THE MOST POWERFUL 400 WORDS IN TEACHING

Due on Thursday, Mar. 31 (before 6pm)

NOTE: We will discuss this assignment in detail in Week 7. The Writing Center will remain open through Saturday, March 5 and will reopen Monday morning, March 14 after break.

For this assignment, you will create a written piece to be published/posted in the TLTT’s “The Most Powerful 400 Words in Teaching” website. Please make sure to follow these assignment guidelines:

Purpose:

To provide inspiration for yourself and others about teaching and working with community college students.

Audience:

The LCC community and the public at-large.

Length:

350-400 words.

Topic:

Your piece should focus on ONE student (or experience) who/that helped you better understand the importance of teaching and learning in a community college setting—and your role in making that happen. Somehow, your writing should reflect the general mission of the community college, including:

• serve all segments of society through an open-access admissions policy that offers equitable and fair treatment to all students,
• provide a comprehensive educational program,
• serve its community as a community-based institution of higher education,
• teaching and facilitating lifelong learning.

(Excerpt from The Community College Story by George B. Vaughan)

Similarly, your writing could reflect the specific mission statement of Lansing Community College: “Lansing Community College provides high-quality education ensuring that all students successfully complete their educational goals while developing life skills necessary for them to enrich and support themselves, their families, and their community as engaged global citizens.”

Publication:

Your finished piece should be posted to our “The Most Powerful 400 Words in Teaching” website by the due date determined by your course facilitator. The page should include a title for your piece and a byline, using your name and title at LCC. Please be prepared to read your piece to the class. Unless you have permission, do not use any students’ names; instead, use pseudonyms or find another way around identifying students by name. NOTE: If you are not comfortable with publishing your piece to the website, please email your essay to the TLTT course facilitator and state that you do not want it to be published. You will still receive full credit for this assignment if you choose not to publish.

Process: There are 3 parts for this assignment:

1. Write your piece.

2. You are expected to complete a consultation with LCC’s  Writing Studio as part of this project. There is an assignment drop box here Writing Studio Visit Assignment Submission (this is in “Assignments” in our D2L course shell) with instructions and where you will submit the completed form after your visit.  The purpose for the visit is twofold: First, you will receive feedback on your writing before it is published. Second, you will experience an important student academic support service for yourself. You can make an appointment using the self-scheduling system. Students simply visit lcc.edu/writing center and click on the option for in-person appointment or online real-time appointment. or call them at  517-483-1907. If possible complete this part of the assignment  a minimum of 2-3 days prior to submission to allow time for revision.

3. Post your 400 Words in the TLTT “400 Words” Website. How to post to 400 words website  

ACCESS CODE to Submit Essay: TLTT (All caps)