Dr. Joy Wingersky
Dr. Joy Wingersky began her teaching career in 1994 at Dysart High School in the English Department where she taught English, speech, and drama. Two years later, she also taught GED classess for the Migrant Opportunity Program. Because of these experiences, she has become an advocate for adult learners, including returning students, developmental students, and international students. In 1981, she and two other faculty members were awarded Innovator of the Year for their teaching approach with developmental students. She has dedicated her teaching career to helping students reach their potential by building confidence in their ability to succeed in college. She has co-authored two textbooks, Writing Sentences and Paragraphs and Writing Paragraphs and Essays, that are intended to help students become successful in gaining the skills they need to attain college-level English skills. In 2000, she became interested in the Multiple Intelligences/Learning for Undestanding Program (MI/LfU) at GCC after her son took a course with Dr. Díaz-Lefebvre, the creator of MI/LfU. This approach focuses on each student's potential to demonstrate his or her knowledge of English and understand what they are learning rather than just memorize rules. Therefore, for the past four semesters, Dr. Wingersky has incorporated MI/LfU into her English developmental writing classes. During this time, she has found that when students are held accountable for their own learning, many students take the challenge and realize their own potential for learning.
Joy will be presenting the session, "Teaching Basic Grammar and Writing by Tapping Students' Creativity and Imagination."