Writing & Learning Peers Asia C. and Kaitlyn R. take us through some essential tips to prepare for your final exams

When issues of academic integrity are brought up, it's sometimes easy to dismiss them as just something that the "bad students" do. But sometimes, it is much more complicated than that. Let's talk about what to do and how to get help ethically.

In this blog post, SLC EAL Coordinator Dr. Timothy Mossman shares some writing that he did during his doctoral studies in a class (EDUC 925 - Critical Literacies in Multilingual Contexts) led by Dr. Dolores van der Wey. 

The SFU Library recently issued the following statement about anti-Black racism and white supremacy: https://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/academic-integrity/solidarity-black-lives-matter 

We in the Student Learning Commons recognize that race-based violence is not new, nor simply an issue for us to pay attention to during "flashpoint moments" like the one we are currently experiencing. With this post, Tim shares part of his journey learning to see his own privilege. 

We share this post as encouragement for others as we take on this troubling, difficult, and necessary work. 

Trigger warning: this post includes references to residential school trauma and to homelessness. 

SLC Graduate Writing Facilitator Kate E. invites folks to join her for the Write OUT program -- a joint initiative of the Student Learning Commons and Out On Campus. 

Summer WriteOUT! sessions will include tips and tricks for:

• Time Management (June 8^th)
• Writing Logically and Cohesively (June 15^th)
• Offering and Receiving Feedback (June 22^nd)
• Writing for Different Audiences (June 29^th)
• Making your Writing Interesting (July 6^th)
• Writing in English as an Additional Language (July 13^th)
• Respecting Writing in Different Disciplines (July 20^th)
• Descriptive and Creative Writing (July 26^th)

All sessions are 11-1pm on Mondays. 

By Daniel Chang

PhD candidate and SLC Writing Consultant Daniel Chang welcomes you to the summer 2020 semester and offers some important reminders for how to get the most out of this term.

Imagine this: you’re typing away ferociously with the little time left for you to hand in your term paper. It’s due tonight, and although you had three weeks to write it, there were other more important assignments on your plate. It’s not that you didn’t know you had to write this paper too, but you were pretty confident you knew what you wanted to say and could put all of your ideas into words in one afternoon. It is now the afternoon of your paper’s due date. You’re scrambling, fumbling over the keyboard, ideas circling in your head but all of them sounding like a thought vomit on paper. You’re tired, overwhelmed and unable to comprehend your own words. You rush to the SLC for a drop-in session, praying that your peer educator can work a miracle and save your grade...

In this post, Writing and Learning Peer Deeya B. shares pro tips to help you get your writing done this semester and get the most out of the Student Learning Commons. 

It isn't a miracle, a magic spell, or a silver bullet, but if you follow these steps, you may find that your writing process this semester is that much easier (or, at the very least, slightly less painful). 

In Common welcomes former SLC Peer Eric Cai as a guest blogger. In his posts, he will focus on study and communication skills for students in math and science. Learn more about Eric in the following email interview.

“Hi, how are you?”

“I'm doing well. How about you?”

“I'm good too. Are you from here? Where are you from?”

In this submission to the SLC Multilingual Story Hub, Sneha Ralli digs into this familiar exchange and wonders about the ways that asking where someone is from can serve to accentuate our differences and interrupt one's sense of cultural belonging.  

Sneha Ralli is a PhD student at SFU who was born in Delhi and raised in Mumbai, India. Sneha participated in Dr. Timothy Mossman's non-credit course Academic Grammar and Writing for Multilingual Learners during the Fall 2018 semester. 

In this submission to the SLC Multilingual Story Hub, Dr. Jean-François Bruxelle explores the elements that shape his own French identity, and realizes that he "is French not only because [he] was born in France and grew up in France, but also because [he] expresses [his] French culture and that his attitude corresponds to an external definition of 'being French.'"  

Dr. Jean-François Bruxelle holds a postdoc at SFU and participated in Dr. Timothy Mossman's non-credit course Academic Grammar and Writing for Multilingual Learners during the Fall 2018 semester.