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Amy Doty and Phip Ross With as much research and data that has been generated in the last 10 years on developmental education, one would imagine conclusions would be clearer. This academic year, NDEC hosted Alexandros Goudas, who guided us through his assessment of research that he has invested in for much of the last…

Cheney Luttich The first level English course offered at Southeast Community College is Beginning Reading and Writing (ENGL960). The students come from different backgrounds.  While everyone is different, they often have one thing in common and that’s a struggle with reading. There are no guarantees students will exit the course as lovers of reading, but…

  Cheney Luttich Being tasked with teaching annotations has been a learning curve.  As a result of SCC’s Dev. English Department’s focus on integrated reading and writing, this write-leaning instructor learned (or continues to learn) how writing and reading are inextricably linked.  Annotations are key to navigating both.  I’ve also learned that what is instinctual to me is…

  Brenda Jo Sanchez   With some diligence and prodding, I went from an instructor who came off as being a curmudgeon, to a much more friendly and inviting instructor. One that you might enjoy a class with and learn something. Beginning two years ago, I worked with a group of colleagues to learn more…

Photo credit: Kevin Abourezk   Phip Ross It’s graduation time for many students. Not for most, of course. Many are turning full attention to making money between terms. Or taking stock of where they are and what they will have to do next. Or questioning themselves. I haven’t been to many SCC graduations, but I…

Phip Ross Her father was dying of cancer spring semester. She took him to many chemo appointments. He died in March. Her brother killed himself at home over the recent winter break. She has failed a number of courses, passed a couple, the last year and a half. She works part-time in a fast-food restaurant.…

Cheney Luttich Who even are these people? That’s what I think every now and then when walking through the halls of the community college.  Last semester, you would have seen me saying hello to students by name and stopping to engage in conversation.  Those moments made me happy.  But now, I’m walking through the hall…

Phip Ross It’s been crickets in the blog here and the season for crickets and critters trying to get inside is upon us as the season cools. We are too busy to chase crickets. As I sit in my chair within earshot of my granddaughter playing in the backyard with neighbor girls, I am reflecting…

By Phip Ross From the Council on Basic Writing Blog “Towards a Position Statement on Basic Writing,” our NDEC folks began to explore the meaning of the five principles shared here at our October 2019 conference in Lincoln. In small groups we discussed the implications of these principles and imagined how we might revise them…

By Cheney Luttich I arrived home late last night feeling heavy. My husband greeted me at the door, took my bags, and served me dinner while I sprawled out on the sofa, exhausted. After asking me how my day went, I told him midterm conferences were a wrap. He looked at me knowingly because he…