by Anne Fletcher

It has already been three months since I was fortunate to attend the Lilly Conference with my colleagues from ACC. Every minute of the conference was packed with meetings with wonderful people who all shared with me the desire to improve my teaching and my students’ learning experiences. All of the sessions provided ideas and materials for an amazing semester.

As a teacher of development writing, I see a critical need for helping students learn how to be college students, not just better writers. It’s not just about teaching them writing skills; it’s also about teaching them how to be successful college students. While we have some wonderful courses that will help them with the process of becoming successful students, I feel I need to work on this goal in my course as well. I need to help them apply what they learn in student success courses to the curriculum I teach. I also need to guide them in developing the skills to become independent learners that they can take with them for the world beyond my classroom and for the rest of their lives, skills that will help them be lifelong learners.

Denise Camin from DeVry University made a presentation in which she shared resources in the form of online tools designed to help promote “self-actualized learning and increase retention by developing a greater sense of ownership.” To make the session more meaningful, we participated in the process. Here are links to her resources from the session: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3IU4XXIwpHaZ25wdjl2bTlGOVU&usp=sharing

There isn’t a week that passes that I don’t recall and use at least one practice that someone at the Lilly Conference shared with me. I could use up all of the cyber space allowed and still not cover all of the strategies presented. I will leave some for my colleagues. What was most valuable was the learning community that all of us from ACC built together whether it was at breakfast in the morning, lunch, or happy hour, or as we went from session to session, sharing quick notes and comments on the move. I will always be grateful to the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning Committee and the college administration for sending me to the conference and providing the opportunity of getting to know some very wonderful colleagues and share in their excellence in teaching.