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 :)
Saturday, December 6, 2008
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.
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