I feel so far behind everyone else in the class because I chose to start working at the Writing Center next semester. I just had my first co-consultation, and it was a lot of fun! It made me look forward to working in the spring semester and doing more consulting in general.
After we all sat down and introduced ourselves, the consultant asked the student if she would like to read her paper out loud or if she would prefer he do it. She had been there before, and would have read it but she thought she was coming down with a sore throat. She then pulled out 5-6 papers that she had received grades of less than she had expected because she had come to the Writing Center for assistance on all of them. She was not mad, but rather wondered why the Writing Center had not helped. We promised her we would do our best.
She told us she was an ESL student, which I would never have guessed - she spoke English like it was her native tongue. Anyway, so she knew what her problem was - grammar. The consultant and I were willing to help her improve her grammar and, as it turned out, sentence structure as well.
The consultant ran through her paper. While he read, she made quick fixes on the page, asking him if she was correcting the problem or making it worse. The worst problem I could see from my end was her comma splices/run on sentences. To help her see this problem as well, the consultant read the whole sentence aloud without pausing or breathing, for that matter. She laughed and knew that she had to change the sentence. We explained comma splices to her, and showed her how to fix them (i.e. period, semi-colon, etc.) The next one we ran across she still did not quite catch, so he went back and read it through without pausing/breathing again. This time she got it, and chose the form of punctuation she wanted to insert.
I also bounced my verb tense ideas off of the consultant, and we advised the student together on how to best fix her paper. He focused a lot more on the content, which is something I need to work on focusing on. LOCs are just second nature to me, but I think with a little more practice that can definitely be fixed. It was a very productive session. The consultant and I worked very well together - I wish we could do co-consultations all the time! It seems like if you have a great person to collaborate with, then you will end up having a great session altogether. All in all, my first co-consultation was a really fun experience and I can't wait for my next one.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
ESL Writers - Great Timing
So I can't help thinking about how much I lucked out with the timing of this ESL writers information. I have not dealt with one ESL writer yet! Everyone says this is amazing to hear because there are so many ESL appointments in the Writing Center.
Anyway, I'd have to agree with Jenna. This week has definitely been a learning experience for me concerning the tutoring of ESL writers. Here are the main points I've learned:
From Writing Across Borders, I was very surprised to see that one in every 10 students are international and/or ESL students. I had no idea... The different techniques from different areas of the world were pretty cool as well - I like seeing how other people write, but I hated seeing how impolite Americans seem to foreigners. It's just sad that we are seen as unwelcoming and rude, especially in the college context.
Anyway, I'd have to agree with Jenna. This week has definitely been a learning experience for me concerning the tutoring of ESL writers. Here are the main points I've learned:
- Meaning is most important
- While reading the paper, put a sign next to an unexpected area or next to an area when you got confused about meaning
- Focus on quality of thought and content
- Explain all corrections as best you can
- Get creative! Use highlighters, sticky notes, diagrams, markers, etc.
- Sometimes you may have to be a little directive because some concepts of English just have to be memorized
- Make sure they understand what you're fixing and why
From Writing Across Borders, I was very surprised to see that one in every 10 students are international and/or ESL students. I had no idea... The different techniques from different areas of the world were pretty cool as well - I like seeing how other people write, but I hated seeing how impolite Americans seem to foreigners. It's just sad that we are seen as unwelcoming and rude, especially in the college context.
ESL thoughts
This was a pretty big learning week for me... for one, I had my first sessions on my own with ESL students - 4 in a row in fact. Then we coincidentally had these readings in class about ESL students, plus the video. I've definitely learned a lot... first of all, one thing I noticed in my sessions is that ESL students are fantastic writers. In just about every case I had this week, the student wrote better than they spoke, and wrote with great vocabulary and coherence. Their ideas were conveyed in their writing accurately, and they wrote really good papers, better than most ENL students I've seen. The only issue was grammar. I know I'm kind of kicking a dead horse there... but I suppose I thought that ESL students would have their meaning lost in the grammar-fray when writing papers, and was pleasantly surprised to see that that was not true. At least not in the few cases I saw this week. Another thing I saw was that once I corrected a few instances of a recurring grammar error, and gave them the best explanation for the correction I could muster, the ESL writers very quickly picked up on the mistake and were able to correct all of the rest of the instances of it themselves. After all this new information this week, I think I have a better understanding of ESL writers, how they write, why they write how they do, and how best to go about helping them.
Another thing I wanted to say was to respond to Mike's post. I think he made a very interesting point when he said that we don't cite sources just to give credit, but to enhance learning. That's absolutely an important part of citing, and I think a lot of people forget that sometimes. Granted, not too many of us read a peer's paper and then copy their works cited page so that they can have a little bit of weekend reading... but in the academic community as a whole, citing does enhance learning, and allows us to utilize resources we might not have found on our own, enabling us to do our own research and learn even more.
Another thing I wanted to say was to respond to Mike's post. I think he made a very interesting point when he said that we don't cite sources just to give credit, but to enhance learning. That's absolutely an important part of citing, and I think a lot of people forget that sometimes. Granted, not too many of us read a peer's paper and then copy their works cited page so that they can have a little bit of weekend reading... but in the academic community as a whole, citing does enhance learning, and allows us to utilize resources we might not have found on our own, enabling us to do our own research and learn even more.
Citation
I thought that the video we viewed yesterday was quite interesting. In particular, I was interested to see the strange diagram in the textbook in the film. This was a diagram that tried to visually depict thought processes across different cultures. The English thought process was just a straight line while the Asian language thought process was a spiral moving form the outside to the center, and the rest were various kinds of zig zags. It seemed pretty ridiculous, but I'd like to know how they came about it.
Moving on though, I had a few problems with the film. In particular, I had an issue with the woman who discussed the different opinions on Citation. She explained that in China, where the society is more community based, they do not consider plagiarism to be as big of an issue. On the other hand, in America where our society is more centered on the individual, we treat it more seriously. This is true, I think, but it does not really speak to the true importance of citation. Yes, we are more individualistic and are concerned with not stealing other people's property (whether physical or intellectual), but that is not why citation is done. We cite, and this is true of all of western civilization I think, because it promotes the growth of knowledge. In history and english classes I have taken, history specifically, citations are not made to give credit where credit is due (although that is indeed an issue), rather it is done so that other readers may verify that what the writer is claiming is true and to use those sources to expand upon that interpretation or to offer a new one.
It is always important to consider other cultures and the fact that our way is not the only way. The differences in citation are not important in the sense of differing ideas on what is stealing and what is sharing. The difference are important, however, to whatever extent they affect knowledge in general, in that context, I consider things like citation to be an issue on which there should be little compromise.
Moving on though, I had a few problems with the film. In particular, I had an issue with the woman who discussed the different opinions on Citation. She explained that in China, where the society is more community based, they do not consider plagiarism to be as big of an issue. On the other hand, in America where our society is more centered on the individual, we treat it more seriously. This is true, I think, but it does not really speak to the true importance of citation. Yes, we are more individualistic and are concerned with not stealing other people's property (whether physical or intellectual), but that is not why citation is done. We cite, and this is true of all of western civilization I think, because it promotes the growth of knowledge. In history and english classes I have taken, history specifically, citations are not made to give credit where credit is due (although that is indeed an issue), rather it is done so that other readers may verify that what the writer is claiming is true and to use those sources to expand upon that interpretation or to offer a new one.
It is always important to consider other cultures and the fact that our way is not the only way. The differences in citation are not important in the sense of differing ideas on what is stealing and what is sharing. The difference are important, however, to whatever extent they affect knowledge in general, in that context, I consider things like citation to be an issue on which there should be little compromise.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Leading a Session 4+5
Yesterday I had a session that was equal parts frustrating and discouraging. I was frustrated by what felt like a lack of accomplishment by the end of the session. I feel like after all the time I spent working with the student, I didn’t do anything to help the student improve as a writer. It certainly wasn’t for lack of trying. It seemed like every time I tried engaging the student, she shrugged off whatever I had to say. When I tried addressing sections of the text where I was having difficulty understanding her meaning, she would explain herself verbally. When I suggested that she incorporate those explanations into her text, she didn’t see the point. In her mind, what she had written was the same as what she had said aloud. It didn’t matter if I said a reader might not understand her message, given the way it was presented. There were serious issues with her argumentation and I just couldn’t get her to see that. The only things she changed were mechanical mistakes, which I tried not to dwell on.
Overall she didn’t seem invested in the session or in making any sort of improvements. I’m afraid to say that after a while, I responded to her lack of enthusiasm with a pretty unenthusiastic approach myself. It’s difficult to be motivated when you’re working with someone who doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. When your every effort is met with a shrug or a grunt, or at best, a “Well what am I supposed to write?” you get worn down quickly. I walked away from the session feeling doubtful about my abilities as a consultant. I want to be able to reach through that apathy and get the student excited about their writing, or at least get them to care.
After yesterday’s experience, my session today was exactly what I needed to restore my confidence. My client today was the same one that I had such a positive experience with last week. At the start of the session, she informed me that she had received a 100% on the previous assignment, which made me feel like I made a difference. This time she brought in another paper that she had submitted and had received corrections on. Since we had worked together before, we dove right into this assignment. The client had clearly been thinking about the teacher’s corrections and had plenty of conceptual questions to ask me. It was refreshing to have a student actually want to discuss the reasoning behind their writing, rather than expecting me to simply grammar-check their text.
Having previously established rapport, it was easy to work with this student. Instead of following a set pattern like I sometimes do, we moved back and forth in the paper, addressing the issues she thought were the most pressing. Her concerns directed the flow of the session, and I think that worked well. She left with plenty of ideas for her paper, and I felt better about my skills as a consultant. These last two sessions stand out in such stark contrast to one another, I’m forced to conclude that sometimes, despite your best intentions, sessions won’t go as smoothly as you’d like. Other times you luck out, and get a student who makes consulting truly rewarding.
Overall she didn’t seem invested in the session or in making any sort of improvements. I’m afraid to say that after a while, I responded to her lack of enthusiasm with a pretty unenthusiastic approach myself. It’s difficult to be motivated when you’re working with someone who doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. When your every effort is met with a shrug or a grunt, or at best, a “Well what am I supposed to write?” you get worn down quickly. I walked away from the session feeling doubtful about my abilities as a consultant. I want to be able to reach through that apathy and get the student excited about their writing, or at least get them to care.
After yesterday’s experience, my session today was exactly what I needed to restore my confidence. My client today was the same one that I had such a positive experience with last week. At the start of the session, she informed me that she had received a 100% on the previous assignment, which made me feel like I made a difference. This time she brought in another paper that she had submitted and had received corrections on. Since we had worked together before, we dove right into this assignment. The client had clearly been thinking about the teacher’s corrections and had plenty of conceptual questions to ask me. It was refreshing to have a student actually want to discuss the reasoning behind their writing, rather than expecting me to simply grammar-check their text.
Having previously established rapport, it was easy to work with this student. Instead of following a set pattern like I sometimes do, we moved back and forth in the paper, addressing the issues she thought were the most pressing. Her concerns directed the flow of the session, and I think that worked well. She left with plenty of ideas for her paper, and I felt better about my skills as a consultant. These last two sessions stand out in such stark contrast to one another, I’m forced to conclude that sometimes, despite your best intentions, sessions won’t go as smoothly as you’d like. Other times you luck out, and get a student who makes consulting truly rewarding.
Leading a Session #3
(The following is an observation that I typed up last week but forgot to post.)
Today I had an experience that I considered a good example of what an ideal consulting session should be like. The client and I both arrived early and immediately got down to business. The assignment in question was a paper she had previously submitted and the teacher had returned, offering her a chance to make corrections. As we went over the assignment sheet, I noticed how closely the student had paid attention to the requirements, which doesn't always happen. Furthermore, she had taken all of her teacher’s comments into consideration when making her revisions. Overall, she made my job as the consultant much easier by thinking critically about what was being expected of her.
As we progressed, the student was attentive and courteous. She remained actively engaged throughout the session. When I asked questions about her ideas or development, rather than shrugging them off, she really thought about them. We were able to have a meaningful dialogue with plenty of give-and-take. To my delight, the way the session unfolded allowed me to focus almost exclusively on Higher Order Concerns. I sometimes get caught up on mechanics, which I realize is a problem, but in this case, I was able to see beyond those issues. Together we looked over the presentation and development of her ideas, to see if they fully addressed the professor's expectations.
By the time the session started to wind down, we had made significant changes to the paper. More importantly, I think the student changed her way of thinking. Through our discussion, she saw how the structure and flow of an argument affects its effectiveness. Our session took almost the full hour, but the student was so pleased with the experience that she took the last few minutes to make another appointment with me next week. After such a rewarding session, I can honestly say I'm looking forward to working with her again.
Today I had an experience that I considered a good example of what an ideal consulting session should be like. The client and I both arrived early and immediately got down to business. The assignment in question was a paper she had previously submitted and the teacher had returned, offering her a chance to make corrections. As we went over the assignment sheet, I noticed how closely the student had paid attention to the requirements, which doesn't always happen. Furthermore, she had taken all of her teacher’s comments into consideration when making her revisions. Overall, she made my job as the consultant much easier by thinking critically about what was being expected of her.
As we progressed, the student was attentive and courteous. She remained actively engaged throughout the session. When I asked questions about her ideas or development, rather than shrugging them off, she really thought about them. We were able to have a meaningful dialogue with plenty of give-and-take. To my delight, the way the session unfolded allowed me to focus almost exclusively on Higher Order Concerns. I sometimes get caught up on mechanics, which I realize is a problem, but in this case, I was able to see beyond those issues. Together we looked over the presentation and development of her ideas, to see if they fully addressed the professor's expectations.
By the time the session started to wind down, we had made significant changes to the paper. More importantly, I think the student changed her way of thinking. Through our discussion, she saw how the structure and flow of an argument affects its effectiveness. Our session took almost the full hour, but the student was so pleased with the experience that she took the last few minutes to make another appointment with me next week. After such a rewarding session, I can honestly say I'm looking forward to working with her again.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Leading a Session #2???
I have lead for more than two session at this point... but I'm not good at blogging so here is one of my more recent sessions. This one was more fresh in my mind because it was more negative then positive.
When I started the session I did the usual... "have you been to the writing..." and that's about where I was cut off. They replied with, " I just a another set of eyes to look at this... you know edit" I then said... "well we don't really edit papers, we work on papers collaboratively..." They said, " Yea sure..."
This kind of talk continued... The person was eating an orange while working on the paper and seemed to be somewhere else entirely. When I would give feedback or suggestions... it was always "huh...why?"... and then I would have to either find a documented source or ask Dianna about something. That aspect I was fine with, I understood that this person wanted to be 100% sure about. It was a respect issue or maybe even a tone issue, that I didn't care for.
The session ended quickly and I thought little progress was made, probably because they refused some of the techniques that I suggested, or maybe other reasons.
This session taught me that a persons attitude can seriously effect my will to consultant and the effectiveness.
When I started the session I did the usual... "have you been to the writing..." and that's about where I was cut off. They replied with, " I just a another set of eyes to look at this... you know edit" I then said... "well we don't really edit papers, we work on papers collaboratively..." They said, " Yea sure..."
This kind of talk continued... The person was eating an orange while working on the paper and seemed to be somewhere else entirely. When I would give feedback or suggestions... it was always "huh...why?"... and then I would have to either find a documented source or ask Dianna about something. That aspect I was fine with, I understood that this person wanted to be 100% sure about. It was a respect issue or maybe even a tone issue, that I didn't care for.
The session ended quickly and I thought little progress was made, probably because they refused some of the techniques that I suggested, or maybe other reasons.
This session taught me that a persons attitude can seriously effect my will to consultant and the effectiveness.
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