WINTER 2010 WORKSHOPS

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Registration is required. To register for a workshop, click its “Sign Up” link. All workshops will be held at 826michigan unless specified otherwise.

Things to know about the Winter 2010 Workshop Schedule:

1. Each student can only sign up for TWO workshops per semester.
   
   
2. Yes, we are strict on ages.
   
   
3. Workshops are so stellar, so spectacular, so amazing that they fill up quickly. Please give us at least 48 hours to confirm your registration. If after 48 hours you haven't heard from us, feel free to call or send an email.
   
   
4. A sad reminder: the fact that you have filled out the registration form does not mean that you are "in" the workshop until you get a confirmation email from us. Remember all that stuff about how quickly workshops fill up? Sometimes they fill up while we are looking the other way, and we are unable to immediately change the status to "waitlist." (See #3.)
   
   
5. When you get your confirmation email, write down the workshops you have gotten into on your calendar! It makes us feel sadder than almost anything when students sign up for workshops and then don't show.
   
   
6. We love feedback! Let us know what you think of the schedule. Send an email to amy@826michigan.org to let us know what’s working for you and what isn’t!

Volunteers: If you would like to volunteer to help with a workshop, click on that workshop’s “Sign Up” link and then follow the “Volunteer” link in the yellow box on the upper right side of the page.

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This workshop is a drop-in program, so no pre-registration is necessary: just come whenever you can!

826michigan is proud to offer a new workshop series especially designed for English Language Learners between the ages of 6 and 18! A team of knowledgeable, passionate volunteers are working hard to create a fun and creative atmosphere for kids to learn and practice new English skills. The students will participate in activities designed to improve their pronunciation, grammar, and conversational skills in individual or group settings. This workshop is most suitable for beginning or intermediate ELL students.

Eric Canosa is an English teacher. During his student teaching, people called him Mr. Canosa and that wasn't so great. He went to China to teach English for the WorldTeach program through Harvard's Center for International Development. People there called him Teacher Eric and he liked that much better. Later, Teacher Eric taught Teen English classes for University of Michigan Family Housing. He liked that, too. Now he's at 826michigan to teach English with you!

Drop-in Writing Time!
Taught by 826michigan volunteers & interns
Ages 8-18
Monday nights, 6-7pm, starting January 25, 2010, running through March 29, 2010 (no sessions February 22 and March 1)

This workshop is a drop-in program, so no pre-registration is necessary: just come whenever you can!

Writing is not all five-paragraph essays! Writing can just be a good way to express your creativity and pass time. In this ongoing, drop-in program, we invite you to join our mad scientists every week to sharpen your creativity and skill with a variety of fun, informal writing exercises, including exquisite corpses, story starters, and a healthy dose of hilarity.

Hero Dogs of History: Rats the Soldier Dog
Taught by Matt Miller
Ages 10-14, 15 students
Thursday, January 21, 2010: 6-7:30pm

Matt's last few Hero Dogs workshops were so successful, he's come up with another one! In this workshop, we'll read stories and discuss the history of Rats, a dog soldier who served with the British Army in Northern Ireland. We'll write our own stories, and maybe even illustrate them, and share what we wrote.

Matt Miller is a history student at UM writing his senior honors thesis on climate change in the Middle Ages. He hopes to teach in Asia next year and plans on bringing his stories of heroic dogs with him.

Winter Woof-erland
Taught by Mary Roderique and Colby
Ages 6-8, 12 students
Saturday, January 23, 2010: 1-3pm

Dogs. Winter. Stories about dogs IN winter! It's a winter woof-erland!

Come for a shared storytelling session with Colby, a Canine Assistants Service Dog, and also write your own winter dog story! We will talk about how writers can plan stories before they tell them.

All writers will be encouraged to pet Colby for inspiration!

After working as a classroom teacher in New York City and Bloomington, IN, Mary Roderique moved to Ann Arbor for the desirable weather conditions. She works as a Writing Workshop Consultant for teachers in Michigan and Indiana and also works with Colby the Service Dog to lead a Canine Assistants' National Volunteer program, Noah's Team of Ann Arbor. Mary, her husband Blaine, son Francis, daughter Claudia, and the ever-charming Princess Coco-bean enjoy snowshoeing and Thai cuisine — though not at the same time. When not thinking about 826 workshops, Mary can be found supporting local cupcake establishments.

This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.

Poetry Passport
Taught by Rachel Feder
Ages 11-14, 15 students
Thursdays: January 28, February 4, 11, 18, 2010 (four sessions): 6-7pm

In this workshop, we'll try out poetic forms from all over (haiku! sestina! wahoo!). We'll also think about the relationship between place and poetry and experiment with creating our own forms. Jump on board!

Rachel Feder is spending her winter teaching, studying, reading, planning her dissertation, and trying to learn how to bake. So far, she can make chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cookies with other types of candy and things in them, and toast.

This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.

Harry Potter Spider-Man vs. The Evil Zombie Ninjas
Taught by Eric Canosa
Ages 6-8, 15 students
Wednesday, February 3, 2010: 6-7:30pm

Clearly, the Iron Man is an awesome hero because he has feet rockets. Some super-people are very easy to analyze. But what about more subtle characters like Harry Potter? Does the lightning-bolt scar indicate a hidden capacity for evil? In this workshop we will discuss such things — as well as the finer points of capes, lightning swords, and mutants. If you are a human or robot (or 1/2 and 1/2) between 6 and 8, please join us!

Eric Canosa is an intimidatingly well-educated and widely-traveled front for a nano-bot bootlegging ring. He can see atoms and perform hexadecimal calculations. It is widely whispered that his ancestry can be traced back to the very first abacus. If none of these things impress you, he is also a passionate professional educator and creative writer! Some claim that if you listen very closely at just the right moment, you can actually hear his gears spinning.

This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.

Valenpup Poems!
Taught by Mary Roderique and Colby
Ages 6-10, 18 students
Saturday, February 6, 2010: 1-2:30pm

Come make a valentine poem for someone YOU love! Colby, a Canine Assistants Service Dog, will help share her knack for poetry, being lovey-dovey, and valentine cards to help you craft a poem of your own. Colby will be available to look over your poems. Bring a mailing address (and return address) if you prefer to mail your valentine; Colby will donate the stamps and paw-deliver to the mailbox!

After working as a classroom teacher in New York City and Bloomington, IN, Mary Roderique moved to Ann Arbor for the desirable weather conditions. She works as a Writing Workshop Consultant for teachers in Michigan and Indiana and also works with Colby the Service Dog to lead a Canine Assistants' National Volunteer program, Noah's Team of Ann Arbor. Mary, her husband Blaine, son Francis, daughter Claudia, and the ever-charming Princess Coco-bean enjoy snowshoeing and Thai cuisine — though not at the same time. When not thinking about 826 workshops, Mary can be found supporting local cupcake establishments.

This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.

Poetry off the Page: Turning Objects into Poetry
Taught by Jessica Morton and Katherine Fisher
Ages 10-14, 10 students
Tuesday, February 9, 2010: 6-7:30pm

It's easy to think about a poem being on a page. Or being read aloud. What about walking through a forest and seeing a single word engraved on a tree? That's a poem too, and it's the sort that Scottish poet Ian Hamilton Finlay (littlesparta.co.uk) was famous for. In this workshop, we're going to think about Finlay's approach to poetry and how it can be that just one particularly apt word or phrase, engraved on an object, can create meaning and beauty. Then we'll each make a poem like this by etching glass. Your poems will be an art exhibit at 826michigan following the workshop, and after every Ann Arborite has had ample opportunity to admire your work, you'll get to keep it.

Jessica Morton is a second-year PhD student in English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan. She likes campaigning for the recognition of under-appreciated artists, starting ineffably large projects, and discovering poetry in random places (like carved into trees).

Katherine Fisher is also a second-year PhD student in the same program. She likes collections (especially poetry collections), robot choirs, and contemplating the alternative career path of spy.

This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.

Choose Your Own Adventure
Taught by Eric Canosa
Ages 8-10, 15 students
Wednesday, February 10, 2010: 6-7:30pm

Reading is an adventure. If you agree with that statement, this workshop is TOTALLY for you! If you do not agree with that statement, this workshop is EVEN MORE TOTALLY for you. We'll talk about all the different kinds of books there are — and if you don't like reading, trust me, it's only because you haven't found the right book! We'll also talk about how to get your grubby robot claws on the book of your dreams. Are you a Homo sapiens sapiens between eight and ten? Some other species of the same age? Don't miss this stops-pulled-out thrill ride through the universe of books!

Eric Canosa is an intimidatingly well-educated and widely-traveled front for a nano-bot bootlegging ring. He can see atoms and perform hexadecimal calculations. It is widely whispered that his ancestry can be traced back to the very first abacus. If none of these things impress you, he is also a passionate professional educator and creative writer! Some claim that if you listen very closely at just the right moment, you can actually hear his gears spinning.

This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.

Someone's In the Worm
Taught by Scott Beal
Ages 6-9, 15 students
Tuesday, March 2, 2010: 6-7:30pm

One of our favorite poems ends with these lines:

"I knock at the stone's front door.
"It's only me, let me come in."
"I don't have a door," says the stone.

It's true. There are places we can't get into. You can't jump into a living tree, or a wolf, or a worm, and see what the world looks like from in there. That is, unless you are a poet. In this workshop we'll become other things — plants and animals — and write their stories for them.

Before he began teaching workshops for 826michigan, Scott worked as an envelope, a red plastic swing, and as a night watchman for a brigade of Mallett's Creek field mice.

This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.

Writing Funny Short Stories
Taught by Jonathan Schwartz
Ages 9-11, 15 students
Wednesdays: March 3, 10, 17, 2010 (3 sessions): 6-7:30pm

In this three-session workshop, we'll write funny stories. Some say it's difficult to be funny in writing, but I say it's easy to be funny if you don't have to be funny for a long time. So, with that in mind, we'll keep our stories short. Before you sign up for this workshop, the question you need to ask yourself is "Do I think I'm funny?" If so, come on in. If not, come anyway. We'll spend our first two sessions writing. On our third and final session, we'll edit our stories and perform them for the crowd (which will be made up of us and your parents.) All genres welcome — realistic fiction, science fiction, historical fiction, detective fiction, fantasy, tall tales, and so on.

Jonathan Schwartz received an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College in Boston, where he wrote a few tall tales of his own. He just graduated from U of M with a masters in Education. In the past, he taught third grade in New York City, worked briefly as a line cook in a breakfast joint, on the assembly line of a candle factory, for a life insurance company, and as a vacation club salesman.

This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.

Visions of the Universe
Taught by Eric Canosa
Ages 11-14, 15 students
Tuesday, March 9, 2010: 6-7:30pm

Warning: this workshop is intended for space aficionados, aspiring post-humanists, and those who like to wonder what the future will be like... or individuals who can maintain civil attitudes toward such people. We'll be examining just what it is that makes the sci-fi genre so awesome, compelling, and fun! Boba Fett will be at least marginally involved. Mark this one on your calendar if you are between 11 and 14 and want to represent Hard (SF) Core!

Eric Canosa is an intimidatingly well-educated and widely-traveled front for a nano-bot bootlegging ring. He can see atoms and perform hexadecimal calculations. It is widely whispered that his ancestry can be traced back to the very first abacus. If none of these things impress you, he is also a passionate professional educator and creative writer! Some claim that if you listen very closely at just the right moment, you can actually hear his gears spinning.

This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.

Teen Ink
Taught by Lara Zielin
Ages 14-18, 15 students
Thursday, March 11, 2010: 6-7:30

Teens, do you have a poem, story, or even a novel that you want to share with the world? But do you wonder how you go about getting something published? Never fear! Author Lara Zielin has tips and tricks for teens who want to take the first steps toward getting their work into the public eye. From figuring out the right market to contacting editors to avoiding publishing scams, Lara has the right road map for young writers using examples from her own writing journey.

Lara Zielin is the author of the young-adult novel Donut Days and the nonfiction book on networking for teens, Make Things Happen. She lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where she is hard at work on her next novel, Promgate.

PJ Day!
Taught by the Downtownerz
Ages 6-8, 15 students
Friday, March 12, 2010: 6-7:30pm

How can you NOT want to take a workshop that was thought up by a six year old? PJ Day, the brainchild of Chloe D, is brought to you by the Downtownerz. It has three important parts: 1. Participants will come in their pajamas (non-pajama-wearers will not be admitted), 2. Participants will write bedtime stories, and 3. Participants will lay around at the end of the workshop and read their stories to one another.

What kind of story do you like to hear when you put on your comfiest jammys? The bedtime story has been around as long as the need to sleep! Join us in your favorite pair of pajamas as we explore what makes the best kind of pre-slumber recitation.

Parents are encouraged to enjoy a Friday night in downtown Ann Arbor, maybe grab a bite to eat, maybe go for a stroll, and then pick up their sleepy, ready-for-bed children.

The Downtownerz are an 826michigan super group consisting of 826michigan robotiers Tyler Brubaker, Jason DePasquale, and Doctor Sara Walker and 826michigan Program Director Amy Sumerton. They will also be in pajamas, and are placing bets as to which one of them will fall asleep first. They love teaching, stories, and naps. This is their attempt to combine all three.

This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.

How to Help Your Teen Prepare for College Writing
Taught by Eastern Michigan University
Ages: adults!
Thursday, March 18, 2010, 6-7:30pm

Are you a parent preparing to send a teen off to college soon? Is this prospect terrifying, for multiple reasons? We can't give you ALL the answers, but we can help prepare you for at least one aspect of it! If you’re a parent or caregiver who would like to learn more about what teens can expect to write in college and how you can help them prepare for the writing experiences that they’ll encounter there, then, this workshop is for you! Come join us as we explore a variety of activities that promote writing as well as effective ways to respond to adolescents about their writing.

This workshop will be taught by Eastern Michigan University First-Year Writing Instructors who strive to teach writing in meaningful, engaging, and thoughtful ways.

Preparing for College Writing: A Workshop for Teens
Taught by Eastern Michigan University
Ages 14-18
Thursday, March 18, 2010, 6-7:30pm

As a teen, are you wondering what college writing will be like and what you can do to get ready for it? Come join us as we talk about what it takes to be a successful writer in college, look at the CRAFT of writers, and explore a variety of fun writing activities and genres!

This workshop will be taught by Eastern Michigan University First-Year Writing Instructors who strive to teach writing in meaningful, engaging, and thoughtful ways.

Famous Lady Writers and You
Taught by Amy Wilson
Ages 14-18, 15 students
Wednesday, March 24, 2010: 6-8pm

Do you like Jane Austen? Maya Angelou? Margaret Atwood? Louisa May Alcott? These writers have something in common (besides, of course, the letter A): they are all Famous Lady Writers. Who are Famous Lady Writers? What makes them tick? What gives them their special — dare we say ineffable — brand of greatness?

In this workshop we'll take a tour of Famous Lady Writers Throughout History. We'll learn about their lives and read their work. Then we'll take a stab at a Famous Lady Writer-style story of our own.

Note: Prerequisites for this workshop include a sense of humor and willingness to write. Being a lady is NOT required. All non-ladies are invited, and encouraged, to attend.

Amy Wilson's List Of Things About Which To Be Enthusiastic is long, but Famous Lady Writers (and capital letters) are near the top. She studies at the University of Michigan and will graduate in the spring with degrees in Creative Writing and Literature and Women's Studies. Around 826michigan, she is sometimes known as "Curly."