SPRING CONFERENCE ON THE TEACHING OF WRITING STARTS TODAY

Sheryl I. Fontaine and Cherryl Smith will be the guest speakers at the English department's 21st Annual Spring Conference on Writing.

Fontaine, a professor of English at California State University, Fullerton, has written books and articles about teaching writing, writing centers and professional issues in composition. Smith is a professor of English at California State, Sacramento. In addition to publishing poetry, she has written about basic writing, assessment and teaching writing. They are the authors of
Shoptalk, a composition text currently used in English 110C.

The conference will be held over two days: Thursday, May 4, for public school teachers, and Friday, May 5, for college instructors. On both days, the conference runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Hampton/Newport News Room of Webb Center.

On Thursday, "The Mythologies of Writing Standards: A Workshop for High School Teachers" will focus on the impact of Standards of Learning on the teaching of writing in public schools. On Friday, "What Do College Writers Have to Say? (And
Why Do We Care?)" will address challenges and rewards of teaching college writers.

The cost of the conference is $10 per day and includes lunch. Registration forms and information can be obtained from the English department and must be postmarked by Friday, April 28.

For more information contact Joyce Neff at 683-4012 or jneff@odu.edu; or Patti Holt at 683-3994 or pholt@odu.edu.