common time, fall '08

Hi gang!
You may have noticed that I've reserved Wednesdays, 3-4pm as our Common Time for weekly meetings, workshops, etc. So let's have our first meeting next Wednesday, Sept. 17, 3-4pm. We'll talk about our summer, meet and greet the newest additions to our tutoring family, and set our agenda for the semester. We've tried to free up everyone's schedule, but if you have a scheduling conflict please let me know.

Please let me know if you can or cannot come to the meeting.
I hope to see you all very soon,
Courtney

sound the trumpets!

Hi ARC gang,
Yay! Another new semester is right around the corner! Oh, the excitement! The Fall 2008 semester officially begins on Sept. 4 -- that's next Thursday. So if you're interested in tutoring this semester, please drop in as soon as possible to give us your schedule.

A few special notes for you:

1. This semester we will be returning to our regularly scheduled Common Time. I'll choose a time that's good for the majority of us and we'll work your schedules around it. We'll meet regularly throughout the semester to talk about tutoring and share our stories, and when we're not meeting you can take walk-ins during that time. Also, if you're not returning to the ARC from last semester, please let me know.
2. If you are interested in a GA for this semester, please drop me a line or visit my office to verify that you're still interested. I have a list of applicants, but I need to know who is still interested. We have very few to go around. And remember that a 3-credit GA equals 5 hours of tutoring per week.
3. I am always in search of new, excited, friendly and patient tutors to join our family, so if you have any recommendations, please feel free to let me know. This year I will be focusing on increasing the number of undergraduate tutors we have on our team so we can offer a wider range of subjects, personalities and experiences to our students. Some of you have worked with some really promising students who may very well turn out to be strong tutors themselves. It'll be like having little siblings in our ARC family!
4. As usual, all international students will need to submit a new F-1 letter from Mr. Chin. Please take care of this as soon as possible. It will take at least 4 days to process. We can't pay you without it.

I hope you had plenty of rest and relaxation this summer. This is going to be a busy, yet fun, semester.
See you all soon!

diversity & language differences

ARC-ers,
Here's a great article by Paul Kei Matsuda that just came through the C's blog. Since language diversity is very evident in our center and our campus (and we try to celebrate that diversity), this article will be of interest to many of you.

http://cccc-blog.blogspot.com/2008/07/individual-issue-of-language-diversity.html

teach english in china

Hi gang, Hope your summer is restful. This was passed on to me for those of you who might be interested in teaching English in China. Sounds like fun!
Courtney

English Teaching Openings In China
U & C International Education Inc.
http://www.internationalteach.com/

---------------------------------------------------------

Various universities in Shanghai, Beijing, HangZhou, Guangdong, ChongQing, Chengdu, Nanjing, Xian and QingDao need to hire 4 to 5 TESOL / TEFL teachers (must be native speakers) for both short and long term positions. If you are a native English speaker who is interested of working in China for 2008 or 2009 school sessions (positions are available for every month of 2008 and 2009), please contact us.

Schools pay decent salary and offer paid vocation, free apartment, flight coverage and more.

Requirements: Must be a native speaker, TEFL/TESOL or any teaching certificate is a great plus. Please see our website: http://www.internationalteach.com/application.asp to download our application form.

Contact: Mike Wu mikewu@internationalteach.com
U & C International Education Inc. <http://www.internationalteach.com/>
<http://www.int/>
<http://www.internationalteach.com/>

usna job postings

Hi gang,
This just came across my email. I thought some of you might be interested.... If you are, I can give you the contact info.
Hope you're enjoying the summer.
Courtney

The Class of 1963 Center for Academic Excellence at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland has opened a search for two full-time, 10 month, non-tenure track, faculty positions to begin with the 2008-2009 Academic Year. Each position will start with an initial 10 month contract with the option of renewal. The primary responsibilities of these positions will include, but not be limited to teaching classes and workshops in the Center for Academic Excellence, teaching in an academic department, developing curriculum, serving as an academic advisor, teaching learning skills and working with midshipmen on a one-on-one basis.

The following are brief descriptions of the two positions.

• Mathematics Learning Instructor - This position will require an individual with the expertise to teach afternoon and evening help sessions for Calculus I, II, and III, offer individual and small group mathematics instruction and teach one section of mathematics for the Mathematics Department. Experience instructing mathematics to struggling students is essential.
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Learning Skills Instructor - This position will require an individual with expertise in a technical background and experience in teaching learning skills. The responsibilities of the position will include teaching learning skills courses with an emphasis on STEM courses, conducting individual learning skills sessions and teaching one STEM course in an academic department. Experience instructing struggling students is preferred.

Minimum requirements for these positions include a Master's Degree and training or experience in a technical discipline.

The initial closing date is June 20, 2008

chat-n-chew

Just a reminder to all of you that we will meet this Monday from 1-3pm, here in the ARC.
We'll meet and eat for the first two hours. If you'd like to invite any of your students, ask them to come after 3:00 so we can have plenty of time to talk. Don't be late, we have lots of people to introduce and lots of things to talk about.
Hope to see you all there. And I know some of you want to bring your own food creations. So feel free to bring whatever you want. The more food, the better!
C

it's a wrap!

Hello my ARC lovelies,
Yes, as you may have realized, the semester is ending VERY, VERY soon. In fact, classes end next Tuesday, May 6! Aaaaaargh!!

Four items for you:
1. We will hold all scheduled tutoring sessions through Tuesday, May 6. Wednesday is Study Day, and finals begin on Thursday, May 8. You do not have to work through finals, but if you would like to meet with students, please schedule with them in advance from May 8-14. you should notify the front desk regarding these scheduled sessions. The semester is officially over on Wed, May 14.

2. If you want to work during the summer, please give the front desk staff your schedule. I will determine the number of hours we have for the summer sessions. Unfortunately, graduate assistantships do not continue into the summer.

3. We will have an end-of-semester meeting on Monday, May 5, from 1-3pm. I know we have not had a chance to get together as an entire group this semester to talk much, so here's our chance. If you have students at that time, please try to reschedule with them. If you cannot, please come talk to me. We'll get to talk about what we've done this semester and what we plan to do next semester. We'll also have a chance to finally meet and greet all our new tutors. And it's Cinco de mayo, so be prepared to get festive!

4. Please send suggestions for our meeting agenda to me. If there's something you want to talk about, let's do it.

Hope to see you all very soon,
Courtney

open house prep

Hello my lovely ARC-ers,
Well, our next LIU Day Open House is coming up soon--Sunday, April 27. We still have a couple of spots open. We typically start around 9:30am and go until 3:00pm. And yes, it is on a Sunday.

At this LIU Day we'll be promoting our upcoming English Summer Institute 2008 and helping students register online.

If you're interested in joining us for the day, please let me know. Again, there is limited space.

Hope you're all well,
Courtney

no-shows

Hello again,
I would like to remind you all to please remember when you have a no-show, please have me or a front desk coordinator initial your timesheet and mark it as a no-show. Then fill out a blue no-show card. We must accurately track the number of students we see every day. If we drop students, we will try to find other students to take their place as soon as possible. Also, if there is no verification that the student didn't show up for the appointment, we may not pay you for the hours.

I want to avoid any payroll confusion in the future. Please see me if you have questions.

semester update

Hello gang!

The semester is in full swing now. I hope all of you are doing well. A couple of reminders:

1.) All international students, please submit your F-1 letters to payroll, as soon as possible. You can't get paid without it.

2.) Remember to take your phone calls outside, please. I've noticed a few of you taking calls in the center. Please be aware that students are watching us an look up to all of us as examples. Let's keep this a cellphone-free zone.

3.) Please stick to your schedules. While I understand that we're all busy with classes and life in general, once you set your schedule, please try not to change it. If you happen to reschedule please let the front desk know ASAP.

And on the brighter side:
1.) Marjorie is home and doing better by the day. I spoke with her last week and she sounds GREAT. She said that she misses all of you and hopes to see you soon. Keep her in your thoughts.

2.) I'm adding more tutors to our little family, so please welcome them if you see them. As a first step for these new tutors, I'd like them to observe a session or two. So they might ask if they can sit in on one of your sessions. Please make sure your student is okay with it before agreeing. I just want our new tutors to get an idea of what goes on in our sessions and how to manage small groups.

Okay, that's all for now.

Happy Tutoring!

Courtney