I am so excited to be the new president of our AUA chapter. I will be posting here and on the Wiggio site to keep everyone informed of chapter news. Please leave comments here about what you’d like to see happen this year!
Hope you enjoy the last few days of summer!
Karla
We are electing our next president who will move our chapter forward with a new leadership and vision. There are two candidates: Ms. Alisha White and Ms. Karla Zisook. If you have questions/need help about voting, please let me (Omer) know at ariomer@hotmail.com.
Ms. White had the following to say about herself and her candidacy:
After teaching high school English for seven years integrating the arts to support students with learning disabilities, I began the PhD program in Teaching and Learning for Language and Literacy in the fall. I have been amazed by all of the wonderful experiences I’ve had in my first year and hope I can help create that same experience for other students. In addition to continuing to provide opportunities for Alpha Gamma members to participate in scholarship, service, professional development and collegiality, I would also like to make sure we provide a space for networking and mentoring each other.
Ms. Zisook describes herself and her plans as president as follows:
I am just finishing my second year in the doctoral program. I have been fortunate to have many positive experiences with coursework and research opportunities. I am hoping to become more involved in the program and with the department, and I believe AUA is a perfect vehicle for me.
As president of AUA I will uphold the goals of the organization: research, leadership, and service. I will continue with the previous activities of the organization, such as posting helpful information about conferences and events on the blog. I will also continue to encourage new members to join by advertising membership benefits. A new direction I will take is to work to build community and to provide opportunities for full time and part time students to become more involved in the organization. I would also like to incorporate our new Language and Literacy unit initiative to create doctoral webinars and mentoring into AUA, by encouraging topics and promoting webinars that are relevant to literacy research and scholarship. In addition to supporting the AUA mission, I believe this could be a forum for building community and strengthening our network. Many of us are at different stages and have different schedules, but I believe we would all benefit from more opportunities to build relationships. AUA could be an opportunity for more communication and increasing our social connections. As our primary student organization, I view the role of AUA as an important forum for community involvement.
As part of our mission, we are committed to encouraging scholarship among our members. We have used our budget to support this goal by providing funding for the travel expenses and registration fees of our members attending conferences.
In February, one of our members, Lori Fredricks, attended the Conference on Literacy, Urban Issues, and Social Studies Education (CLUISSE). Below are her impressions from the conference:
I thought that the conference packed a lot into one day! One of the highlights for me was Anna Mitcham’s presentation “ESOL Workshop for Theatre Games and Improvisation” which was a presentation/workshop about interactive activities for ESL learners. Anna’s approach to using drama and theater in the ESL classroom is exciting and fun. Though it would work best with children and teens, I could definitely see using these activities with adults as well, particularly one in which students silently act out a short story with hand gestures and movements while another student/facilitator narrates. Overall, I thought the conference was a wonderful learning and networking opportunity –especially for those of us who were job hunting and interviewing at the time!
Alpha Gamma has been invited to participate in Georgia State University’s 2nd Annual International Day at the Commons. We will be setting up an informational table to share information about our organization to the event attendees. Come help Alpha Gamma, and other organizations “celebrate other cultures and expand international education beyond the classrooms at Georgia State.”
When: Tuesday, March 31, 5:00 pm-7:00 pm
Where: University Commons
University Student Center
Date: Friday, March 13, 2009
Time: 9:00 AM-11:15AM
There will also be a keynote speaker following the presentations. The keynote address will be given in the Speaker’s Auditorium from 11:30 AM-12:15 PM
Authors: Plester, Beverly1; Wood, Clare1; Joshi, Puja1
Source: British Journal of Developmental Psychology, Volume 27, Number 1, March 2009 , pp. 145-161(17)
Publisher: British Psychological Society
Abstract:
This paper presents a study of 88 British 10-12-year-old children’s knowledge of text message (SMS) abbreviations (`textisms’) and how it relates to their school literacy attainment. As a measure of textism knowledge, the children were asked to compose text messages they might write if they were in each of a set of scenarios. Their text messages were coded for types of text abbreviations (textisms) used, and the ratio of textisms to total words was calculated to indicate density of textism use. The children also completed a short questionnaire about their mobile phone use. The ratio of textisms to total words used was positively associated with word reading, vocabulary, and phonological awareness measures. Moreover, the children’s textism use predicted word reading ability after controlling for individual differences in age, short-term memory, vocabulary, phonological awareness and how long they had owned a mobile phone. The nature of the contribution that textism knowledge makes to children’s word reading attainment is discussed in terms of the notion of increased exposure to print, and Crystal’s (2006a) notion of ludic language use.
The Center for Teaching and Learning is pleased to announce the March session in the
Topics in College Teaching Series
Open to all Graduate Teaching Assistants
Date: March11th
Time: 11:30-12:30
Topic: Legal and Ethical Issues
Place: The Center for Teaching and Learning
Location: 10 Park Place South, Suite 540
(Roly Poly and Georgia Power are in our building – #32 on campus map at
Please RSVP at CTL@langate.gsu.edu
Lunch will be provided
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Laura Fredrick at CTL@langate.gsu.edu
We look forward to seeing you soon
The Center for Teaching and Learning is pleased to announce the January session in the
Topics in College Teaching Series
Open to all Graduate Teaching Assistants
Date: January 14, 2009
Time: 11:30-12:30
Topic: Technology in the Classroom
Place: The Center for Teaching and Learning
Location: 10 Park Place South, Suite 540
(Roly Poly and Georgia Power are in our building – #32 on campus map at
Please RSVP at CTL@langate.gsu.edu
Lunch will be provided.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Laura Fredrick at
There are three ways you can support undergraduate research: 1. ENCOURAGE (and sponsor) undergraduate students to submit a proposal to Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference (due date Thursday, January 29, 2009). Proposals can be based on students’ collaborative work with a faculty member or an outstanding class project. 2. ENCOURAGE all undergraduate students to attend the third annual GSURC on March 13, 2009 by putting the date in your syllabus, spreading the word to your department’s undergraduate societies, distributing or displaying the downloadable flyer available on the GSURC website. 3. NOMINATE a faculty member for the University Faculty Award for Undergraduate Research (nominations and nominee information due January 20, 2009.) Information and forms available at www.gsu.edu/gsurc/ Questions? Ask Dr. Deborah Garfin, Faculty Associate for Undergraduate Research (dgarfin@gsu.edu)
