Academic Skills

Apply For A Writing Mentor — Apps due 9/16

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If you’re seeking to improve your writing this semester, you should sign up for a Writing Mentor! Your mentor will work with you one-on-one throughout the semester on anything and everything you’re writing, from term papers to cover letters to short stories.

Students of all academic disciplines and levels of expertise are encouraged to apply. All services are free.

You can read more about the program and access the online application here. Please note that this is an incredibly popular program that consistently has a wait list. If you’re interested, get your application in quickly!

Applications are due Sunday, September 16th by 11:59 p.m.

Questions or concerns? Please contact Emma Mohney, Ford Fellow in the Writing Programs, at (860) 685-2440 or writingworks@wesleyan.edu .

Apply to be a Writing Tutor! Apps due 4/23

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 Improve your writing, help other students with theirs, and impress the whole world with your skills.

The Writing Workshop is currently hiring tutors and mentors for the 2012-2013 academic year!

As a writing tutor, you will receive one course credit in English and a $400 stipend for one semester’s work. All tutors are trained in ENGL 491, the Ford Teaching Seminar, which meets weekly on Tuesdays from 12-1pm. Students from all majors are encouraged to apply.

The pre-application, which consists of a brief online questionnaire, is due Monday, April 23 at 5 pm.

The full application is due Monday, April 30 at 5 pm and is to be delivered to Professor Greene’s office in hard copy (Downey House Room 207).

To learn more or apply, please visit:  http://www.wesleyan.edu/writing/workshop/becometutor.html

 

Questions?   Contact Professor Anne Greene at x3604 and agreene@wesleyan.edu, or Ford Fellows Anya Backlund and Katherine Mechling at x2440 and writingworks@wesleyan.edu.

Peers Advisors for NSO ’12 Needed! App deadline 4/5/12

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The Deans’ Office is looking for talented and motivated students to become SARN Peer Advisors for New Student Orientation (NSO), 2012. NSO Peer Advisors are juniors, seniors and exceptional sophomores, who work throughout orientation to support Wesleyan’s faculty advising program, and enhance student access to academic resources through the Student Academic Resource Network (SARN).  A job description and application are found on-line at http://peeradvisor.blogs.wesleyan.edu.

Applications, which require a faculty reference form, are due Thursday, April 5, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. Questions should be directed to the Associate Dean for Student Academic Resources, Sarah E. Lazare (x2332, slazare@wesleyan.edu).

The Writing Workshop — Drop-in & Appointment Hours

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Four eyes are better than two. Visit a tutor at Wesleyan’s Writing Workshop!

At the Writing Workshop, students can meet privately with a trained tutor who will help with any stage of the writing process. Come in to discuss ideas for an upcoming assignment, to structure your essay, or to edit a completed draft.

Our tutors are experienced fellow students who are here to serve as non-judgmental readers and helpful critics. They will listen, ask questions, and offer advice about your writing.

Whether you’re working on an essay, a research proposal, an honors thesis, a creative piece, or an internship application, the Writing Workshop can help! All services are free.

Drop-in Hours:

Sunday-Thursday, 7-11 PM                        Olin 106 (First Floor)

Appointment Hours:

Monday-Wednesday, 1-4 PM                     Shapiro 306 (Third Floor of Allbritton)

 

Sunday-Thursday, 7-11 PM                        Shapiro 306 (Third Floor of Allbritton)

                                                                         Science Library 77 (Basement) 

To make an appointment, click on “Writing Workshop” in the Academic Resources section of your E-Portfolio. 

For more information, visit: http://www.wesleyan.edu/writing/workshop/hours.html

We look forward to working with you!

Anya Backlund and Katherine Mechling, Ford Fellows in the Writing Programs, 103 and 104 Downey House, (860) 685-2440, writingworks@wesleyan.edu

Anne Greene, Director of Writing Programs, 207 Downey House, (860) 685-3604, agreene@wesleyan.edu

Desperate Times

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By Peer Advisor, Jelisa Adair from http://peeradvisor.blogs.wesleyan.edu/

I think I can speak for quite a few people when I say this has been a hard semester. I myself can say quite honestly that after the October Break/Blackout fiasco, I lost a whole lot of my drive. However this is not the time to let the malaise of the semester get to you. It’s time to go hardcore and finish this semester out right. And I am here to help.

1. Facebook
Facebook is the devil. It is. If you are like me, you have found yourself intending to just check your notifications, only to realize that three hours have past and you have spent them all staring at pictures of your friends doing incredibly stupid things. Three hours that could have/should have/ostensibly would have been spent on more worthwhile things like that five page paper that’s due tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. And so it’s time to get nasty with your Facebook and show it who’s boss.

Tip #1: Actually use your time blocking software
Remember my posts about StayFocusd and LeechBlocker (which, due to craziness was just posted on Sunday) ? Maybe it’s time to revisit them. Limit your time to between 10-20 minutes.

Tip #2: Change your password
Remember, the title of this post is desperate measures. I will admit something, while I used StayFocusd on my Google Chrome browser, I had no time blocker on my other internet browser, Safari. So sometimes, when time ran out on Chrome, I just used Safari and kept blissfully wasting time away. But then I took a desperate measure. I closed my eyes and typed gibberish into a word document and then copy and pasted it to change my Facebook password. I then logged into my Facebook only on Chrome and then deleted the word document keeping my nonsensical password. Just like that, I couldn’t access my Facebook on any laptop other than my own on any browser but the one monitored by StayFocusd. I requested a new password just before break, but plan to use this tip again in the very near future.

Another option: Have a good friend change your password. My two housemates do this every finals week and even go so far as changing the email associated with the account so that the other cannot change their passwords back. Hardcore? Yes. Effective? You know it.

2. Unplug
There comes that time when you need to distance yourself from the distraction that is your cell phone. Whether this means not taking it to the library with you at all, turning it off, or even just putting it on silent (not vibrate, silent), any way to minimize the distractions of other people putting off their work can be incredibly helpful. I know it’s hard. Our generation is not used to being cut off from people for long periods of time. But you know that feeling of superiority you get by making people wait a long time for your texts? Harness that and remember that if people really want to get a hold of you, they will find a way. Or they will just wait.

3. Gmail chat
You are just signed into your email waiting for an email from a professor or just to answer a few emails quickly. And then someone im’s you. Fast forward to an hour later with you half-heartedly doing work while being annoyed by those little beeps that signal an im.
STOP. Go invisible. Not ‘Do not disturb’ because no one listens to those anyways. INVISIBLE.

4. Netflix
As a tour guide, I like to tell all the visitors on my tour to never get instant Netflix. Because as awesome as it is to wake up from a daze in which you have watched an entire season of Glee or Law and Order: SVU, it is actually a horrible feeling of regret and sorrow. Time block it for 45 minutes, enough time to watch one episode or two of a sit-com. Change your password. Suspend your account. ANYTHING. Just don’t let yourself get sucked in.

5. The Internet
Sometimes the internet itself can just be a big wide world of distractions. If you don’t need the internet, use one of the Exley classrooms to work since they have horrible internet reception.

I know. These sound extreme, but trust me, in the end, it’s worth it.  Now excuse me as I go take some of my own advice!

a Adair

Be a SARN Peer Advisor — Apps due Mon., 3/28

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BE A SARN PEER ADVISOR!

  • Blog to new students ove rthe summer, blog about being a student!
  • Help new students plan their academic schedules and work with their advisors during the Orientation week
  • Act as a resource during course registration and major declaration
  • Learn effecive strategies for time management, reading retention, public speaking, test and not taking, and effective communication
  • Participatein First Year Matters programming
  • Direct students to Wesleyan’s full range of academic resources
  • Facilitate study skills and time management workshops

APPLICATION DEADLINE IS MONDAY, MARCH 28 AT 5 p.m.

Applications and additional information are available at www.wesleyan.edu/deans/peeradvising/

Contact Dean Lazare at slazare@wesleyan.edu if you have questions.

Writing Workshop–4 Eyes Better than 2!

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Four eyes are better than two.  Visit a tutor at Wesleyan’s Writing Workshop!

At the Writing Workshop, you will meet privately with a trained tutor who will help you at any stage of the writing process. Come in to discuss ideas for an upcoming assignment, to structure your essay, or edit a completed draft.

Our tutors are experienced fellow students who are here to serve as non-judgmental readers and helpful critics.  They will listen, ask questions, and offer advice about your writing.  Whether you’re working on an essay, a research proposal, an honors thesis, a creative piece, or an internship application, the Writing Workshop can help! All services are free.

Drop-in Hours:  Sun.-Thurs. 7-11 PM — Olin 106 (1st Fl.)

Appointment Hours: 

Mon.-Thurs. 1-4 PM — Shapiro 306 (3rd Fl.,Allbritton)

Sun.-Thurs. 7-11 PM — Shapiro 306 (3rd Fl., Allbritton) &  Science Library 77 (Basement)

To make an appointment, click on “Writing Workshop” in the Academic Resources section of your E-Portfolio.

For more information, visit: http://www.wesleyan.edu/writing/workshop/hours.html

 We look forward to working with you!    Katherine Eyster and Emily Schmidt, Ford Fellows in the Writing Programs, 103 and 104 Downey House, (860) 685-2440