Views from the Trail: SSWCA & CUWP 2025

March 21-22, 2025
Brigham Young University (Provo, UT) & Online
DEADLINE EXTENDED: Proposals are now due Friday, November 1, 2024

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Guiding Questions for your Proposal

In addition to what is included on the CFP, consider using the questions below for inspiration and guidance as you think about your own experience “on the trail.” You are welcome to propose ideas beyond what is suggested below.

• What new views or perspectives have you gained through working with individual students, building your center, or starting new writing instruction? What trails led you there?
• How does the unique cultural context of your school or center offer you a unique view of writing or writing instruction?
• What trails have converged or diverged to lead you to where you find yourself now? Which have led you astray and which have planted you firmly back on a path? What has gotten in the way of your center’s trail and what has cleared it? How have you found this trail and mapped out your center’s plans, initiatives, and goals?
• In what ways have you used a view and/or vision to motivate your work?
• What shifts when we view the growth of a tutor or writer as a winding path where challenges are faced yet resources can be shared to make it to the next summit or rest stop? You might also reflect on the topography or terrain of a tutoring session and the ways we might adapt or adjust to meet the goals of that student.
• Who are your program/center “trail guides”, and how do you train them to lead? How do you foster leadership qualities among writers/tutors and allow for new trail guides to emerge?
• How do you visualize ambitious goals but also recognize when a goal needs to be adjusted?
• How do you encourage tutors and teachers to reflect on their progress in their own professional practices? To what extent do they share these views/reflections with others? How have you encouraged these reflective or collaborative practices at your school?
• What resources or guiding principles do you turn to when embarking on a new initiative in your center or classroom?
• All centers have a mission or vision. Describe your pathway for determining yours. How did you map your specific plans to align with this broader mission, or your broader view of learning/writing
• When were times you needed to seek an alternate trail due to unexpected challenges in your classroom or center? How did you manage that?
• As you think about the trail ahead for you (graduating, opening a new writing center, transitioning to online or a learning center, publishing, modifying a writing curriculum, working as a teacher leader, etc.), how do you anticipate your views might shift? How might your previous views or experiences be helpful in this new role?
• How do you create a supportive learning path/trail for all types of learners and their unique views How do you train others (tutors, teachers, etc.) to do this?
• How do you intersect with outside partners in your larger school or community? How do you allow for a “rest stop” reflection on how these collaborations are going?
• Considering the negative and positive influence of AI writing technology, how have you navigated students’ views of this technology as it relates to their writing? How might we continue to encourage students to find their own voice for expressing their views?
• How do you view your center’s progress towards encouraging social justice and equality in your center and your school? What resources have been helpful as you chart that path?
• How do you encourage others or yourself to engage in the full writing process, and be open to the unpredictable and recursive nature of revision and learning?
• What innovative writing instruction methods should K-12 teachers and SSWCA tutors/directors know about? 
• How might writing centers better partner with classroom teachers (and vice versa) to enact meaningful writing practices schoolwide?
• How might mindfulness practices help teachers, students, and writing tutors as they navigate their path as writers and supporters of others’ writing?
• (For all-subject tutoring centers) What strategies do you use to help students across content areas? How do you ensure that the pairings between tutor and student allow for connection and growth as they navigate the terrain of that tutoring session?
• (For directors) When it comes to writing program/center administration, what knowledge have you gained that you wish you knew years ago? How did you learn it? How might you translate that for others in similar roles?
• (For university tutors) What skills and abilities from secondary or university writing or tutoring have impacted your “views on the trail” at college?
• (For Writing Project Teacher Leaders) What innovative writing instruction methods should SSWCA tutors/directors know about? How might we better partner with classroom teachers to enact meaningful writing practices schoolwide?
• (For Writing Project Teacher Leaders) How might writing be utilized as a reflective tool for viewing oneself or one’s learning in a new way? What are the benefits to teachers/tutors/directors seeing themselves as writers? What activities or structures might introduce these ideas to individuals who do not view themselves as writers?