O FLORIDA Ge Coasr ———————————-—_—— coiege ot arts and Sciences UNIVERSITY 25 February 2015 Dear Teaching Excellence Awards committee, Lam writing this letter in support of Sheila Bolduc-Simpson, who has been nominated for the Senior Instructor Teaching Excellence Award. I have known Sheila since I arrived on the FGCU campus in July 2014, and we visited each other's ENC 1101 sections during the fall 2014 semester. I observed her ENC L101 CRN 80358 class from 3:30-4:45 PM on 18 September 2014. I am writing this letter about her classroom teaching. Observing and participating in this class made Sheila's strengths as an instructor of composition evident: she presents key concepts in clear and engaging ways; builds strong, positive working relationships with her students; and she requires her students to learn about themselves in order to produce stronger academic work. During this class session, there were two main activities: a review of words that people often mix up, ‘and an innovative application of the FGCU plagiarism policy. Class began with Sheila reminding students of the three guiding questions of the day (already posted on Canvas): 1. What does it mean to be an academically honest student at FGCU? 2. What is FGCU's policy with regard to academic honesty? 3. How do I correctly use the words "affect," "effect," their," "there", "they're," "its," and "it's"? Sheila had the questions on the screen and presented them to the students. She then linked these questions to the two goals for the class session: to use these tricky words correctly, and to become familiar with FGCU’s academic dishonesty policy. The Canvas site for this ENC 1101 section presents all of the in-class activities and homework assignments for each class meeting. Any student who misses class can easily catch up on the work by using the Canvas site, The first major activity was a polleverywhere question. Students had to choose the sentence that used the correct term from each of the following word pairs or groups: affectleffect, their/there/they're, and its and it's. After everyone had selected the sentence he/she thought was correct, a student was invited up to explain why she had selected the correct sentence. The use of this technology provided a snap-shot of how many students got the answer correct, which enabled Sheila to ensure that everyone understood why the correct sentence was correct. Sheila's effective use of this technology convinced me that I want to try it out in my section of ENC 1101 next fall. ‘The second major activity required students to process the information about FGCU's plagiarism policy that they had located on the University webpage and brought with them to class. The task was to use GoAnimate to create a short video that encapsulates the University’s plagiarism policy. I worked with a student named Brad, which enabled me to discover that Sheila deliberately builds strong, positive working (239) 590 7150 FAX: (239) 590-7200 10801 FGCU Boulevsed South + Fore Myers, Florida 23965-6565, An Aifinnatie Acton Eqinl Oppo-tunsy Enployer A, ‘ofthe State University System of Florida ” uerelationships with her students. While I was developing the animation project with Brad, I realized he had not prepared for this activity by locating and bringing a copy of the policy statement. Rather than focusing on the infraction, Sheila had a conversation with this student in which she linked this failure to prepare with the personality traits he had identified in an earlier get-to-know-yourself activity. She put this lack of preparation in the context of this young man's struggles with motivation and discipline. The student responded calmly and positively to her feedback, and he then worked productively with me on the project. This interaction with Brad also demonstrated a dimension of Sheila's teaching that sets her apart from many of her colleagues: throughout her course, she empowers students to self-assess in order to learn about how their personality traits shape their academic work and about how they can make changes in their behavior that will enable them to produce higher-quality work. She has all students take the Student Success Survey, so they can believe in themselves and behave in ways that facilitate their learning, This survey gives her data through which she knows her students as individuals, and her students know themselves as individuals--and their teacher. Sheila shares her own survey results with her students, a sign that she models healthy self-awareness for her students. Students can earn extra credit by using PhotoPeach, 2 photo story web tool, to put together a personal reflection—either alone or with a partner. They can also earn extra credit by evaluating their writing process after they receive a grade on a paper. This activity requires students to answer ten questions about the steps of their writing process, how much time they spent drafting and redrafting, whether they sought clarification of the assignment or a one-on-one conference, and how they could improve their process (and their grade) next time. This dimension of ENC 1101 makes first-year composition more than a skills course: it becomes a life-preparation course. Sheila is an effective teacher because she elicits weekly feedback from her students through a three- question survey and adjusts her teaching based on that feedback, Her willingness to monitor what is happening in her classroom and to adjust her methodology according to student needs makes her one of the most student-centered instructors with whom I have worked. Sheila Bolduc-Simpson is one of our best instructors for several reasons: she presents material in clear and engaging ways both in class and on Canvas, she builds productive working relationships with her students, and she integrates activities into her course that help students gain self-confidence as well as acquire key skills during their first year at FGCU. Sincerely, Tuone. SAdorate Dr. Fiona Tolhurst Associate Professor of English (239) 5907150 FAX: (239) 590-7200 0501 FGCU Boulevard South + Fore Myers Florida 33965-6565 ‘An Afferaive Acton Equal Opportuncy Employer + A meroer of the Sate Universsy System of Renda eo te