Laura Maria Tobias (nee Seijas)
ado3e7@r.postjobfree.com
Holly, MI. 48442
HIGHLIGHTS
Expertise with teaching writing, and specialization in the theories and methods of the field of Composition and working with urban populations. ESL teaching experience. Online teaching experience. Administrative experience. Interviewing experience.
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
Native speaker of Spanish
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Public speaking
Met language requirement of two
Phd Programs, Spanish and French
Work with diverse student body
Informal counseling
Familiar with institutional social injustice concepts and theories
Advocate for minority, traditionally underserved, students
ESL teaching experience
Experience teaching Spanish
Graduate coursework in Rhetoric, Composition, English Grammar,
Linguistics, Psycholinguistics of Second Language Acquisition, Pragmatics,
Sociolinguistics, Reading, Spanish Literature
Writing Center experience
Evaluating colleagues
Interviewing
Blackboard Learning Management System and online teaching
Curriculum design World Instructional Design Systems (WIDS)
Grant writing experience
Experiential learning training
Experience with translation (English/Spanish)
MSWord, MSPowerpoint
Google tools
Weebly
Jing
Techsmith Relay
EDUCATION
No degree. University of Southern California (1983-1985) and Wayne State University (2006): 19 graduate credit hours in Rhetoric, Composition and Linguistics
M.A., English Language and Literature, The University of Michigan, 1981 (Master’s Thesis: Jorge Luis Borges and the Literature of Satire), with honors.
B.A., English, The University of Michigan-Flint, 1979, with high honors.
TEACHING
English Language Institute, The University of Michigan, Itinerant Lecturer, (Summer, 2008) Prepared lessons, assignments, lectured, assessed writing, participated in coordinating meetings, met individually with, attended social events for, attended to cultural adjustment of newly arrived graduate international students in interdisciplinary, theme based, English for Academic Purposes program.
Mott Community College, Professor of English, Emerita (September, 1987 – August, 2019) For undergraduate and developmental courses in two-year community college, compose syllabi, select instructional materials, write essay assignments, informational handouts; compose rubrics for assessment of essays and reading responses; respond in writing and in conference to writing in progress to help students revise drafts; write daily lesson plans, design and compose guidelines for, collaborative learning activities and other student-centered classroom activities. Evaluate writing. Assess effectiveness of courses.
Teach 4 sections per semester of Developmental English and English Composition; less often, Honors English Composition, Technical Writing (online), Poetry, Creative Writing, English as a Second Language, Spanish, American Black Literature, Literature of Western Civilization, Part II.
Work in Writing Center.
Conduct self-assessments.
Participate in professional development activities.
Conduct classroom research for specific ends.
Participate in service learning activities.
Serve on committees, including interviewing and evaluating committees.
Establish and maintain professional relationships.
Keep up with current work in field
Attend professional conferences.
University of Michigan-Flint, Writing Consultant(1989) Taught composition and rhetoric by commenting on their papers and meeting in individual conferences with MBA students at the University of Michigan – Flint.
University of Southern California, Graduate Assistant, (1983 – 1985) Taught in Freshman Writing Program as part of degree requirement. Classes consisted of students at 3 different levels, the equivalent of MCC’s 099, 101 and 102 courses. Worked in Writing Center tutoring undergraduate and graduate students, mostly international and also in Model Literacy Project, a collaboration between USC and the California Conservation Corps in Los Angeles where co-taught English as s Second Language to recently arrived immigrants and other, mostly impoverished students. Created materials, facilitated student writing, met individually with students.
University of California, Santa Cruz, Language Tutor (Summer, 1983) Taught Spanish as a live-in tutor in a foreign language immersion program; coordinated entertainment activities, some classroom teaching
University of Michigan-Flint, Writing Center Tutor (1977 – 1979) Taught writing in UofM-Flint Writing Lab.
ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMITTEE AND SERVICE WORK
Coordinator, Developmental English and Accelerated Learning Program, Mott Community College, 2017 – 2019
Developmental Education Steering Committee, Mott Community College, 2017 – 2019
Academic Literacy Program Committee, Mott Community College, 2016 – 2019
Closing the Achievement Gap Committee, Mott Community College, 2017
Teaching with Technology Mini-Conference, Mott Community College, 2017
Service Learning Projects with Mott Community College Basic Writing students and two senior centers in Flint, 2015, 2016
Instructors as Writers, Mott Community College, 2011 - 2015
Camp Creative Expression, Mott Community College, Director, 2006, 2007, 2008 (co-director)
English Department, Mott Community College Experiential Learning Expo, Presenter, 2006
English Department, Mott Community College, peer evaluator and sometime mentor, 1997 – 2019
Evaluate final essay exams for other instructors’ ENGL-099 students, Developmental English Program, Mott Community College, 1990 - 2012
Developmental English Committee, Mott Community College, 1989 – 2019
Academic Computing Committee, Mott Community College, 2012 – 2017
English Department, Mott Community College, Instructor, Speak Up! Flint Area High School Writers' Workshop, 2006
Developmental English, Mott Community College, Service Learning activity for Basic Writing students in conjunction with 5th and 6th grade classes at Garfield Elementary School, 2006
General Education Requirements, Writing Across the Curriculum subcommittee, Mott Community College
Humanities Division, Appointments (Hiring) Committee, Mott Community College, 1997-1999, 2004, 2019.
English Department, Mott Community College, Interim Coordinator, Winter, 2004
Humanities Division, Mott Community College, Travel Committee 1990 – 2003
RESEARCH
Data collection for Program Review, Developmental English and Accelerated Learning Program, 2014 – 2019.
Success of Accelerated Learning Program, Mott Community College for presentation at Michigan Student Success Summit, E. Lansing, MI (2019)
Self-sponsored research, Rhetoric, Composition and Linguistics (1987 – 2019)
Awarded Sabbatical Leave, Mott Community College (2001), performed needs assessment and designed in WIDS a new course in Grammar and Introductory Linguistics to be offered in the Fall of 2002. Course equivalency with UM-Flint’s ENG/LIN 200, The Structure of English
Innovation in Teaching Award, African-American English and Grammar Instruction in Comp I (2017)
Conducted interviews with, and closely examined the sequence of drafts of several students enrolled in a Developmental English class in order to prepare for a panel presentation on “Teaching Written Response So Students Can Successfully Share Their Strengths and Improve Their Writing Assignments” (L.A.N.D. (Liberal Arts Network for Development), 13th Annual Conference Feb. 18-20, 1998).
Conducted research for Developmental English Program creators on the desirability of including a Sentence Combining exam with the final essay exam in English 099 instead of a straight grammar exam, Basic Writing (1989) The exam was adopted.
Primary source research in archives for articles in University of Michigan – Flint’s Alumni Newsletter (1989)
Research towards understanding students’ perceptions of instructor feedback, Rhetoric, Linguistics and Literature Program, USC (1984)
Primary source research in archives of Governor Henry Crapo’s personal letters (1978)
EMPLOYMENT
University of Michigan, College of Literature, Science and the Arts, English Language Institute, Itinerant Lecturer in English for Academic Purposes (Graduate), Summer 2008.
C. S. Mott Community College, Professor of English, 1987 – 2019.
Dr. Roy Barnes, Dept. of Sociology, UofM-Flint, Editor for Manuscript based on Dissertation, 1999.
University of Michigan, Flint, MBA Program, Writing Consultant, 1989.
City and County of San Francisco, Secretary II (Port of San Francisco and Public Utilities Commission), 1985 – 1987.
University of Southern California, Assistant Lecturer of Composition, 1983 – 1985.
University of California – Santa Cruz, Summer Language Institute, Spanish Tutor (live-in), Summer 1983
Norton, Hambleton Associates, Ltd., Mining Engineers, Ann Arbor, MI, Secretary – 1981-1983
The Gaslight Inn, Flint, MI, Assistant Manager for Catering, including Buick Open V.I.P. Tents Catering, 1979 - 1981
HONORS AND AWARDS
Mott Community College, recipient, Innovation in Teaching Award (2017)
Invited to read poetry, Good Beans Café, Flint (2001)
Mott Community College, co-recipient, Innovation in Teaching Award (1995)
Invited to read poetry, Buckham Gallery, Flint (1994)
Omega Institute (Poetry), selective admissions (1994)
Drawing exhibited in Student Art Show, Mott Community College (1993)
University of Southern California, fellowship and stipend (1983 -1985)
Horace Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan, full fellowship and stipend (1980 – 1981)
Invited to tea with Mrs. Ruth Rawlings Mott to discuss research on Henry Crapo (1978)
Michigan Competitive Scholarship (1976 – 1979)
Merit Scholarship (1976 – 1979)
CERTIFICATIONS
ETOM and Distance Learning, Mott Community College, Online Teaching Certification Course, 2018.
Reading Apprenticeship. 6-week online course, Summer, 2013.
ETOM and Distance Learning, Mott Community College, Online Teaching Certification Course, 2008.
WIDS (World Instructional Design Systems) Coach Training and Certification, 2000.
TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) Summer Academies, 2001, 2002, “Using Want Ads to Teach Targeted Grammatical Constructions” and “Teaching Grammar in the Context of Realia.”
Beginning Blackboard, Blackboard, Inc. 2001.
PUBLICATIONS
Anderson, James E., Ellen M. Bommarito, and Laura Seijas. “Writing Center Tutors Speak Out: An Argument for Peer Tutoring as Teacher Training.” Improving Writing Skills. Ed. Thom Hawkins and Phyllis Brooks. New Directions for College Learning Assistance 3. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1981.
The Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936-1937: Witnesses and Warriors, ed. Jan McFarlane. Translated into Spanish by Carol Bueno-O’Donnell, Co-translated by Laura Tobias. Flint: Mott Community College, 1998.
REFERENCES
Todd Troutman, Dean of Math and Science (former interim Dean of Humanities), Mott Community College, Flint, MI. Phone: 810-***-****, email: ado3e7@r.postjobfree.com
Dr. Joshua Sauvie, former interim Dean of Humanities, Mott Community College, Flint, MI. Phone: 810-***-****, email: ado3e7@r.postjobfree.com
Dr. Michele Dunnum, Coordinator, English Composition, Mott Community College, Flint, MI. Phone: 810-***-****, email: ado3e7@r.postjobfree.com