First Writing Response Posting Goodness

Hey all,

I can't remember whether or not we agreed to post our reading responses on the blog, but I figured I'd do mine anyway. So here it is in its entirety. Enjoy. Or not. I won't blame you if you don't:


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Of the readings the class has indulged in so far, North's first article, “The Idea of a Writing Center”, seems the most relevant to our ongoing discussion. We have summarily dispensed with the idea that a writing center should serve only as a subsidiary for composition classes or simple skill development, but rather serve as an ingredient in a harmonious blend between client, teacher and the consultant that serves as the medium between said parts. The center, North adamantly defends, is not a dumping ground for professors to send “trouble” students for remedial review, but should reinforce an ongoing dialog with the tutor as “a holist devoted to a participant-observer methodology” (77). In this sense, the client is not simply talking to a wall or a machine with pre-programmed answers.

Of course, each center has a different philosophy. While some cling to more traditional methods, it would be unwise to disparage these older ways of doing things as simple ignorance or unwillingness to change; these more conservative centers may have good reason for their choices. After all, there are no safe answers to what a writing center's primary focus should concern: either promoting a standard discourse usable both within the student's field of study and a wider academic body at large, or maintaining individual voice and style within the work and promote a more expansive vision for what constitutes “good writing”. Clearly, both have the interest of the student in mind, but it would be inadvisable to call one superior over the other based solely on personal ideologies. North makes his position quite clear, however: “We are here to talk to writers”, not to overrule their decisions with mandated Standard Written English or outfox them with our personal arguments (79). His is the position that the client takes the lead during a session, as the choice of language and diction will ultimately be his/hers when the final draft is typed up and handed in on the due date. If this is the case, then why try to fight the client's personal choices? Of course, the tools are there, if needed. Consultants are schooled in MLA citation, rules of grammar, techniques for reading passages critically, and these are all available to the client if needed, but then and only then. Being ignorant of these rules would only serve to hurt the consulting practice in the long run; one must learn the rules before breaking them. In an ideal world, administrators would realize that writing centers are meant to serve the students who use them first, not the interests of a global academic body that seeks homogeneity throughout the academic sphere. It is our duty as consultants to remember and practice that.

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That works, I guess. See you all in class tomorrow!

Observation.

I wanted to share two instances from today’s work.

First:

I sat with Katie and observed a student. We sat down with this student at 7:40 pm. She was an undergraduate senior of African decent and was taking a philosophy class because she was recommended by her ISS teacher from last semester. After settling down, the girl first told us how she was so annoyed by taking this class and how she hated the professor. The girl did not like this class because it used a form of English that Socrates and his colleagues used to convey their views on how people behaved in societies, etc. Adding on, the girl did not like the teacher because the girl felt that her teacher spoke just like Socrates and there was no T.A. who can translate the teacher’s words in normal English. Then, the girl told us what she wanted help with.

She explained the two things she was looking to gain from her drive to the union, parking her car there, and then walking across campus on one of coldest days to the writing center in the library. First, she wanted to get some help with understanding how to do MLA citation and second, to get some ideas on extending her paper another half a page.

The first objective was met within minutes. We showed her a few examples on how to do MLA citation from a book in the writing center. I also showed her a website from Purdue University dedicated to MLA citation with many examples online. Then, we went over her questions on plagiarism. Recently, her teacher had asked the writing center to do a presentation about plagiarism in her class and this presentation left this student paranoid about her writing. Katie and I helped the girl understand plagiarism and all was well until the next part.

It was around 8:10 and Katie had to leave. She was already 10 minutes late and I assured her that I would be okay. This was one of the scariest moments of my life! I was going to finish up a student session and then run the writing center by myself for the next 40 minutes! Well, the discussion with this student went pretty well. I made sure I didn’t say anything against the teacher and didn’t argue with the student either. I waited, patiently, for her to finish and pointed out how the teacher had given the students an interpretation of the philosopher’s essay. Eventually, the girl had calmed down and had a much more positive approach and revised the paper and added the half page she needed.

Overall, observing many tutors in the last couple of weeks has helped me greatly and I feel I did a pretty good job with handling this student once Katie left. However, I would also like to stress that Katie was there for most of the session and this session would not have been as easy for me if she had not been there.

Krish.

thoughts on the wc and writing on campus

i decided to post on a very specific issue that i think needs to be thought about, and is raised in stock's article.

stock says, in reforming education in the land-grant university: contributions from a writing center that, through goals and objetives, a campus writing center should move itself toward the ideological center of the university, and by doing this, more toward the center of society itself. i want to (very) briefly (yaddress the implications of these goals, and the importance of people knowing how to write well today.

i think that the centralization of writing, and therefore language, in a university is extremely important to the university itself as an intellectual establishment, to the students as intellectuals, and to society at large. especially today, when more and more emphasis is being put on the sharing of information, people who are able to write clearly and concisely are very important.

the university has a unique role to play here, as an intellectual establishment. writing is the only way to immortalize an idea, and to ensure that ideas are spread and recorded, the university has to ensure that it produces good writers, not just good thinkers. this will lead to a better future for both the students, more of which will be able to express themselves well and succeed in the information economy.

ultimately, it is my opinion that good writers will contribute more to society than if they were worse writers. if people are given the opportunity to learn to express themselves more clearly in a university setting, perhaps we will have more people willing to show their perspectives on the world.

Writing Center: Week 2

Hey there everyone,

 I would like to mention a few things before I dive into a commentary on the readings discussed/yet to be discussed in class.  

 

As you could tell by my minimal to pretty much non-existent input during the first several classes, I was very nervous. I had no idea what to expect from this class. I knew the basic premise of my sister's writing center, which seems to operate close to the same way as MSU.  She always talked about how much she enjoyed working there that I decided to look into what State had to offer. To be honest, I never even knew where the writing center's primary office was on campus.  In a year and a half on campus, the only hint I had seen to the existence of a larger writing center was a stand-up sign in the library showing the hours of that satellite center.  Maybe I missed out on a lot of information when I bypassed WRA? If I, an English major, did not know of the existence of the writing center, then how could an average student be aware of all the available services?

 

"Redefining our Existence" by Robert Barnett expresses the importance of a mission statement to the survival and development of writing centers. Higher student retention because of learning opportunities outside of the classroom is a solution to which support services like our MSU Writing Center greatly contribute.  There is nothing worse than the helpless feeling of not understanding what is happening in the classroom.  I can't even imagine how it would feel to be a new ESL student in a typical fast-paced American classroom.  As an English speaking student visiting a German school at the end of my senior of high school, I was completely lost.  I had what I thought was a solid foundation in conversational German.  That experience makes me want to help the ESL students succeed all the more.  

 

The other primary issue, which I thought was of merit, is the need for teacher collaboration.  Instructors must understand that writing centers are not just your "one stop shop" for spelling, basic grammar, and punctuation issues.  Also, instructors from classes that you would not expect to have to write papers should participate in Writing Across the Curriculum to contribute to their pupils education.  I do not think this next line can be said enough.  "Writing is the key to success, so invest in it and you will reap the rewards."  The tie between Writing Across the Curriculum, writing centers, and faculty can slingshot many students to success. Barnett says "we are working to educate the campus about the importance of writing as a way to enhance critical thought and students abilities to succeed in the academy..." He should have mentioned that critical thinking plays a huge part in business, for those students who do not stay in the academic game.  For lack of a powerful closing statement..I wish you all a happy weekend.

Collaborative Learning

I absolutely loved the article in the Comp Theory book about collaborative learning. He brings up excellent points, reminding me why I love english and humanities, especially compared to the science classes I fooled myself into thinking I wanted to spend my college career taking. What I loved most though, was that Bruffee addresses my biggest concern in taking this class and working in the center- and he definitely made me feel much better.

I worked in my high school writing center the second semester of my senior year. At that point, I had completed advanced placement, or college level, courses in all 4 core subjects- Biology, history, english, calculus, gov't, etc- and I felt I had an advantage over the students who came into the writing center and asked for my help. With every honors and AP english course under my belt and aced, there wasn't really any question that scared me. We worked closely with teachers and understood the assignments (usually better than the students) and we worked with each other quite often to critique and improve each other's writing as the year progressed. So where's the problem? Well, Bruffee mentions that in college, students are trying to enter into a community of knowledgeable peers and collaborative learning, including peer tutoring, is the best way to approach that journey. Then he points out that this raises an important question, the same question that's been going through my mind for several weeks- What if the tutor is not familiar with normal discourse and the knowledge community into which the tutee is trying to enter? Or in my terms, what if I don't know how to help the student who comes in to see me? What if I am incompetent? I certainly know the techniques of social interaction, relating to people in any context (I'm an excellent waitress, which requires the most amount of personability of any job I've ever encountered), and of tutoring writing. What I don't know are the subjects the students are writing about and the expectations of college professors here at Michigan State. Bruffee explains that the whole point of collaboration, however, is that we are learning from each other and we are bringing everything we know together into one conversation and from there, we should be able to figure out what we need to know as tutors. He also assures the tutor that no person is "wholly ignorant and inexperienced." We all know something, and from that we just need to learn and grow.

I guess he's right that when students collaborate on writing they are conversing- not proof-reading, not writing, not editing. Conversing. Learning. Exploring the social context of the topic. Conversation is definitely something I feel comfortable with, and I'll work from there. I also find his discussion of abnormal discourse fascinating- I love to challenge authority! =] Coming up with new ideas that are different and out-of-the-box is something that I have always valued- especially in writing. According to Bruffee, that is the only way to grow is to "develop awareness and skill that may seem foreign and irrelevant to our profession at the present time." We must "resist the conservative tendency" to "maintain established knowledge" for the interest of the largest community of all- society in whole. 

And I also wanted to say that I LOVE THE WORD ACQUIESCENCE! I have no idea why...=]

Organization & Collaboration: What Makes A Writing Center Work

This weeks readings and class discussions were chiefly about how the organizational dynamic, the writing center staff, and client expectations effect the success of writing centers.

The present methods and models of Writing Centers have been informed by analysis of history and an assimilation of knowledge from various disciplines that have allowed us to cultivate a strong user-centered experience. As we learn more and as related disciplines advance, we should always be prepared to make positive adaptations.

The readings gave us a sense of history about how writing centers used to work. It was more common decades ago for there to be applied remedial models to help improve writing. It made the erroneous assumption that those who have writing challenges have some kind of learning impairment. It worked off an equally false assumption that there are certain writing processes and practices that must be employed and that work for every person. Most newer models assume that every writer has strengths that can be accessed to help people develop writing processes and habits that work for them.

The writings and the class discussions talked a lot about what a writing consultant should and should not be. Many clients have assumptions about the writing center that leads them to believe that the writing center experience isn't interactive. It is almost a cliché among the MSU Writing Center Staff that students seek to drop-off papers while Writing Center consultants proofread and edit their papers into perfection. In reality, it is an interactive process where the client and the consultant collaborate with one another to diagnose and address challenges and develop solutions to those challenges.

The organization of the writing center, the writing center staff, and also writer needs and expectations are each factors that guide and determine the success of writing centers.

MSU Writing Center: The First Week: The Blog: Unnecessary Title Strangeness

Hey all,

Well, here it is: my first foray into the world of blog madness. I'll be surprised if by the end I don't sound like a total idiot, since most everyone else has a chance to sneak a peek at mine: "Don't do what Ryan does". I am, it seems, unacquainted with blogging as a means of "highbrow" communication (read: something we're graded on for class). My only real exposure to this "blogging" (as the kids say) is limited to MySpace and the like, where any prepubescent yahoo with an email address and a penchant for bright backgrounds, brighter fonts and bad emo-core can assail our eyes, madden the ears, and cause the stomach to turn. To be honest, I had my misgivings when I heard that our curriculum included regular blogging as a part of the course, which is why I include this paragraph as a kind of disclaimer for my rather... stiff language at first. It seems I need to work out the kinks. I believe I'm almost there. Let me... *ahem*... lemme try this.

Okay, I think that's better. *cricks neck* Nothing spells "informal" like "onomatopoeia", right? Oh yeah, sorry. That's really more of a sound effect.

Alright, enough wasted time. I'll be perfectly honest: as much as I have enjoyed the readings we've all done so far, I can't help but think that anything I bring up here will be echoed in class the next day or the next week, so it doesn't really avail me to touch on it here and bore ya'll about it here . So I'm going to try a different approach. Since this blog is somewhat... removed from the sphere of the course proper, orbiting out there in the aether, I've picked a topic that seems (at least, to me) similarly removed from the classroom. Well, not "removed", really. Just one door over. Unless the door is open. Then it's technically the same room. They share carpet. Any guesses? Right.

At the time of this first posting (midnightish between Wednesday and Thursday), I've participated in two shifts at the Writing Center in 300 Bessey, and I certainly feel more informed about the process, if nothing else (there's something else; I'm not that fatalistic). I had a chance to observe my first session with a client as a third-party observer, I turned in my paperwork, learned to use the copier, puzzled over where to sit, and drank way too much tea the first day and nearly rattled my hand off. All in all, a good first few days.

But even though I have spent five hours in the Center independent of class meeting time, I can't help but think that I could be better spending my time more... well, efficiently. Five hours is nothing, when you think about it. Nine 'til noon on Monday, and nine through eleven today. It's like another class, only eventually, you get paid for it. The time I didn't spend observing consultant-client relations I occupied by reading ahead several weeks in the Ryan book (really disorienting if we keep calling it that; I mean, I know I didn't write it, but...) and with a few ANGEL readings. As a result, I'm extra-ready for class, but I can't help but think I may exhaust the prescribed material at this rate.

So, here's the dilemma: what else could a newbie do to better acquaint oneself with the Center? And not just in a skills or professional sense, either. After all, the Bruffee reading for Thursday posits a working social relationship between working peers as the most important ingredient for success. So far, this seems a link that meek newcomers (like myself) find difficult to forge with new people and one that the hardened veterans (everybody else) don't seem interested in hammering out themselves. Everything runs rather smoothly, it looks. Everybody seems to have their little groups, and I'm not seeing the nerd table near the vending machines anywhere, ha ha. After all, we're talking about English majors here; we're not exactly renowned as the most outgoing people.

Now, I'm not asking that anybody agree with me, here. I'm just airing my own observations over... two days. So, yes, it's not much. Granted, it's work, it's a job, and I'm sure it will pick up later, but I don't want to go through the remainder of the semester without picking up on some ideas or techniques that one couldn't get any other way, save getting to know one's fellow consultants' styles. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm not sure if anyone else has spent any time in the center to answer/discuss/think about this question; perhaps everyone else just has better luck or a more magnetic personality than myself, ha ha. But I would appreciate any general thoughts that ya'll might have on the center. Perhaps successes/failures/anecdotes/hilarious misunderstandings? Honestly, I got nothing else.

Well, I think that's as "open-ended" as a blog post can get before degenerating into personal problems. Worry not; I'll spare us all. You know, this isn't so bad. Perhaps I could get to like a more open space in which to share thoughts without fear of immediate recourse or reprisal. Dirty looks and the like. It's very liberating.

And I'm spent.