Poet Cecily Nicholson will take up virtual residence at the University of Windsor for a month-long term as writer-in-residence beginning Feb. 22.

Nicholson is the author of the poetry books Triage and From the Poplars, winner of the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Her most recent work, Wayside Sang, which considers the trajectories of her birth father and his labour in the Windsor-Detroit area, won the 2018 Governor General’s Literary Award for English-language poetry.

She works in education and public engagement at the Surrey Art Gallery and serves on the Research Ethics Board for Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Nicholson holds a Masters degree in international peace studies from the University of Notre Dame. Read her essays online: “The Quality of Light” at the Poetry Foundation and “The Cheeky Proletariat” at Canadian Art.

During her UWindsor residency, she will be available to the campus and Windsor communities for one-on-one creative writing consultations. To arrange for a manuscript consultation, email up to 10 pages of your creative writing and state three preferred dates and times one week from the submission date to English department secretary April Morris at April.Morris@uwindsor.ca.

If you are an educator and wish to invite Nicholson to your class, contact professor Louis Cabri at lcabri@uwindsor.ca.

Nicholson will conduct a public online reading from her work as her inaugural activity as UWindsor writer-in-residence at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22. Admission is free; log in here.

The Head Start orientation program will run on a virtual online platform over two dates this summer, reports the Student Success and Leadership Centre.

Meant to give incoming students a better understanding of what to expect before they arrive at the University of Windsor, it will be offered:

• Saturday, July 17, morning
• Thursday, Aug. 12, early evening

Attendees will learn about some of the major differences between high school and university, discover ways to get involved on campus, connect with academic advisors, explore life as a Lancer, and much more — all from the comfort of their own homes.

The August date will include programming aimed at mature, transfer, and part-time students in addition to that directed at students coming directly from secondary school.

Attendees will qualify for a $1,500 tuition draw and be able to pick a swag pack when they reach campus this fall. Registration will open soon. Find more information on the Head Start website.

Non-academic units wishing to have a presence at the virtual resources fair should submit an application form.

James Oloo joined the University of Windsor last summer as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education.

He taught three classes during the Fall 2020 semester, including two parts of the “Foundations of Practice” and “Practicum Advising.”

His foundations courses focus on law and ethics within teaching. Dr. Oloo started by sharing news articles about teachers in trouble because of allegations of unethical or illegal acts — prosecuted in a court of law or disciplined by the Ontario College of Teachers. It is important that teacher candidates are aware that these cases do occur, he emphasizes.

The online course focuses on real-life instances where law and ethics issues have arisen in the school setting.

Much of the class is discussion-based as guided by the text, A Canadian Case Book for Law and Ethics in Teaching. It allows students to put forward their experiences of ethics in their own classrooms as students or teachers, as well as their views on the topics being addressed.

This is done through breakout rooms in Blackboard Collaborate, and while Oloo says it is mostly successful, he regrets the limited interaction with the instructor and peers and the technical challenges, such as maintaining an internet connection.

Oloo’s practicum advising course has required far more adaptation.

Normally, the class has two components: advisory group instruction and field experience. The latter involves placement of teacher candidates in Windsor-Essex Area schools for a five-week internship experience.

While some in-classroom placements are still possible, the options are limited by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Faculty of Education, in consultation with the Ontario College of Teachers, ensured that all the teacher candidates had practicum placement experience that will count towards their teacher certification.

—Bridget Heuvel

Similar to other Microsoft applications, using pins in Teams allows you to keep frequently used items at your fingertips.

Watch Information Technology Services team member Laney McVeity as she demonstrates how to pin files and applications in Teams this 102-second Tech Talk video.

Tech Talk is a presentation of IT Services. More Tech Talks are available at www.uwindsor.ca/its/tech-talk.

Lancer Gaming will meet Rochester Institute of Technology in League of Legends action Saturday, Feb. 13, at 3 p.m. The match-up will be streamed live through Lancer Gaming's Twitch channel: Twitch.TV/UWINLancerGaming.

Fans can follow Lancer Gaming online through Twitter (@UWLancerGaming) and Instagram (Instagram.com/lancergamingca).

Find more information about the esports program at UWindsor.ca/LancerGaming.