Agenda for January 28, 2010 Meeting

Theme

Two at a Time: A meeting every two weeks here in the IUP Writing Center for IUP students who are working on their theses or dissertations.

Purpose

To organize and facilitate regular meetings for IUP students working on their theses and dissertations; to provide a place for the meetings in the IUP Writing Center and online; to help participants focus on achieving goals within a timeframe of two weeks.

Activity for the first meeting January 28, 2010

Freewrite for 5 minutes on what you would like to accomplish on your thesis or dissertation project within the next two weeks. What do you wish for? What are the challenges you face? How are you feeling about the project at this time?

Identifying possible groups (subgroups are optional and are not sponsored)

Ask everyone to complete questionnaire, and then suggest possible subgroups. Individuals may contact one another on their own, or not. Subgroups are optional and not self-organized. We will not sponsor, except to recommend new members to a group.

Write for at least 30 minutes: Re-read your freewrite and try to set a goal for yourself for the next two weeks. Continue writing. Possible prompts: Why is this two-week goal important? What do you need to achieve this goal? What is the biggest obstacle to achieving the goal? Will you reward yourself if you achieve the goal? What will the reward be? What are you studying for your thesis or dissertation? How did you become interested in this project? How would you describe your project to a peer in another discipline? What is your biggest challenge at this point? What positive feedback have you received about your topic or project thus far? When did you begin working on your project and what have you accomplished since that time?

Reflection Questions

As you set out to accomplish the goals you recently established for the next two weeks, consider these questions:

1. What are you struggling with in your writing process?
2. What is the one thing that is keeping you from achieving your goals?
3. What are the ways you can work with or move beyond these concerns?