2nd session, still just talk (blog 5)

When I coached Tim, the main thing we dealt with was his focus - he had introduced two ideas in the first paragraph, so we looked at that to narrow it down. We also worked a bit on his organization which mostly fell into place after deciding on his real focus. And then he had some questions about his response - what to do and how to go about it. We decided that answering "Why?" or "How?" to things from his summary was going to work well for him.

In both my sessions I have basically just conversed about the essay. Now, I have had good, prepared 'students' each time who knew exactly where/what their problems were, so I didn't feel a need to whip one of the exercises out. But I still wonder if I should be using a method from the book. I definitely want practice doing that. I think maybe I need to read over them a few more times so I can remember them better and remember when to use them.

no draft tutoring (blog 4)

When I was the student

Musheera asked questions about what I planned/wanted to do with the assignment. I asked questions about how to go about it.. "Should I put this here or here?" "Which way does this work better." So I think the questions and talking were about equal. She had me do a little bit of writing, so there was also time when no one was talking. After we talked about what I generally wanted to write about, I did the 3 x 5 card exercise, but after I was done, she realized that didn't work out quite how she thought it would. She was really flexible, though, and made it work. We didn't really do what the book suggests, but it still turned out to be helpful. - It showed me what I had more to write about, and then gave me a very rough outline.

When I was the tutor

We pretty much went the conversation route. She already had some good ideas she wanted to write about, and if I interpreted right, she was wanting to see if what she was thinking would make sense/work out for the assignment. I think she may have been unsure if the assignment called for what she wanted to write, and I was pretty certain it did. I feel like I may have done too much talking, but she seemed to get some new ideas just after I repeated back what I heard her say. That's sort of collaboration, right?

I left flexibility out of my philosophy, and it needs to be included. A lot of times a method you try will either not fit the assignment or not fit the student like you originally thought, but it's important to work with it the best you can.

ma philosophie (blog 3)

Initially, I'm leaning toward a kind of Garret center because while I see value in collaboration, I don't yet know how that works in a writing center. The center is primarily set up for the students coming in (the tutees or "coachees"), and I can see them benefitting the most from a Garret approach. I don't think the students should be set up all alone to search for answers deep within, but I do think most people know much more than they think they do about writing, and they quite often just need some coaching or probing. Sometimes they need a lot of that. I can, though, venture out of strict, Romantic, individualism over into more of a collaborative way of thinking to admit that I can't learn all I need to know about writing on my own - I need to talk with someone about what I'm doing or what I can't do.

I want to see collaboration in action because I think I could appreciate it a lot more. I don't know that I could abandon all the of ideas of a Garret center because it's important to trust my own abilities and knowledge sometimes. Or at least trust that I know how to figure something out.

The knowledge in the center is in both the student and the tutor (here I am, back to collaboration, right?). The writer always know what he wants to say.. okay he may not always know that, but the tutor certainly can't tell him what he thinks. But.. as far as what is right.. there are some instances when it's hard to avoid the Storehouse concept where the tutor is right. I like the idea of having the student look up answers he doesn't know and then talk through it with the tutor, but even that can put the tutor into an authoritative position. The student should be encouraged to look up information about his question, but things get messy sometimes and it just works better for the tutor to explain it. So, knowledge is in both, but because the tutor probably has more experience, the tutor can clarify something difficult.

As I mentioned above, knowledge comes from the student searching for it the best he can, then talking about it with the tutor, and sometimes hearing it back from the tutor in another way.

Knowledge itself is almost always subjective. Many lower order concerns have definite right answers, but there are still some of those that could be a little grey. I think knowledge is in conversation. A student can read about writing an introduction, but talking about how that applies to the intro he was written or will write makes that knowledge useful. And what's the point of knowledge without knowing how to use it? Conversation can make the knowledge real and useful and applicable.

Phew. This is hairy and complicated and a big thing to wrap my head around.

I think I'll have some modifying to do throughout the semester on the role of the tutor. In my previous experience, the students were to spend an hour in the center every week. If they came in with nothing to do, the tutors had to figure out something, putting us in kind of an authoritative situation. Some of the students certainly had things to work on, but were very obstinate (to put it lightly), so we were even more authoritative then.

Ideally, though, I think the session should be led by the student, with the tutor there as a sounding board or question-asker. If the student clearly expects the tutor to be the sole authority, it's important for the tutor to put the ball back in the student's court, helping the student take ownership.

As far as the physical setup, I like the sessions being held at tables roomy enough for the student and tutor to sit comfortably and spread out books and papers. I think sitting across from each other feels most natural (that's how we sit with a friend at meals or study groups), but if you're really looking at writing, it can get difficult. I feel like side-by-side can be awkward and intimidating, especially if you don't know each other. So I'm a fan of being at a round table or on a corner.

The center should be comfortably lit - bright and warm, but not sterile. If the tutoring tables are small, the tutors should be able to go to another table if the student is going to write for a bit. The center should have computers with Internet access as well as reference books. If students frequently write on their own, perhaps a corner with minimal distractions should be set up.

The tutors and director should feel comfortable coming to each other about tutoring experiences. The director should be like a tutor's resource, not just a boss. The tutors should remain professional around the students. The tutors and students should be able to have a friendly, comfortable relationship, but they need to keep the focus on writing throughout the session. The center should well known at the school as a helpful, inviting place for writers at every level.

I'm not sure how I think the teachers and tutors should interact. I've worked in a center where a few of the tutors were teachers. I think I like that idea. It can make teachers seem more human and approachable to the students, and it's also helpful as a tutor to get a teacher's perspective. As far teachers on a whole and tutors... I don't how to handle that.

Back to the only experience I've had... we kept a file for each student through which her teacher and tutor could communicate - the teacher could leave a note to the tutor about an assignment, or the tutor could give feedback on the student's progress. We made notes about every session so that if a teacher came to the center because a student said, "My tutor told me I didn't need to edit this!" we had a record to clarify the misunderstanding. That worked well, but wouldn't seem as great in a larger or different program. I do think there should be the option for communication in some way, though. It's definitely important that tutors have a safety net for being blamed for a decision a student made. But that's not to say a tutor can never misguide a student. If that does happen, perhaps teachers should go through the director - make sure the center itself doesn't have a policy on X issue that the teacher didn't know about. And ideally the director has good interpersonal skills (as well as lots of tutoring experience) and can talk to the tutor without seeming confrontational.

Lunsford outline (blog 2)

There are three kinds of writing centers - Storehouse, Garret, and Burkean Parlor

The Burkean Parlor sort is ideal, but should only be taken on with caution

Collaboration is ideal because

- it promotes broader thinking/learning

~ by stirring the collaborators to find problems (and work with them)

~ by engaging group participation - in multiple kinds of "active learning"

This all results in better and higher levels of learning

Caution is necessary because

- collaboration is difficult

~ in that it requires all collaborators engage equally

~ in that it goes against our experiences and social norms

~ in that it "can easily degenerate into busy work"

(personal observation... Maybe I should do outlines more. Breaking it down and then grouping it up has really helped me get what she's saying...)

to cheer or not to cheer? (blog 1)

What would I like to learn more about? How not to do everything in chapter three. Especially how not to focus too much on editing. I think I might have a tendency to get hung up on that because I'm really comfortable talking about commas, parts of speech, and all that jazz. That stuff is concrete. For the most part, it's black and white - it's right or it's not, and I know how to tackle that. But show me an unorganized paper, and I might feel just as overwhelmed as the writer. And it can take a lot of effort to get my head around whatever it is the other person is talking (writing) about especially if he thinks it makes perfect sense.

On the cheerleading issue... I definitely agree that false praise is, well, annoying and unproductive. But I'm glad that the authors included praise about praise. Writing is such an intimidating thing, and an honest compliment can go a long way. On the other hand, now I'm thinking about what it's like to hang on every comment on a graded paper - how those can make or break me. That's not good either, even when it's positive feedback because I should feel proud of my hard work regardless of what anyone else has to say about it. hmm. So how do you help someone learn to feel good about her writing before anyone says anything (and without making her think she deserves that A because she wrote it)?

numero uno

Hello world.