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?