MSU--Denver's WC approach to writing is writer based, meaning we as tutors try to help the student become a better writer. Most times, though, the student comes in to the writing center with one goal: to get a good grade on their paper or essay. How do tutors choose to help balance these needs and goals? In Matthew
Ortoleva's article, "Centering the Writer or Centering the Text: A Meditation on a Shifting Practice in Writing Center Consultation" he addresses the sometimes conflicting goals of the tutor and student. He gives several examples of helping students as a writer centered tutor, and addresses the times he's tutored as a text centered tutor. For example: his goal of helping a bright ESL student get into grad school. Yes, there are times when we tutor with the big questions in mind: audience, genre, purpose, why?...but there are times when a text centered session is appropriate. I found this article helpful because sometimes a paper is so well written, it's not a question of the student becoming a better writer; I am another set of eyes on the text to further refine an already great essay.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
How do I help with a student's resume when mine is nonexistent?
Next week I have an appointment with a student who wants to go over a cover letter and resume. I realized that I don't even have a nice looking resume so I should probably figure out what that would be before I try and help another student with theirs.
So I researched how tutors can help with resumes (also for my own benefit in writing mine) and I found a great article from: https://writinglabnewsletter.org/archives/v27/27.8.pdf
It's called, "To Whom it May Concern" and Beyond: Equipping Students to Write for Employers" by Angela Laflen.
This article was helpful by giving specific things to look for in a resume: the audience and the purpose (of cover letters and resumes). It describe 2 types of "Business Readers" in which the student would want to tailor their resumes to, skimmers and skeptics. It gave pointers on how to tailor to each type of reader.
The most important part of writing a resume is to make sure the student's claim is stated clearly (and the article gives good and bad examples of a claim).
The article also offers "tests" to use in making sure the resume is effective. There is the 35 second test and the assertion test. Each are described at the end of the article.
I hope this helps everyone else as much as it's helped me.
**Liz has awesome examples of good-looking resumes! I'm sure she'd be more than willing to show you if you asked :)
So I researched how tutors can help with resumes (also for my own benefit in writing mine) and I found a great article from: https://writinglabnewsletter.org/archives/v27/27.8.pdf
It's called, "To Whom it May Concern" and Beyond: Equipping Students to Write for Employers" by Angela Laflen.
This article was helpful by giving specific things to look for in a resume: the audience and the purpose (of cover letters and resumes). It describe 2 types of "Business Readers" in which the student would want to tailor their resumes to, skimmers and skeptics. It gave pointers on how to tailor to each type of reader.
The most important part of writing a resume is to make sure the student's claim is stated clearly (and the article gives good and bad examples of a claim).
The article also offers "tests" to use in making sure the resume is effective. There is the 35 second test and the assertion test. Each are described at the end of the article.
I hope this helps everyone else as much as it's helped me.
**Liz has awesome examples of good-looking resumes! I'm sure she'd be more than willing to show you if you asked :)
Saturday, September 22, 2012
"Not Playing it Safe: Tutoring an Ethic of Diversity within a Non-Diverse Environment"
In Rihn's article, "Not Playing it Safe: Tutoring an Ethic of Diversity within a Non-Diverse Environment" he tackles the difficult subject of racism as well as discussing two central goals of the writing center: being a "contact zone" and a "safe house."
The conceptual idea behind the "contact zone" is that the WC should be a socially safe or neutral space where "meaning and risk-free learning" can occur. It should be a place where the minority or oppressed groups can go; institutions, as a rule, impose the dominant culture's view and rigorous standards on all its students, making some students feel "not normal." In other words, being a safe zone means to "comfort the afflicted."
The idea behind the "contact zone" is one in which opposes the comfort zone. The contact zone should be a place where the privileged should be able to explore risk in learning; a place to question the comforts of their status, a place to "afflict the comfortable." For the privileged student it should be a place to grapple with gender, class, race, and the ways in which power works in our society. Rihn suggests that we use the tutoring session as an opportunity to stretch all of the students, whether oppressed or privileged, to question audience, institutions and ourselves.
Andrew Rihn is a tutor at Kent State University where the majority of students are white and middle class. It is mostly an environment of privilege.
http://emil.uwc.utexas.edu/praxis/?q=node/178
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The conceptual idea behind the "contact zone" is that the WC should be a socially safe or neutral space where "meaning and risk-free learning" can occur. It should be a place where the minority or oppressed groups can go; institutions, as a rule, impose the dominant culture's view and rigorous standards on all its students, making some students feel "not normal." In other words, being a safe zone means to "comfort the afflicted."
The idea behind the "contact zone" is one in which opposes the comfort zone. The contact zone should be a place where the privileged should be able to explore risk in learning; a place to question the comforts of their status, a place to "afflict the comfortable." For the privileged student it should be a place to grapple with gender, class, race, and the ways in which power works in our society. Rihn suggests that we use the tutoring session as an opportunity to stretch all of the students, whether oppressed or privileged, to question audience, institutions and ourselves.
Andrew Rihn is a tutor at Kent State University where the majority of students are white and middle class. It is mostly an environment of privilege.
http://emil.uwc.utexas.edu/
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Thursday, September 20, 2012
Another ESL source: Reassessing the "Proofreading Trap": ESL Tutoring & Writing Center Instruction by Sharon A. Myers
Funny that when as I was reading this article, I realized that I had read it before in ENG 3670!
Anyway, the reason why I wanted to look up information about ESL is because my first two sessions in the writing center as an intern were with ESL students. It wasn't the easiest transition into tutoring and I didn't feel 100% about working with them so I wanted to find more information about, as Sharon Myers refers to it, the "Proofreading Trap".
This article is helpful because it humanizes us as tutors, expressing that working with an ESL student is no easy feat. It gives great suggestions on how to approach ESL works: Learner's Dictionary, Minimal Marking, Error Log Bogs, and Self-Editing Checklists.
A line of Myers' that stuck with me most in speaking about the difference between ESL "errors" and native English speaker "errors" was our mistake in seeing "...errors as something to be eliminated instead of artifacts of processing".
Since I was feeling a little overwhelmed after working with the ESL students on my first day, this article has really helped me figure out ways to approach ESL papers without feeling the need to just correct everything.
http://karen.stanley.people.cpcc.edu/docs%20for%20Tips%20for%20Writing%20Center/Proofreading%20Trap%20-%20Myers.pdf
Anyway, the reason why I wanted to look up information about ESL is because my first two sessions in the writing center as an intern were with ESL students. It wasn't the easiest transition into tutoring and I didn't feel 100% about working with them so I wanted to find more information about, as Sharon Myers refers to it, the "Proofreading Trap".
This article is helpful because it humanizes us as tutors, expressing that working with an ESL student is no easy feat. It gives great suggestions on how to approach ESL works: Learner's Dictionary, Minimal Marking, Error Log Bogs, and Self-Editing Checklists.
A line of Myers' that stuck with me most in speaking about the difference between ESL "errors" and native English speaker "errors" was our mistake in seeing "...errors as something to be eliminated instead of artifacts of processing".
Since I was feeling a little overwhelmed after working with the ESL students on my first day, this article has really helped me figure out ways to approach ESL papers without feeling the need to just correct everything.
http://karen.stanley.people.cpcc.edu/docs%20for%20Tips%20for%20Writing%20Center/Proofreading%20Trap%20-%20Myers.pdf
Friday, September 14, 2012
"ESL and LD students: Diverse Populations, Common Concerns"
"ESL and LD students: Diverse Populations, Common Concerns" by Jane Hirschorn discusses the challenges ESL and LD (learning disabled) students face. In this sensitive article, Hirschorn uses several examples of her own ESL and LD tutoring sessions to remind us that tutors must tailor their teaching/tutoring strategies to support these students. Examples of this include scheduling longer appointment times (1 hour vs. 40 min.), as well as meeting with these students on a weekly basis to continue building upon the foundations they are learning: internalizing metacognitive processes such as prewriting and comprehension, which take more time to learn with ESL and LD students.
After reading this article I am reminded how difficult writing can be for me, and I intuitively know the rhetorical patterns of English which "are shaped by the politics and values of our western culture" (Hirschorn). I can only imagine how challenging and frustrating it must be for ESL and LD students to write academically.
To read the full article click on the link below:
http://emil.uwc.utexas.edu/praxis/?q=node/175
After reading this article I am reminded how difficult writing can be for me, and I intuitively know the rhetorical patterns of English which "are shaped by the politics and values of our western culture" (Hirschorn). I can only imagine how challenging and frustrating it must be for ESL and LD students to write academically.
To read the full article click on the link below:
http://emil.uwc.utexas.edu/praxis/?q=node/175
Monday, September 10, 2012
ELL Students and Special Considerations
In Rebecca Taylor Fremo's "'Unlearning Habits, Customs, And Character': Changing the Ethos Of Our Writing Center," she discusses her efforts to recruit both international and domestic students of color to her writing center (she is the director). Fremo seeks to provide a welcoming ambiance, where ELL or ESL students who may feel marginalized and disconnected from the dominant culture, feel understood. Fremo addresses the importance of understanding the "culturally, racially, or linguistically diverse writers" who may be timid of seeking help. She goes about this by educating her tutors in cultural considerations and by training her staff to empower people of color to find their authentic cultural voice in writing academically. Ideally, the tutoring staff should reflect this diversity as well. It is an interesting article and anyone interested in expanding their understanding of the challenges that ELL/ESL students face should check it out at: https://writinglabnewsletter.org/archives/v34/34.8.pdf
I chose this article because MSU-Denver has a diverse student body. I am also helping to create a local ELL resource website for our students seeking to improve their English and writing skills.
I chose this article because MSU-Denver has a diverse student body. I am also helping to create a local ELL resource website for our students seeking to improve their English and writing skills.
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