Third and fourth observations

Observation Three

On Sept. 15 at 12 p.m., I observed my first non-ESL student consultation that was very different from my first two observations. The consultant immediately established a rapport and colloquial discourse with the client, who was a freshman writing a paper for the first time. The dialogue was aggressive, in-depth, and filled with prompting questions that I feel were very appropriate to the situation. Had it been an ESL student, particular terminology and modern pop culture references would have not had an impact on the way the writer was conceptualizing the paper. I have found this incredibly important to understand who your client is, where he or she is coming from, in which stage of the writing process he or she is, and what the professor expects of them.

The client had an assignment sheet, which I also found incredibly helpful. I was told these are required but the client doesn't always bring them -- they seem essential to clearly defining what the professor is expecting and what risks the student writer can take while staying inside the context of the classroom's discourse.

The consultant had her read it out loud, something continually proving itself key in giving the writer confidence and appropriate vulnerability to constructive criticism, as he or she is more inclined to critique his or herself. The consultant explained the benefits of reading out loud, which helped the reader understand the Writing Center process better. I liked the phrases the consultant used: He didn't always reinforce the positive, as my previous observations demonstrated, but he never used negative language.

"What are you trying to say here?"

"Are there places you want to build on?"

"Show me. Tell me why."

The consultant was constantly engaged with the client -- their relationship seemed critical in the development of her papers. The client was unsure of herself and her writing, as many freshman are with first-time papers, and the consultant reminded her of this: We've all been there. We've all written our first paper, and we've all made the same mistakes. This is an excellent place to start, and you took initiative in getting help and making this better.

This consultation session was considerably more aggressive than the first two, but I attribute a lot of that to the situation and nature of the client, factors a consultant must always take into account to connect in the best way possible to him or her.

Observation Four

My fourth observation on Sept. 15 at 1 p.m. was the shortest so far with a unique paper genre -- a memo. It was very short, but the consultant focused on the content to a point where the client was expounding on each sentence very specifically, and in such rare cases, one must do so.

What I liked about this session is that the consultant first asked if the client had ever been to the center, to which he replied no -- she then went through standard WC procedures, how they would approach his piece, which steps they would take to make it better together. These seem like very important details to provide to first-time clients.

The client didn't talk much, especially after the consultant asked open-ended questions, so there were chunks of silence throughout that seem inevitable with such a short assignment.

What else did I take from that session? No paper or piece of writing is too short to develop and improve.