Since we're not doing a final reflection in class, I figured I might as well write one here. Even though I'm not going to be working in the center next semester (I already have another job), I feel I gained a lot of valuable skills from this class, all the more so because I've been gaining interest in consulting as a career field after I graduate. The non-directive and open question approach is a great skill to have, as is experience working collaboratively but in one-on-one situations. I've also learned to better articulate my thoughts on why something doesn't "work" in a piece of writing, which I think will be valuable whether I go into consulting or editing & publishing (the other field I'm considering).
Aside from the actual skills I gained, I know that I would have never found out what I know about the writing center in any other way. I definitely used to be one of those writing students who never thought they needed help with their writing, and that the writing center was for people who don't know what a thesis sentence is. I thought being a consultant would mean knowing a lot of grammar and just telling people what I saw wrong with their papers, and that these problems would usually be obvious. But after having been in the center in many different roles, I know this is nowhere close to being correct. So far I've actually only completed one of my sessions as a client (I'm signed up for my second on Monday!), but if I'd had more free time this semester, I definitely would have come in more often. Everyone says that writing consultants often act as an outside pair of eyes and can help you with problems that you sense in your writing but can't really explain, and this is exactly what happened in my first session as a client. Next semester I will be available more often, and with two English classes I will definitely try to find the time to bring in other papers that I need help with.
One final thing that I'm glad this class helped me with was my perception of ESL students. I never thought that they were worse writers than native speakers, but my initial assumption about them was that all their problems could be traced to the simple fact that English was their second language. I'm so glad that this class opened my eyes to show me that this is not the case. I had no idea that the essay form and structure that I've been using for almost my entire life was "western" rather than universal. It's fascinating that different cultures view academic work in so many different ways, and to me it's so interesting that I decided to design a workshop to help writing consultants better understand ESL students, their backgrounds, and how difficult it is to try and write with a completely different mentality from your native culture.
To Trixie and all my peers in 395 this semester, thank you so much for everything you've taught me! Happy writing!
-Lauren-
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Entry from Thanksgiving week
I won't actually be working in the writing center after this class, but a lot of people who do work in the center have told me things like, "It's such a great job!", so I think I'd like to analyze that a bit.
First off, writing center work is part-time like almost every other on-campus job at MSU. But one thing that makes the WC a good workplace is the required 10-minute break after two hours of consulting. Not only is it nice to have a refresher, but it's very comforting to think that your employer (the center) actually cares that your work doesn't get burned out. Similarly, if consultants have any kind of problems with their clients, they are highly encouraged to seek help from one of the center directors. Having good chemistry between "management" and employees is key for a solid relationship, and it keeps the atmosphere in the center positive, which is essential since the more our clients feel at ease, the more we will accomplish with them.
The work we do in the center is not very difficult in a traditional sense. Writing consultants aren't necessarily better writers than their clients at all--usually they just act as an outside pair of eyes, which is great since the consultant doesn't have to know anything about the topic of the paper to tell if it makes sense, progresses logically, or has a strong argument. To me, the most difficult part of consulting was putting my own thoughts into words when describing to the client what I thought was a problem, or rephrasing it again when they didn't understand what I meant. But for the most part, consulting is "easy"--we read the piece, ask a lot of questions, and often the work gets done for us as the client either answers the questions, restates something in their own words, or decides how to rewrite the sentence with little help from us.
And, at the end of the day, writing consultants are doing a good thing for other people (often their peers, which can make the experience even more rewarding). The satisfaction of having given back to the MSU community is great when the client thanks you for all your help after a session, and getting paid on top of all that is great, too :)
First off, writing center work is part-time like almost every other on-campus job at MSU. But one thing that makes the WC a good workplace is the required 10-minute break after two hours of consulting. Not only is it nice to have a refresher, but it's very comforting to think that your employer (the center) actually cares that your work doesn't get burned out. Similarly, if consultants have any kind of problems with their clients, they are highly encouraged to seek help from one of the center directors. Having good chemistry between "management" and employees is key for a solid relationship, and it keeps the atmosphere in the center positive, which is essential since the more our clients feel at ease, the more we will accomplish with them.
The work we do in the center is not very difficult in a traditional sense. Writing consultants aren't necessarily better writers than their clients at all--usually they just act as an outside pair of eyes, which is great since the consultant doesn't have to know anything about the topic of the paper to tell if it makes sense, progresses logically, or has a strong argument. To me, the most difficult part of consulting was putting my own thoughts into words when describing to the client what I thought was a problem, or rephrasing it again when they didn't understand what I meant. But for the most part, consulting is "easy"--we read the piece, ask a lot of questions, and often the work gets done for us as the client either answers the questions, restates something in their own words, or decides how to rewrite the sentence with little help from us.
And, at the end of the day, writing consultants are doing a good thing for other people (often their peers, which can make the experience even more rewarding). The satisfaction of having given back to the MSU community is great when the client thanks you for all your help after a session, and getting paid on top of all that is great, too :)
Friday, December 5, 2008
"We must move on. We cannot linger."
Yea... its another Lord of the Rings quote... so what? Anyways... here it goes.
"Is it secret? Is it safe?" a.k.a. Blog Post #10
Ok... that was a Lord of the Rings quote too... but it has to do with Writing Center... I promise. In order for the Writing Center to function correctly, a lot of different things have to happen. People have to sign up for appointments, consultants have to come to work... they have to know what they are doing etc... but one aspect of the WC that might get overlooked is who the space feels. What I mean by that is, is a friendly environment, is comfortable, is a good space to work in, etc. Again a lot of different things come together for that to happen, but one in particular is on my mind. Often after a session a consultant will walk, maybe ten feet to a table and debrief with someone about a session, and that can happen in a lot of ways. They may have had a bad session and perhaps need to vent(see previous post)... or something of that nature. But one thing that consultants need to keep in mind is that other people are in the WC and they can hear just as well as you and I. Now I am just as guilty as anyone else when it comes to speaking my mind a little to freely in the WC, but I think it needs to stop. If we want people to have a positive experience when they come, then we need to be careful about what we say and do. We do not want clients to feel judge or uncomfortable when they come the WC, so we need to find outlets to talk about sessions. One place for that happen, could be the blog, or have a section in the staff wiki... but one place where it shouldn't happen is in the WC itself.
As Primary Consultant #4
Last time I talked about a bad session, so I thought it would be fun to recall a session that was one the better ones that I recently. I think this session sums up part of what we try to do in the WC. So this session was a brainstorming session... one of my totes faves. These sessions usually start pretty slow, as I am trying to figure out what the assignment is about and the client usually has some kind of writers block. So in this particular session, I asked tons and tons of questions, about everything... how they liked the class, or what was interesting about, how did you like the book you had to read... what about the assignment makes sense to you... what do you know about the subject.... These kinds of questions really helped my client get to think about here paper in a lot of different ways. From there we ended up coming up with a general thesis and the start of an outline. She even said, you asking all these questions helped me understand the assignment more! So I was pretty pleased with assignment all together.
Satellite Observation #2... The Library
Now Im going to speak in generalities, mainly because I have worked a lot of hours at the WC in the library. The library in my mind is hectic... mainly because of the 30 min. appointments in my opinion, but more than that there is just a sense of urgency in the library at all times. The tone of the clients is that the paper is usually due in less than 24 hours, making the suggestions you make all the more important, or so they seem. It is not uncommon for someone to be a little late, and when you are usually working with 30 min appoints, that is time that sorely missed. The fact that there is no copy machine also makes it difficult to be less directive. The reason I say that is because I usually need to read it myself in order to understand what is being written, which means a lot of the actual paper is in front me. Now, there is still a lot of good being done in this location, the pace just feels quickened... also there is no coffee.
Well team... Almost there...
Grammar as a HOC
So recently Elena sent out an email to the WC listserv talking about a proposal she wanted to draft about thinking about grammar as a HOC because it affects things like tone, voice, structure, and so on. I thought it was interesting and immediately connected to the idea, since I am also a grammar lover. I think I fall slightly more in the prescriptivist camp than the descriptivist, though I recognize the uselessness of saying that something is absolutely right or wrong since almost every "rule" changes/is changing and some are highly debated. But I do think that grammar is important. I think that knowing how to use it greatly widens the possibilities of how one can write things, and also that a fairly solid knowledge of grammar can really help to create a specific voice. Some people like complex grammatical forms, some people like simple grammatical forms. But frequently using things like comma splices and run-on sentences does nothing to develop a nice-sounding, unique voice for any writer. I think being able to hear your own voice in a paper really contributes to feeling like you are a writer, not just a student/person who writes, or in the case of assignments, is forced to write. Knowing how to use grammar also enables writers to "break the rules" in certain cases for many stylistic reasons; maybe they want emphasis, or to point out something about language, or to enhance part of a character's personality, or any of hundreds of other reasons a writer might choose to deviate from a conventional pattern. But this kind of choice isn't possible if writers don't know that it can be a choice in the first place. I feel like Elena probably has much more logical-sounding and well thought out reasons for thinking of grammar as a HOC, and I hope that whatever she does succeeds in helping other people understand the potential importance of grammar in a session.
Thinking about body language
As I was looking for my old posts, I read some other ones that people had written about tutors, clients, and body language. I feel like I know some basics about body language and what I can tell from it during a session. Obviously, if a client is slouching, leaning back, looking around, and has his or her arms folded, he or she probably isn't interested or engaged in the session at all. I have only ever had one client who has displayed all of this body language during a session. If I see any of this disengaged behavior during a typical session, it would be the client looking around. However, I'd say this happens more not than often, though it does make me concerned that the client isn't really listening whenever I do see it. I had one client who pretty much refused to look at me, whether I was talking or not. I though it was possibly shyness, because the client was otherwise polite and friendly and seemed happy with our session. I also had one client who didn't seem to understand the concept of personal space (I was pretty sure our noses were about thisclose whenever we looked at each other). He was fun to work with and it was a good session, I just remember telling myself a couple of times that being that close wasn't going to hurt me and there was no reason to back away.
I often consciously think about my own body language during a session. I make an effort to always lean forward and look at a clients when they are talking to me, to nod when I understand or to make sure that they know I get what they're talking about, and to smile and appear friendly. Sometimes I have to gauge where I'm sitting and decide if I think I'm too close or too far away. I set my pencil down sometimes to make sure that I don't tap it or play with it. I tend to fidget a lot when I'm tense, stressed, or hyper, which I try to make sure I don't do during sessions. I also try not to cross my arms, avoid frequently checking the clock, and ignore everyone and everything that's going on around me. I once had a client ask to move to a different room because it was so noisy in 300 (we went to 317); I was surprised when he asked and didn't really think it was that noisy, but later I was glad we'd moved because we were the only people in 317 and it was actually a very peaceful and pleasant working environment. I'm pretty sure I handle my own body language ok, what I'm looking forward to is the day when I don't have to consciously think about it anymore. Though maybe that never happens. Hm. I guess we'll see.
to not cross my arms, to avoid frequently checking the clock
I often consciously think about my own body language during a session. I make an effort to always lean forward and look at a clients when they are talking to me, to nod when I understand or to make sure that they know I get what they're talking about, and to smile and appear friendly. Sometimes I have to gauge where I'm sitting and decide if I think I'm too close or too far away. I set my pencil down sometimes to make sure that I don't tap it or play with it. I tend to fidget a lot when I'm tense, stressed, or hyper, which I try to make sure I don't do during sessions. I also try not to cross my arms, avoid frequently checking the clock, and ignore everyone and everything that's going on around me. I once had a client ask to move to a different room because it was so noisy in 300 (we went to 317); I was surprised when he asked and didn't really think it was that noisy, but later I was glad we'd moved because we were the only people in 317 and it was actually a very peaceful and pleasant working environment. I'm pretty sure I handle my own body language ok, what I'm looking forward to is the day when I don't have to consciously think about it anymore. Though maybe that never happens. Hm. I guess we'll see.
to not cross my arms, to avoid frequently checking the clock
Observation 2 and Primary Consultant 5
Outside observation
My second observation was at the BCC (very conveniently close to where I live). I've heard other people talk about going to the BCC, but I still wasn't sure exactly what to expect. It turned out to be comfortable, attractive, and pretty laid-back feeling, which I liked, especially compared to observing in the Library (which, in my opinion, is not laid-back at all). The client I observed was working on a resume that actually looked fine to me, except for her font choice, which I thought looked too bubbly or round or something, but the consultant either thought that was fine or chose not to comment. I didn't actually read through the resume myself though, which turned out to need more work because his categories were not labeled in a conventional way and he wrote everything out where bullet points would have been fine. The tutor suggested some things that I thought sounded more like personal preferences rather than essential guidelines, but I didn't really disagree with any of them. By far the most difficult part of that session for me was the TV. I never watch TV or even listen to music when I have to read or write something because I cannot concentrate that way. My attention was constantly divided between the session and the news, which made me glad that I was not the tutor. All in all, the BCC seems like a pleasant tutoring atmosphere, but too distracting for someone like me who really depends on relative quiet. I looked around at one point to see if any of the tutors or clients in sessions were distracted by the TV and it didn't seem like any of them were, but my guess is that that's not always the case.
Leading session(s)
This past Wednesday I led two sessions in a row with ESL students. This has happened before, but this time turned out to be an interesting and kind of difficult experience because the issues that each client had were very, very different. I found it really hard to switch right from one area of focus to another. For example, my first client (with whom I had a two-hour session, probably part of the reason I had trouble switching focus) had a lot of trouble forming logical English sentence structure. Many of her sentences just didn't make sense. I asked her what she meant so many times I ended up trying to think of a different way to ask that question since I was pretty sure my client had to be tired of hearing it. When she explained what she meant, a lot of things became much easier to understand. We ended up using a lot of her almost direct quotations as sentences in her paper to replace ones she'd previously written. I could tell that she struggled with explaining things to me sometimes, so I often asked follow-up questions to make sure that I didn't misinterpret her words, which I think I'd be very annoyed by if I were in her shoes. One thing that really helped our session was that she had a very good knowledge of English grammatical terms and concepts. If I said that something she wrote as an adjective had a different noun form, she knew exactly what I meant and often corrected her mistakes herself. The second client, however, had almost no trouble composing logical English sentences (there were some interesting phrases though, such as "this part of the essay really lights my bulb," which didn't sound like a native speaker's word choices, but I decided to do nothing more than smile inwardly and move on) but kind of surprisingly had little knowledge of grammatical concepts, almost no knowledge of different types of punctuation, and had a lot of trouble re-phrasing troublesome sentences aloud. When I would ask her what she meant, she would often repeat almost word-for-word what she'd written and I would have to think of other ways to try and figure out what she meant. In the end, both clients seemed happy when they left, and I felt like I'd actually helped them, but I also felt communicationally burned out.
My second observation was at the BCC (very conveniently close to where I live). I've heard other people talk about going to the BCC, but I still wasn't sure exactly what to expect. It turned out to be comfortable, attractive, and pretty laid-back feeling, which I liked, especially compared to observing in the Library (which, in my opinion, is not laid-back at all). The client I observed was working on a resume that actually looked fine to me, except for her font choice, which I thought looked too bubbly or round or something, but the consultant either thought that was fine or chose not to comment. I didn't actually read through the resume myself though, which turned out to need more work because his categories were not labeled in a conventional way and he wrote everything out where bullet points would have been fine. The tutor suggested some things that I thought sounded more like personal preferences rather than essential guidelines, but I didn't really disagree with any of them. By far the most difficult part of that session for me was the TV. I never watch TV or even listen to music when I have to read or write something because I cannot concentrate that way. My attention was constantly divided between the session and the news, which made me glad that I was not the tutor. All in all, the BCC seems like a pleasant tutoring atmosphere, but too distracting for someone like me who really depends on relative quiet. I looked around at one point to see if any of the tutors or clients in sessions were distracted by the TV and it didn't seem like any of them were, but my guess is that that's not always the case.
Leading session(s)
This past Wednesday I led two sessions in a row with ESL students. This has happened before, but this time turned out to be an interesting and kind of difficult experience because the issues that each client had were very, very different. I found it really hard to switch right from one area of focus to another. For example, my first client (with whom I had a two-hour session, probably part of the reason I had trouble switching focus) had a lot of trouble forming logical English sentence structure. Many of her sentences just didn't make sense. I asked her what she meant so many times I ended up trying to think of a different way to ask that question since I was pretty sure my client had to be tired of hearing it. When she explained what she meant, a lot of things became much easier to understand. We ended up using a lot of her almost direct quotations as sentences in her paper to replace ones she'd previously written. I could tell that she struggled with explaining things to me sometimes, so I often asked follow-up questions to make sure that I didn't misinterpret her words, which I think I'd be very annoyed by if I were in her shoes. One thing that really helped our session was that she had a very good knowledge of English grammatical terms and concepts. If I said that something she wrote as an adjective had a different noun form, she knew exactly what I meant and often corrected her mistakes herself. The second client, however, had almost no trouble composing logical English sentences (there were some interesting phrases though, such as "this part of the essay really lights my bulb," which didn't sound like a native speaker's word choices, but I decided to do nothing more than smile inwardly and move on) but kind of surprisingly had little knowledge of grammatical concepts, almost no knowledge of different types of punctuation, and had a lot of trouble re-phrasing troublesome sentences aloud. When I would ask her what she meant, she would often repeat almost word-for-word what she'd written and I would have to think of other ways to try and figure out what she meant. In the end, both clients seemed happy when they left, and I felt like I'd actually helped them, but I also felt communicationally burned out.
"So it begins..."
Hey team, this post is probably going to be pretty epic... in a lot of ways, so I thought it would be appropriate to start it off with a Lord of the Rings quote... welp, here it goes.
Session as Client #2
In my second session as a client I went to the library to have my cover letter for a job application worked shopped. I had already had some feedback from a couple classmates in my WRA 202 class, so this session was really just to look at final touches. The first thing that my client did was ask me about the job and what they were looking for. So I should them my job add and then they had a better idea what the job was like so they could give better feedback. Then they asked me to read my letter outland. After reading it out loud I caught a few mistakes and changed them. We also talked about word choice a lot. Even though I consider my a pretty good writer, I talking about voice and tone in this setting was really helpful. My consultant pointed out that in some places that my the language I was using was coming off a little to flippantly. As a result I changed some of the language so that I sounded a little bit more professional. I guess it worked out cause I ended up getting the internship. Go me and go Writing Center!!!!
My Thoughts a.k.a. Blog #6
Scrolling through the blogs to find which posts I have and haven't done, I saw a lot about ESL students. When I think about my experiences with ESL students I generally think grammar. Now there are other things I think about but I will save those for another blog post considering I have about a thousand left. Now for some people grammar isn't that big of an issue. I think I would fall under that category a little bit. I say a little bit because I think I can use grammar pretty well, but I have no idea what the names or the titles of these rules and regulations are. I probably would have a little difficulty finding them in a book as well. Now, considering that we deal with grammar issues in the writing center a ton, whether we like it or not, perhaps we should have small training session about grammar. What that would look like, Im not sure. It could be just one day, instead of talking about reading, we would take a large look at all the grammar books, as well as do some really basic grammar training. Now some people might think of that as a drag... but it couldn't hurt? Could it?
Critiquing Myself a.k.a. Blog Post #7
When dealing with certain issues within the WC, I sometimes find myself doing far to much writing. I usually figure this out when the client has disregarded their copy of the paper, they have no pen in their hand, and talking very little. What to do, what to do. After finding myself in this place several times unintentionally, things needed to change. As much as I totally disagree with a completely hands out approach, I needed to try it. So for a couple of sessions there were no pens. I found myself asking far more leading questions and getting the client far more engaged. I made these strategies part of my normal attack plan, and as a result it was easier for me to help client. I slowly was able to use my pen for good and not evil, by drawing diagrams or example sentences. I wrote comments on papers to clarify points of confusion, which I think helped. I think for me personally, in the beginning and still, its hard to not want to correct things myself. It's in my nature to fix some things, so in order to be a more effective consultant I had to change some of those habits.
Critiquing Myself Critiquing Myself... a.k.a. Blog Post #8
Remember way back when, when I was talking about how a hands off a more hands off approach worked better? Of course you do it was like 4 lines above this one. Well I think there might be an exception... maybe not, IDK, try and help me out. So the in the case of ESL students, there is often a communication barrier. So asking questions and hearing their responses so sometimes really hard. So how do we as consultants get around this problem. I mean its hard enough trying to convey some pretty complex ideas about writing to people without the addition of a communication problem. This is the time when I as a consultant feel the most frustrated. One I feel like they don't understand what I am trying to say to them. Two, I don't know what they are saying. So how can I feel confident in what I am trying to do? I often revert to trying to write things down. This usually leads to me correcting things on the paper than asking if thats what they mean. They of then often just sit there and nod there head. Then at the end of the session I feel like I did a bad job. I also feel that if I take the time to write the questions out, then they do the same, the session isn't going to accomplish much, in the already sort time that we have. Suggestions?
Primary Consultant #3... I think, I went back and I am pretty sure its 3. So Im gonna go with 3.
Well, to be honest I have know I have done more than 3 sessions at this point, I have probably done close to 75. To be even more honest they tend to bleed into others, and the only ones that usually stand out are pretty awful. So here is one of my least favorite sessions of all time. The ungreatest hit #1.
It was a dark and stormy night at the MSU library. John Lauckner was receptionist at the Writing Center. He was making sure that things were running smoothly, doing his best when it happened. The worst session ever. (PS... im gonna stop with the third person stuff now)
So as the receptionist I often take walk in appointments. When I do this people are generally pretty grateful, because they realize that it is a favor, sort of. Anyways when this person came in I went through the whole deal about how its online appointments and we don't do walk ins anymore and then I say but I can help you for a little bit. So the firs thing this person asks is what is my major. I respond with Professional Writing w/ a emphasis in digital and technical writing. They ask if I am a good writer. I say I would like to think so. They then ask if anyone else is available. I say... you didn't make an appointment, so no. Then throughout the course of the appointment she makes very little sense, I try and ask the write questions. When I keep asking questions, they take it as a sign of incompetence. They keep rolling their eyes at me. I admit I lose patience at this point. They then said they could write better than me in their own language. Im gonna assume that statement got lost in translation, and wasn't as rude as it sounded. By this point a co-worker saved me and took over, and had just about as much success as me. This was by far a horrible experience, but it did test my professionalism and other stuff, but mostly it was just awful.
A Fellows Program/ Mentor Program a.k.a. Blog Post #9
I did my second reading response on the idea of a fellows program. After reading a few articles on it, I feel that it in theory sounds like a great program. The reasons that I like it so much is because everyone has to do it. What that does is allow people that normally wouldn't come into the WC to see what is all about. This would allow "good" writers to see that the WC is just not a place for bad writers to come and vice visa. I really like that. By getting a larger and more diverse sample of students into the WC then more people can understand what the WC's goal and operation is like. This is why I am pretty excited about trying this next semester with PKG 485. It will be very interesting to see all the different kinds of writers. It will also be cool to see if they actually get better. By seeing the same students writing more than once we can see if a change really does occur. It should be a fun interesting experience.
To Be Continued Team...
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Session as Client and Primary Consultant
Session as Client #2
This was a good session for me because it wasn't my typical writing. The majority of my writing for college, and easily the majority of writing for other students, is research papers. Papers that have a thesis, sometimes a counter-argument, and supports for that thesis. For this paper, on the other hand, my task was simply to analyze a book for my history class and write a paper that acted essentially as a book review.
I am confident in my writing ability, but when I am given a task that diverges from what I'm typically used to, it does shake me up just a little bit. I am so used to writing research papers that I know exactly how to present what I am trying to say, and so generally I do not feel that I need proof-reading. This time, on the other hand, I was writing a book review and having another set of eyes was essential to making certain that what I was saying was getting through.
Primary Consultant #1
My first session actually came unexpectedly my second day working at the writing center. It was a bit scary at first, I must admit, but I quickly got the hang of it. I think it was ultimately a good thing that I hit the ground running. This writer, as I've noticed many have come to do, explained in the beginning that he was "not a very good writer." That, however, was not true, and it was one of the more satisfying experiences I've had as a writing consultant.
He displayed what many people seem to, a deep fear of the thesis. He didn't know what to put for his thesis, but upon reading his paper it was not difficult to figure one out. The point he was arguing was clear, and he all of the support for it, he just didn't know quite what he was arguing or how to put it into words. His thesis was already there, he just needed to extract it from his paper. He told me he'd buy me a candy bar if he got a 4.0, he never came back but I hope it's because he forgot.
Primary Consultant #2
ESL. I admit when I signed up for the writing center, I did not anticipate ESL students being so prominent. ESL, such a small acronym but one that strikes so much fear into the hearts of writing consultant. This was a two hour session, whic are always stressful, but ultimately I think I helped this particular student.
The problem with this was that, at first, I could not exactly figure out what the ultimate point of the paper was. That is, what the assignment was. She had an assignment, and she had a paper, the question was whether or not the paper fulfilled the assignment. The paper was clear and well written, which is unusual for ESL students, pretty good grammar. Unfortunately it was difficult to help her because she couldn't quite articulate what the assignment was, even though that was what she wanted help with. Ultimately, however, I think I helped her.
This was a good session for me because it wasn't my typical writing. The majority of my writing for college, and easily the majority of writing for other students, is research papers. Papers that have a thesis, sometimes a counter-argument, and supports for that thesis. For this paper, on the other hand, my task was simply to analyze a book for my history class and write a paper that acted essentially as a book review.
I am confident in my writing ability, but when I am given a task that diverges from what I'm typically used to, it does shake me up just a little bit. I am so used to writing research papers that I know exactly how to present what I am trying to say, and so generally I do not feel that I need proof-reading. This time, on the other hand, I was writing a book review and having another set of eyes was essential to making certain that what I was saying was getting through.
Primary Consultant #1
My first session actually came unexpectedly my second day working at the writing center. It was a bit scary at first, I must admit, but I quickly got the hang of it. I think it was ultimately a good thing that I hit the ground running. This writer, as I've noticed many have come to do, explained in the beginning that he was "not a very good writer." That, however, was not true, and it was one of the more satisfying experiences I've had as a writing consultant.
He displayed what many people seem to, a deep fear of the thesis. He didn't know what to put for his thesis, but upon reading his paper it was not difficult to figure one out. The point he was arguing was clear, and he all of the support for it, he just didn't know quite what he was arguing or how to put it into words. His thesis was already there, he just needed to extract it from his paper. He told me he'd buy me a candy bar if he got a 4.0, he never came back but I hope it's because he forgot.
Primary Consultant #2
ESL. I admit when I signed up for the writing center, I did not anticipate ESL students being so prominent. ESL, such a small acronym but one that strikes so much fear into the hearts of writing consultant. This was a two hour session, whic are always stressful, but ultimately I think I helped this particular student.
The problem with this was that, at first, I could not exactly figure out what the ultimate point of the paper was. That is, what the assignment was. She had an assignment, and she had a paper, the question was whether or not the paper fulfilled the assignment. The paper was clear and well written, which is unusual for ESL students, pretty good grammar. Unfortunately it was difficult to help her because she couldn't quite articulate what the assignment was, even though that was what she wanted help with. Ultimately, however, I think I helped her.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Solo Consultation Sessions 2-4
Well the semester is coming to an end and I have already done 4 of my 5 solo consultations. I truely have enjoyed all of them, and am getting more and more excited to begin consulting in the center more regularly and consistently.
Session 2
This session was different than any other session that I have participated in, in any way. It was monday afternoon in the library and it began as a 30 minute session, but became a full hour once we decided to focus on at least some of all 19 pages. The client was an undergraduate student who had a collaborative 19 page report that her professor required them all to bring in. I was not bothered that she did not come in on her own accord, and I felt like I was actually able to help her with some grammar and argument issues. We read through the paper section by section, one of which she wrote, the others she had not even read. Overall, I felt that the session went smoothly and I was able to reveal some aspects of the paper that I felt could use some clarification and elaboration. This was the first time that I was consulting on a paper that was about something that I did not understand the terminology for (marketing/business) and I thought that it was extremely interesting.
Session 3
My third session was this morning in Bessey with an international graduate student. We worked on the flow/argument/readability of her dissertation abstract. Her topic was dealing with social issues, and I thought it was very interesting. Together we read through her paper and made several grammar changes and some adjustments to her overall argument and flow. I thought that working with a graduate student was very interesting and satisfying. The session became more of a conversation between she and I. I would tell her what I thought of something and she would either agree or disagree and was completely able to justify how she felt about it. It was very interesting and I hope that I am able to work with her again on this same project.
Session 4
My fourth session was also this morning and I worked with an international undergrad from Africa. We were working on a creative piece for his intro-WRA class that was a response to a science fiction novel that they all read earlier in the year. He took a very creative approach to the project and created a newsletter that was to be published to a fictional sub-culture of the novel. I thought it was great to be able to consult on more of a visual and creative medium. We were able to talk about how some pictures could work better and more of the creative aspects of the overall piece. It was really satisfying working in a creative medium and having good discussions. I really am looking forward to working with more clients more consistently.
Session 2
This session was different than any other session that I have participated in, in any way. It was monday afternoon in the library and it began as a 30 minute session, but became a full hour once we decided to focus on at least some of all 19 pages. The client was an undergraduate student who had a collaborative 19 page report that her professor required them all to bring in. I was not bothered that she did not come in on her own accord, and I felt like I was actually able to help her with some grammar and argument issues. We read through the paper section by section, one of which she wrote, the others she had not even read. Overall, I felt that the session went smoothly and I was able to reveal some aspects of the paper that I felt could use some clarification and elaboration. This was the first time that I was consulting on a paper that was about something that I did not understand the terminology for (marketing/business) and I thought that it was extremely interesting.
Session 3
My third session was this morning in Bessey with an international graduate student. We worked on the flow/argument/readability of her dissertation abstract. Her topic was dealing with social issues, and I thought it was very interesting. Together we read through her paper and made several grammar changes and some adjustments to her overall argument and flow. I thought that working with a graduate student was very interesting and satisfying. The session became more of a conversation between she and I. I would tell her what I thought of something and she would either agree or disagree and was completely able to justify how she felt about it. It was very interesting and I hope that I am able to work with her again on this same project.
Session 4
My fourth session was also this morning and I worked with an international undergrad from Africa. We were working on a creative piece for his intro-WRA class that was a response to a science fiction novel that they all read earlier in the year. He took a very creative approach to the project and created a newsletter that was to be published to a fictional sub-culture of the novel. I thought it was great to be able to consult on more of a visual and creative medium. We were able to talk about how some pictures could work better and more of the creative aspects of the overall piece. It was really satisfying working in a creative medium and having good discussions. I really am looking forward to working with more clients more consistently.
Last Thoughts on Literacy Narrative
Overall, I thought the literacy narrative project was useful for me as a new consultant. I’ve worked with several clients on literacy narratives, and my own experience enabled me to help them a great deal. Last week, I had an appointment scheduled with a client who wanted to work on a digital remix of their literacy narrative. I got really excited about working on something beyond a traditional paper, but the client never showed up. Having recently completed my own remix, I would have enjoyed working with someone else on the same type of project.
For my final version of my digital remix, I chose to remake my original video in iMovie. From what Karissa showed us in class, iMovie seemed to offer a lot more options for putting together the various elements of a project. As I worked with iMovie, I came to discover that it has as many limitations as Windows MovieMaker. While I think my final product was an improvement over my initial presentation, I was just as frustrated by the time I finished. Nevertheless, despite all the grief this part of the project caused me, I’m glad I did it. I feel like I have a better handle on how to use iMovie, which is helpful considering how many professors assign projects using it.
Likewise, I’m glad I got the chance to remix my original literacy narrative as a piece of creative writing. Beyond just stretching my mental muscles, it gave me the opportunity to see the consulting session from the perspective of a client bringing in a piece of creative writing. It can be difficult sharing something that personal and submitting it for “judgment,” but I think now that I’ve done so, I can help other creative writers. Having someone else look over my writing generated valuable feedback that I could apply not just to this assignment, but also to my writing in general. Furthermore, the workshops we did in class gave me a better idea of how to address creative writing samples that clients might bring in. Overall, all of these experiences have helped me develop as a consultant.
For my final version of my digital remix, I chose to remake my original video in iMovie. From what Karissa showed us in class, iMovie seemed to offer a lot more options for putting together the various elements of a project. As I worked with iMovie, I came to discover that it has as many limitations as Windows MovieMaker. While I think my final product was an improvement over my initial presentation, I was just as frustrated by the time I finished. Nevertheless, despite all the grief this part of the project caused me, I’m glad I did it. I feel like I have a better handle on how to use iMovie, which is helpful considering how many professors assign projects using it.
Likewise, I’m glad I got the chance to remix my original literacy narrative as a piece of creative writing. Beyond just stretching my mental muscles, it gave me the opportunity to see the consulting session from the perspective of a client bringing in a piece of creative writing. It can be difficult sharing something that personal and submitting it for “judgment,” but I think now that I’ve done so, I can help other creative writers. Having someone else look over my writing generated valuable feedback that I could apply not just to this assignment, but also to my writing in general. Furthermore, the workshops we did in class gave me a better idea of how to address creative writing samples that clients might bring in. Overall, all of these experiences have helped me develop as a consultant.
Final project/presentation
My final project/presentation is today at 6 p.m. Here are some of my concerns:
1. I have outside sources, but I don't feel they're relevant to include in the final project (the one I am actually turning in). I've read many sources that discuss grammar biases and how others perceive language misuses, but my final, which is based around a usage survey of a cross-section of undergraduates/graduates and writing consultants, doesn't rely on the perceptions beyond the sample. I could be wrong.
2. I ramble. And I'm long-winded. I won't pretend. So that makes me nervous.
3. I guess that's it.
I'm excited to do my presentation in a way, too. I like interacting with writing consultants and classmates when it comes to grammar and language usage issues. I feel I always learn something new, so I hope that's what today brings. I've really enjoyed my time with people in this class, and I hope we band together and lead a revolution in MSU's Writing Center. I'm not sure what that revolution may be, but we'll do it.
Peace.
1. I have outside sources, but I don't feel they're relevant to include in the final project (the one I am actually turning in). I've read many sources that discuss grammar biases and how others perceive language misuses, but my final, which is based around a usage survey of a cross-section of undergraduates/graduates and writing consultants, doesn't rely on the perceptions beyond the sample. I could be wrong.
2. I ramble. And I'm long-winded. I won't pretend. So that makes me nervous.
3. I guess that's it.
I'm excited to do my presentation in a way, too. I like interacting with writing consultants and classmates when it comes to grammar and language usage issues. I feel I always learn something new, so I hope that's what today brings. I've really enjoyed my time with people in this class, and I hope we band together and lead a revolution in MSU's Writing Center. I'm not sure what that revolution may be, but we'll do it.
Peace.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Chalmers
Like Cat and probably everyone else, I wish the Chalmers partnership had worked out. I don't thnk anyone is to blame though. I sort of thing they dropped the ball in not responding to our posts, b/c from what I heard, we had all made a post (however reluctantly) that never got responded to, and do the conversation stopped. As bad as it sounds, I think everyone involved needs to be required to make posts for a grade... otherwise I think we all know there's little motivation to do it.
I think we could have learned a lot from the Chalmers students, both about writing center work and academic life in another country. It would have been cool to see the difference and similarities. But I think one thing that could have made the partnership more interesting is if we had a set plan to do something OTHER than talk about our experiences, because that's what we already do in class, and we can only rehash the same topics so many times.
This was the first attempt, so of course there will be kinks. In the future I think everything just needs to be more organized and planned, and we need to commit to the partnership and make it an active part of class.
I think we could have learned a lot from the Chalmers students, both about writing center work and academic life in another country. It would have been cool to see the difference and similarities. But I think one thing that could have made the partnership more interesting is if we had a set plan to do something OTHER than talk about our experiences, because that's what we already do in class, and we can only rehash the same topics so many times.
This was the first attempt, so of course there will be kinks. In the future I think everything just needs to be more organized and planned, and we need to commit to the partnership and make it an active part of class.
Leading Sessions 4 & 5
Today I had two leading sessions back to back, but it was with two opposite students. The first was a very motivated writer, and she was awesome to work with. She was a grad student and an ESL student studying to teach English to ESL students. We worked on her word choice. She often forgot to put "the' or 'a' in front of certian words such as "Teacher should answer the students" should be "The teacher should answer the students." She was genuinly interested in developing her writing in English. She asked me how I edit my own work and if I could tell that her paper was written by an ESL student. She did begin to catch some of the akward wordings she used. I suggested to her to read her paper out loud to herself and to print it off if that would help her. It was relieving to be able to work a student interested in their writing more than their actual grade.
And then my day turned around. The next session I lead was with a stressed out ESL writer who said he wanted me to help him with his word choice. He really just wanted me to edit his paper, asking me for my opinion and avoiding working on any other aspects. His paper was only 2 pages but he was in a hurry and explained when he left, after only a short 15 minute session, that his paper was due at a 6 o'clock class. Although his paper was very well written, it was frustrating to go back to working with a stressful "help me get a 4.0 by editing this for me" kind of student.
He did not put much effort into the session. I tried to ask him questions to spur his attention away from grammar, but he was not interested. I guess you get what you put in.
And then my day turned around. The next session I lead was with a stressed out ESL writer who said he wanted me to help him with his word choice. He really just wanted me to edit his paper, asking me for my opinion and avoiding working on any other aspects. His paper was only 2 pages but he was in a hurry and explained when he left, after only a short 15 minute session, that his paper was due at a 6 o'clock class. Although his paper was very well written, it was frustrating to go back to working with a stressful "help me get a 4.0 by editing this for me" kind of student.
He did not put much effort into the session. I tried to ask him questions to spur his attention away from grammar, but he was not interested. I guess you get what you put in.
ESL discussion input
My commentary on ESL writers in the writing center is a bit belated because most of us have already discussed pitfalls and strategies in tutoring. I wanted to throw in my two cents in the spirit of blogging (and forgetting I had never written out my input but instead had voiced my opinion in class).
I'm still unsure how I would handle situations in which I was tutoring a writer whom I can literally not understand. We've discussed imagery and drawing shapes to communicate, but I can't see how that would be time-effective in a one- or in even a two-hour session. I've already had this experience, as many of you know, and I eventually gave up because the writer ended up constantly arguing with any suggestion I made — assuming either of us understood the other — so do you find another consultant to take the writer? Do you just sit there and let the writer finish reading the paper? Because that's what I did. And I felt useless and frustrated and completely unprepared for accepting another client.
It's draining. Despite the ways that have been outlined to handle ESL and international students, sometimes there aren't correct solutions and the only thing you can do is sit there. It's sad but...alas. I'm feeling deflated about the issue, and dear diary-ish.
I guess that's all.
I'm still unsure how I would handle situations in which I was tutoring a writer whom I can literally not understand. We've discussed imagery and drawing shapes to communicate, but I can't see how that would be time-effective in a one- or in even a two-hour session. I've already had this experience, as many of you know, and I eventually gave up because the writer ended up constantly arguing with any suggestion I made — assuming either of us understood the other — so do you find another consultant to take the writer? Do you just sit there and let the writer finish reading the paper? Because that's what I did. And I felt useless and frustrated and completely unprepared for accepting another client.
It's draining. Despite the ways that have been outlined to handle ESL and international students, sometimes there aren't correct solutions and the only thing you can do is sit there. It's sad but...alas. I'm feeling deflated about the issue, and dear diary-ish.
I guess that's all.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Chalmers stuff
I wish Chalmers had turned out differently. I was really looking forward to discussing the bigger questions with our faraway peers. I also wanted to know how writing centers are perceived there versus here, but then I wondered...how ARE writing centers perceived here?
Before I started working here, I had no opinion of the writing center. I just thought, hey, there's a big room by my classroom and people always ask if they can help me with stuff when I mosey on in to grab a reference book. But I never considered the kind of work people did or the type of people/students they helped. I feel that the writing center itself is severely under-promoted, and I'm certainly not saying that falls on anyone's shoulders — I just think it's something that's difficult to "promote" and, even if you can, who are your target audiences? Freshmen? International students? Well, they already come — so what about the people who don't come who could actually get a lot out of everything?
I want to know these things about Chalmers University. How do people perceive writing centers, do they understand them, do they even have an opinion of one in existence? Are they at all common? Is collaborative learning a common practice there, or is writing consultation simply a different entity?
I feel that if there had been fewer responsibilities on both ends for participating students, we may have been able to make this a priority. Maybe in the future, it can be like a three- to four-week project where we actively engage with the students. But the problem with that is similar to the problem we occasionally have with consultants — without interaction on their end, how do you possibly compensate?
Questions to ponder.
Before I started working here, I had no opinion of the writing center. I just thought, hey, there's a big room by my classroom and people always ask if they can help me with stuff when I mosey on in to grab a reference book. But I never considered the kind of work people did or the type of people/students they helped. I feel that the writing center itself is severely under-promoted, and I'm certainly not saying that falls on anyone's shoulders — I just think it's something that's difficult to "promote" and, even if you can, who are your target audiences? Freshmen? International students? Well, they already come — so what about the people who don't come who could actually get a lot out of everything?
I want to know these things about Chalmers University. How do people perceive writing centers, do they understand them, do they even have an opinion of one in existence? Are they at all common? Is collaborative learning a common practice there, or is writing consultation simply a different entity?
I feel that if there had been fewer responsibilities on both ends for participating students, we may have been able to make this a priority. Maybe in the future, it can be like a three- to four-week project where we actively engage with the students. But the problem with that is similar to the problem we occasionally have with consultants — without interaction on their end, how do you possibly compensate?
Questions to ponder.
Primary Consultant #5
Okay, last one. Here we go.
I had probably my least favorite primary consultant session a month ago. It was with a journalism student who felt very confident in her writing and just couldn't stop complaining about how ridiculous the professor grades because EVERYONE seems to be doing well except her. So, I said, let's do this thing.
She was writing a paper about causes and American involvement in the Vietnam War, and this client talked a mile a minute. Half the time I wasn't sure if she even wanted my help and instead just preferred to discuss how great her writing was and how inept everyone else seemed to be. The other half, she was arguing with me about my suggestions because someone ELSE told her this and that and how if she did this, that made more sense, and blah blah...so, that was frustrating. I feel that if you're coming to a writing center, you should at least entertain new ideas and perspectives, even if you wholeheartedly disagree with them. At least have the tact to politely ignore every single opinion the consultant gives you.
Nope. Not happening with this client. But I think, with my newly adopted non-directive approach, I was able to show her a few errors in her thought process without pointing them out. I asked her, "So, how do you know this?" and she replies, "Everyone knows this." And I said, "Is it even true?" And she said "How could it not be true?"
I wanted to die a few times, but I managed to ask her enough questions to show her that, no, that wasn't necessarily true, and no, it wasn't even something everyone else believed to be true. But she had a horrid fear of finding more sources for citing, so she decided to take out entire portions that either required citation or ended up not being relevant. She definitely seemed to want to put work into the paper, but she didn't seem to want to put in any work she deemed irrelevant or unacceptable.
It's difficult to deal with this type of client. I feel that no one is ever right or wrong in a session, but when you can't reach any kind of consensus on anything in a paper, it feels as though both of you are completely wasting your time, and in those situations, I feel I need to speak up and clearly express the responsibilities of the writing center, what we do here exactly, and how having a more open mind might help in the future.
Okay, I might not say the last part, but I feel as a center we need to come up with a blanket tactful statement for these situations. It's also possible I overlooked a few strategies to deal with it, but I think my frustration overcame my sense of clarity and direction. Hopefully I can manage to have a more level head in the future.
I had probably my least favorite primary consultant session a month ago. It was with a journalism student who felt very confident in her writing and just couldn't stop complaining about how ridiculous the professor grades because EVERYONE seems to be doing well except her. So, I said, let's do this thing.
She was writing a paper about causes and American involvement in the Vietnam War, and this client talked a mile a minute. Half the time I wasn't sure if she even wanted my help and instead just preferred to discuss how great her writing was and how inept everyone else seemed to be. The other half, she was arguing with me about my suggestions because someone ELSE told her this and that and how if she did this, that made more sense, and blah blah...so, that was frustrating. I feel that if you're coming to a writing center, you should at least entertain new ideas and perspectives, even if you wholeheartedly disagree with them. At least have the tact to politely ignore every single opinion the consultant gives you.
Nope. Not happening with this client. But I think, with my newly adopted non-directive approach, I was able to show her a few errors in her thought process without pointing them out. I asked her, "So, how do you know this?" and she replies, "Everyone knows this." And I said, "Is it even true?" And she said "How could it not be true?"
I wanted to die a few times, but I managed to ask her enough questions to show her that, no, that wasn't necessarily true, and no, it wasn't even something everyone else believed to be true. But she had a horrid fear of finding more sources for citing, so she decided to take out entire portions that either required citation or ended up not being relevant. She definitely seemed to want to put work into the paper, but she didn't seem to want to put in any work she deemed irrelevant or unacceptable.
It's difficult to deal with this type of client. I feel that no one is ever right or wrong in a session, but when you can't reach any kind of consensus on anything in a paper, it feels as though both of you are completely wasting your time, and in those situations, I feel I need to speak up and clearly express the responsibilities of the writing center, what we do here exactly, and how having a more open mind might help in the future.
Okay, I might not say the last part, but I feel as a center we need to come up with a blanket tactful statement for these situations. It's also possible I overlooked a few strategies to deal with it, but I think my frustration overcame my sense of clarity and direction. Hopefully I can manage to have a more level head in the future.
Final Reflection on Literacy Narrative
The literacy narrative literally made no sense to me when it was first introduced in class. Granted, I hadn't read the syllabus very thoroughly, but did I realize there were three parts to it? No. Did I recognize any literacy beyond reading and writing? No. Was I being responsible in any way? No.
But the heavens parted, and I saw the light. I chose to expand on my musical literacies, and although I felt very confident about my first narrative installment, the multimedia remix made me nervous. According to my classmate feedback, I had left out a lot from my presentation, and that saddened me. I felt I went very in depth with my musical literacies, specifically regarding being a drum major, and others, who had chosen to focus solely on growing up and learning to read and write, seemed perfectly well off. As they should! I enjoyed the nature of their presentations and I provided corresponding feedback praising them for kicking butt and taking names. I loved the different approaches everyone had to their own literacies, but I lost a lot of confidence after my presentation. All of the feedback I received was constructive, and yes, I'm sure the fact that I presented in PowerPoint feedback was a bit of a turn-off and a deterrent for praise, bu I still felt that I had taken something at face value and had parsed it into almost every important element that relates to overall "life" literacies.
I'm a bad creator. And that's not a good excuse for not pursuing mediums beyond what I'm used to (i.e., PowerPoint), but iMovie was impossible. I attempted to create a movie three separate times, and all either magically deleted (on my own computer, not a WC) or made up their own transitions. It didn't make any sense. The class we had one day explaining tips and tricks with iMovie was very helpful, and I had a really good start to my project (it was a fake one at that time because I didn't have my pictures or content, so I deleted it). But then the three consecutive failures occurred. Did I want to resort to PowerPoint? Not really. I mean, yawn? How many PowerPoints have all of us seen in the past two, three, four + years in secondary and post-secondary education? Too many, my friends. Too many. So, I tried to use PowerPoint as a way to showcase my pictures. Didn't work out terrifically well. I thought about creating a composition on my flute or tenor sax to play in class to showcase my literacy, but that sort of took away from the "multimedia" thing...and would have made me look friendless, which would have been fine, I don't mind what people think of me particularly, but honestly no one would have gotten it. I don't even know what I would have played, beyond the different genres I know.
So, the point is, I don't like trying to be creative. I like structure, I like clear rules, I like rigidity and outlines and yes, I'm Type A. So no, the literacy narrative triad didn't particularly please me, and yes, it is my fault that I didn't love it, and no, I won't continue to have a clear set of rules in front of me throughout life, so this project has helped me get used to the fact that I'm not going to have a clear roadmap in life. This has become an existential diary entry, so I digress.
The creative piece was fun. But I'm not sure what it did for me besides providing entertainment. I would have preferred some kind of minimum instruction, like page limits or something. I don't know. It all comes back to the rules I lack in my life, and needing them for limits.
And honestly, I think there needs to be a set of rules or more structured feedback with our pieces. I think that would help more than just me, but who knows.
But the heavens parted, and I saw the light. I chose to expand on my musical literacies, and although I felt very confident about my first narrative installment, the multimedia remix made me nervous. According to my classmate feedback, I had left out a lot from my presentation, and that saddened me. I felt I went very in depth with my musical literacies, specifically regarding being a drum major, and others, who had chosen to focus solely on growing up and learning to read and write, seemed perfectly well off. As they should! I enjoyed the nature of their presentations and I provided corresponding feedback praising them for kicking butt and taking names. I loved the different approaches everyone had to their own literacies, but I lost a lot of confidence after my presentation. All of the feedback I received was constructive, and yes, I'm sure the fact that I presented in PowerPoint feedback was a bit of a turn-off and a deterrent for praise, bu I still felt that I had taken something at face value and had parsed it into almost every important element that relates to overall "life" literacies.
I'm a bad creator. And that's not a good excuse for not pursuing mediums beyond what I'm used to (i.e., PowerPoint), but iMovie was impossible. I attempted to create a movie three separate times, and all either magically deleted (on my own computer, not a WC) or made up their own transitions. It didn't make any sense. The class we had one day explaining tips and tricks with iMovie was very helpful, and I had a really good start to my project (it was a fake one at that time because I didn't have my pictures or content, so I deleted it). But then the three consecutive failures occurred. Did I want to resort to PowerPoint? Not really. I mean, yawn? How many PowerPoints have all of us seen in the past two, three, four + years in secondary and post-secondary education? Too many, my friends. Too many. So, I tried to use PowerPoint as a way to showcase my pictures. Didn't work out terrifically well. I thought about creating a composition on my flute or tenor sax to play in class to showcase my literacy, but that sort of took away from the "multimedia" thing...and would have made me look friendless, which would have been fine, I don't mind what people think of me particularly, but honestly no one would have gotten it. I don't even know what I would have played, beyond the different genres I know.
So, the point is, I don't like trying to be creative. I like structure, I like clear rules, I like rigidity and outlines and yes, I'm Type A. So no, the literacy narrative triad didn't particularly please me, and yes, it is my fault that I didn't love it, and no, I won't continue to have a clear set of rules in front of me throughout life, so this project has helped me get used to the fact that I'm not going to have a clear roadmap in life. This has become an existential diary entry, so I digress.
The creative piece was fun. But I'm not sure what it did for me besides providing entertainment. I would have preferred some kind of minimum instruction, like page limits or something. I don't know. It all comes back to the rules I lack in my life, and needing them for limits.
And honestly, I think there needs to be a set of rules or more structured feedback with our pieces. I think that would help more than just me, but who knows.
Literacy Narrative Reflections
Creating my literacy narrative really opened my eyes to how literacy has developed in my life. I guess before, I just always took it for granted... It was just always with me. After the first literacy narrative, I was astounded by how much I remembered and how my family had such a profound influence on my development. When we were first assigned this project, I had no idea what I would write about. After I began brainstorming, however, I couldn't keep my ideas of literacy to one specific topic - I was scribing memories, incidents, and dialogues that had existed in my head my entire life. I really enjoyed this part of the literacy because it's a task that no one had ever asked me to do before.
The remix (part 2) was a new and exciting way to look at my paper. I took so much time picking the music and accompanying photos for my movie. And I had never made an iMovie before, so that was even more fun! I love learning new technology, and in that remix it just seemed like the perfect experimental environment to learn a new way to express my thoughts.
Part 3 was my favorite part of the entire literacy narrative because I love creating new, colorful things with my hands. Just sit me down with some glue, scissors, and construction paper and I'll be happy for quite some time. Although I ended up doing the entire thing on the computer, I enjoyed designing my cookbook and trying to make it as creative as possible. I was astonished at what I could think of once I had the topic down!
All in all, the project really opened my mind to new ways of thinking about a concept. It also provided me with the opportunity to analyze my own development, which is something that I never had to do before. I learned a lot about myself from this project and I think it should definitely be continued for the next Writing Center class.
The remix (part 2) was a new and exciting way to look at my paper. I took so much time picking the music and accompanying photos for my movie. And I had never made an iMovie before, so that was even more fun! I love learning new technology, and in that remix it just seemed like the perfect experimental environment to learn a new way to express my thoughts.
Part 3 was my favorite part of the entire literacy narrative because I love creating new, colorful things with my hands. Just sit me down with some glue, scissors, and construction paper and I'll be happy for quite some time. Although I ended up doing the entire thing on the computer, I enjoyed designing my cookbook and trying to make it as creative as possible. I was astonished at what I could think of once I had the topic down!
All in all, the project really opened my mind to new ways of thinking about a concept. It also provided me with the opportunity to analyze my own development, which is something that I never had to do before. I learned a lot about myself from this project and I think it should definitely be continued for the next Writing Center class.
Literacies Reflection
This was the first time I was asked to take a written piece and transform it into two different genres including multimedia. I really enjoyed the project. As a writer, it helped me focus on applying my skills in different contexts. I have much experience writing personal narratives and poems. When it came to a digital remix I chose a genre I was unfamiliar with and created an imovie. I have worked with Power Point presentations and web design. I concentrated a large amount of time focusing on the visual elements of the imovie. I defined the success of my imovie by how well i portrayed my story through images, shorter text, and music.
There was a certain precision necessary for my imovie to become a good imovie. I tried to keep all aspects appropriate for my overall message while contributing unique details with each scene. I tried to time the text with the necessary amount of time needed for the viewer to read. I organized my movie parallel with my written paper, showing my literacies as they develop with my age in a story format. I chose two songs, one that concentrated on the younger development of my literacies (dance and music, American Pie) and one song that concentrated on my current development of writing as a literacy (shadow stabbing-cake).
Being able to concentrate on organization, content, and audience are all necessary skills as a writer. As a consultant, I am able to understand an overall view of these aspects and how they can be applied to different genres. This helps me improve as a writing consultant. I am comfortable working with creative writers and digital media.
There was a certain precision necessary for my imovie to become a good imovie. I tried to keep all aspects appropriate for my overall message while contributing unique details with each scene. I tried to time the text with the necessary amount of time needed for the viewer to read. I organized my movie parallel with my written paper, showing my literacies as they develop with my age in a story format. I chose two songs, one that concentrated on the younger development of my literacies (dance and music, American Pie) and one song that concentrated on my current development of writing as a literacy (shadow stabbing-cake).
Being able to concentrate on organization, content, and audience are all necessary skills as a writer. As a consultant, I am able to understand an overall view of these aspects and how they can be applied to different genres. This helps me improve as a writing consultant. I am comfortable working with creative writers and digital media.
Literacy Narrative Project - Final Reflection
The literacy narrative project was a very long and extinsive project which added good and bad aspects to the project as a whole.
While writing the first draft of the traditional narrative I was frusterated and overwhelmed. I did not know what it was that I was supposed to write about or what it was that I felt about my literacies. After recieving feedback on the narrative and re-working my though process for the digital remix I was able to create a more focused and worthwhile general idea. For me the initial creation of the digital remix was just as frusterating as the traditional narrative. I was very opposed to the idea of using less standard and more creative modes of communication. I also felt like I did not have a clear sense of what was expected of me. Much to my suprise I had the easiest time working on the creative aspect. I did not think I would like it at all, but I actually enjoyed working on it. I wrote a children's short story and thoroughly enjoyed the process. However, I still felt like I was unclear about what was expected of me.
While working on the final copies of the traditional narrative, digital remix, and creative piece I had a much more enjoyable time. I felt like I had a much better sense of what I wanted to convey to my audience, and also what was expected of me.
Overall, I enjoyed that I was able to re-write and re-work each aspect of the project. However, I found the first time through of each aspect to be frusterating because I did not have a clear sense of what was expected of me or what the boundries of the assingment were.
Also, it seemed to me that the project focused on literacy for several weeks which did not seem to be that central of a course theme/theme of the WC.
While writing the first draft of the traditional narrative I was frusterated and overwhelmed. I did not know what it was that I was supposed to write about or what it was that I felt about my literacies. After recieving feedback on the narrative and re-working my though process for the digital remix I was able to create a more focused and worthwhile general idea. For me the initial creation of the digital remix was just as frusterating as the traditional narrative. I was very opposed to the idea of using less standard and more creative modes of communication. I also felt like I did not have a clear sense of what was expected of me. Much to my suprise I had the easiest time working on the creative aspect. I did not think I would like it at all, but I actually enjoyed working on it. I wrote a children's short story and thoroughly enjoyed the process. However, I still felt like I was unclear about what was expected of me.
While working on the final copies of the traditional narrative, digital remix, and creative piece I had a much more enjoyable time. I felt like I had a much better sense of what I wanted to convey to my audience, and also what was expected of me.
Overall, I enjoyed that I was able to re-write and re-work each aspect of the project. However, I found the first time through of each aspect to be frusterating because I did not have a clear sense of what was expected of me or what the boundries of the assingment were.
Also, it seemed to me that the project focused on literacy for several weeks which did not seem to be that central of a course theme/theme of the WC.
Literacies Narrative Reflection
I'm glad we had this project, because I honestly never would have remembered the thing my whole story revolved around without it. Only after sitting in class and making our literacy timeline did I remember the couch forts and the stories that my dad told my brother and I, and thinking about that time made me realize where my passion for creative writing might have come from. I knew all along that wanting to write creatively had led to my development of literacies in web posting and Word processing, but I still felt uneasy when I thought about writing simply about how I loved to write. Tracing my interests back to their roots made this piece more personal, and more effective for me.
By doing this project and seeing my classmates', I've also come to realize how invaluable an early start in literacy is. My interest in writing was instilled in me sometime before I was seven years old. Many of us had an early interest in music or reading that had similar effects. When children are exposed to new literacies in early life and come to love their different literacies, they will grow and benefit from them immeasurably when they get older.
I'm also glad for the multimedia remix because it taught me a technology I never would have explored otherwise. I don't own a Mac, so really the only way I would have explored iMovie more would have to be because of some kind of assignment. I'm glad to have another technology under my belt, and possibly one I can add to my resume.
By doing this project and seeing my classmates', I've also come to realize how invaluable an early start in literacy is. My interest in writing was instilled in me sometime before I was seven years old. Many of us had an early interest in music or reading that had similar effects. When children are exposed to new literacies in early life and come to love their different literacies, they will grow and benefit from them immeasurably when they get older.
I'm also glad for the multimedia remix because it taught me a technology I never would have explored otherwise. I don't own a Mac, so really the only way I would have explored iMovie more would have to be because of some kind of assignment. I'm glad to have another technology under my belt, and possibly one I can add to my resume.
Literacy Project Thoughts
I found the literacy narrative difficult to write. I almost always find narrative pieces hard to write, but this one more so than usual because not only was I writing about myself (which usually comes out as dry, boring writing for whatever reason), but I was connecting pieces of my life that, in my head, had never been connected before. It was an interesting course of thought, but my first draft still came out, as Trixie told me, "like a list."
The creative remix interested me more than the narrative. After the imovie presentation, I'd decided to do an imovie. However, after hours of work I turned out to have nothing at all. A slew of technical problems completely wiped out everything I'd created, which frustrated me to no end and caused me to decide to work with a different medium. After some thought, I settled on a website. I've only made one complete website before (it wasn't very good), but I really like web design and thought that would be a more unique way to remix my project. At first, I didn't think too much about exactly how the writing from my narrative would translate to my site. Obviously, not directly. Even the text I wrote for the first draft of my site, though always in fairly small paragraph form, was still too long and involved. I'm studying writing for the web right now, but even before I began doing that I knew that what I'd written was unappealing as internet text. The difficulty was to trim what I'd written, to make it concise without losing my meaning. If I didn't make the connections between my literacies clear, or didn't explain something important well enough while trying to be brief, then the point of the site was ruined. I added pictures (by far the most popular comment from my classmates was that they thought the site needed a personal touch from pictures) and music to represent some of the strongest musical memories of my childhood.
The creative remix was fun. It was also difficult because I chose to write it as a kind of narrative as well, so I decided to write it in third person to see if that would improve my personal voice. I think it helped. I wrote that paper in a way I'd never written a narrative before: it's in three parts, and all three parts are very different narrative styles. One is descriptive, one is more introspective, and the last one is sort of a mix I guess. I wanted to try writing each section a little differently as a sort of reflection on different sections of a piece of music, which is also why there are three sections. I was concerned that the different styles would seem jarring, but I liked the finished product and decided that it was ok.
The creative remix interested me more than the narrative. After the imovie presentation, I'd decided to do an imovie. However, after hours of work I turned out to have nothing at all. A slew of technical problems completely wiped out everything I'd created, which frustrated me to no end and caused me to decide to work with a different medium. After some thought, I settled on a website. I've only made one complete website before (it wasn't very good), but I really like web design and thought that would be a more unique way to remix my project. At first, I didn't think too much about exactly how the writing from my narrative would translate to my site. Obviously, not directly. Even the text I wrote for the first draft of my site, though always in fairly small paragraph form, was still too long and involved. I'm studying writing for the web right now, but even before I began doing that I knew that what I'd written was unappealing as internet text. The difficulty was to trim what I'd written, to make it concise without losing my meaning. If I didn't make the connections between my literacies clear, or didn't explain something important well enough while trying to be brief, then the point of the site was ruined. I added pictures (by far the most popular comment from my classmates was that they thought the site needed a personal touch from pictures) and music to represent some of the strongest musical memories of my childhood.
The creative remix was fun. It was also difficult because I chose to write it as a kind of narrative as well, so I decided to write it in third person to see if that would improve my personal voice. I think it helped. I wrote that paper in a way I'd never written a narrative before: it's in three parts, and all three parts are very different narrative styles. One is descriptive, one is more introspective, and the last one is sort of a mix I guess. I wanted to try writing each section a little differently as a sort of reflection on different sections of a piece of music, which is also why there are three sections. I was concerned that the different styles would seem jarring, but I liked the finished product and decided that it was ok.
Literacies Project Final Reflection
While I struggled a bit with this project, I really enjoyed doing it and exploring different genres of communication. At first, I had no idea how to focus my literacy narrative (I'm still not sure I figured that out). So many things have influenced me and my literacies, that I didn't know what really counted as a literacy and what kinds of things I should focus on. So, I settled on what felt right - including a little bit of everything, since a little bit of everything has influenced me as a reader and writer. So my final piece felt a little unfocused, but a few people told me that it did what it was meant to do, it told about how I've become who I am.
Next came the multimedia remix. I was pretty scared going into it, but I really enjoyed it. I used Windows Movie Maker, and quickly got all excited about making movies for different things. It was really fun to learn how to use the medium in a relatively low-stakes environment. I was allowed to LEARN. I'm pretty happy with the final product, although I know if I gain new skills making movies, I'll probably look back on it and think it's horrendous. I'm glad that I was forced to experiment and figure out how to move a textual piece into a visual/audio/etc. piece.
Finally the creative remix. Creative writing and I are not good friends. It scares me, and I think I scare it too. So I decided to incorporate something I knew. I'm taking a Shakespeare class, and have studied Shakespeare throughout my academic career, so I decided to focus on form for this piece and create a poem in the style of a Shakespearean sonnet (minus the themes of love). Thus my piece was relatively restricted in that I had a rhyme scheme and a rhythm (iambic pentameter). So I took the main ideas from my narrative and put them in the poem. It was fun to mess around with poetry, even though I am no good at it. It taught me about the restrictions of form and content.
Overall, I learned a lot about navigating between mediums and genres throughout the course of working on this literacies project. I also learned a lot about literacies as a concept, and what it means and its implications. I have a broader understanding of what influences us as readers and writers, and this is all knowledge I think I'll be able to integrate into my future endeavors. My favorite part was that this project allowed us to experiment with new things without worrying about grades. The fact that we tried was enough. I don't think I would ever have the guts to try something new like a video or a poem in a class where it would be heavily graded. Low-stakes environments like this are the best ways to learn, and I really benefited from the relaxed atmosphere in which we worked on these projects.
Literacy Narratives
So team...
This project was pretty interesting, right? I really didn't think that my voice as a writer would really change that much throughout all the genres, but it did. The traditional narrative was just that, traditional. As far as the digital remix, it stayed pretty much the same because I made a pretty professional looking website. The difference was in creating the site it self in colors and images. That was much different. In the creative piece, my tone and voice were not very serious, perhaps even a little comical, so that was very different.
I think that doing this project was very helpful for working at the WC because there are so many different assignments and voices, so we need to be able to understand that different approaches are expectable.
Overall I enjoyed the creative piece the most. It felt like me the most, without the limitations I felt I could tell my literacy story the most effectively.
Welp... c-ya Later,
John
Literacy Remix
I should probably preface this by admitting that I'm relatively resistant to change. I'm used to writing papers in college and, though I don't enjoy it, it's what I know and what I'm relatively skilled at. The classes that actually engage me are few and far between. For those that do, it is no problem at all to write a paper, I enjoy the reading and the research as well as the actual writing. For those that don't engage me, papers are a chore and are pretty boring, but it isn't difficult to just crap one out that will suffice, but not have nothing that special about them.
This project was unusual because it forced us to go outside the traditional paper writing. I had to be engaged by the subject of my literacies because if I wasn't it would render the creative writing portion and the digital remix impossible to complete. Though I was certainly resistant to it at first, as I am with all coursework, I ultimately found that I enjoyed doing those two portions even more than the original. Looking back at the first part that I wrote makes it seem quite boring to me, the first was certainly the weaker of the three.
This project was unusual because it forced us to go outside the traditional paper writing. I had to be engaged by the subject of my literacies because if I wasn't it would render the creative writing portion and the digital remix impossible to complete. Though I was certainly resistant to it at first, as I am with all coursework, I ultimately found that I enjoyed doing those two portions even more than the original. Looking back at the first part that I wrote makes it seem quite boring to me, the first was certainly the weaker of the three.
Primary Consultant #4
In addition to realizing that I didn't have enough weekly blog posts, I also realized that despite having several sessions a week for about three months straight, I have neglected posting primary consultant descriptions. So here's a #4 from about two weeks ago.
I met with a Lyman Briggs student for a gender and society paper. That was a first for me. I believe he was an international student, but he had a solid grasp on the general grammatical concepts of English, so nothing of that nature was a concern for me. I liked that he was very engaged with the session from the get-go and very clear about his goals. He wanted help with organization and would like a different perspective on whether or not everything seemed relevant and useful to his topic/thesis.
His thesis was buried a page and a half into the paper. I asked him what his professor's position on thesis placement was, and he said that she preferred the thesis to appear at least in the first three-quarters of the page, so he accordingly asked for help to cut it down. But that's three-quarters of a page. So I tried to look at the validity of his introduction and how it related, exactly, to his thesis. The first page didn't! I asked him how it correlated, and he saw for the first time that it didn't, so he cut an entire page, which left him room to expand on his conclusion.
I think by the end, he was pretty much done with it. We went paragraph by paragraph and made sure each somehow related and the point was clear and well-developed. I don't think he was very used to the topic nor the writing style, being a scientific writer in Lyman Briggs, so by the end he was surely mentally exhausted. But I feel he was satisfied with the work we put into it, and we set a few goals together for him to accomplish. So that was exciting.
I like that I've been able to assert authority in sessions but have taken plenty of steps back for the client to brainstorm solutions to potential problems. I've had a lot of trouble maintaining that balance, and his enthusiasm particularly made me realize that interaction, although dependent on both parties, can be facilitated by a non-directive but nonetheless leader-ish consultant.
I met with a Lyman Briggs student for a gender and society paper. That was a first for me. I believe he was an international student, but he had a solid grasp on the general grammatical concepts of English, so nothing of that nature was a concern for me. I liked that he was very engaged with the session from the get-go and very clear about his goals. He wanted help with organization and would like a different perspective on whether or not everything seemed relevant and useful to his topic/thesis.
His thesis was buried a page and a half into the paper. I asked him what his professor's position on thesis placement was, and he said that she preferred the thesis to appear at least in the first three-quarters of the page, so he accordingly asked for help to cut it down. But that's three-quarters of a page. So I tried to look at the validity of his introduction and how it related, exactly, to his thesis. The first page didn't! I asked him how it correlated, and he saw for the first time that it didn't, so he cut an entire page, which left him room to expand on his conclusion.
I think by the end, he was pretty much done with it. We went paragraph by paragraph and made sure each somehow related and the point was clear and well-developed. I don't think he was very used to the topic nor the writing style, being a scientific writer in Lyman Briggs, so by the end he was surely mentally exhausted. But I feel he was satisfied with the work we put into it, and we set a few goals together for him to accomplish. So that was exciting.
I like that I've been able to assert authority in sessions but have taken plenty of steps back for the client to brainstorm solutions to potential problems. I've had a lot of trouble maintaining that balance, and his enthusiasm particularly made me realize that interaction, although dependent on both parties, can be facilitated by a non-directive but nonetheless leader-ish consultant.
Creative Remix Commentary
So apparently I've been imagining keeping up with weekly blog posts and describing sessions and projects. Go me.
Last Monday, the class utilized a few techniques to help critique creative writing pieces. One involved assigning colors to one of the five senses and going through the other's paper going crazy with rainbows; the other involved cutting up your poem or story or what have you and putting it back together to either elicit a different effect or to change up the dialogue and chronology.
Neither particularly helped me revise the story or look at it from a different perspective. Maybe it's just because I'm not that creative or I can't access my "creative gene," but either way, I didn't find either useful...and honestly, I haven't been able to make any kind of substantial change to my creative piece, which is a nonfiction narrative. And that's frustrating. The lack of significant feedback I've had on my pieces, other than the notecards, have inhibited my progress for revision. But I'm trucking. Whatever that means.
Last Monday, the class utilized a few techniques to help critique creative writing pieces. One involved assigning colors to one of the five senses and going through the other's paper going crazy with rainbows; the other involved cutting up your poem or story or what have you and putting it back together to either elicit a different effect or to change up the dialogue and chronology.
Neither particularly helped me revise the story or look at it from a different perspective. Maybe it's just because I'm not that creative or I can't access my "creative gene," but either way, I didn't find either useful...and honestly, I haven't been able to make any kind of substantial change to my creative piece, which is a nonfiction narrative. And that's frustrating. The lack of significant feedback I've had on my pieces, other than the notecards, have inhibited my progress for revision. But I'm trucking. Whatever that means.
Turning in our Literacy Project
I enjoyed writing the first part of our literacies project, the literacies narrative. But after I created my literacies movie I realized that there were a few things I deemed vital to my literacy that I had left out of the narrative because I had not thought of them at the time. I went back and added those few small details. Otherwise I did not know what to change about my narrative, I was a little confused by Trixie's comment that I make my narrative a more creative piece... I had broken my narrative into the three basic groups I saw as most important in my literacy and yes there ended up being three parts which turned into my paper being a standard five paragraph essay. I am unsure of how to go about forcing my paper to be a creative piece when the final part of our literacies project is a creative writing piece. So to solve my dilemma I went back through my narrative and I broke up my large paragraphs into smaller paragraphs. This seemed to help the flow of my paper and I'm hoping this is somewhat how Trixie wanted me to revise my paper.
The mutlimedia literacies project was the hardest one for me to do. It was very time consuming but I didn't mind that part of it. What I did find frustrating was that I was unable to manipulate the movie and images as much as I wanted to. I couldn't figure out how to length the time of a clip or shorten the time of another clip. Then, the day before we were supposed to present our projects, all of my clips disappeared from my movie strip. The movie program I was using told me that they didn't have the right coding. So I had to re-do my entire project! I was furious and confused. There was no reason for my clips to disappear like that, they had worked all the other times I had opened the project and edited it. Now it's time for us to turn them in as finished projects, but I'm afraid to change anything about my movie for fear that my clips will be deleted and I will have to try to re-do it a third time. If I was certain I could change my project without harm, I would add in text to tell whats going on in my movie, much like Jenna's project. I wouldn't want to do a voice over because that is not how I imagine my movie going. I like having the music to flow with the images. A different style I saw was having multiple songs, I thought that was really cool. But again, I'm too scared to change anything about my movie.
It seems almost impossible to go about changing my creative piece of the literacies project because I made a poem and my poem had a rhyme scheme and a set design. The lines are repeated as follows: ABCD BEDF EGFH .... ZAYC. Therefore the lines all have to go together from one stanza to the next. If I were to change just one line I would subsequently have to change that stanza and the one following it and depending on those changes I might have to change the entire poem. Personally I like the way my poem reads and after making a few adjustments of the rhyming words from the input of others in our class, I am happy with the poem the way it is.
I had a lot of fun working on these three parts and watching how my project changed from one to the next. Overall I found it to be a very beneficial experience but I had a hard time trying to revise my pieces due to either little input or technical problems.
The mutlimedia literacies project was the hardest one for me to do. It was very time consuming but I didn't mind that part of it. What I did find frustrating was that I was unable to manipulate the movie and images as much as I wanted to. I couldn't figure out how to length the time of a clip or shorten the time of another clip. Then, the day before we were supposed to present our projects, all of my clips disappeared from my movie strip. The movie program I was using told me that they didn't have the right coding. So I had to re-do my entire project! I was furious and confused. There was no reason for my clips to disappear like that, they had worked all the other times I had opened the project and edited it. Now it's time for us to turn them in as finished projects, but I'm afraid to change anything about my movie for fear that my clips will be deleted and I will have to try to re-do it a third time. If I was certain I could change my project without harm, I would add in text to tell whats going on in my movie, much like Jenna's project. I wouldn't want to do a voice over because that is not how I imagine my movie going. I like having the music to flow with the images. A different style I saw was having multiple songs, I thought that was really cool. But again, I'm too scared to change anything about my movie.
It seems almost impossible to go about changing my creative piece of the literacies project because I made a poem and my poem had a rhyme scheme and a set design. The lines are repeated as follows: ABCD BEDF EGFH .... ZAYC. Therefore the lines all have to go together from one stanza to the next. If I were to change just one line I would subsequently have to change that stanza and the one following it and depending on those changes I might have to change the entire poem. Personally I like the way my poem reads and after making a few adjustments of the rhyming words from the input of others in our class, I am happy with the poem the way it is.
I had a lot of fun working on these three parts and watching how my project changed from one to the next. Overall I found it to be a very beneficial experience but I had a hard time trying to revise my pieces due to either little input or technical problems.
The literacies project
This weekend I went to the movies and I watched Twilight, now I had read the book when it first came out and had been waiting for a movie to be made of it for the past, and I kid you not, the past four years. I was very curious as to how the a movie could be made out of such a detailed book, now the descriptions in the book were very easily applicable to the big screen but there was so much to the story I knew they could keep all of it in a movie script. I thought of the Harry Potter movies, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and even Pride and Prejudice. When ever a story goes from print to script there are bound to be sacrifices made of characters, plot, and other such things. Yet, I still held onto the belief that Twilight would be the exception to the rule. The book was already a movie for one's eyes to read! Therefore, should the movie just follow the book to an almost exact copy? Sometime, earlier this year the author released the pictures of who had been casted to play the roles in the movie. I was astounded. None of the characters looked like I had imagined in the book or even like the images of actors the author herself had chosen to show us on her website of how the characters looked to me. From that moment on I knew the movie was going to prove to be a great disappointment to me. My boyfriend took me to the movie the weekend it came out and the whole time I watched it, I couldn't stop my brain from comparing every aspect of the movie to the book and how greatly it had failed the book in my opinion. I talked to my cousin and she agreed that the movie was not what she expected. She proceeded to tell me that she and her friends had decided that you can't compare the movie to the book. With this new knowledge in hand I went to the see the movie a second time this past weekend. I made sure that while watching the film I didn't in anyway let my mind compare it to the book. I ended up really liking the movie via this method. That's when it occurred to me that the way the movie had been taken from page to script was the same way we had taken our literacy narative from a written essay style to a mutlimedia. The movie was just a visual representation of the book, not truly the book as a movie, just like my literacies movie was a visual representation of my literacies narative. They weren't exact copies of each other, some information had been deleted and other parts added to make my movie the best explanation of my literacies as I found possible.
Satellite Observation 2
I went to the BCC for my second satellite observation. I walked in convinced that because this was a business writing center and that it was primarily for business students that somehow the material, client, tutor, and session would all be vastly different from either the Bessey or the library. I was wrong. The session I observed could have taken place at either Bessey or the library, the concerns were the same for the client and the solutions were the same for tutor. I was very impressed by how smoothly the tutoring style we learned in Bessey can be applied with only slight differences to the business center. The client came in with questions about grammar and the tutor explained that grammar isn't the main concern of the writing center, the writing style is. The tutor worked through the paper with the student pointing out sentences that didn't make sense, paragraphs that weren't in the best order, and other such problems. She also addressed a reoccurring grammar problem, the student had some trouble staying in the same tense within a paragraph. The client seemed pleased with the way the session had gone and the tutor was happy too. I guess what most surprised me in the BCC were the ESL students and TV. I'm not sure why I thought that the BCC would have fewer ESL students than we receive in Bessey, but I was incorrect in this assumption. The TV was something I wasn't that big of a fan of. I have trouble concentrating on what I'm reading if there is background noise to interrupt my attention. Even when I'm in Bessey, if their is another session going on at the same table I'm at, I have to tune out the other tutor and client so that I can give my client all of my attention; therefore extra noise proves very distracting for me.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Leading a session
Right before Thanksgiving break, I had a client who wanted me to look at her personal statement. She was applying to Wayne State to be a grad student and wanted to get into speech pathology. I'd never worked with personal statements before, and the client didn't give me anything very specific that she wanted to work on. As we read through the first page of her paper, (which was only two pages, the max length) I wondered what on earth I was going to talk to her about. She made only a few sentence-level errors (like inconsistent capitalization of Master's degree--kind of important in this context I think), but the only thing I really wished I could tell her was to develop some of her thoughts more. But, since her paper was already as long as it was allowed to be, that wasn't possible. Fortunately, I finally realized that her conclusion was really where we needed to work on things. It was short and glossed over her goals very briefly. As I started to talk to her about things I'd noticed, everything got much easier. It turns out she was confused about how exactly to say these things about herself that she wanted her audience to read. She knew what she wanted to say but felt she had worded it badly in her paper. So we had a discussion about the types of adjectives she'd used and if those were really the ones she wanted to include to describe herself (some were rather vague). We talked about whether it was important or not to say that she'd studied abroad (we concluded yes, it was). We re-read her paper and trimmed some of the superfluous bits in the beginning to make a little more room for her conclusion, and slowly both of us seemed to feel a lot better about what was getting done in this session. By the time we finished, I felt like I was reading a detailed, organized, well-written personal statement, and my client thanked me and told me I'd really helped her. I've heard that a few times before, but I'm always so glad to hear it.
3rd leading session/ outside observation
Last week I had my third leading session and it was also my first time working with graduate students. I worked with two students who were working on a final paper, a collaboration of 16-20 pages. The students had only began the first part of their paper, a rough 6 pages. I was a little nervous when I began looking at their paper, but I concentrated on the orginization and clarity of their work. It was a little difficult for me because I wanted to see what the rest of their paper would be. It did take the full hour to go over what they had brought. They seemed relieved at the end of the session but stressed out at the same time. One of the students was a little older with a family at home and seemed stressed out about meeting up with the other girl. They were each taking turns writing sections and then trying to mold them together into one long paper. I showed them how to use googledocs, which I find to be an easier way to collaborate, and they both seemed interested in using the site.
A few weeks ago I observed at the BBC library. I had never been inside this library before and it did take me a few minutes to find where to go. I did like the environment at the BBC library, but I think I may prefer the hectic pace at the main Library or the awesome location of Bessey Hall in relation to my apartment and my classes. The observation was somewhat shorter than what I am used to, maybe only twenty minutes. A student brought in a three page paper for his IAH class. He read it out loud for the consultant finding a couple grammatical error. The student did not have a very strong thesis for his paper. The consultant had him rewrite it by looking at the overall content of his paper. He asked him what exactly he wanted to state in his thesis and gave the student time to write a different one. There was also an area where the student forgot to cite his information. The organization of the content was written well. The student left a few minutes early so he could make it to his next class on time. He seemed happy with what they had worked on, and the consultant suggested making another appointment if he wanted to before the final draft was due.
A few weeks ago I observed at the BBC library. I had never been inside this library before and it did take me a few minutes to find where to go. I did like the environment at the BBC library, but I think I may prefer the hectic pace at the main Library or the awesome location of Bessey Hall in relation to my apartment and my classes. The observation was somewhat shorter than what I am used to, maybe only twenty minutes. A student brought in a three page paper for his IAH class. He read it out loud for the consultant finding a couple grammatical error. The student did not have a very strong thesis for his paper. The consultant had him rewrite it by looking at the overall content of his paper. He asked him what exactly he wanted to state in his thesis and gave the student time to write a different one. There was also an area where the student forgot to cite his information. The organization of the content was written well. The student left a few minutes early so he could make it to his next class on time. He seemed happy with what they had worked on, and the consultant suggested making another appointment if he wanted to before the final draft was due.
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