Thursday, January 24, 2008
Observation 1/24
I initially thought that it would be an overwhelming meeting, as I am only a sophomore undergrad and one of my first experiences in a consultation. However, I have come to the conclusion that writing is writing no matter what age you are or qualifications you have. This particular client was so considerate and caring that she even asked me how I was doing during the consultation. What a huge reversal in how the relationship would be normally be oriented! I should have been asking her that question! This consultation has definitely helped calm any fears of future appointments, especially those with students that have earned higher credentials than I.
Class 01/24/08
I liked our debate in today's class.
I forgot to point this out in class.
“While student writings are texts, they are unlike other texts in one important way: the process is far more important than the product. Most "real world” writing has a goal beyond than the page; anything that can be done to that writing to make it more effective ought to be done. Student writing, on the other hand, has no real goal beyond getting it on the page. In the real world when you need to have something important written “perfectly.” You hire a professional writer; when a student hires a professional writer, it is a high crime called plagiarism."
Observation...
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Observations As Training: An Academonized Memoir
My first experience at the writing center embodied a lot of what I expected. The client was a Freshman, a Caucasian male from the Detroit suburbs who visited the writing center as encouraged by the instructor in his WRAC course. The client was examining a magazine ad from IZOD, and he was writing a summary about the appeal of the ad, in essence he was making a rhetorical analysis.
The paper he came in with was a pretty solid framework, especially given the demands of the instructor. He fulfilled most of the criteria that the instructor sought. He has minor issues with a few sentences, coma placement, and parameterization.
I felt as though myself and the Established Writing Center Consultant were helpful in showing the client what he had done right, and how his writing stronger within the context of building better writing skills.
While the above does report my experience, it does not report what I had learned from my first observation, which encompassed what I did not expect and thus what I learned. What I had observed from my consultation is that the Established Writing Consultant sat next to the client, whereas my instinct would have been to sit across from them. I think that this was an important correction in my sensibilities, as sitting next to a person denotes a more peer-to-peer experience between consultant and client. This stands in contrast to me as the consultant sitting across from the client, which might make them (or me) feel like they are seeking legal council or financial planning advice. I feel now like sitting across from a client could result in less equalizing and thus less effective dynamic, that is if the peer to peer methods are as optimal as we would believe.
Also, the first thing the More Established Peer Consultant had done was to ask the client about the goals of their assignment. I think he could have done a better job helping the client frame his expectations more clearly, but I also consider the possibility that keeping the clients expectations pliable can be more valuable for a more a more fluid consultation.
The next thing the More Established Writing Consultant had done is asked the client to read his paper out-loud as we followed along whilst reading. In my view, reading a paper out-loud is the most helpful thing that people don't do in their writing process. In my own sessions with my own clients, I would like to seek opportunities to call attention to the helpfulness of this particular exercise. I think a lot of folks have reservations about reading out loud because they aren't comfortable expressing themselves verbally, they might lack confidence in the writing, or they might just feel silly reading out-loud to themselves. In this sense I think showing clients how to read their writing out loud is a practice that the Writing Center is in a particularly good place to promote that.
Finally, I learned why Writing Center Consultants find their work rewarding. In this particular session, the client appeared to feel as though I offered him more valuable suggestions, and he expressed authentic satisfaction and gratitude for the help he received. The writing center is user focused, the user was pleased, thus I felt the institutional goals were met and as I result I felt useful. That might be a bleak and cold way to describe my experience, but that’s about as far as my rhetorical excellence goes for today.
Monday, January 21, 2008
First Writing Response Posting Goodness
I can't remember whether or not we agreed to post our reading responses on the blog, but I figured I'd do mine anyway. So here it is in its entirety. Enjoy. Or not. I won't blame you if you don't:
******************************************
Of the readings the class has indulged in so far, North's first article, “The Idea of a Writing Center”, seems the most relevant to our ongoing discussion. We have summarily dispensed with the idea that a writing center should serve only as a subsidiary for composition classes or simple skill development, but rather serve as an ingredient in a harmonious blend between client, teacher and the consultant that serves as the medium between said parts. The center, North adamantly defends, is not a dumping ground for professors to send “trouble” students for remedial review, but should reinforce an ongoing dialog with the tutor as “a holist devoted to a participant-observer methodology” (77). In this sense, the client is not simply talking to a wall or a machine with pre-programmed answers.
Of course, each center has a different philosophy. While some cling to more traditional methods, it would be unwise to disparage these older ways of doing things as simple ignorance or unwillingness to change; these more conservative centers may have good reason for their choices. After all, there are no safe answers to what a writing center's primary focus should concern: either promoting a standard discourse usable both within the student's field of study and a wider academic body at large, or maintaining individual voice and style within the work and promote a more expansive vision for what constitutes “good writing”. Clearly, both have the interest of the student in mind, but it would be inadvisable to call one superior over the other based solely on personal ideologies. North makes his position quite clear, however: “We are here to talk to writers”, not to overrule their decisions with mandated Standard Written English or outfox them with our personal arguments (79). His is the position that the client takes the lead during a session, as the choice of language and diction will ultimately be his/hers when the final draft is typed up and handed in on the due date. If this is the case, then why try to fight the client's personal choices? Of course, the tools are there, if needed. Consultants are schooled in MLA citation, rules of grammar, techniques for reading passages critically, and these are all available to the client if needed, but then and only then. Being ignorant of these rules would only serve to hurt the consulting practice in the long run; one must learn the rules before breaking them. In an ideal world, administrators would realize that writing centers are meant to serve the students who use them first, not the interests of a global academic body that seeks homogeneity throughout the academic sphere. It is our duty as consultants to remember and practice that.
******************************************
That works, I guess. See you all in class tomorrow!Observation.
I wanted to share two instances from today’s work.
First:
I sat with Katie and observed a student. We sat down with this student at 7:40 pm. She was an undergraduate senior of African decent and was taking a philosophy class because she was recommended by her ISS teacher from last semester. After settling down, the girl first told us how she was so annoyed by taking this class and how she hated the professor. The girl did not like this class because it used a form of English that Socrates and his colleagues used to convey their views on how people behaved in societies, etc. Adding on, the girl did not like the teacher because the girl felt that her teacher spoke just like Socrates and there was no T.A. who can translate the teacher’s words in normal English. Then, the girl told us what she wanted help with.
She explained the two things she was looking to gain from her drive to the union, parking her car there, and then walking across campus on one of coldest days to the writing center in the library. First, she wanted to get some help with understanding how to do MLA citation and second, to get some ideas on extending her paper another half a page.
The first objective was met within minutes. We showed her a few examples on how to do MLA citation from a book in the writing center. I also showed her a website from
It was around 8:10 and Katie had to leave. She was already 10 minutes late and I assured her that I would be okay. This was one of the scariest moments of my life! I was going to finish up a student session and then run the writing center by myself for the next 40 minutes! Well, the discussion with this student went pretty well. I made sure I didn’t say anything against the teacher and didn’t argue with the student either. I waited, patiently, for her to finish and pointed out how the teacher had given the students an interpretation of the philosopher’s essay. Eventually, the girl had calmed down and had a much more positive approach and revised the paper and added the half page she needed.
Overall, observing many tutors in the last couple of weeks has helped me greatly and I feel I did a pretty good job with handling this student once Katie left. However, I would also like to stress that Katie was there for most of the session and this session would not have been as easy for me if she had not been there.
Krish.