Disco Eat 'N Speak is a Success!

Seniors Morgan Alexander (left) and Julia Peacock host the event.

The Writing Center's first Eat 'N Speak of the year was so much fun!  Last Friday, a crowd of students and faculty alike gathered together to watch students perform songs, poems, and skits.  Check out these pictures from the event!

Natalie sang a beautiful piece she wrote herself!

Senior Jake Meyer performed an amazing original piece!

Seniors Grace Roman (left) and Tina Pepin sang together.

Senior Jack Eppink treated the audience to a great song he wrote himself!

Senior Riley Graham read one of his poems.

Performers even dabbled in a little bit of hilarious improv!

 If this disco-themed Eat 'N Speak was any indication, the Writing Center is sure to put on a year full of fun events.  Make sure to come out to our next Eat 'N Speak to perform a piece of your own or to support our school's amazing talent!

Tutors Perform Secret Acts of Kindness

       What an awesome week to be a Berkeley Writing Center tutor! Amidst the stress of the first weeks back to school, our teachers and directors collaborated to put together our very first Acts of Kindness week as a Writing Center community.
       Last week, each tutor in the center was paired with a secret buddy and performed a small act to brighten that person's day - all while remaining anonymous. The goal of the Secret Acts of Kindness was to increase the sense of community within the Writing Center.  Emma Edmund said, "My tutor made me cookies and wished me luck at my next swim meet. I learned that it can actually be really fun to put together a gift for someone, and it's really nice to have someone do something for you."
       The Secret Acts of Kindness made each tutor's day a little better - how nice is it to get a sweet note or some candy from anonymous buddy?  Clearly, the Writing Center is a happy, welcoming place!

A Busy Day for the Writing Center

Tutors help 9th graders brainstorm ideas for their "Zooming In" papers.

The Writing Center was hopping today!  An abundance of students from both Middle and Upper Divisions came to the center for tutorials.  As these students found, the Writing Center is the perfect place to get help with any stage of the writing process, from brainstorming to a final proofread.  Special thanks to those tutors who went out of their way to give these students the individualized tutorials they needed!

Writing Center Undergoes Big Changes

The Writing Center is undergoing big changes, and you don’t want to miss out!

Tutors love the new space!

With our new location in the Steinbrenner building, we’ve revamped the Writing Center, featuring a spacious area and a new design. Comfy seats, a sofa, and circular tables make the Writing Center an ideal place for students to collaborate and work. In addition, there are multiple tables of various sizes, so tutees will have the option of sitting wherever they are most comfortable. The larger space will also allow us to tutor more people at one time.

Furthermore, the location of the center may be a convenient change as we are now closer to the English rooms and the library. So if you’re off to English class or to study hall, try making a quick stop at the new and improved Writing Center! We are always staffed with tutors who would be happy to show you the changes, or better yet, to help you with your writing.

The spacious new Writing Center has comfy couches, too.

Stay tuned for more updates about Berkeley’s Writing Center! 

Tutor Retreat Starts Year off Right

Tutors work together to draw their "ideal tutor."

During the first hectic but exciting week of school, the tutors of the Writing Center came together during a “retreat” after school to bond and to improve tutoring techniques.  The tutors watched informative videos, ate delicious snacks, chatted with one another, played fun bonding games, drew their idea of an “ideal tutor,” and worked together to edit sample papers.  Thanks to the hard work of the Writing Center directors Mr. Brandt, Mr. Righter, and Mrs. Marcantuono-Polstra, everyone had a great time!

At the beginning of the retreat, new tutors had the chance to talk with veteran tutors and ask them any questions they had about how things run.  Jessica Cascio said the retreat was “an effective yet fun experience, especially as a new tutor this year.  I really got a good feel for what the Writing Center is really about and the type of community we’re trying to be.”

Soon afterward, the tutors watched videos that showed the right and wrong ways to tutor a student.  Mira Rajani liked both the conversation between tutors and the videos: “I think the interviews gave new tutors a good preview as to what the process should be like, along with the videos – they also helped a lot with this!”

Tutors practice tutoring a paper together.

A common theme throughout the retreat was teamwork – tutors, both new and old, were grouped together during games, drawing activities, and mock tutorials.  “I thought that working in groups worked really well for the retreat,” said Caroline Brown.  Cascio agreed: “Something that worked well was that there were both old and new tutors here and we all did everything together as a group.”  Nathalie Adams thought that “it was a lot of fun playing games!  It was also very helpful to actually practice tutoring a paper as well.”  The teamwork skills that all tutors learned during the retreat will certainly add to the sense of community in the Writing Center!

Clearly the first Berkeley Writing Center retreat was a success!  Coming together as a group, we set the tone for a year filled with teamwork, a strong sense of community, and fun.  Rajani summed it up best: “It was super fun but we also learned a lot!”  The Writing Center tutors are ready to tutor papers and spread their love of writing around campus this year!

Dr. Pam Childers Inspires Tutors

Dr. Pam Childers's visit to Berkeley was engaging, informative, and provided current tutors with a fresh perspective on the tutoring process. In the words of senior Elizabeth Pearce, "Dr. Childers helped me remember what tutoring is all about- the writer gaining confidence in his own work." Students in general particularly enjoyed her story about acting out a student's story on her hands and knees to show sometimes our writing does not accurately convey what we are trying to say. Senior Emily Dolgin was fortunate enough to have Dr. Childers visit her AP Language class where she made the effort to connect with each student individually and relate her personal stories to the students' interests. Her visit inspired all of us to become better tutors and carry the lessons working in the Writing Center has taught us in all our future endeavors.

Visiting Lecturer - Dr. Pamela Childers

We will have a visiting lecturer, Dr. Pamela Childers, coming to speak with our tutors and members of our center. For many years she was director of the Caldwell Writing Center at the McCallie School after starting a writing center in a public school in New Jersey. Former president of the International Writing Centers Association, presenter and consultant with writing centers internationally, Pam is the author of numerous publications on secondary school writing centers including The High School Writing Center: Establishing and Maintaining One and co-author of the forthcoming WAC Partnerships Among Secondary and Postsecondary Institutions. She is the recipient of the IWCA and SWCA Service Awards. Pam currently serves as an Executive Editor of The Clearing House and collaborates with writing center directors and tutors internationally. She has been a longtime friend of our center, helping us to present at conferences and introducing us to other high school writing centers. She will be speaking to the tutors about Writing Center culture and the faculty directors to help us become an even better Writing Center!