Boot Camps and Group Workshops

Welcome

Wow’s College Essay Boot Camp curriculum covers all the elements of a college essay class that work well in a group, from parsing prompts to writing first drafts. This course will prepare you to run your own college essay workshop, either in person or online. It includes:

Leader’s guide for a 4-hour workshop
Student worksheets
Webinar with tips to modify the curriculum for a remote, online workshop
Timing suggestions to use the curriculum in a variety of settings and situations
Slide template

The course includes four lessons of 1-2 hours each:

Lesson 1: Boot Camp Overview: Download the leader’s guide and worksheets, then review them to familiarize yourself with the structure and flow. (2 hours)
Lesson 2: Consider Your Options: Watch the video and refer back to the course materials and the timing options. (2 hours)
Lesson 3: Plan and Prepare: Answer a series of questions, to reflect on what you read and heard in the first two lessons. (1 hour)
Run your workshop!
Lesson 4: Reflect and Refine: Answer another series of questions, to reflect on what worked, what didn’t and why. (1 hour)

You will have access to this course for 6 months, so be sure to download all the materials and watch the webinar in lesson 2 before then.

Lesson 1: Boot Camp Overview

Time commitment: 2 hours

Download the workshop materials below.

Save them somewhere you can find them easily. Read through the leader’s guide and student worksheets side-by-side. Mark sections that seem straightforward to you; mark others that may require some practice or preparation. In the next lesson, you will consider timing options and review a slide template, along with a webinar that suggests ways to turn this in-person curriculum into an online workshop.

Time commitment: 2 hours

Group Workshop – Student Worksheets

Last Update: July 28, 2022

Student handouts/worksheets for Wow's group workshop curriculum.

Group Workshop – Leader’s Guide

Last Update: July 28, 2022

Leader's Guide for Wow's group workshop curriculum.

Lesson 2: Consider Your Options

Time commitment: 2 hours

Download the timing options and slide template:

Group Workshop – Timing Options

Last Update: July 28, 2022

A variety of timing strategies for Wow's group workshop curriculum.

Group Workshop – Slide Template

Last Update: July 28, 2022

Slide template for Wow's group workshop curriculum.

Watch this video for tips on running a virtual workshop. The video was recorded at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, when many people were trying to figure out how to move their in-person workshops online.

Lesson 3: Plan and Prepare

Time commitment: 1 hour

After you’ve reviewed all of the boot camp materials from the previous two lessons (leader’s guide, student worksheets, timing options, slide template and online workshop webinar), answer these questions to help you prepare for your own workshop.

Keep the boot camp materials handy while you answer the questions – either open them on your desktop or print them out. When you are done, you will receive a copy of your responses by email.

Boot Camp Course: Plan and Prepare