writing during the week (note to self to try to factor more of this in next year!)

Following author's chair we had two contributions from past fellows, Eileen and Clair.  Eileen explored, in the limited time available, memoir and challenged us to consider the difference between memoir and autobiography.  We wrote to two prompts: 'I remember when ...' and 'I don't remember when ... ' We were urged not to stop in an attempt to silence the internal editor.  After the exercise we chatted about how it was and what we wrote.  Clair ended the day by inspiring us to consider getting published and showing us the nitty gritty of what might be involved.  It was very useful to see the different stages and players that make up the publishing world.  Hopefully we weren't  put off!

The day finished pretty much on time.  Deirdre and I thanked the group.  It has been a pleasure and a privilege working with everyone all week.  I have learned and laughed so much.  I look forward to the next steps on the journey ...

Reflections on Day 4

Day 4 began with a journal entry provided by Emmet which captured the events of the previous day and served to prompt us all to write.  This urging was continued in the only demo of the day which was from Ellen.  Ellen works in FE and she sketched her journey to becoming a teacher in that sector noting along the way the startling fact that when she returned to learning in Maynooth University a good few years ago there were only 12 mature students enrolled - what a trailblazer!  Ellen provided us with a great overview of her work and emphasised how she wants her students to engage with English and to enjoy it.  She also wants them to succeed.  As part of the demo we all wrote a piece inspired by a number of objects that Ellen had brought.  We weren't restricted by genre so there was a a range of reactions.  We all spoke about what we had chosen and how it had influenced what we wrote.

The second half of the day was devoted to writers' group and to a contribution from two returning fellows Mary and Claire. Mary and Claire spoke about how they teach poetry and how they combine written texts with performance.  Mary has several examples of student work which helped us to see the results of her and her students efforts.  It was great to be reminded by Mary about how much she likes teenagers (I recalled her saying that at her demo last year but had forgotten).

Tomorrow is the last day of SWIFT 2015 :-)(

Reflections on Day 3

On Day 3, for a change of scene, we headed to the Library (many thanks to our Library colleagues for welcoming us and looking after us so well).  The day began with a contribution from Matthew Martin who works in St Mary's Belfast.  Matthew pitched a research idea that St Mary's, SWIFT and the Writing Centre in Maynooth University are curious about.  The idea is at scoping phase at the moment and the hour we spent with Matthew was designed to give us some space to consider our research question and to begin to craft it more concisely.  There was really useful feedback even in this short time and additional responses were captured on paper for Matthew to take away.

The day continued with two demos both from teachers who work in Educate Together schools.  The theme of English as an Additional Language (EAL) ran through both of these demos.  The demos in and of themselves were very engaging but equally interesting for me was the concern around English as a second or other language and what this means in the classroom.  In all of last year's demos, as a topic, this issue did not feature that significantly; this year however, there is a great deal of interest and this seems like a clear reflection of the changing nature of Irish society as reflected in our schools.  Both demos (from Rozz and from Orlagh) reinforced the use of technology and provided us with a range of ideas into and in support of writing.  The theme of fairy tales also featured in both demos; in one demo we created our own fairy tale like story and in the other we revisited a fairy tale and turned it on its head.

At lunchtime we sat with our writers' group and informally chatted about the scheduled meeting the next day.

We finished the day, as we have every other day this week, with a contribution from colleagues from SWIFT 2014, today Jo and Chris.  Chris and Jo spoke of scientific writing and writing observations.  This sort of writing has not been explored to any great extent this week so it was good to look at a different register and different form.

For Day 4 we will be back in the Phoenix Building.

SWIFT 2015 - Writers' Group Guidelines

Guidelines for Writers’ Groups  - SWIFT 2015

·      The group should be a safe space underpinned with respect

·      Gatherings should be structured and the time available shared fairly across all contributions

·      Everyone contributes and should arrive prepared for the group

·      The groups should be no more than 5 or 6 participants

·      Ideally there should be some diversity in the group

·      Everyone listens attentively

·      Author identifies where the work is in terms of stage of writing

·      ‘Fresh’ work is treated as delicate and only specific positive feedback is allowed

·      Author could identify if they want specific feedback on a certain aspect of the work

·      Feedback provided most frequently as suggestions or questions about the work e.g. ‘I’m wondering about …’

·      Feedback provided as reader response

·      Acknowledge that the author might have some questions about the work that could be addressed

·      No apologies from writer

·      Two stars and a wish

·      Those responding to writing should consider their comments in terms of ‘would I want to hear that feedback’

·      Critiquing technical aspects of the writing may be appropriate at certain stages of the work

·      Writer should accept feedback graciously and may only need to say ‘Thank you’ to certain comments (as opposed to engaging with them)

·      The group is not a place to come for therapy

·      At times, members of the group might read each other’s work aloud to the group

·      Written feedback might be provided by the group on occasion.