session with a friend

Recently, I helped a friend by giving him a consultation for Portfolio 3 of English 103. I took the course with the same professor last semester, so the background knowledge helped. However, the topic given for this assignment was especially vague, so our outcomes differed. He asked that I read over the wikipage that his essay was on and provide feedback in his discussion tab because his group members that were supposed to provide feedback failed to assert any constructive criticism. I read through their comments before I began my own. The comments varied from "cool topic" to "this seems like it will turn out really well". I fear that many classes use this exercise of commentary on a classmate's work without success. Students feel awkward about "correcting" another's paper. Also, having a classmate read your work could leave you feeling vulnerable and uncertain.
Having come to this conclusion, I continued with his feedback. His piece was well-developed but some of my commentary included a consideration for different types of sources. The writer used several philosophers as sources, and while the topic was pertinent, I suggested perhaps searching for a scientist's thoughts. Also, a paragraph was inserted wherein he strays a bit off topic, yet shifts back in the next one.
After I published my commentary, which came to about two pages if printed, I noticed myself checking back on the wiki to see if he took any of my advice. I would not take it to heart if he didn't, but I felt invested in my friend's paper. He took my advice, and his essay came together very nicely. I felt good that my advice was appreciated and about the essay it aided.

shadowing session

On Thursday I had another shadowing session. A student came in with a Core paper dealing with only the first three pages of a novel. Having completed the novel, he expressed his frustration with the assignment. He was struggling to write five pages pertaining to only three pages of a book, which he had already read. He knew the themes present in the novel, but was not sure if he should include them in the piece, considering they were not all apparent within the introduction. A flaw pointed out by the tutor was that of the three themes addressed, one was vastly under-developed compared to the other two. He asked some content questions to get the writer to see where he could go. Also, his introduction had a lot of questions in it. We discussed his professor's reaction to the questions. Some teachers prefer no questions, some don't mind them, and some will only accept them if they are utilized in a proper and effective manner. The tutor didn't tell him one way or another what he should do, but maybe to ask the professor. If not, he could either stay on the safe side and leave them out, or really take not as to if they benefit the paper or not.

questions on readings

Thirty-Something Article- Haynes-Burton identifies the best way to deal with a student of a particular age who is struggling with becoming familiar and confident in writing is to form a close relationship with the writing center. By assigning the student a tutor to follow him or her until the needs have been met, the student will become confident in his or her writing. Will this not intimidate the already nervous writer? The student who already has anxiety concerning the situation will be placed under the care of a writing tutor in order to catch up to the 18 - 21 year old counterpart. Will this not make the writer feel even more intimidated and insecure about his or her writing?

Smith Article- In the process from a "product-oriented" environment to a "process-oriented" environment, the non-traditional student struggles to cope with the balance. How do we as tutors help to make the process smoother without putting down the accomplishments and abilities of the writer?

Gardner Article- Can the way we address the student effect his or her intake of our commentary? For instance, in a meeting with a non-traditional student, do we treat them as an older authority figure, a peer, or a student whom we are helping in which case we would be a superior? And in whichever instance, how would that influence the success of the session?

Smith Article- How can viewpoints on a session differ? Ultimately the measure of success of a session is held within the writer and his or her future work. How can a tutor tell if the session has been effective without being able to see future improvements? How does a tutor know if she or he is doing a good job without knowing if the sessions are successful?

Another Writing Center Visit

At my last writing center visit, I was successfully able to watch a session take place. An older woman was coming in to work on a paper she was writing for the School for Continuing Studies. She was confident in her content but wanted help with her formatting of the APA guidelines. The tutor helped her with that by showing her the writer's web and explaining it to her. Since that didn't take much time, he read over her paper. He found a few places, in which she could improve something, but for the most part it was a very developed essay. Having a student being an older woman who was confident in her piece would be very intimidating as a tutor. At the end of the day though, she's coming to the writing center because she feels the tutor can help her with something, so I think as a tutor we should treat her as any student and try to help her to the best of our abilities.

Last Writing Center Visit

I forgot to post about my last writing center visit because it was yet again a failure, then I was in a rush to get out of town. At 4:00, the tutor I was shadowing didn't have anyone, but someone else in the room did. I decided to shadow that session but was disappointed to learn he had brought in a take-home midterm to get help on. The tutor explained that she was not allowed to help him with this. I guess it was still good that I saw this to avoid this mistake myself in the future. At 5:00 I came back because she said she had another session scheduled. This student had e-mailed her the paper previously, so there was a good chance he would show up. I read his 8 page paper that was very detailed. I was looking forward to see what she was going to bring up with him because the paper was very well developed in my opinion. However, I was disappointed yet again to learn that he was not going to show.

Reading Questions for 3/15

Minimalist Tutoring- How can you measure the amount of tutoring that is required for a particular writer? Surely some writers respond differently to different techniques used in the writing center. How can a tutor tell how much of a push the writer needs in order to get engaged in a piece without imposing his/her own ideas?

Pure Tutoring- So, we agreed that too direct tutoring would overshadow the development of a writer's thoughts and ideas, but what are the pros to this kind of tutoring?

reflection on class

We've been talking a lot about the ethics and ability to consult a writer on a paper if we disagree with the subject. That, and my core paper that I'm working on, has led me to the question, as a writer, do we have a moral obligation to write how we feel? That is to say, is it more important to write according to your own opinion or to the opinion of the reader? I know I'll get a better grade on my core paper if I agree with my professor even though I don't. I also know I'll do a better job on the paper if it's something that I agree with. I guess I have to decide what's more important: the personal satisfaction with my paper or the grade.

Reading Quesitons

Bedford- By changing prewriting styles enhance a paper maybe to see something different? Or would it interfere with an already effective process?

St. Martin's- Is it possible to isolate a conversation from the consultant's opinion of the topic while still discussing the topic?

Reading Questions

Redneck Argument-- Is our responsibility as tutors a responsibility to inspire passion in a student on a subject that he or she feels uninspired about? And if so, how are we to do that? What if it's a subject that we as tutors have no interest in either?

Teacher Arguments-- Should we feel offended if a writer does not take our advice in notes or comments? Or should we instead feel hopeful that the writer has inspiration headed in a different direction?

Sentences Clear and Concise-- Does grammar fog the message of the writing too much to take it seriously?

Hjortshoj-- What role does style take when writers only focus on structure, order, and grammar?

Bedford-- How do you connect with a writer who is externally motivated? Is it our job to invoke an internal motivator in the writer?

mentoring

Yesterday I had a very stimulating conversation with my high school student, Angie. We talked about immigration. Through our conversation about the subject, I learned her passion for the subject that was a little vague in the paper. She explained that it was an emotional and close-to-home topic for her and her family, but without specific reasons or examples, it didn't convey the same emotion inflected by her voice. Her tone and passion was clear through her voice, but the tricky part was finding ways to put it in her paper. I liked how in Angie's persuasive paper, she wanted her mom to read the article not because she agreed with it like most persuasive papers would be, but for the opposite reason. She wanted her mom to read it because of the obvious ill-informed thoughts that many Americans have about Latinos. I liked that twist in her paper because though subtle, it was a tad different than a typical persuasive argument. Also, when thinking about the steps I would take after the first draft, I realized that I do use a method for that. I take the arguments or points that I feel especially strong about and elaborate and expand on them. Eventually my hope is that I have so much to say about those that I can take out the parts that aren't especially heart-felt. I feel that it's better to have a few points explained passionately and completely than ten mediocre points. I was getting excited about Angie's paper just from her talking about it, and I know that if she works a little harder on it, it will be a superb paper.

second writing center visit

I visited last Thursday and sat in on a session between a core student and my writing fellow Shane. The paper was on Chikamatsu and the morality of the couple's decision to commit suicide. Shane helped her to realize that her position wasn't clear. She was still wishy-washy about which side to take. A downside of the session was that the student didn't mail Shane the essay beforehand. We had to take time out for him to read the paper, then wasn't able to prepare as much as he would have been able to if the paper was read beforehand.

first shadow session

Yesterday was my first experience shadowing at the Writing Center. I met the writing fellow with whom I will be working. He was very nice and talked to me a bit about the process. The student, however, failed to make her appointment, so he explained to me about what goes into a meeting. He explained that when the students fail to send him a copy of their papers beforehand, as this one had done, they are losing out because helping that student becomes more difficult. The girl had made the appointment fairly recently but maybe she forgot or forgot to cancel. Another lesson was going on in the same room, however, that I overheard. A student brought in a Core paper about Chickamatsu and was getting help. They read the paper aloud and sorted through organizational issues he had. I was disappointed to have an unsuccessful first meeting, but Shane assured me more students make their appointments than miss them. Hopefully next week we'll have a successful session.

external vs. internal motivators

In our class on Monday, one of the points brought up was that external motivators overpower internatl motivators to the point of elimination. This topic is particularly interesting to me because I have watched my brother struggle with this problem. He never had an especially strong sense of self-motivation. Parents and adults offered things to trigger an inspiration in him. They tried punishing and threatening him. They even tried to open him up to out-of-the ordinary things to see if anything would spark in him. My mom will never give up her quest to inspire something in my brother, but now that he is in college, he's finally getting a chance to explore interests on his own. What do you know- he is doing better than he ever has. No one watches over his shoulder making sure he completes assignments or treats him as if hoping for the wonder we all know he is capable of. The pressure is off and he is discovering a world of which he was previously oblivious.
This is, however, only one example. Many kids have people and pressure pulling them in every which direction, and they depend on things such as grades to keep them focused on school. Internal motivators stretch farther than imaginable for external motivators, but external motivators are required for some participants to meet the minimum non-inspired work.

Reading + Writing

Many would say that a good writer comes from a good reader, but I have a different opinion. Much of what makes a good writer is the ability to organize one's idea in a clear and interesting way. Having a basic understanding of common reading is obviuosly helpful and necessary, but in many ways reading and writing are independent of each other.
A good reader requires developed comprehension skills. He has to have a flexible understanding of the text to catch what the author is trying to say. A good writer, however, has the opportunity to convey his message instead of picking up on someone else's. Both require a sense of imagination, but writing presents a chance to creatively express his imagination.