Meredith Grady, English, with Dr. Kristen Welch

International Writing Centers Association Conference: Lines in the Sand How Writing Centers Draw and Redraw Boundaries
San Diego, California      October, 2012  

Meredith and Dr. Welch presented "Two Perspectives: Discovering Shifting Praxis. Dr. Welch presented her approach to teaching composition pedagogy in association with writing center practice and Meredith discussed how she applied the newly learned pedagogical concepts to her work as a tutor in Longwood’s writing center.

“The experience was amazing.  One thing that I found extremely interesting from the experience was my surprise when I realized that all three groups that were presenting, Longwood, Texas A&M University and University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, had a shared message in the presentations.  Although Dr. Welch and I did not know the other presenters prior to the session, the common theme found in all three presentations was the importance of conversation between the tutor and student in the writing center.”  

Jeffery Everhart, English

98th Annual Conference of Virginia Association of Teachers of English
Richmond, V.A.              October 26-27, 2012

Jeff gave one presentation on his own entitled "Tech Talk or Talkin' Tech: Using Open Digital Resources and the Qualities of Digital Communication to Promote Engagement in the Physical Classroom”.  He also presented with Dr. Robin Smith and Dr. Gena Southall on their experiences with SOLstice this past summer through "Writing Pedagogy: Using Place as Text".

“This conference was a great experience. It is something that I look forward to every year (this is my third year attending). I was able to do some valuable networking with people from the Virginia Museum of the Fine Arts and the Library of Congress regarding their growing collections of digital research. I spoke with the representative from the VMFA about including some of the artwork in my thesis project, a digital resource and content site for students and teachers of the American Romantic period. I was also able to augment my understanding of classroom technology by attending a few sessions that focused on Media Literacy.”

Graduate Students Attend Conference Together

Jennifer Marshall, Health and Physical Education
Virginia Association for Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance (VAHPERD)
Roanoke, V.A.                         November 9-11, 2012

Jennifer made good use of the conference to network with past connections made during her Newport News student teaching experience and inquire about job opportunities there.  She also worked with her graduate student colleagues (Cheryl, Brandy and Dustin) at their Graduate Program table promoting Longwood’s newest option for a Master’s degree.  Jennifer also brought back ideas to share from the conference, one session in particular:

The presenter showed us several ways to integrate physical movement and brain cognition. I learned that simple problems such as math or science are much harder and much more fun when they are combined with movement activities. I already brought some back and taught them to my class of elementary school teachers. They were excited to learn new and exciting ways to get their students engaged.

Cheryl Crews, Health and Physical Education
Virginia Association for Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance (VAHPERD)
Roanoke, V.A.                         November 9-11, 2012

Cheryl worked with her graduate student colleagues (Jennifer, Brandy and Dustin) at their Graduate Program table promoting Longwood’s newest option for a Master’s degree.  She also attended sessions (her favorite was one on cup stacking in which she received her own set of cups) and spent time networking with others in her profession.  Cheryl also received the VAHPERD Graduate Scholarship Award complete with an award plaque and monetary prize! Congratulations Cheryl.  About her award experience, Cheryl wrote: I got a fancy plaque in which I hope to hang up in my office one day. I couldn't believe how big of an award this was until I received it at the conference. It was awesome to have so many people coming up to me and congratulating me. It's nice to see that all my hard work pays off!

VAHPERD makes me realize that I am in the right field and I look forward to what the future holds for me!

Brandy Garganta, Health and Physical Education
Virginia Association for Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance (VAHPERD)
Roanoke, V.A.                         November 9-11, 2012

Brandy worked with her graduate student colleagues (Jennifer, Cheryl and Dustin) at their Graduate Program table giving out information for their program to recruit new students. Brandy was also the group photographer and, like Jennifer, made good use of her time at the conference to explore job opportunities in the Newport News area.  One of Brandy’s favorite sessions involved music:

I attended a fun "mix-tape" session.  The teacher who led this activity was great!  He is an elementary teacher in Albemarle County who works with different mixes of music to teach his students different dance moves.  We learned a half-time routine that he taught his fifth graders, which was a lot of fun!  I left that session sweating, and full of excitement to receive his emails of music and dance moves.

Dustin Cockram, Health and Physical Education
Virginia Association for Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance (VAHPERD)
Roanoke, V.A.                         November 9-11, 2012

Dustin worked with his graduate student colleagues (Cheryl, Brandy and Jennifer) at their Graduate Program table promoting Longwood’s newest option for a Master’s degree.  While working the exhibit, he was able to speak to alumni and veteran physical educators from all over Virginia.  Dustin said, “Many people were impressed with our graduate program and I was proud to be a part of it.”

Dustin also had a favorite session called "Playing with your Brain."  In this program the instructor taught us a lot of fun activities for physical education that work on problem solving, cooperation, and decision making.  I will definitely be looking for ways to add some of these activities to my lessons