Title: Student Identities in the Classroom: Learning from Who and Where They Are (Inside Teaching Lounge)
Date: 1/21/2016 4:30 PM – 6:00:00 PM
Description: Each month during the academic year, a graduate student(s) runs a 90 minute workshop on a topic related to teaching, student learning assessment, and learning to teach. This in-person event will rotate locations across campus. This month, two graduate students will lead the third in a series of workshop on Identities and the Classroom. Pizza and beverages will be served.
Location: 223 Natural Resources
Succeeding in Graduate School
Title: Write-In Workshop
Date: 1/22/2016 9:00 AM – 1:30:00 PM
Description: Are you working on a thesis or dissertation chapter, a proposal, or an article? Do you need a quiet place to write, or a space to collaborate with your peers on a piece of writing? Come to the new Graduate School in Chittenden Hall for our Friday dedicated to writing. Participants must come with a specific writing goal and be prepared to write until noon! Graduate writing consultants from the Writing Center will be on hand to help with goal setting and accountability after your leave the session, and to help facilitate the formation of writing groups that can keep you moving toward your goal. Coffee and tea will be available while you write, and lunch will be provided at the end of the writing session. During lunch we will debrief and set future goals. In the additional comments of the on-line registration, please indicate whether you are interested in working in a dedicated quiet space or a collaborative space.
Location: Chittenden Hall, 466 W. Circle Dr.
Title: Navigating the PhD: Managing Time and Academic Relationships
Date: 1/30/16 9:00 AM – 12:00:00 PM
Description: In this 3-hour workshop, plans for time management and working with others will be the main focus. Participants will create academic timelines for their PhD work at MSU and discus technologies and habits that can help them stay on task. Participants will also discuss how to manage the stress that often pervades the life of PhD students and share strategies for overcoming writer’s block and procrastination. Additionally, discussion about selecting and working with committees will provide a space for sharing about and learning how to communicate with faculty members about participants’ research and writing. This workshop is better suited to students in the first 2 or 3 years of PhD work.
Location: 300 Bessey Hall (The Writing Center)
434 Farm Ln, East Lansing MI 48824
Title: Navigating the PhD: Writing Processes & Strategies for Academic Writing
Date: 1/30/16 1:00 PM – 4:00:00 PM
Description: In this 3-hour workshop, the focus will be on writing processes and practices. The PhD programs at MSU require written comprehensive exams, dissertation proposals, and dissertations. In the workshop, participants will explore and share their current writing practices and be given practical writing and revision strategies. The latter half of the workshop will focus on developing a plan for approaching comprehensive exams or the dissertation (depending on the student’s current needs). Such a plan will help students develop goals, ask questions, and address writing strengths and limitations to successfully complete their degrees. This workshop is better suited for students who are working on their dissertations or preparing for comprehensive exams.
Location: 300 Bessey Hall (The Writing Center)
434 Farm Ln, East Lansing MI 48824
WELLNESS
Title: Focus and Finish: Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation
Date: 1/27/2016 6:00 PM – 8:00:00 PM
Description: In this workshop, graduate students will be introduced to the practice of meditation as a holistic stress management tool and how to use the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) methods of Jon Kabat-Zinn, a well-known Mindfulness instructor and author of Full Catastrophe Living, Coming to Our Senses, and Where Ever You Go, There You Are. What is mindfulness? “Be fully present in the moment, non-judgmentally” best describes mindfulness, which leads to increased awareness of bodily apprehension, tension, and pressure. Mindfulness principles facilitate settling down into ‘being’ rather than simply existing because of the endless ‘doing’ that seems so predominant in our lives. This workshop is designed to help you learn how to practice meditation and how to use mindfulness meditation as a tool for focusing on and finishing your graduate degree.
After participating in the workshops you will have:
• Learned how to use meditation for stress reduction purposes
• Learned the essential posture technique necessary for sitting meditation
• Increased awareness of bodily cues which signal the presence of stress and anxiety
• Improved your ability to lessen and/or release internally held pressure and tension
• Learned Breath Awareness techniques as the best way to be brought into the present moment
Research indicates that most people who engage in Mindfulness Based Stress Reductions feel:
• Lasting decreases in symptoms (sleep difficulties for example)
• Increased ability to relax
• Greater energy and enthusiasm for life
• Improved self-esteem
• Ability to cope more effectively with both short and long-term stressful situations
Location: Student Services Building room 6
Title: Dissertation Support Group (6-Weeks)
Date: 1/28/2016 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Description: An 6-week workshop for graduate students experiencing difficulty in the writing or completion of their dissertation. This group is open only to students who are actively working on and writing their dissertation full time. The group follows a brief, solution-focused model that utilizes short-term goal-setting in order to facilitate and maintain progress in the writing of the dissertation. It is intended to help students stay on track to meet an expected defense/graduation date. In addition, the group seeks to provide participants a supportive environment in which the presence of peers helps to mitigate the sense of isolation, frustration and anxiety that often accompanies the dissertation writing process.
Attendance at all 6 sessions is required.
Jan. 28, Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 18, Feb. 25, March 3 12p – 1p
Facilitator: Aislinn Sapp, M.A., Coordinator of Graduate Student Support Groups
Location: 220 Chittenden Conference Room