Institutional and Direct Care Course Descriptions

Index to Course Descriptions

The six writing courses below can be taken in any sequence or combination based on your individual or institutional needs.

• Grammar and Punctuation
• Organizing Your Writing
• Practical Proofreading
• Writing Reports & Evaluations
• Writing for Clarity
• Writing for Your Audience

Grammar and Punctuation – One-Half Day

This course is an introduction to the basics of grammar and punctuation. Participants will learn how to:

• Identify parts of speech
• Identify parts of a sentence
• Recognize common grammatical errors
• Use standard punctuation [Return to Index]

Organizing Your Writing – One-Half Day

This course will help participants improve the organization of their writing. Participants will recognize the importance of organizing their thoughts before they begin to write and writing with their readers in mind. Participants will learn how to:

• Focus their writing directly on the topic
• Use appropriate tone for audience and subject matter
• Employ writing techniques such as outlining and bulleting
• Improve editing skills [Return to Index]

Practical Proofreading – One-Half Day

This course will help participants to apply basic proofreading techniques to their work-related writing. Participants will learn how to:

• Describe methods and use tools for proofreading written material
• Identify and correct common types of proofreading errors (misused words, spelling)
• Use standard proofreaders' notations
• Employ the proper use of capitalization, abbreviation, and hyphenation [Return to Index]
  

Writing Reports & Evaluations – One-Half Day

This course will help participants learn how to write various types of brief reports and evaluations. Actual forms and reports generally familiar to direct care workers will be used in the class. Participants will learn how to:

• Organize their thoughts prior to writing
• Base writing on observable facts rather than opinions
• Focus writing on relevant information only
• Improve the clarity and readability of their writing
• Present a professional image in their writing [Return to Index]

Writing for Clarity – One-Half Day

This course addresses the three stages of the writing process: planning, writing, and revising. Participants will learn how to:

• Use various techniques to plan and organize their writing
• Write clear, concise, and interesting sentences
• Write coherent, well constructed, and focused paragraphs
• Revise documents for logic, clarity, and correctness [Return to Index]

Writing for Your Audience – One-Half Day
This course will address two basic questions that all writers should consider: who is my audience and what is my purpose for writing? Participants will recognize how the answers to these questions affect the tone, word choice, and organization of their writing. Participants will learn how to:

• Define the purpose of the writing assignment
• Select the appropriate writing format
• Identify the audience and choose the appropriate tone
• Build meaningful transitions and properly connect ideas [Return to Index]