Global Days of Service Kick-Off: Volunteering in the Hustle and Bustle of Daily Life
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| Walden University's Global Days of Service starts today! |
Today begins Walden’s Global Days of Service 2016, a week-long
celebration of our mission of social change where those in the community are encouraged to volunteer
and make a difference.
According to a 2015 study conducted by the United States Department of Labor, the volunteer rate for the US is in
decline with 24.9% of the population volunteering. While many in the Walden
community volunteer regularly, there’s a good chance that this isn’t something
that everyone does, perhaps because they don’t feel like they have the time or
they haven’t found a place to volunteer. We get it. There’s already so much to
balance in life from work to family to school.
However, as Hillary stated in her blog post last week about writing skill development, “Yes,
you do have time for that—even if it’s just 5 minutes a day.” The same is true
for volunteering and working to make a difference in your community: you have
time for that, and it’s important. Even if it’s just an hour a week or one
afternoon each fall, taking the time to volunteer will bring many positive
benefits to both you and your community.
In my own experiences volunteering at grade schools, summer
programs, the zoo, fall clean up days, and nursing homes, here are the benefits
of volunteering I’ve discovered:
You Meet New People: Volunteering
is a great way to get out in the community, meet some new people, and form relationships.
The people you meet might become your friends, colleagues, co-workers,
teachers, and more. There’s a good chance that you’ll meet people who are
different than you and can challenge you, help you grow, and teach you new
things. For example, each time I volunteer with kids, I learn more about
curiosity and having fun, and each time I volunteer at nursing homes, I learn
about wisdom and patience and storytelling. Meeting new people and expanding
your network and the people in your circle can bring many rewards.
You Learn About Your
Community: Through volunteering and the people you meet and structures you
work within, you can learn a lot about how an aspect of the community
works. For example, I just moved to
Minnesota from Missouri, and each week I volunteer at my local grade school in
the media center and in a classroom. Through this experience, I’m learning a
lot about the diversity in my community, the needs of the school district, and
what kinds of books and topics entice kids to read.
You Positively
Benefit Others’ Lives: Volunteering, by nature, is a somewhat selfless act.
We all have busy lives, and choosing to spend our time on an activity without
compensation shows effort. That effort
is not missed, and you might find that your volunteering positively impacts
someone else. Whether it’s providing someone with a meal, offering tutoring in
a community center, cleaning up fallen leaves, or working one-on-one with kids:
you’re making a difference through your selfless act and positively impacting
someone else’s life.
You Get to Try
Something New: Volunteering is a great way to develop skills and have new
experiences, and the time commitment can be as much or as little as you like. Through
volunteering, I’ve enjoyed developing my skills in working with children, which
is not something I do in my job as a Writing Instructor here at Walden. In
addition, through fall clean-up and outdoor beautification projects, I’ve
learned a lot about yard work, basic maintenance, and gardening. You might find
too that you can use volunteering as an avenue to have a new experience or
develop a new skill.
You Can Use Your
Professional Skills in a New Context: Volunteering is a great way to use
your professional skills in a different way to benefit those in need. For
example, several years ago I volunteered in a summer program held at the zoo,
assisting kids grades 1-5 as they created books about their experiences and the
animals they were seeing and learning about.
As a writing teacher practiced in asking leading questions to encourage
and support writers, and as an amateur sketch-artist gifted with the ability to
draw pictures of animals, these skills were very helpful working with kids this
age as they worked on their first books. I felt proud using my professional
training and creativity in this way.
As we celebrate Walden’s Global Days of Service, I hope
you’ll reflect here with me: What other
benefits are there for volunteering? How
do you use your professional skills to volunteer and offer a service to your community?
I look forward to hearing your responses and celebrating Walden's Global Days of Service with you.
Jes Philbrook is a Writing Instructor and the Coordinator of Doctoral Writing Assessment at Walden University, and she is working on her dissertation as she nears the end of her own doctoral program in English. In addition to her busy life working and writing, Jes volunteers each week at the neighborhood grade school. She loves volunteering because it’s a way to give back, make new friends, and learn about her community.
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Thursday Thoughts: Global Days of Service Sneak Peek
Across Walden, there are murmurings of our upcoming Global Days of Service, which begin next Monday and continue throughout the week, October 17th to the 23rd. Empowered by a university mission statement that focuses on social change, the entire Walden community participates in our Global Days of Service with excitement, passion, and purpose. This is a "fun, weeklong celebration that underscores our mission of social change by encouraging all members of our community to volunteer and make a difference. With multiple days and opportunities to volunteer, you are sure to find a project that you can be passionate about and that fits your schedule."
To participate in Walden's Global Days of Service, you can
However you choose to participate in creating positive social change in your communities, know that we at the Writing Center proudly stand behind you and support your efforts. We feel lucky to read about many of your social change efforts in your writing. Through your actions, you are impacting the lives of others in meaningful ways.
Thank you for all that you do.
Walden University provides a diverse community of career professionals with the opportunity to transform themselves as scholar-practitioners so that they can effect positive social change.
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To participate in Walden's Global Days of Service, you can
- Read and comment here on the Writing Center blog or on our Facebook page; we would love to hear about your involvement in positive social change
- Join the Writing Center for our live, interactive webinar, "Writing for Social Change: Exploring Perspectives," on Wednesday, October 19th, from 7-8pm EST
- Email globalday@waldenu.edu to inquire about volunteer opportunities in a number of cities across the U.S.
- Check out the Walden library's Journal of Social Change database
- Participate in Walden's annual Scholars of Change video contest with a chance to win up to $4000 for yourself and $500 for your charity of choice; share your "why" with the Walden community; what motivates you and drives you to action?
- Review Walden's social change scholarship awards and consider applying
However you choose to participate in creating positive social change in your communities, know that we at the Writing Center proudly stand behind you and support your efforts. We feel lucky to read about many of your social change efforts in your writing. Through your actions, you are impacting the lives of others in meaningful ways.
Thank you for all that you do.
Walden University provides a diverse community of career professionals with the opportunity to transform themselves as scholar-practitioners so that they can effect positive social change.
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I Only Have 5/20/60 Minutes! Which Writing Center Resources are Right for Me?
Have you ever told yourself that you'd practice your writing if you just had a little bit more time? Today's post makes that excuse irrelevant. The Walden University Writing Center has on-demand resources that can be useful in any time-increments. Read on to learn how to continue improving your academic writing in manageable periods each day.
One of the biggest complaints I hear from students is “I
don’t have time for that.” There’s no way to sugarcoat the situation: Time is your natural enemy. In any given 24
hours, you may be working your professional job, engaging in Walden coursework,
preparing a meal, exercising, commuting, managing parental duties, and getting
a few hours of sleep. It’s hard to think of adding more to that list of
activities.
But in order to succeed at Walden, you will need to carve out some time for skill development above and
beyond your classroom requirements. Writing proficiency is something that will
serve you in your program by way of confidence, clear communication, and swift
achievement of milestones. It is also something that you take with you after
completing your degree, with the potential to impact your career as a
scholar-practitioner.
So the question is: How can you hone your writing skills without
losing the precious work-life-school balance you have achieved? Two years ago,
in a WriteCast podcast episode, my colleagues Nik and Brittany introduced Writing Center resources
and tips appropriate for short nuggets of time. In this blog post, I update
their list of resources with a few of my own. So the next time you’re about to
forgo writing because you feel like you don’t have the time, hopefully this can
be you instead:
“I want to utilize the Writing Center’s resources to practice my scholarly writing, but shoot! I only have…”
5 minutes:
Read a Writing Center
blog post, skim a web page, or view a video. Have you identified one
writing issue you’d like to work on? It’s a great idea to have goals for each
quarter or semester. Once you have chosen your writing goal for this term, you
can learn about it in short 5-minute bursts. Use the website’s Search button in
the upper right to find appropriate blog posts, web pages, and videos—and then
bookmark and work through them one at a time. Perfect for: waiting for the water to boil on the stove.
Freewrite or journal. It might seem silly, but getting in the habit of
writing will make your “for real” academic writing better. Keep a journal nearby
where you can freewrite for 5 minutes about the weekly course topic, your
research process, or even about your day. Perfect
for: sitting in the parking lot waiting for kids to finish sports practice
or school.
20 minutes:
Listen to an episode
of our WriteCast podcast, a casual conversation for serious writers. The audio podcast tackles such subjects as the writing process,
the perfect paragraph, writer’s block, and word choice. Downloadable to your
device of choice. Perfect for:
commuting to work or exercising.
60 minutes:
Watch a recorded webinar. The Writing
Center presents three to four live webinars per month, and all of these get
archived on the website. Start with What Is Academic Writing? and then work through the webinars in the Scholarly Writing category for an overview of key writing concerns. Each recording is
roughly 1 hour. Perfect for: viewing
while munching on your lunch break.
Take a grammar or APA module and then apply what you learned. Feeling
interactive? The Writing Center offers modules on APA style and on grammar
issues such as verbs and sentence structure. These are 30-45 minutes in length
and include quizzes, videos, and text-based instruction to support your
learning. After taking one of these modules, reread a past discussion post or
paper and analyze what you would do to improve it, based on your new knowledge.
Jot down a few tips to apply to a future assignment. Perfect for: taking a breather from a strenuous assignment; staying
writing-minded during the weeklong hiatus between quarters.
Now do you see how writing skill development can fit into
your life? Yes, you do have time for that—even if it’s just 5 minutes a day.
Hillary Wentworth has been mentoring Walden writers since 2010—first in the Writing Center and now in the Academic Skills Center. In addition to teaching, she serves as the Academic Skills Center’s Manager of WCSS Faculty Development and Graduate Writing Courses to ensure quality instruction. Hillary edits an online literary journal and writes her own nonfiction from her home in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Thursday Thoughts: October Webinars
Psssst! Hey, writers! We at the Walden Writing Center are having so much fun reading your professional development plans, prospectuses, and discussion posts. Please, keep them coming. If you are a new student at Walden and are hoping to set up a 1:1 appointment with us, check out this page. Here, you'll find information about our scheduling system, myPASS, and the types of documents we can review.
As we wrap up the first week of October, we're thinking about all of the Writing Center events on the horizon. This month, you have four webinars to look forward to, as well as a writing-focused look at Walden's Global Days of Service week, which begins on October 17 this year.
From the webinar schedule, you can see that we are excited to chat about paraphrasing, as well as cohesion and flow. During our October 19 webinar, we will be celebrating Global Days of Service, and during our October 25 webinar, you'll get a peek into our 1:1 appointment service.
We hope you'll join us for these webinars. We are excited to see you! Feel free, as well, to check out our entire Webinar Recording Library here! If you have any questions about our webinar schedule or appointment scheduling system, email us at writingsupport@waldenu.edu.
The Walden University Writing Center webinars teach APA guidelines and writing skills for all Walden students, along with webinars specifically for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral capstone students. Webinars offer live writing instruction, as well as an opportunity for students to connect via Q&A and chatting with staff and other Walden students, and each webinar is recorded for later viewing.
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As we wrap up the first week of October, we're thinking about all of the Writing Center events on the horizon. This month, you have four webinars to look forward to, as well as a writing-focused look at Walden's Global Days of Service week, which begins on October 17 this year.
From the webinar schedule, you can see that we are excited to chat about paraphrasing, as well as cohesion and flow. During our October 19 webinar, we will be celebrating Global Days of Service, and during our October 25 webinar, you'll get a peek into our 1:1 appointment service.
- Cohesion & Flow: Bringing Your Paper Together
6:00PM - 7:00PM Wednesday, October 12, 2016 - Writing for Social Change: Exploring Perspectives
7:00PM - 8:00PM Wednesday, October 19, 2016 - Practical Skills: Paraphrasing Source Information
6:00PM - 7:00PM Thursday, October 20, 2016 - An Inside Look at Writing Center Paper Review Appointments
1:00PM - 2:00PM Tuesday, October 25, 2016
We hope you'll join us for these webinars. We are excited to see you! Feel free, as well, to check out our entire Webinar Recording Library here! If you have any questions about our webinar schedule or appointment scheduling system, email us at writingsupport@waldenu.edu.
The Walden University Writing Center webinars teach APA guidelines and writing skills for all Walden students, along with webinars specifically for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral capstone students. Webinars offer live writing instruction, as well as an opportunity for students to connect via Q&A and chatting with staff and other Walden students, and each webinar is recorded for later viewing.
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Selecting Appropriate Capstone Sources
What is the best way to decide if you're finding the best research to include in your capstone document? Along with consulting your faculty members and the Walden University Library, take a look at these tips that will help you decide what stays in, and what should get cut from your references list.
In this Blog post, I want to share a few tips for selecting and using appropriate sources in scholarly writing, most especially doctoral capstone writing. Proper source selection and use is important for writers of every stripe. It is especially important, however, for capstone writers because of the rigorous expectations they must meet. As with your research design, source selection and use are a key means by which readers evaluate and interpret your work.
Effective source selection on your topic informs you of current developments and shifts in thinking in your field. It is also how you develop proficient knowledge and become versed in the language of your field. Source selection and use is also a key means of learning about research protocol and method. Keeping a keen eye on how others have designed their studies and approached data collection and analysis will give you confidence as you make these decisions yourself.
Today, I want to share some tips for selecting appropriate sources in your capstone document. These tips are based on my experience as a dissertation editor and as a former faculty member and instructor.
Tip 1: Understand the different types of sources. Literature varies in terms of its audience, purpose, authorship, publication process, and other factors. General categories include peer-reviewed, popular, trade, and governmental. Throughout your research and writing process, you need to be mindful of different types of literature.
Tip 2: Prioritize peer-reviewed sources in your study. Because of the rigor involved in this type of publication process, scholarly work that is peer-reviewed is generally more credible than other sources. Experts in the field have carefully evaluated all facets of a manuscript and, oftentimes, demanded multiple revisions before determining that it is worthy of publication. The breadth and depth of peer-reviewed studies will provide you with a richer basis for crafting your argument and designing your study than other types of literature. Additionally, reviewing peer-reviewed literature is key to developing your own scholarly acumen.
Tip 3: But, evaluate and incorporate a range of sources, as appropriate, in your writing. In your capstone writing, you need to develop expert knowledge on your topic and research methods. That means conducting an exhaustive literature review, in which you learn how others are negotiating, discussing, and deliberating your study topic and problem. You should be reviewing newspaper articles, white papers, program evaluations, and so on as part of this process. You may not incorporate all of this reading into your final document, but you will be more knowledgeable and well-versed on your topic if you do so.
Tip 4: Don’t forget about books. Journal articles will probably constitute most of the sources for your study, and with good reason. But, don’t neglect books, both peer-reviewed and popular ones, even if these may sometimes be more challenging to obtain.
Tip 5: Limit uses of secondary sources. As a capstone writer, you need to be fully in command of the content that you incorporate in your study. As you learn about your topic and become well-versed in key vocabulary, theories, concepts, and methods for your study, you will, no doubt, draw on writers’ interpretations of others’ work. You need this information. However, I recommend that you only use secondary sources when you cannot access primary ones. You need to read the source material yourself and clarify your understanding of it. Your writing will be more accurate and perceived as credible by readers if you do so, and it will convey more of your own voice.
Tip 6: Acknowledge the limits of your review of the literature. When discussing the rationale for your study, be careful to avoid saying that no research been conducted on a certain topic. Yes, you are expected to be exhaustive in your review of the literature, but you cannot say with 100 % assurance that you consulted every relevant source on your topic. That is why I recommend writing “based on my review of the literature” when making statements such as “researchers have not studied x” or “no studies have been conducted on y.” Adding such a clause acknowledges to readers that other work might exist. Taking care to do so, and, also, being as clear as possible when describing your search process makes things more transparent, which, again, reinforces your credibility.
Reviewing the literature on your topic can be a daunting task. But, hopefully, this list gives you some helpful guidance and reminders that make the process as smooth as possible.
Tara Kachgal is a dissertation editor in the Walden University Writing Center. She has a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and teaches for the School of Government's online MPA@UNC program. She resides in Chapel Hill and, in her spare time, serves as a mentor for her local running store's training program.
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