In this session, the tutor and tutee were female undergraduate students. The tutor’s name for blog purposes is Michelle, and the tutee’s name will be Andrea. It was Andrea’s first WRA class, and she had questions regarding paragraph organization and transitions in her first paper. Andrea was hesitant to read the paper out loud at first, but after the tutor explained how beneficial it was to the writing and editing process, she began to read aloud.
Andrea read her paper without stopping to correct any errors. She changed what she was saying out loud, but never stopped to make comments or notes on the page.
Michelle definitely focused on HOCs the entire session, which was good because that is specifically what Andrea asked for. She was an authoritative tutor, and I feel like this session could have had a better outcome with a minimalist approach. Michelle did a lot of brainstorming and suggesting new ideas for Andrea. Sometimes Andrea just sat there while Michelle talked, and looked extremely bored. She would fidget or look at the clock, and Michelle just kept spewing out seemingly unnecessary ideas.
The tutor used a really good strategy for clarifying and separating paragraphs. She classified three different ideas in the same paragraph using the numbers one, two, and three as indications of the main idea of each sentence. At the end of the paragraph, Michelle and Andrea decided how to separate the paragraph together, with mostly Andrea’s input on the matter. I thought it was a great idea because it showed Andrea a new way to organize her great ideas and separate her own paragraphs.
There was one more thing I took away from the session: models work really well for explaining things. Michelle illustrated and explained the keyhole format, right on the paper. Andrea picked up the main ideas quickly, and formatted her conclusion accordingly.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Exercise 2E – My Style of Writing
Writing is anything but a simple, sit down process for me. When I have to write a paper, I mark the due date in my calendar and then set out specific days that I should have my outline, first draft, second draft, and writing center appointment or peer review completed by. I feel more stressed about writing in college than I did in high school, so physically setting a tentative schedule for the paper reduces my stress levels significantly.
I don’t dress any specific way to begin writing my papers. Almost always, however, I end up wearing light, comfy cotton clothes while doing any kind of schoolwork. My work environment has to be very quiet. It’s the only way I can concentrate.
To begin an assignment, I start with Microsoft Word. The blank page is never a welcome sight, so I usually just start brainstorming random thoughts. These thoughts eventually turn into a rough outline. I put a very condensed version of the outline at the top of the page, and the different sections turn into paragraph topics, which I bold. Without these constant reminders about what the paragraph should be about, I usually get off topic and subject after awhile. The thesis is my basic starting point as well. I’ll write a thesis header and then a tentative thesis. It usually changes after I’m done writing the paper.
After I write a rough draft of the paper, I go over it and make sure everything flows and makes sense. This draft usually ends up being my rough, first, and second drafts combined because I edit as I write. While looking over a paper and fixing paragraphs, I often cut and paste phrases into new places, or set them at the bottom of the paper for later use. The next step in my writing process occurs after I am confident enough to share my work. I send it to my boyfriend via e-mail for a virtual peer review. We write comments on each other’s papers in a different color within the paper itself. Then we e-mail it back to each other. Whenever we both have a spare moment, we’ll open the reviewed document and go over the comments, discussing possible changes.
While I’m editing the content of my paper, I begin thinking about my T.A. or teacher. I wonder if my paper will be entertaining or unique out of the hundreds they grade that day.
Because my editing tendencies are so exhausting, I am usually very happy after turning in a paper. It’s one less thing to worry about. I feel like after it’s done, it’s done. And I never want to go back and re-do the paper or even revisit the topic again. I remember one time, I was even hesitant to re-do it even though I could improve my grade because I immersed myself in that topic for two or three weeks without coming up for air. For example, after I turned in my paper on foot fungi, I never wanted to talk about athlete’s foot again. In this case, wanting to forget the subject is understandable, but in general, writing is never finished. Since I am a person who enjoys checking items off of checklists, I like to think of graded papers as things of the past.
I don’t dress any specific way to begin writing my papers. Almost always, however, I end up wearing light, comfy cotton clothes while doing any kind of schoolwork. My work environment has to be very quiet. It’s the only way I can concentrate.
To begin an assignment, I start with Microsoft Word. The blank page is never a welcome sight, so I usually just start brainstorming random thoughts. These thoughts eventually turn into a rough outline. I put a very condensed version of the outline at the top of the page, and the different sections turn into paragraph topics, which I bold. Without these constant reminders about what the paragraph should be about, I usually get off topic and subject after awhile. The thesis is my basic starting point as well. I’ll write a thesis header and then a tentative thesis. It usually changes after I’m done writing the paper.
After I write a rough draft of the paper, I go over it and make sure everything flows and makes sense. This draft usually ends up being my rough, first, and second drafts combined because I edit as I write. While looking over a paper and fixing paragraphs, I often cut and paste phrases into new places, or set them at the bottom of the paper for later use. The next step in my writing process occurs after I am confident enough to share my work. I send it to my boyfriend via e-mail for a virtual peer review. We write comments on each other’s papers in a different color within the paper itself. Then we e-mail it back to each other. Whenever we both have a spare moment, we’ll open the reviewed document and go over the comments, discussing possible changes.
While I’m editing the content of my paper, I begin thinking about my T.A. or teacher. I wonder if my paper will be entertaining or unique out of the hundreds they grade that day.
Because my editing tendencies are so exhausting, I am usually very happy after turning in a paper. It’s one less thing to worry about. I feel like after it’s done, it’s done. And I never want to go back and re-do the paper or even revisit the topic again. I remember one time, I was even hesitant to re-do it even though I could improve my grade because I immersed myself in that topic for two or three weeks without coming up for air. For example, after I turned in my paper on foot fungi, I never wanted to talk about athlete’s foot again. In this case, wanting to forget the subject is understandable, but in general, writing is never finished. Since I am a person who enjoys checking items off of checklists, I like to think of graded papers as things of the past.
My Writing Process
When I first get a writing assignment, it sits in the back of my mind for a few days, especially if I'm still reading the book I need to write about (one of my majors is English, so that's the kind of paper I'm usually writing). I start formulating topics, and once I'm done with the book I pick the topic I can find the most evidence for, even if I don't like it as much.
When I'm doing academic writing I need my workspace to be quiet, but I'm too lazy to go to the library or something if the people next door are being loud. I don't necessarily need to be physically comfortable, just alone and in a quiet space. I also need to have water nearby, but that's because I drink a lot of water all day. My writing is almost exclusively typed, unless I jot down a few notes beforehand. I don't really do much prewriting. Sometimes I'll write down a few topics I want to discuss and list some scenes in the book I'd like to reference or quote. Other times I type them at the bottom of the document once I've started writing the paper, so I don't forget.
To me, the thesis is one of the most important pieces of the paper, and I can't write anything until I have finished the introduction and crafted my thesis, which I usually try and stay very close to. After I have that down I'll start writing the rest of the paper, but sometimes I'll jump around from topic to topic, leaving room if I plan on filling in more later. I just write whatever I feel most confident about first, then come back to the more difficult sections later, after I've thought about them more. I usually start writing papers at least a few days before they're due, so I'm not very pressed for time and rarely write an entire first draft in one sitting. Usually I'll write until I get sick of it or I'm not sure what to do next, then I'll take a break. When I next return to the paper I read over what I last wrote for revising and editing, then move on. I always write my conclusions last, and end with some kind of restatement or summing-up of my thesis.
Even once I have a "finished" product, I will not print it or turn it in until the last minute. I reread everything I've written more than once, and I won't turn in the assignment until I've gone over it one last time on the day it's due. I guess I'm kind of a paranoid writer and I want to make sure my work is as good as possible, but I very rarely seek others' help with it. Part of that is probably arrogance--I'm a professional writing and English major, so who else outside those departments could really help me? But at the same time, I think I just don't want to bother other people with my writing when it's just that--MY writing, and therefore MY problem. However, I did find my consultant's advice to be very helpful when I went to the writing center as a client, and since it's her JOB to help people with their writing, hopefully I will continue to take advantage of that resource after this class ends.
When I'm doing academic writing I need my workspace to be quiet, but I'm too lazy to go to the library or something if the people next door are being loud. I don't necessarily need to be physically comfortable, just alone and in a quiet space. I also need to have water nearby, but that's because I drink a lot of water all day. My writing is almost exclusively typed, unless I jot down a few notes beforehand. I don't really do much prewriting. Sometimes I'll write down a few topics I want to discuss and list some scenes in the book I'd like to reference or quote. Other times I type them at the bottom of the document once I've started writing the paper, so I don't forget.
To me, the thesis is one of the most important pieces of the paper, and I can't write anything until I have finished the introduction and crafted my thesis, which I usually try and stay very close to. After I have that down I'll start writing the rest of the paper, but sometimes I'll jump around from topic to topic, leaving room if I plan on filling in more later. I just write whatever I feel most confident about first, then come back to the more difficult sections later, after I've thought about them more. I usually start writing papers at least a few days before they're due, so I'm not very pressed for time and rarely write an entire first draft in one sitting. Usually I'll write until I get sick of it or I'm not sure what to do next, then I'll take a break. When I next return to the paper I read over what I last wrote for revising and editing, then move on. I always write my conclusions last, and end with some kind of restatement or summing-up of my thesis.
Even once I have a "finished" product, I will not print it or turn it in until the last minute. I reread everything I've written more than once, and I won't turn in the assignment until I've gone over it one last time on the day it's due. I guess I'm kind of a paranoid writer and I want to make sure my work is as good as possible, but I very rarely seek others' help with it. Part of that is probably arrogance--I'm a professional writing and English major, so who else outside those departments could really help me? But at the same time, I think I just don't want to bother other people with my writing when it's just that--MY writing, and therefore MY problem. However, I did find my consultant's advice to be very helpful when I went to the writing center as a client, and since it's her JOB to help people with their writing, hopefully I will continue to take advantage of that resource after this class ends.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Exercise 2E- My Writing Process
When I need to sit down a write, comfy clothes are a must. I have to wear pj pants so I can shift around easily. I’ll cross my legs, fold them under my body, or prop them up on the shelf under my desk. It’s difficult for me to sit still for extended periods of time, so when I have to sit down to write, moving around in my seat helps dispel pent-up energy. When that fails, I sometimes get up and pace the room a few times. Part of my problem is that sitting at a desk is uncomfortable and unnatural for me. As much as I like writing, I hate having to sit down to do it. Consequently, I tend to put it off as long as I possibly can.
I confess, I’m an inveterate procrastinator. If an assignment has a research component, I’ll wait until a week before the due date to begin that part of the project. The earliest I ever start writing is three days before the due date, but most of the time I start and finish the night before (or morning of….). I don’t have multiple drafts. Sometimes, I barely glance over the finished paper before submitting it. There’s just something about the intense pressure of an imminent deadline that jump-starts my creativity.
Here’s an example of my “process.” One afternoon, I started writing my final paper for an AMS class. It was an eight page assignment, and I had only vaguely decided on a topic. It was due at midnight. Most of the afternoon was spent fooling around online, trying to decide on what to write about. Even after I made up my mind, I kept wasting time “researching,” when I was really just randomly surfing. The majority of the paper was written between 9 p.m. and midnight, because until then the pressure wasn’t enough to overcome my problems with concentrating. It was complete free-writing, without any kind of outline. I finished writing it with a few minutes to spare, which I used to check for typos. Maybe it would have been better if I had time to do any kind of revision, but I didn’t have that luxury.
It was only then that I started working on my ten page history paper that was due at noon. I had at least decided on a topic, but it was a much more research intensive paper and I had only read half the texts I was using as source material. By this point I had been up since the early morning and was running out of steam. Over the course of the evening, I tried just about every caffeine product imaginable: coffee, Red bull, Monster, Hydrive, Jolt, Vault, chocolate covered espresso beans…. You name it, I had some. Caffeine is crucial to my process. This time I sketched out a rough outline to get a sense of the order my ideas would progress in, but Mapquest provides more detailed steps. My hastily scrawled “outline” basically consisted of “Intro=>First point=> Support=>Second Point… etc.” Like the first paper, I finished this with minutes to spare. Any revision was done on the sentence level as I was writing. I tend to fixate on the details and have difficulty moving on until I feel satisfied with every word in a sentence. Unfortunately, no matter how beautifully crafted an individual sentence is, there needs to be some degree of global revision to make sure the ideas make sense together. All too often, this part of the writing process gets cut due to time constraints, much to the detriment of the overall quality of the paper. In this case, I ended up being awake for at least 36 hours straight, and near the end I kind of stopped caring. Still, I got 4.0s on both papers, and in both classes, so the papers can’t have been too bad.
These rather extreme examples aren’t completely representative of my process. If, by some chance, I start the paper a few days early, I follow the “antiquated” note card/outline system. I write detailed note cards as I read my sources and then sort them into piles based on subject. This gives me a visible indication of what areas I have a lot of information in, which helps when planning an outline. The outline itself is more like a first draft, since my bullet-points tend to be rather involved sentences. As helpful as this method is, it is also incredibly time-consuming, and I have a tendency to deviate from the outline. Once I start to wander off, the paper develops in a completely different direction, rendering half of the outline irrelevant. For that reason, I tend to favor the last-minute mad-dash, since it seems like the most efficient method. It gets the job done and doesn’t involve any wasted effort. Every last scrap of mental energy I possess gets poured into the paper, and the final product is not much different than if I spent a few more days on it. It’s physically and mentally exhausting, but it’s exhilarating in its own way.
I confess, I’m an inveterate procrastinator. If an assignment has a research component, I’ll wait until a week before the due date to begin that part of the project. The earliest I ever start writing is three days before the due date, but most of the time I start and finish the night before (or morning of….). I don’t have multiple drafts. Sometimes, I barely glance over the finished paper before submitting it. There’s just something about the intense pressure of an imminent deadline that jump-starts my creativity.
Here’s an example of my “process.” One afternoon, I started writing my final paper for an AMS class. It was an eight page assignment, and I had only vaguely decided on a topic. It was due at midnight. Most of the afternoon was spent fooling around online, trying to decide on what to write about. Even after I made up my mind, I kept wasting time “researching,” when I was really just randomly surfing. The majority of the paper was written between 9 p.m. and midnight, because until then the pressure wasn’t enough to overcome my problems with concentrating. It was complete free-writing, without any kind of outline. I finished writing it with a few minutes to spare, which I used to check for typos. Maybe it would have been better if I had time to do any kind of revision, but I didn’t have that luxury.
It was only then that I started working on my ten page history paper that was due at noon. I had at least decided on a topic, but it was a much more research intensive paper and I had only read half the texts I was using as source material. By this point I had been up since the early morning and was running out of steam. Over the course of the evening, I tried just about every caffeine product imaginable: coffee, Red bull, Monster, Hydrive, Jolt, Vault, chocolate covered espresso beans…. You name it, I had some. Caffeine is crucial to my process. This time I sketched out a rough outline to get a sense of the order my ideas would progress in, but Mapquest provides more detailed steps. My hastily scrawled “outline” basically consisted of “Intro=>First point=> Support=>Second Point… etc.” Like the first paper, I finished this with minutes to spare. Any revision was done on the sentence level as I was writing. I tend to fixate on the details and have difficulty moving on until I feel satisfied with every word in a sentence. Unfortunately, no matter how beautifully crafted an individual sentence is, there needs to be some degree of global revision to make sure the ideas make sense together. All too often, this part of the writing process gets cut due to time constraints, much to the detriment of the overall quality of the paper. In this case, I ended up being awake for at least 36 hours straight, and near the end I kind of stopped caring. Still, I got 4.0s on both papers, and in both classes, so the papers can’t have been too bad.
These rather extreme examples aren’t completely representative of my process. If, by some chance, I start the paper a few days early, I follow the “antiquated” note card/outline system. I write detailed note cards as I read my sources and then sort them into piles based on subject. This gives me a visible indication of what areas I have a lot of information in, which helps when planning an outline. The outline itself is more like a first draft, since my bullet-points tend to be rather involved sentences. As helpful as this method is, it is also incredibly time-consuming, and I have a tendency to deviate from the outline. Once I start to wander off, the paper develops in a completely different direction, rendering half of the outline irrelevant. For that reason, I tend to favor the last-minute mad-dash, since it seems like the most efficient method. It gets the job done and doesn’t involve any wasted effort. Every last scrap of mental energy I possess gets poured into the paper, and the final product is not much different than if I spent a few more days on it. It’s physically and mentally exhausting, but it’s exhilarating in its own way.
WRA Observation #2
I observed my second session this afternoon in the writing center and once again I was shocked. The client was a young international student named Tim. Tim did not tell me what year he was here at the university, but I do know that he is a packaging major and that he had brought in 1.5 page “memo” in “office” format that he needed to write for class. He told us that it needed to be professional and business sounding, so he wanted help with his organization and flow of arguments. Grammar was not something that he said he really wanted to focus on, but he did mention that he was having some trouble with certain aspects of his grammatical writing.
The consultant explained the usual steps that we take while working through a session and had Tim begin to read through his paper. Immediately the consultant begin jotting down notes in the margins, crossing out words, changing sentence structures, and correcting subject and verb tenses so that they agreed. After Tim finished the first paragraph it was necessary to stop so that the consultant could go back over and explain what it is that he changed. This continued for all five to six paragraphs within the paper.
After reading the entire paper Tim and the consultant discussed the overall structure. Tim was concerned that it was not formatted professionally enough. The consultant assured him that to the best of his knowledge he though it was, but he was careful to put in the disclaimer that he has never studied business and thought that perhaps someone of a business background and focus may approach the writing in a different way and with a more critical eye. This idea seemed to confuse the client. After learning about the writing center satellite that is located in the BCC the client decided that he would re-write his paper and bring it in their before it was due.
I once again found myself surprised at how much grammar correcting and editing the consultant did. In this case it was not that Tim was pressuring the consultant to focus on grammar, but rather that the consultant seemed to focus on grammar himself. I felt that the consultant was a little too authoritative with his editing. I feel that correcting grammar to the extent that he did is expectable only under the assumption that the consultant will explain and discuss all that he is doing so that the writing understands his or her mistakes and is empowered to be a better writer in the future. At many times it seemed that Tim was very confused and a little overwhelmed with all of the blatant corrections his tutor was making on his paper. This session re-enforced in me the idea that a tutor must not only find the appropriate amount of grammar to discuss, but the appropriate attitude to discuss that grammar with. I understand that this is only something that I can fully relate to and begin to understand once I have sessions of my own, but I felt that this client could have learned a little bit more about the technicalities of writing in the English language if the consultant had been willing to be a bit more of a teacher rather than an editor.
The consultant explained the usual steps that we take while working through a session and had Tim begin to read through his paper. Immediately the consultant begin jotting down notes in the margins, crossing out words, changing sentence structures, and correcting subject and verb tenses so that they agreed. After Tim finished the first paragraph it was necessary to stop so that the consultant could go back over and explain what it is that he changed. This continued for all five to six paragraphs within the paper.
After reading the entire paper Tim and the consultant discussed the overall structure. Tim was concerned that it was not formatted professionally enough. The consultant assured him that to the best of his knowledge he though it was, but he was careful to put in the disclaimer that he has never studied business and thought that perhaps someone of a business background and focus may approach the writing in a different way and with a more critical eye. This idea seemed to confuse the client. After learning about the writing center satellite that is located in the BCC the client decided that he would re-write his paper and bring it in their before it was due.
I once again found myself surprised at how much grammar correcting and editing the consultant did. In this case it was not that Tim was pressuring the consultant to focus on grammar, but rather that the consultant seemed to focus on grammar himself. I felt that the consultant was a little too authoritative with his editing. I feel that correcting grammar to the extent that he did is expectable only under the assumption that the consultant will explain and discuss all that he is doing so that the writing understands his or her mistakes and is empowered to be a better writer in the future. At many times it seemed that Tim was very confused and a little overwhelmed with all of the blatant corrections his tutor was making on his paper. This session re-enforced in me the idea that a tutor must not only find the appropriate amount of grammar to discuss, but the appropriate attitude to discuss that grammar with. I understand that this is only something that I can fully relate to and begin to understand once I have sessions of my own, but I felt that this client could have learned a little bit more about the technicalities of writing in the English language if the consultant had been willing to be a bit more of a teacher rather than an editor.
WRA Observation #1
I observed my first session in the writing center this afternoon. The client was a first year PhD student and a non-native English speaker. The paper that she brought in was the final copy of description and explanation on a certain theory of communication. She began the session by saying that she needed help with grammar and had lost many points on her first draft because of her punctuation. The consultant looked through her first draft just to get an idea of the type of feedback that she received. He stressed to her that the first draft hadn’t been as bad as she seemed to think it had been and that her professor had given her a lot of positive feedback as far as her content and ideas were concerned. The consultant described the general process of the writing center, because this was the first visit for the client, “Joslyn”.
Joslyn decided that she would be more comfortable if the consultant read her paper allowed, instead of reading it herself (probably because of her language barrier). Right from the beginning of the first read through I was surprised how often the consultant would stop to discuss an issue of grammar with her. In fact it seemed a little bit authoritative to me. He was making changes on her paper and explaining to her what he was doing and why it made sense. After completely reading through her paper and fixing many and all of her grammar issues the consultant took a step back and asked her if there were any issues about her paper that she particularly wanted him to focus on. Her main concern was her grammar.
After the session I spoke for several minutes with the consultant and we both shared our feelings about the session. He agreed that the session was very focused on grammar and that this was very unlike most of his sessions. He explained that the only time he allows himself to focus on grammar is if the rest of the paper seems focused, concise, and appropriate. Jsolyn’s paper was very focused, very clear (once the grammar was repaired), and very well structured. She really did not seem to need or want help with issues of argument, structure, layout, or approach. Joslyn wrote like she was a PhD student and if it were not for the focus on grammar it seems like there would not have been too much to discuss for the entire session. Joslyn only came to the center because she wanted her grammar checked and corrected. The consultant told me after the session that you need to find the balance for yourself of how much or how little grammar you will focus on during a session. After discussing these issues in class and reading many articles about the importance of not fixing grammar I was shocked at how much he fixed. He told me that fixing her grammar was the reason she came in and grammar was the only real thing that she needed help with. In a situation like this I agree; why not help the student with what they need help with? I am not advocating that we check the grammar of every native English-speaking freshman that has just never taken the time to learn grammar or really edit their own paper. But if grammar truly is something that a client is struggling with and needs help understanding I feel that the center would be doing a poor job if we did not do our best to fix and explain the grammar so that it may be understood and properly used in future papers.
Joslyn decided that she would be more comfortable if the consultant read her paper allowed, instead of reading it herself (probably because of her language barrier). Right from the beginning of the first read through I was surprised how often the consultant would stop to discuss an issue of grammar with her. In fact it seemed a little bit authoritative to me. He was making changes on her paper and explaining to her what he was doing and why it made sense. After completely reading through her paper and fixing many and all of her grammar issues the consultant took a step back and asked her if there were any issues about her paper that she particularly wanted him to focus on. Her main concern was her grammar.
After the session I spoke for several minutes with the consultant and we both shared our feelings about the session. He agreed that the session was very focused on grammar and that this was very unlike most of his sessions. He explained that the only time he allows himself to focus on grammar is if the rest of the paper seems focused, concise, and appropriate. Jsolyn’s paper was very focused, very clear (once the grammar was repaired), and very well structured. She really did not seem to need or want help with issues of argument, structure, layout, or approach. Joslyn wrote like she was a PhD student and if it were not for the focus on grammar it seems like there would not have been too much to discuss for the entire session. Joslyn only came to the center because she wanted her grammar checked and corrected. The consultant told me after the session that you need to find the balance for yourself of how much or how little grammar you will focus on during a session. After discussing these issues in class and reading many articles about the importance of not fixing grammar I was shocked at how much he fixed. He told me that fixing her grammar was the reason she came in and grammar was the only real thing that she needed help with. In a situation like this I agree; why not help the student with what they need help with? I am not advocating that we check the grammar of every native English-speaking freshman that has just never taken the time to learn grammar or really edit their own paper. But if grammar truly is something that a client is struggling with and needs help understanding I feel that the center would be doing a poor job if we did not do our best to fix and explain the grammar so that it may be understood and properly used in future papers.
2E - How I Write
While reading about, learning about, and observing many different ways to approach writing centers and the tutoring of writing it has become obvious to me that it is important to understand my individual writing process. I am sure that there will be times when I will find it necessary to discuss the writing process with a client in the center, and when that day comes I want to be able to have a thorough understanding of my own process.
Assignments for papers are generally given at least three weeks ahead of the due date. That being said I ponder of the question with a vague idea of what it is that I would like to write about in the back of my mind. When I first read the assignment some idea pops into my mind and it is that idea that remains for several days. Throughout these days the paper is always a nagging source of anxiety where I know I should be focusing more of my time and energy, but am not able, or willing, to sacrifice the time. After several days of passive anxiety I eventually re-read the assignment enough times and re-focus my thoughts thoroughly enough so that I have an idea of a thesis that I think is appropriate. By the time I am confident enough with my thesis and ready to approach my professor with it for discussion and advice it has been about two weeks since I got the assignment and a week before the assignment is do.
Generally speaking I leave the conversation with my professor feeling like my idea is “sufficient” although it could use a little more focus and refining. The last week I have to work on my paper I consistently have my paper at the bottom of my list of things to accomplish for every night because I am focusing on other assignments that are due sooner. Therefore, I typically start my paper the night before it is due. I do not enjoy this about my writing habits and would like to change it, but as of late, that is how my process unfolds. I always have a cup of coffee, a good pen, and my notebook with class notes and a rough outline sketched in it. I finish my paper while on a caffeine buzz and get a few hours of sleep.
I always wish that I could have more time to spend polishing and revising my paper. I would consult the help of other writers, but seldom have the time to. I do not know if I have ever turned in a paper in college where I have been completely satisfied with what I have written. While turning my paper in to my professor I usually say something like this to myself: It is what it is and that is good enough for now. Throughout this year I would like to follow a more lengthy process where I am able to consult the opinions of other writers and able to give myself the amount of time I need in order to construct a satisfying paper.
Assignments for papers are generally given at least three weeks ahead of the due date. That being said I ponder of the question with a vague idea of what it is that I would like to write about in the back of my mind. When I first read the assignment some idea pops into my mind and it is that idea that remains for several days. Throughout these days the paper is always a nagging source of anxiety where I know I should be focusing more of my time and energy, but am not able, or willing, to sacrifice the time. After several days of passive anxiety I eventually re-read the assignment enough times and re-focus my thoughts thoroughly enough so that I have an idea of a thesis that I think is appropriate. By the time I am confident enough with my thesis and ready to approach my professor with it for discussion and advice it has been about two weeks since I got the assignment and a week before the assignment is do.
Generally speaking I leave the conversation with my professor feeling like my idea is “sufficient” although it could use a little more focus and refining. The last week I have to work on my paper I consistently have my paper at the bottom of my list of things to accomplish for every night because I am focusing on other assignments that are due sooner. Therefore, I typically start my paper the night before it is due. I do not enjoy this about my writing habits and would like to change it, but as of late, that is how my process unfolds. I always have a cup of coffee, a good pen, and my notebook with class notes and a rough outline sketched in it. I finish my paper while on a caffeine buzz and get a few hours of sleep.
I always wish that I could have more time to spend polishing and revising my paper. I would consult the help of other writers, but seldom have the time to. I do not know if I have ever turned in a paper in college where I have been completely satisfied with what I have written. While turning my paper in to my professor I usually say something like this to myself: It is what it is and that is good enough for now. Throughout this year I would like to follow a more lengthy process where I am able to consult the opinions of other writers and able to give myself the amount of time I need in order to construct a satisfying paper.
Observation, Round 4
My fourth session that I observed was quite a bit different than all the ones I'd observed previously. In fact, it sort of broke just about every rule we've been taught about conducting a session thus far. First, the tutor sat down across the table from the student... holding a red pen. The student had completed a full draft of her paper and the assignment sheet with her. The tutor read through the sheet and then had the student read her essay, paragraph by paragraph. As she read, he marked it up with his read pen, and the end of each paragraph, he told her what he thought. He said what he thought looked ok, what needed to be taken out or changed, and what could be elaborated on. He asked a few questions, but the student didn't have too much opportunity to speak. The session definitely reminded me of a professor/ta - student interaction. He did encourage her to build her paper around what she knew - focusing her paper on her own experiences and how that was important to what she was writing about. He asked questions like, "Who's your audience" and "I see a good idea here that you could expand upon" and "I've had to write things like this too, and I understand how frustrating it is." But for the most part, he was very directive in his approach, and he surprised me by saying, after the intro was read, "Ok, this is your thesis."
At the close of the session, the student said that the tutor was very helpful, and from what I saw he undoubtedly was, and the paper will end up being much better per his suggestions. He was very very knowledgable about writing and how to shape the essay to what the professor was expecting. He looked at the ideas of the paper first, and then the structure, also adding help with grammar. I saw that he was making suggestions just as new ways for the student to think about things. So as far as helping with the paper and giving the right kinds of help given the talent of the student and the development of the paper, he was an effective tutor, it just alarmed me that his approach was so contrary to what we've been discussing in class. If I had been the student, I would have been very grateful for his help, but I also would have been a bit intimidated and a bit unsure of my writing abilities when I left.
At the close of the session, the student said that the tutor was very helpful, and from what I saw he undoubtedly was, and the paper will end up being much better per his suggestions. He was very very knowledgable about writing and how to shape the essay to what the professor was expecting. He looked at the ideas of the paper first, and then the structure, also adding help with grammar. I saw that he was making suggestions just as new ways for the student to think about things. So as far as helping with the paper and giving the right kinds of help given the talent of the student and the development of the paper, he was an effective tutor, it just alarmed me that his approach was so contrary to what we've been discussing in class. If I had been the student, I would have been very grateful for his help, but I also would have been a bit intimidated and a bit unsure of my writing abilities when I left.
Observation, Round 3
My third observation session at the center was really pretty tough, and a bit disconcerting. I knew there would be some problems when, at the very beginning of the session, the student refused to read his work out loud. The tutor handled it well, explaining why we have students read and how much of a help it can be for the student. After some serious coaxing, the student began to read in a barely audible voice. The student said that he had a lot of problems writing, because he was only required to write 3 papers in high school, and he grew up in a bilingual community - Spanish was his other language. The student just wanted to be told what to do - he began to get a pretty serious attitude and when the tutor said, "You'e got to clue me in to what you're thinking here" (he had been sitting in silence) the student responded with, "I can't clue you in if I can't clue myself in." At this point I was a little uneasy at the tension, but I also felt really bad for the student. He soon admitted that he had a lot of trouble differentiating how he speaks in social situations and how he needs to write academically. He had ideas in his head, but hadn't the first clue how to organize them or put them on paper.
I was really impressed with how the tutor handled this difficult case. He refused to give in and do the work for the student, instead he focused on getting the student to develop his own ideas by talking them out. He was very quick to find positive things to say to keep the student from getting discouraged, like "I like this metaphor, I've seen a lot of these essays and no one has ever been this creative with it" and "This intro is great, it fulfills all the requirements and really engages the reader." He continued to ask leading questions and encouraged the student to just talk with him, to try to get idea flowing. After periods of silence, he would change the subject and try different questions and approaches to get the reader to talk. He found that the student liked sports, and used a great analogy, telling the student that just like you can't get better at a sport without actually playing, you can't get better at writing unless you just go for it and write. The tutor handled the whole situation really well, never losing his temper or giving up. He stuck with it the whole session, encouraging the student to come back. I know I'll encounter difficult cases like this, and I'm glad I was able to observe one.
I was really impressed with how the tutor handled this difficult case. He refused to give in and do the work for the student, instead he focused on getting the student to develop his own ideas by talking them out. He was very quick to find positive things to say to keep the student from getting discouraged, like "I like this metaphor, I've seen a lot of these essays and no one has ever been this creative with it" and "This intro is great, it fulfills all the requirements and really engages the reader." He continued to ask leading questions and encouraged the student to just talk with him, to try to get idea flowing. After periods of silence, he would change the subject and try different questions and approaches to get the reader to talk. He found that the student liked sports, and used a great analogy, telling the student that just like you can't get better at a sport without actually playing, you can't get better at writing unless you just go for it and write. The tutor handled the whole situation really well, never losing his temper or giving up. He stuck with it the whole session, encouraging the student to come back. I know I'll encounter difficult cases like this, and I'm glad I was able to observe one.
My Writing Process
We discussed our individual writing processes in class this week, so I thought I'd write about mine for my blog post. I'll start off by saying that ever since starting college, I've felt that my writing process is bad/wrong. In a lot of my English and professional writing classes, professors have repeatedly stressed that we need to begin work on papers 2 weeks or more before the due date, and we must have several drafts; if we don't do this, then we're not putting in enough work and we're not coming up with the best possible final paper. And so, I've spent most of my college career feeling guilty about my writing process, but it WORKED for me, so guilt wasn't enough to make me change.
My process goes something like this -
I generally don't even look at the assignment sheet for a paper until about a week before it's due. I have so much going on that it just stresses me out to begin the process any sooner than that. Based on what else I have due around the time of the paper, I'll start it anywhere between 1 week to 12 hours before it's due. I begin by jotting down very messy notes on the assignment sheet about what I want to talk about, a draft thesis or several, etc. If I don't jot down what I'm thinking, I'll never be able to put all my thoughts together. When I do start writing, it has to be totally quiet. I get my notes, quotes, books in front of me, and I write. I have to write it all in one day; I take breaks in the middle, but I generally have to at least get a draft down in a day. I'm more the type that revises as I write. I write a few senetences then go back over them, and I don't move on until I'm satisifed. For this reason, I don't write drafts unless I'm forced to for class. I won't move on until I'm completely happy with what I write, so when it's all done, there's little I want to change. After the whole paper is down, I HAVE TO get away from it for at least several hours. I can't judge how to make any revisions at all unless my mind has been totally cleared and I'm looking at it anew. Then I catch sentence level mistakes, occassionally take sentences out, occassionally add, and sometimes rearrange paragraphs. But for the most part, my revisions aren't incredibly extensive. I'll keep reading over it until the day it's due, when I print it out just before I leave for class.
I haven't tried too many other methods of paper-writing because I like my process, but I guess I can't say for sure whether I'd do better by making lots of drafts, starting weeks ahead of time, etc. That's just not the way I've ever done things, and I don't really see a need to change now. As long as I am happy with what I turn in, which I almost always am, why fix what's not broken? Yeah it sucks to end up staying up all night writing (which happens occassionally when I'm totally blocked) but it gets done. One time I was obsessing over a thesis for a paper (I can't start writing until I have a thesis) and nothing was coming to me. It was getting to the last minute and I was panicked. So I went to sleep, hoping for a miracle, and get this - I DREAMED UP my thesis. It was awesome. What I wanted to talk about in the paper and how I was going to talk about was my dream... never thought that could happen. I'm glad I've heard how other people write papers, and I feel a little better now that my process isn't "the wrong way." Everyone is just different.
My process goes something like this -
I generally don't even look at the assignment sheet for a paper until about a week before it's due. I have so much going on that it just stresses me out to begin the process any sooner than that. Based on what else I have due around the time of the paper, I'll start it anywhere between 1 week to 12 hours before it's due. I begin by jotting down very messy notes on the assignment sheet about what I want to talk about, a draft thesis or several, etc. If I don't jot down what I'm thinking, I'll never be able to put all my thoughts together. When I do start writing, it has to be totally quiet. I get my notes, quotes, books in front of me, and I write. I have to write it all in one day; I take breaks in the middle, but I generally have to at least get a draft down in a day. I'm more the type that revises as I write. I write a few senetences then go back over them, and I don't move on until I'm satisifed. For this reason, I don't write drafts unless I'm forced to for class. I won't move on until I'm completely happy with what I write, so when it's all done, there's little I want to change. After the whole paper is down, I HAVE TO get away from it for at least several hours. I can't judge how to make any revisions at all unless my mind has been totally cleared and I'm looking at it anew. Then I catch sentence level mistakes, occassionally take sentences out, occassionally add, and sometimes rearrange paragraphs. But for the most part, my revisions aren't incredibly extensive. I'll keep reading over it until the day it's due, when I print it out just before I leave for class.
I haven't tried too many other methods of paper-writing because I like my process, but I guess I can't say for sure whether I'd do better by making lots of drafts, starting weeks ahead of time, etc. That's just not the way I've ever done things, and I don't really see a need to change now. As long as I am happy with what I turn in, which I almost always am, why fix what's not broken? Yeah it sucks to end up staying up all night writing (which happens occassionally when I'm totally blocked) but it gets done. One time I was obsessing over a thesis for a paper (I can't start writing until I have a thesis) and nothing was coming to me. It was getting to the last minute and I was panicked. So I went to sleep, hoping for a miracle, and get this - I DREAMED UP my thesis. It was awesome. What I wanted to talk about in the paper and how I was going to talk about was my dream... never thought that could happen. I'm glad I've heard how other people write papers, and I feel a little better now that my process isn't "the wrong way." Everyone is just different.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Reflection on being tutored
As a writer I am constantly revising my work. I always value a second opinion as well. I did not hesitate to think about asking a tutor to look over my work. I want to make sure that the message and information in my writing is received clearly, and going to a tutor helps.
The writing center here at MSU does a great job of keeping sessions entirely based on the writer. The writer is asked to read his or her own work out loud to help identify issues and problems within it. After reading my paper out loud, I was able to catch a couple small grammatical errors.
I had brought in a persuasive paper I had written for a class. Sometimes as a writer I feel I get so involved in my content that I over look minor details. Although I did not have any major issues with my paper, I was able to realize what specific points I wanted to emphasis. This led to adding further revisions to my paper helping define my argument clearly.
I did not feel uncomfortable or confused at all during the session. The person consulting me was very friendly. He asked me specific questions and immediately told me that "I really like this paper" and "I think this topic is really interesting". He was very supportive and helpful. I am sometimes hesitant about sharing my writing with others, but I felt completely comfortable with my tutor.
The writing center here at MSU does a great job of keeping sessions entirely based on the writer. The writer is asked to read his or her own work out loud to help identify issues and problems within it. After reading my paper out loud, I was able to catch a couple small grammatical errors.
I had brought in a persuasive paper I had written for a class. Sometimes as a writer I feel I get so involved in my content that I over look minor details. Although I did not have any major issues with my paper, I was able to realize what specific points I wanted to emphasis. This led to adding further revisions to my paper helping define my argument clearly.
I did not feel uncomfortable or confused at all during the session. The person consulting me was very friendly. He asked me specific questions and immediately told me that "I really like this paper" and "I think this topic is really interesting". He was very supportive and helpful. I am sometimes hesitant about sharing my writing with others, but I felt completely comfortable with my tutor.
Writing Center Observations - 2nd session
Today the client I observed was a Social Work grad student who had come back to school after 30 years. The first thing was that his assignment sheet was unclear, so he and the consultant looked at it together to make sure they both understood the assignment the same way. Next, the consultanat asked what he was most concerned with in the paper, and he said the references and the overall coherence of the paper. In case they ran out of time, the consultant asked which areas were his highest priorites, and he said format was what he was most worried about.
He was fairly unfamiliar with APA format and his teacher hadn't explained it much, but instead of working through the works cited page with examples, the consultant told the student about easybib.com to automatically format the page for him. I thought it was a good idea to give him such a convenient source so that the session could be spent focusing on other things.
Next they focused on the in-text citations. The client pointed out a few he was unsure of, and the consultant got example sheets and APA books that they looked through together. She explained everything thoroughly and made sure he understood before he penciled in the corrections on his paper.
Next the client read the paper aloud, and often stopped as he went for corrections. The consultant only gave opinions and general advice rather than specific suggestions. The major problem with the paper was that the client was using excessive, long quotes without explaining their significance. The consultant made two good points I wrote down: "Where is your voice" and "It's you, the writer, who we want to hear more." His problem was that his sources were making his argument for him, rather than supporting his own opinions. Once he understood this, the consultant suggested he break up the quotes and use more paraphrasing, and to be sure to state the quotes' significance to his overall argument. He seemed well-prepared to do this later, so they didn't focus on it during the session.
After all that there were a few minutes leftover, so the consultant got a laptop and actually showed the student the easybib.com website so that he would be more familiar with it on his own.
I'm still a little uncertain of how confident I am of handling a few different problems in one session though. As a client we only focused on my paper overall (not citations or other issues) and the first session I observed as similar. However, I think this session provided a good example of a mulit-part session. The student and consultant set up priorities and focused deeply on the areas that needed more work, and the consultant had plenty of examples and advice ready for the more specific questions about formatting and references.
He was fairly unfamiliar with APA format and his teacher hadn't explained it much, but instead of working through the works cited page with examples, the consultant told the student about easybib.com to automatically format the page for him. I thought it was a good idea to give him such a convenient source so that the session could be spent focusing on other things.
Next they focused on the in-text citations. The client pointed out a few he was unsure of, and the consultant got example sheets and APA books that they looked through together. She explained everything thoroughly and made sure he understood before he penciled in the corrections on his paper.
Next the client read the paper aloud, and often stopped as he went for corrections. The consultant only gave opinions and general advice rather than specific suggestions. The major problem with the paper was that the client was using excessive, long quotes without explaining their significance. The consultant made two good points I wrote down: "Where is your voice" and "It's you, the writer, who we want to hear more." His problem was that his sources were making his argument for him, rather than supporting his own opinions. Once he understood this, the consultant suggested he break up the quotes and use more paraphrasing, and to be sure to state the quotes' significance to his overall argument. He seemed well-prepared to do this later, so they didn't focus on it during the session.
After all that there were a few minutes leftover, so the consultant got a laptop and actually showed the student the easybib.com website so that he would be more familiar with it on his own.
I'm still a little uncertain of how confident I am of handling a few different problems in one session though. As a client we only focused on my paper overall (not citations or other issues) and the first session I observed as similar. However, I think this session provided a good example of a mulit-part session. The student and consultant set up priorities and focused deeply on the areas that needed more work, and the consultant had plenty of examples and advice ready for the more specific questions about formatting and references.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
3rd and 4th Observations
My third writing observation only lasted for a half hour. This is not the normal procedure for the writing center, but we weren't dealing with a normal writing center student. The student who came in was a graduate student and she was working on a mathematical paper for her independent study course. She had made a few changes to her paper and wanted the tutor to look over them for her and to make sure that her grammar in these changed sentences was correct. From the get go this wasn't a normal session. The girl didn't want to go paragraph by paragraph through her paper, and that was a good thing. Her paper was upwards of ten pages. Instead she had underlined the sentences to which she had made changes and just wanted to have the tutor look at those. So the tutor asked her to read these sentences aloud and he would help her as best he could. The first page went swell. We were helpful and everything was lovely. The second page was slightly harder to get through but we persevered. And then the third page. Oh the dreaded third page. The last sentence in the first paragraph on that page was underlined. In this sentence lay the horrid term "apply derivative formula". The tutor nor I had ever heard of this term before and were therefore completely confused as to whether the sentence should read "applied to..." or remain the way it was. We asked the student multiple question as to what exactly this formula was, but she couldn't exactly explain it. After spending several minutes on this conundrum the girl told us that she was thankful for our help but the session should end here. The rest of the paper only got more technical and we would be beyond our means in trying to help her. Our tutor offered her a different person she could try and talk to about the paper who worked in a different area. She said thank you and walked out the door. It was the most exhausting and uncomfortable session I had ever been a part of.
In my fourth observation, the tutor gave very specific suggestions to the girl. The student didn't seem to enjoy having her paper that was due tomorrow critiqued quite so harshly. She also had very specific questions about citation so the tutor printed her out pages to help her with that and she also gave her examples of how to cite when paraphrasing. The tutor allowed me to join in on the session and the student and I got on very well. I was able to offer some helpful ideas that she really seemed to like and felt like a bigger part of the writing center. With ten minutes to go the tutor said that I could finish off the session while she printed out the papers the girl had requested. I pointed out some final suggestions for her paper and help her rearrange a few sentences that we all had agreed belonged in a different place. It was a really helpful final observation.
In my fourth observation, the tutor gave very specific suggestions to the girl. The student didn't seem to enjoy having her paper that was due tomorrow critiqued quite so harshly. She also had very specific questions about citation so the tutor printed her out pages to help her with that and she also gave her examples of how to cite when paraphrasing. The tutor allowed me to join in on the session and the student and I got on very well. I was able to offer some helpful ideas that she really seemed to like and felt like a bigger part of the writing center. With ten minutes to go the tutor said that I could finish off the session while she printed out the papers the girl had requested. I pointed out some final suggestions for her paper and help her rearrange a few sentences that we all had agreed belonged in a different place. It was a really helpful final observation.
Exercise 2E
When I get a writing assignment I read over what its asking of me and immediatley decided what novel and what topic I want to write about. This way any thoughts I have while I'm reading or prior to my beginning to write I can focus my thoughts. Before I start to write the paper, I write out what I want my main topics to be and what kinds of details go along with them. I think of quotes that I want to use from my book and mark those pages. When I finally sit down in front of my computer its usually a week or two weeks before the assignment is actually due. I like to get my writing done early so I don't have to worry about it later on. I turn on Itunes and pick out some music I want to let play on low while I start writing. For the next two hours I pounded out my paper, without speaking to anyone. I extremely hate when people interrupt me when I'm writing because it completely throws of my train of thought. I write my introduction and thesis first and then continue through out the paper. When I get done with my paper I always end up rearranging my paragraphs, thesis, and introduction. Once my paper is complete I print it out and hand it to a friend to read because I can't reread my paper without losing my mind from having spent the past two hours doing nothing but working on it. Once I get back their critiques, I go back make changes, print off another copy have him go over it again, repeat the process of making changes to my paper. Then I print out another copy and give it to a different friend and have them write down their ideas. Once this is done, I turn the paper in. The end.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
My First WC Observation Session
The session I observed today was with an ESL student. The first thing the consultant asked was, "What are we looking at?" The student said she wanted help mostly with grammar, and the consultant then laid out the "map" they were going to follow in the session: they would read through the paper and catch mistakes as they went, then look at the paper overall, and then touch on anything leftover at the end. The consultant gave a good amount of control to the student too--he said that he could read the paper aloud if she preferred (which she did), and that if she wanted, he could make a copy of her paper so they could both work with one.
As they went through, it seemed to me that the consultant would make the changes he saw (in pencil) and then ask if it was okay. In areas like grammar I highly doubt the student was going to tell him not to make the changes, but in a way I saw this as taking too much control since he didn't step back and explain to her why her word choice or sentence structure was awkward.
Also, as I tried to follow their progress in the paper (I was looking at it upside-down), I noticed an MLA citation mistake the student made consistently but that the consultant hadn't mentioned to her, even though he corrected another similar formatting mistake. For a while I wasn't sure what to do. It felt like I would be overstepping my bounds if I suddenly jumped in and pointed out something the other tutor had missed, and at the same time I didn't want the student to feel like the two of us were "ganging up" on her and pointing out weaknesses in her paper. I eventually did say something since I know how picky teachers can be about formatting, and the consultant and client didn't seem to mind at all.
As they went through, it seemed to me that the consultant would make the changes he saw (in pencil) and then ask if it was okay. In areas like grammar I highly doubt the student was going to tell him not to make the changes, but in a way I saw this as taking too much control since he didn't step back and explain to her why her word choice or sentence structure was awkward.
Also, as I tried to follow their progress in the paper (I was looking at it upside-down), I noticed an MLA citation mistake the student made consistently but that the consultant hadn't mentioned to her, even though he corrected another similar formatting mistake. For a while I wasn't sure what to do. It felt like I would be overstepping my bounds if I suddenly jumped in and pointed out something the other tutor had missed, and at the same time I didn't want the student to feel like the two of us were "ganging up" on her and pointing out weaknesses in her paper. I eventually did say something since I know how picky teachers can be about formatting, and the consultant and client didn't seem to mind at all.
Monday, September 15, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Writing Center Strategies
From our discussions in class I feel like there are two views when it comes to the Writing Center. The minimalist view and a direct teaching approach. In the sessions that I have sat in on as well as co-lead we have used both. Having used both I am torn to which was more effective.
First the minimalist view. I feel by leading questions that some knowledge was gained. But I also feel that many times the clients just shot off so many answers that eventually they got the one that we were looking for. In some cases I doubt that they learned the skill that we were trying to communicate, though they said several times that they did.
In the second more direct approach, when all else failed we gave an answer that we thought appropriate. This seemed to please both us and the client as we thought we taught them something valuable and they thinking they have done better for it. And that could very well be the case, but still part of me wonders if we did the right thing.
So far throughout all most of my sessions there is this nagging feeling that learning isn't always happening and that people come for the quick fix, though maybe through time I will come to realize different.
I guess the moral of my story is that when it comes to approaches of helping at the Writing Center there is always a little part of me that thinks that something isn't go as well as it could. Hopefully overtime I well get a better feel for the Center and be more comfortable in my tutoring.
What I'm Thinking
For me, reading Shamoon and Burns was almost relieving. Brooks' article, in addition to the others we've read so far, all strongly advocate what Brooks calls "minimalist" tutoring, and though I had already seen some writing consultants deviating somewhat from the proposed methods we had been reading, it seemed like what they were doing might be incorrect somehow, even if it seemed appropriate for the session and the client. Though none of the sessions I observed, directly or indirectly, went nearly as far as the "authoritative" methods described in Shamoon and Burns, there was more direct involvement in the writing by the tutor than I had expected from merely doing the readings. I was glad to read and realize that completely hands-off methods are not always the only or best way to do things. As I understand it, taking a backseat is still the common way to handle things (and perhaps the better way for many students), but direct involvement with the material at hand can sometimes be the most beneficial. As we discussed in class, it seems that more often than not this would be the case with ESL students, who may not be helped at all by open-ended questions. As with Shamoon and Burns' example of the woman writing her Master's thesis, some people may also just need to be shown how best to achieve a certain style or tone in their writing in order to really learn something about their writing, in which case a more authoritative approach is appropriate. Although I was connecting this kind of tutoring with more advanced writers who are perhaps working with an unfamiliar genre, I witnessed this with a beginning writer during one of my shadowing sessions. The client had little idea of how to format an expositional piece and showed no recognition when the consultant mentioned "thesis" and "topic sentences." The consultant wrote a few examples (vague of course, since she was not familiar with the story the client was writing about). By the time the session was over, the client left with a short list of notes and examples from the consultant and seemed to now understand what his teacher was expecting of him and how to write it. The tutoring style in this case would not have fit into the "minimalist" category but seemed better suited to the confused freshman writer.
Bruffee's and Lunsford's articles also provided a lot of food for thought. True collaborative learning doesn't seem to be much utilized in classrooms of today, though when we first began discussing it in class I immediately thought of Monday, when we worked in groups to establish some sort of continuum for types of tutoring. The discussion that my three group members and myself had was a pooling of opinions that broadened each of our ideas about types of tutoring and how and when each may or may not be effective. To me, this seems like an instance of collaborative learning that actually occurs fairly often, at least in 395. I think that group work often devolves into one large, segmented final product (especially in high school), meant by the teacher to get people to work together. However, after a division of labor, there is often little collaboration, let alone collaborative learning, between the groups members. This kind of group work occurs in college as well, but I think there are more genuine oppotunities for students to learn from each other. I am not particularly sure how to apply this idea of collaborative learning to writing center practice though. To a degree, I think collaborative learning in the writing center exists, but I am not sure if there is a more active way to pursue it as a goal in this setting.
Bruffee's and Lunsford's articles also provided a lot of food for thought. True collaborative learning doesn't seem to be much utilized in classrooms of today, though when we first began discussing it in class I immediately thought of Monday, when we worked in groups to establish some sort of continuum for types of tutoring. The discussion that my three group members and myself had was a pooling of opinions that broadened each of our ideas about types of tutoring and how and when each may or may not be effective. To me, this seems like an instance of collaborative learning that actually occurs fairly often, at least in 395. I think that group work often devolves into one large, segmented final product (especially in high school), meant by the teacher to get people to work together. However, after a division of labor, there is often little collaboration, let alone collaborative learning, between the groups members. This kind of group work occurs in college as well, but I think there are more genuine oppotunities for students to learn from each other. I am not particularly sure how to apply this idea of collaborative learning to writing center practice though. To a degree, I think collaborative learning in the writing center exists, but I am not sure if there is a more active way to pursue it as a goal in this setting.
First WC Observation (9.9.08)
My first observation was with a graduate student session, with both the student and the tutor in grad school. The student, who I will call Christina, had a business-like manner about her. She asked the tutor direct questions about her paper about grammatical issues. In other words, she had come prepared. She had basic concerns: sentence structure, organization, typos, and APA citations. Christina asked the tutor if he was an expert on APA citations. He replied, “Not personally, but we do have handbooks here to help you out.” It was great; he implied that he had used it before, but was by no means the expert in the situation. Together, they were students in search of the answers.
They went through the standard requirements of the average session: she’d been there before, read her paper, and corrected many grammatical mistakes on her own. Every now and then she would peer intently at her page, and ask the tutor if what she had written down sounded correct. After she fixed the basic errors (by herself), she came to the conclusion that one of her sentences sounded weird. The tutor simply asked “What about the sentence sounds weird?” They figured out the cause together. I really liked the tutor I observed because he gave his opinion when asked, and analyzed sentences to find the grammar problems she knew existed, but couldn’t identify.
Another crucial bit of dialogue I found helpful was when she asked if a sentence made sense. He replied, “Let me read it for you, so you can hear it…” This helped tremendously, because it’s one thing to read your own paper out loud, but a completely different concept to hear someone else read it to you.
The tutor pulled the APA citation book out at the end of the session, and thumbed through the index. The student laughed to herself, and told him that she owned the book he was searching through!
They went through the standard requirements of the average session: she’d been there before, read her paper, and corrected many grammatical mistakes on her own. Every now and then she would peer intently at her page, and ask the tutor if what she had written down sounded correct. After she fixed the basic errors (by herself), she came to the conclusion that one of her sentences sounded weird. The tutor simply asked “What about the sentence sounds weird?” They figured out the cause together. I really liked the tutor I observed because he gave his opinion when asked, and analyzed sentences to find the grammar problems she knew existed, but couldn’t identify.
Another crucial bit of dialogue I found helpful was when she asked if a sentence made sense. He replied, “Let me read it for you, so you can hear it…” This helped tremendously, because it’s one thing to read your own paper out loud, but a completely different concept to hear someone else read it to you.
The tutor pulled the APA citation book out at the end of the session, and thumbed through the index. The student laughed to herself, and told him that she owned the book he was searching through!
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