2007 Highlights

2007's Building Bridges Retreat on Friday, March 9 was a day for English teachers to get together with publishers and colleagues to exchange ideas on the craft of teaching college English. Our thanks go out to the publishers, their wonderful regional representatives, the presenters, college administrators, and English teachers who attended and participated. Below is the program schedule and a slideshow of highlights featuring many of the individuals that made 2007's Building Bridges Retreat a great experience. We hope to see you in 2008!

7:30-8:30 - Registration; Continental Breakfast; Publisher Exhibits

8:20-8:45 - Opening Remarks

8:45-9:30 - Publisher Presentations: Antoinett Greensky and Elvis Becerra of Allyn/Bacon Longman; Jennifer Sano and Dennis Adams of Bedford St. Martin's; Quentin Murphy of Cambridge University Press; Joy Ecklund and Alison Henry of Houghton Mifflin; Jonathan Boggs of Longman/ESL.

9:30-9:50 - Coffee Break

9:55-10:55 - Breakout Sessions: "Grading ESL Essays Fairly" by Sara Beheseta and Jeannie Parent of BC; "An Approach to Teaching Poetry" by Kerrie Buis of BC and COS; "Best Practices: Sharing Our Experiences" by Chris Chung-Wee of Taft; "Departmental Norming" by David Hurst of COS, Susan Regier of PC, and Valerie Turner of CSUB.

11:00-11:45 - Publisher Presentations: Brian Gore of McGraw-Hill; Ron Barasch of Oxford University Press; Cheryl Smith and Valerie Turner of Prentice Hall; Liz Poulsen and Alex Kasuboske of Thomson Learning; Erin Chenoweth of Thomson Learning/ESL.

12:00-1:20 - Fiesta Buffet Lunch

1:25-2:25 - Breakout Sessions: "Using Technology in the ESL Classroom" by John Hart of BC; "The How's and Why's of Increasing Student Contact" by Brenda Freaney and Paula Parks of BC; "Critical Thinking via Audience Awarenesse" by Cheryl Hogue Smith of CSUB; "Research Paper" by Gary Graupman of Taft and Kate Pluta of BC.

2:25-2:40 - Chocolate and Cheesecake Dessert Break!

2:40-3:40 - Breakout Sessions: "Designing and Effective Research Writing Course" by Gloria Dumler and Denise Mitchell of BC; "Craft-Oriented Composition Assignments" by Robert Vasquez of COS; "Handling the English Instructor Paper Load" by Kim Flachmann of CSUB; "Reading Journals and Idea Notebooks" by Randi Brummett De Leon and Brooke Hughes of CSUB.

3:40-4:00 - Wrap-Up!

2007 Building Bridges Retreat

Date
Fri March 9, 2007

Time
8:00 am - 4:00 pm

Where
The Four Points Sheraton
5101 California Avenue
Bakersfield, California 93309

Cost
Free

Description
Building Bridges 2007 promises more breakout sessions on topics relevant to the teaching of English. Building Bridges is committed to serving as a major vehicle of professional development among the English and ESL faculty.

Participants include faculty from Antelope Valley College, California State University, Bakersfield, Bakersfield College, Cerro Coso Community College, College of the Canyons, College of the Sequoias, Porterville College, and Taft College.

If you are at a California college not listed here but would like to participate, please contact the retreat planning coordinators.

Publishers
Longman ESL
Bedford/St. Martin's
Thomson and Thomson ESL
Houghton Mifflin
McGraw-Hill
Prentice Hall

A Sample of the Breakout Sessions
An Approach to Teaching Poetry
Basic Writers and Audience Awareness/Critical Thinking
Craft-Oriented Composition Assignments
Grading ESL students’ Final Essay Exams fairly while maintaining standards
Handling the English Instructor Paper Load
Humor as an Effective Teaching Tool in the Classroom

Send breakout session proposals to the retreat contact listed in the right column.