Discussion Board Introduction

In a real-time classroom we would get to know each other in a classroom, with many cues to rely on, and many students might know each other from other connections. As online students, we must connect in other ways.

It is important that we try to make a learning community online, so to that end, I would like you to post a self-introduction on the Discussion Board as soon as you enroll in the course.

Here's my Self-Indroduction which I will post on the Discussion Board:

Greetings from Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, Oregon!

My name is Susan Whitelock and I am the EOU Writing Lab and Online Writing Lab (OWL) Director. The OWL is a website which I created when I began as Writing Lab Director in order to make writing tutoring available to Distance Education students, and to provide "Resources for Writers" for all students. Please browse this website to become familiar with the resources available to you, and also to become familiar with how to submit an online draft for writing tutor feedback. The url is http://www3.eou.edu/writelab/. Bookmark this site for future reference.

I have been teaching at EOU since 1992. Before becoming the Writing Lab Director and teaching WR 220, I taught all of the writing courses such as WR 115 (Introduction to Expository Writing), WR 121 (Expository Prose Writing), WR 131 (Exploratory Prose Writing), ENG 104 (Introduction to Liteature), and BA 225 (Report Writing). I have been especially interested in learning how to better teach at-risk students who have had many negative experiences in their writing or school lives, and non-traditional students who face many more challenges than traditional students: children, full-time jobs, years out of school). Also, I am continually researching how to better help ESL writers.

I am originally from southern California (La Habra to be exact). I studied at the University of California at Santa Barbara where I participated as a graduate student in the National Writing Project (NWP), a project where teachers K-12 and college come together to study writing theory and to teach each other their best practices. If any of you are teachers or future teachers, I highly recommend connecting with the National Writing Project in your area. EOU is the home of the Oregon Writing Project (OWP) affiliated with the NWP. There are Writing Projects all over the nation and even overseas! It's great fun and you learn a lot about teaching writing, as well as find your own writer within.

I am married to Donald Wolff, who also happens to be an English/Writing professor at EOU and Director of the Oregon Writing Project (OWP). I have a son Dylan who is 14, and a daughter Hannah who is 12. I love to read, hike, and cross-country ski (EOU is close to a great ski resort, Anthony Lakes, with some of the most beautiful cross-country trails you can find!)

I have taught WR 220 on-campus for 4years. It has been a challenge adapting a course for teaching face-to-face tutoring to an online medium. I ask for your patience as I try to adapt this course without the benefit of your being able to work with me in the classroom and in the Lab. As online students, you will have to try to translate much of our reading (tutoring texts focus mostly on face-to-face tutoring with some reference to online tutoring) from face-to-face scenarios to online practice. I look forward to working with you and learning along with you!