Questions for 3/1/10

Bedford:

When pre-writing needs to be done in the Writing Center, how do you decide which method would be best for the writer when you have only known them for a short time?

St. Martin's:

Considering that professors with strong opinions will be grading a writer's paper, could voicing your opinion on a writers paper that offends you potentially save them from offending a professor?

Writing Center: Week Three

The student was a student athlete, but not an international student. She said going to the writing center "helps her" and she wasn't looking to work on anything in particular. They started out by reading the prompt. Then the writing consultant addressed the issue of the writer not having a clear thesis. She read the introduction paragraph aloud. The consultant then wanted to get the writer's ideas without even looking at the paper. They discussed the two different classifications Aristotle had between two types of people. Then she asked the writer what her opinion was on the text to continue getting her ideas out. The consultant was writing down what the writer was saying and told her she could keep the notes. The writer had very long paragraphs so that was one thing they were going to focus on while the consultant read the paper out loud. Then the consultant and the writer were looking for a word for something and the other consultant in the room that did not have a student thought of one that would work. This shows how people have such different ideas, that collaborating always helps. The consultant was writing directly on the paper when going through the paper. The consultant is pointing out to the writer where she strays from her original ideas in each paragraph. The writer was going off onto tangents that the paper is not supposed to be about. This consultation seemed to me like it would be difficult because the paragraphs were so long and the consultant had to dig through the student's writing to find her main ideas. As the consultation went along the consultant started to understand more and helped the writer greatly in figuring out her thesis. From there they formed a small outline of where the paper could go and the transitions between each point. There was another interjection from the other writing consultant in the room, but this time it was not a help to the paper. It was an attempt, but it ended up interrupting the consultation. The consultant then pointed out some points in the paper where a textual citation would enhance the student's argument. As she was reading silently, the consultant then found a good spot to break apart one long paragraph into two different ones. The writer then also had another idea as they went along. This showed how the writing center can spark ideas and make the writer think more in depth about the particular prompt they are given than they would had they not come to the center. The consultant then pointed out a reoccurring problem the writer had with commas. She got her some Writer's Web worksheets on commas and also incorporating quotes since she needs to do that after leaving the writing center. They also get into a discussion of what the professor wants. It is a philosophy paper so "I" is very acceptable and the professor even encouraged it. This was a good example of how writing for different purposes is very different and its good to always ask and not just assume one thing or another. The writer left with a lot to think about and some great ways to improve her paper.

Questions for 2/22/10

This is a Redneck Argument!

-Have you ever taken a stance in a particular issue you are writing about and make your opinions seem stronger than they actually are in order to make your writing better? Have you ever taken it too far like in this particular writer's case?

Reflections on Teacher Comments

-The author talks about "balance" when talking to a student about a professor's comments on her paper. How would you handle a situation where a student feels her professor's comments are mean or too critical?

Hjortshoj Ch.5

-When working with an ESL student, would you be tempted to just fix their grammar rather than focus on their other more thesis based problems?

Bedford rest of Ch.4

-Have you ever used the incentive of a reward to help keep you focused and on task in your writing process? What other ways are there to stay motivated?

Lanham's Paramedic Method

-Have you ever tried eliminating "is" from your writing? If so did you find it greatly improved your writing?

CMP

Initially my role for today was to be a "floater". When the idea was described it seemed like it was going to be a very simple task. Observe what other people were talking about and then comment and add my own opinion that may be separate from the writing consultant in action. About a minute into "floating" around I found myself at a complete loss for what to do. I had the most trouble with listening in to a conversation without feeling like I wasn't intruding. I realize that teachers and professors do this, but I didn't feel like I had the authority to come over and just start listening, even though that was my job description. I also found it hard to just jump into discussing a paper that I hadn't read or looked over. Would I be asking a question that the consultant had just gone over? These problems were not something that could be overcome in the hour we were given so I ended up just sitting and helping consult one student. Having two consultants was good I think because we both could share our ideas and give the reader different opinions. It also help me to feel more comfortable because if I missed something when reading over the paper, the other consultant was there to contribute. The writer was very responsive when asked to just talk about her ideas. She did not go into much detail as she could have, which is something she will work on for next time. She had good ideas for how to relate what she read to why she wanted her dad to read the article, but she just hadn't written them. The thing she had most trouble with was focus. The prompt was asking to explain an article and the specific article wasn't even mentioned until the next page. Once this problem was pointed out she seemed to understand as to how she should have set up her paper. There was also mention of a second article which wasn't really relevant and we explained how adding that other article took away from the focus of the main article she was discussing. Overall though her paper was a great start and I was impressed with the ideas she had and just how excited she was about the topic of biology after she admitted it hadn't been her favorite in the past. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress she makes on the paper.

Writing Center: Take Two

I ended up observing a session that was a bit unexpected. The consultant did an excellent job, in my opinion of course, at going over the paper without reading it beforehand. This was good to observe because it is similar to what will go on this Saturday. First she had the writer fill out his name and information on the sheet of paper that is handed into the Writing Center. The writer brought his paper in on a computer. The first thing the consultant asked for was the writer's assignment sheet. She read it slowly out loud, giving her time to think about the task at hand. She asked the writer what he wanted to accomplish. He said basically thesis related items and grammar. The first thing they checked was that the introduction paragraph set up the paper correctly for the prompt that was given. The consultant read the paper out loud since she had not previously seen the paper. Little grammar mistakes were fixed along the way as she read it out loud. Although we are taught in class that grammar isn't necessarily the most important, he had asked for that help and his paper was due the next day so it seemed more necessary. At the same time this time spent fixing grammar could have been devoted to more thesis based discussion, but that was covered too as they went along. After going over the first paragraph, the consultant decided to put the paper aside and just get the writer to express his ideas. This actually worked quite well and helped the consultant understand the two books being compared in the paper. She then tries to help him combine the things he is saying and the thesis he has written out. For the next paragraphs they discussed the use of quotes and the consultant pointed out times he used them well and other times when they could be stronger and supported better. The consultation seemed to go really well and the writer seemed to get a better idea in general of how to explain his quotes in a good way that relates to the thesis statement.

Tell Me What You're Thinking

Professor Dolson asked a question at the end of last class that really stuck with me. What makes people want to tell us things? This may not be hard to answer when thinking about your friends, or family. They tell you things because they trust you. They know you'll listen to them and even give them advice if its needed. However, in a writing consultation the writer doesn't know you beyond your name and where you go to school. Of course the writer isn't sharing super personal topics with you about their lives, but depending on the writing there may be personal aspects tied in. Even if the writing is completely academic analysis, it is still the writers original ideas that they may be insecure about. So how, after knowing someone for all of five minutes can you get the to feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts about their writing and other thoughts they may have about the topic at hand? Obviously there is no concrete answer to this question. If there were, robots would be doing consultations, not people. I think you have to try and be as friendly as possible. No one is going to open up to someone who is not smiling or at least seeming like a nice person. Another important aspect is not seeming nervous. I know I'm a little nervous for this saturday, but if I come across nervous that could potentially make the writer feel even more nervous. Hopefully these tactics will work and allow the writer to feel comfortable enough to start the academic conversation about their writing.

First Writing Center Shadowing Experience

I had some idea of what to expect in my first shadowing experience because I have been to the writing center a few times before for my English 103 class. I was surprised though when I got there and the writing consultant told me that the writer had stood him up. He received an email from the writer just fifteen minutes before the consultation was to take place. Fortunately, there was another consultation going on in the time period so I was able to observe that. The writer came in with a half written paper. She was a history major, taking an art history class and had to write a paper about some vases from history. The writer had the history aspect of the paper completed. The other part of the paper was to be her own observations. I could really tell that this threw the writer way off her "paper-writing-game". She was having trouble at first deciding how to write her thesis or if she even needed one in general. The writing consultant was very patient with her even when the writer started to get overwhelmed with the amount of confusion this paper was causing her. The consultant kept reminding her that she needed to stay focused. To help the writer do this she carefully went over the assignment sheet (just like in the article we just read for class) and had the writer do a general outline for how the different aspects of the paper should fit together. The rest of the tutorial was spent making a clear thesis in order to give the writer a great start on her paper. Towards the end of the consultation the consultant emphasized that she was available during the weekend to review the paper once the writer had more done. I thought this was important because it gave the writer a chance to gather her thoughts and then later be able to get her paper looked over once more. The writing tutor was so polite and the hour long consultation really flew by quickly.

Observations

It is a tuesday night in the library and one would think it would be time to start cracking down on homework. I am currently in the quiet section of the library blatantly staring at a table of three students. Let's just hope they don't notice. Two of them have their computers out, but only one seems to be working on it diligently. I'm wondering if he'll take the paper he is writing to the writing center. That same person keeps sniffling which makes me think he has a cold. I'm wondering if he got this cold by being out in the snow too long over the weekend. Although this is the quiet section of the library, these three students have not stopped chatting since I've been observing them. The talk doesn't seem to be academic considering I hear lots of quiet chuckling. I'm wondering if these three don't have a lot of work or whether they are just procrastinating and trying to avoid their work. After observing, I realize how different my observation might have been had I been able to hear their conversation. Maybe they were discussing something they learned in class or a funny thing that happened in class and I jumped to the conclusion that they were not talking about school because they were laughing. I also would need to have made a much longer observation in order to see how well they were working. Maybe they have been here all day and finally took a quick study break. There are so many things that I don't know that hopefully I won't miss in my observations at the writing center.