Mercy Reading and Writing Center

    Good workshops and conferences always have this effect on me: I'm totally exhausted but also totally keyed up (in a good way).  I can't wait to go to sleep, but I also can't stop thinking about all the *stuff* I have learned in the past 36 hours.  Its like a really exceptional cup of coffee; it is the feeling of millions of tiny jumping beans having a party just beneath your skin.  It is accompanied by a sound I can only describe as "eeeeeeeee."

    So let's do a quick round up of yesterday and today with some highlights in nor particular order.

1)  Ok, it is so hot, it is officially hott, as in hot with two ts.  I love hot weather when I am on vacation or have time to sit by the pool and drink Diet Pepsi on ice in a chilled glass.  However, like I have alluded to in a previous post, working in hot weather is more of a challenge, and sitting through meetings in hot weather is probably even harder.  But, nothing would be more difficult than hosting a conference of 40 people meeting in unairconditioned rooms in 100 degree heat (not to mention under the threat of the return of California's rolling blackouts).  So, I have to give mad props (as the kids said about 5 years ago) to the co-chairs of the conference, Clyde and Michele, for really going above and beyond to rearrange sessions, book a ballroom at a air conditioned hotel at the last minute, and switch out our tea party for an ice cream social. 

2)   Last night, the Special Interest Group (SIG) devoted to secondary writing center related issues went out to Compadres for Mexican food.  Again, I take it for granted that we have such great Mexican food in California, so it is nice to be reminded that there are many parts of the country where it is not possible to get a good burrito, or maybe even any burrito at all (I don't know how I would have made it through grad school without 5 dollar burritos sized bigger than my little dog).  Anyway, more important than the food was the chance for those of us working with high school writing centers to get together and find out from each other what experiences we have shared.  Something that has come up in several sessions this week is the fact that HS WC people don't know about other HS WC people.  There are only three HS WCs that have websites, and other than meeting people at a conference (which means you have to know about the conference to begin with), there is really no way to find out that we aren't alone in our HS WC world.  So, something to think about for the future is trying to work on finding each other, somehow. 

3)   Something else I am really grateful for is the fact the Institute has carved out time in our daily schedule for us to be able to write.   I am a member of the Composition party line that believes teachers of writing should also be writers of, well, writing.  And I crave and miss and am wistful for my undergraduate days where I actually got to take classes where it was MY JOB to make time to write.  So, I want to make sure that it remains MY JOB to write, and in the meantime, it is fabulous to be around other people who feel the same. 

4)  The Institute writing time, and co-leader Scott Miller's mention of a faculty writing group at Sonoma State, made me wonder if I could run a faculty writing retreat at Mercy for one day.  I could give out prompts beforehand, or encourage people to bring something they are already working on, but either way, the point would be to create the time and space for my colleagues and I to do the things I mentioned in the above point. 

That's all for now- there is so much more but I am so so tired.