Profile: Lucette Wood
Additional sources: Robin Havenick, and Jane Walker, Jane White, Beth Camp (nominated Wood for teacher of the year 2005), look up some authors who have participated in the Valley Writers Series for comment on the program.
Questions:
Wood has been an instructor at LBCC for ten years. She teaches a range of writing and literature courses. Her passion for writing and literacy led her to the Valley Writers Series (which she started in 2007?).
Questions:
1- What led you to start the Valley Writers series?
2 - Do you have a particularly memorable experience from the series you'd like to share?
3- What is your favorite class to teach?
4- Where did you go to school?
5- What are you passionate about outside of work?
Stuff to look up still
1- what has Wood published
2- articles in dh and in eugene
3 - what orgs is she a member of
4 -
http://tyca-pnw.org/files/Pacific%20View%20Fall%2005-06.pdf
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Three Tips from Stephen King that I Can Use in Feature Writing
I've learned so much from "On Writing" that I may make this a weekly entry regardless of my actual assignment.
Last week I wrote about lessons I've learned from Stephen King's "On Writing." This week's actual assignment is to write about three tips from King's book - so I'll add the things I didn't have room for in my previous post.
1) "Read the magazines publishing the kind of stuff you write." This is like researching a company you want to work for. The more you know about the business, the better suited you are to contribute to it and the more desirable you are to the company.
2) "The best form of dialogue attribution is said." This one is great, especially for feature writing. The point here is that the writing should be good enough that you don't have to use an adverb to explain how a quote is meant to be read. Wrong: "Yes, that would be wonderful," she said enthusiastically. Right: "Yes, that would be wonderful," she said.
3) "When you re-write, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story." When King had his first paying writing job at a newspaper, the editor marked up his article and said "I only took out the bad parts." One of the most helpful parts of this feature writing class is the instructor's feedback - usually "talk to more sources!" Likewise, working at The Commuter I get lots of feedback. Sometimes the suggestions are to change a couple words or add some context and sometimes they're comments like "why is that there!?"
Last week I wrote about lessons I've learned from Stephen King's "On Writing." This week's actual assignment is to write about three tips from King's book - so I'll add the things I didn't have room for in my previous post.
1) "Read the magazines publishing the kind of stuff you write." This is like researching a company you want to work for. The more you know about the business, the better suited you are to contribute to it and the more desirable you are to the company.
2) "The best form of dialogue attribution is said." This one is great, especially for feature writing. The point here is that the writing should be good enough that you don't have to use an adverb to explain how a quote is meant to be read. Wrong: "Yes, that would be wonderful," she said enthusiastically. Right: "Yes, that would be wonderful," she said.
3) "When you re-write, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story." When King had his first paying writing job at a newspaper, the editor marked up his article and said "I only took out the bad parts." One of the most helpful parts of this feature writing class is the instructor's feedback - usually "talk to more sources!" Likewise, working at The Commuter I get lots of feedback. Sometimes the suggestions are to change a couple words or add some context and sometimes they're comments like "why is that there!?"
Friday, January 21, 2011
Student Rallies to Save Child Care
Next fall, some college students may not be able to afford to work.
Employment Related Daycare (ERDC) is a childcare subsidy plan that is set to be phased out beginning this February. With new cuts, workers lose eligibility when they are unemployed for more than 30 days and will be removed from the program to be placed on a waiting list where applicants are awarded benefits in a lottery system.
To Lisa Bauman, a student who also works two jobs at LBCC, this means that when school is out of session over the summer, she will lose eligibility. In the fall when she returns to work and school, she will no longer have help paying for child care. Hourly child care expenses will be greater than her wages. She may not be able to work or finish her degree.
One of the biggest concerns advocates voice about cutting ERDC, is that working families won’t be able to afford day care. Parents may have to stop working and go on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), costing the state much more than continuing ERDC.
“As a taxpayer, I can’t help but to be outraged at the expense of taking this program away,” Bauman said.
So Bauman decided to take action.
Bauman is organizing a rally, to take place Feb. 9 at the State Capitol Building. The effort has garnered support across campus, the community, and from child advocacy groups such as Children First for Oregon and Family Forward Oregon. Information and flyers are available on the event blog, saveerdc.blogspot.com and facebook group page, Rally to Save ERDC.
On campus, Robert Harrison, advisor of the LBCC Democracy Club, immediately agreed to help Bauman when she contacted him. Harrison admits he did not know about the issue until Bauman called him. “We are mostly focused on a trip to Egypt,” Harrison said, “but we’re going to try to help her out. It is a very worthwhile cause.” The club is sponsoring an informational event on Tuesday, Jan. 25 from noon - 1 p.m. in the Fireside Room, CC211.
Bauman will also be speaking in the DAC, Forum room 220 on Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 12:30 p.m. Information will be updated at Bauman's website on the Google event calendar.
Children First of Oregon, which is participating in the rally, campaigned for ERDC last year when it faced cuts. The campaign resulted in extended funding to February 2011. CCFO reports “a survey of ERDC recipients done by OSU and UO found that nearly 100% of ERDC recipients would be unable to maintain employment without the help they receive from ERDC.”
This year as the program is threatened again, Regan Gray, of CFFO, says that cuts to the program will affect entire communities. In addition to the families that will lose this resource, day cares will lose business, and day care employees may lose their jobs. In fact some Oregon Head Start programs have already been suffering from layoffs because of the issue. Bauman has been contacted by at least two former Head Start employees, from different locations, that said their facilities had closed.
How You Can Get Involved
Blog: saveerdc.blogspot.com
facebook page: Rally to Save ERDC
The Rally to Save Employment Related Daycare
Where: State Capitol Building: 955 Center Street N.E., Salem, Ore.
When: Wednesday, Feb. 9, 12 p.m.
To Lisa Bauman, a student who also works two jobs at LBCC, this means that when school is out of session over the summer, she will lose eligibility. In the fall when she returns to work and school, she will no longer have help paying for child care. Hourly child care expenses will be greater than her wages. She may not be able to work or finish her degree.
One of the biggest concerns advocates voice about cutting ERDC, is that working families won’t be able to afford day care. Parents may have to stop working and go on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), costing the state much more than continuing ERDC.
“As a taxpayer, I can’t help but to be outraged at the expense of taking this program away,” Bauman said.
So Bauman decided to take action.
Bauman is organizing a rally, to take place Feb. 9 at the State Capitol Building. The effort has garnered support across campus, the community, and from child advocacy groups such as Children First for Oregon and Family Forward Oregon. Information and flyers are available on the event blog, saveerdc.blogspot.com and facebook group page, Rally to Save ERDC.
On campus, Robert Harrison, advisor of the LBCC Democracy Club, immediately agreed to help Bauman when she contacted him. Harrison admits he did not know about the issue until Bauman called him. “We are mostly focused on a trip to Egypt,” Harrison said, “but we’re going to try to help her out. It is a very worthwhile cause.” The club is sponsoring an informational event on Tuesday, Jan. 25 from noon - 1 p.m. in the Fireside Room, CC211.
Bauman will also be speaking in the DAC, Forum room 220 on Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 12:30 p.m. Information will be updated at Bauman's website on the Google event calendar.
Children First of Oregon, which is participating in the rally, campaigned for ERDC last year when it faced cuts. The campaign resulted in extended funding to February 2011. CCFO reports “a survey of ERDC recipients done by OSU and UO found that nearly 100% of ERDC recipients would be unable to maintain employment without the help they receive from ERDC.”
This year as the program is threatened again, Regan Gray, of CFFO, says that cuts to the program will affect entire communities. In addition to the families that will lose this resource, day cares will lose business, and day care employees may lose their jobs. In fact some Oregon Head Start programs have already been suffering from layoffs because of the issue. Bauman has been contacted by at least two former Head Start employees, from different locations, that said their facilities had closed.
How You Can Get Involved
Blog: saveerdc.blogspot.com
facebook page: Rally to Save ERDC
The Rally to Save Employment Related Daycare
Where: State Capitol Building: 955 Center Street N.E., Salem, Ore.
When: Wednesday, Feb. 9, 12 p.m.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
No-School Days Impact Parents
This is Sarah Kruse’s first term at LBCC. With enrollment at an all-time high, she took whatever classes she could get into. Her schedule includes day and evening classes on three of LBCC’s campuses. Kruse also works and has two children in elementary school. Her schedule sometimes conflicts with the early release days the Greater Albany School District has implemented this year.
On Wednesday, when her two children get out of school at 1:25 p.m., Kruse will be in class. Fortunately her husband, a stay-at-home dad, will be there to pick up the kids. “We’re lucky that way,” says Kruse, “a lot of people don’t have that option.”
According to its website, the Greater Albany School District has 11 no-school days, 14 early-release Wednesdays, and three unpaid cut days this year. LBCC is in session most of these days, posing a problem for students with children in the Albany district.
To help alleviate timetable issues, the Albany School District has partnered with several community organizations. These choices may help parents solve childcare problems, but they can be costly.
The Community Before & After School Child Care Program (CAP) provides supervised activities for $10, after a one time $35 registration fee.
Albany Parks & Recreation offers themed activities, but only at two of the 16 elementary schools, also for $10 each day.
Themed events can be found at the YMCA each Wednesday for a one-time $10 registration fee, which includes a t-shirt. The cost is $5 for members and $7 for non-members. One added bonus at this location is that kids can swim in an indoor heated pool.
The Boys & Girls Club is the most affordable option, however. Their annual membership fee is only $25. There is no extra fee for care on early-release days, though there is a $6 fee on days when a child attends before 10 a.m.
LBCC operates the Periwinkle Child Development Center, which offers a kindergarten class on campus with extended care, "but for older kids (1st grade and above) or students enrolled in other public schools, there is not an on-campus option" said a contact at the PCDC office.
As a last resort, LBCC students may have to choose between missing class or bringing their child(ren) to class with them. But students should take their classmates and instructors into consideration before bringing children to class with them.
While LBCC’s policy prohibits bringing children into college classrooms, it does allow some wiggle room: “Under most circumstances, children are not allowed in classrooms. Faculty may make exceptions to this rule on a case-by-case basis.”
Biology instructor Diana Wheat says early in her career at LBCC, she served as a substitute for a class in which a student was unable to find a babystitter and asked if her “child (could) stay if she took the test in the back of the class.” Having sympathy for the student, Wheat allowed the child to stay and later found out “a lot of students complained to the instructor later about how disruptive that was for them to take the class. I learned a hard lesson. Hence the policy.”
Wheat says “It often comes down to what is in the best interests of all the students in the class not just the mother or father.”
While some instructors do allow children to sit in their classrooms on an occasional basis, others expressly state in their sylabi that children are not allowed. It is a good idea for parents to contact their instructors as soon as they realize there are conflicts with their class schedules and those of their children. Many instructors are parents, too, and understand. Oftentimes, tests, assignments and attendance arrangements can be worked out when instructors are aware of the students’ needs.
Child Care Options
541-917-7777
333 Broadalbin St. SW
Albany, Ore
541-926-6666
1215 Hill Street SE
Albany, Ore
541-967-9322
250 SW Broadalbin St., Suite 2B
Albany, Ore
541-926-4488 ext 318
3311 Pacific Blvd. SW
Albany, Ore
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Three Things I've Learned in Feature Writing...So Far
The three most important things I've learned in my Feature Writing class, we haven't even discussed in the classroom yet - when I was there anyway. I missed three of the seven days class days this term. Thankfully some great reading was assigned.
I found out that I love Stephen King! King's "memoir of the craft," as he calls it, "On Writing," is full of the experiences that shaped him into the writer he is and offers tons of wisdom for aspiring writers.
The most useful nuggets of wisdom to me are these:
1) "If you don't have time to read, you don't have time to write."
Every time I read - anything - I learn something about writing. Whether I'm reading Time or popping around on the internet I'm learning different ways that writers communicate.
2) "Close the door when you write." This is a tough one since I don't really have my own space separate from my husband and son (who just got done showing me his spelling homework and is talking to to me still!) Ok. I just went into my room and am now sitting on floor typing this - but the door is indeed closed.
3) "Put your vocabulary on the top shelf of your toolbox, and don't make any conscious effort to improve it." This one is great and I've used it with my own writing and at the Writing Center helping other students. This isn't to say that I don't still strain over finding just the right word to say what I want to, but just that I make sure it sounds natural to me - the way I would say it.
Well, my husband just walked in and the phone just rang and it is "family activity" time, so I'll end my entry here. Number 2 is next on my priority list. My next blog entry will be made without interruption even if it means writing it at 2 a.m.
I found out that I love Stephen King! King's "memoir of the craft," as he calls it, "On Writing," is full of the experiences that shaped him into the writer he is and offers tons of wisdom for aspiring writers.
The most useful nuggets of wisdom to me are these:
1) "If you don't have time to read, you don't have time to write."
Every time I read - anything - I learn something about writing. Whether I'm reading Time or popping around on the internet I'm learning different ways that writers communicate.
2) "Close the door when you write." This is a tough one since I don't really have my own space separate from my husband and son (who just got done showing me his spelling homework and is talking to to me still!) Ok. I just went into my room and am now sitting on floor typing this - but the door is indeed closed.
3) "Put your vocabulary on the top shelf of your toolbox, and don't make any conscious effort to improve it." This one is great and I've used it with my own writing and at the Writing Center helping other students. This isn't to say that I don't still strain over finding just the right word to say what I want to, but just that I make sure it sounds natural to me - the way I would say it.
Well, my husband just walked in and the phone just rang and it is "family activity" time, so I'll end my entry here. Number 2 is next on my priority list. My next blog entry will be made without interruption even if it means writing it at 2 a.m.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
First Feature Story
How are the LBCC students with children coping with all the early release and days off this year in Albany’s public school system?
1. How old are your children?
2. What do you do when your child has the day off school but you don't?
2. Have you ever had to bring your child(ren) to school with you?
3. Do you have other childcare options?
a. If so, what are they?
4. How have your instructors reacted to your bringing your child(ren) to class?
5. How have your classmates reacted to your bringing your child(ren) to class?
6. How does your child(ren) feel about coming to school with you?
7. What does your child(ren) think about college?
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