Audience: Getting student writers to see past the professor

While browsing the archives the other day, I found this article, "Audience: Getting student writers to see past the professor," by peer tutor Bryan Householder from the Writing Center Lab Newsletter to be quite relevant. The article expresses a very familiar aspect of tutoring; it examines the way that students write specifically for their professor and have a hard time applying their writing to a larger or different audience (something instilled in them from the "5-paragraph essay" in high school). 

Bryan believes that: "If we, as tutors, can encourage students to view their writing as a form of communication and show them that they are not just writing to the professor but also to a larger group, students will become more impassioned about their writing and, therefore, their writing will be of a much higher quality."

He goes on to explain some steps that tutors can take to help develop their students' perception of intended audience:

- showing students that their writing can be influential and important is to show students the value of making the work their own
- be willing to work with the student and determine what they want to say
- it is necessary that an intended audience be discovered
- either the student could revise the paper to fit his audience or he could focus more on what audience his paper was for

- discuss the different types of papers and forms of writing that may be most accepted by different groups of people

I get a student almost each day that I tutor that mentions what they think "the professor wants to hear." I constantly find myself having to remind or ask a student who their audience is, so this article offers a more direct way to get student to "think beyond their professor." 

https://writinglabnewsletter.org/archives/v26/26.8.pdf

Freudian Concepts in the Writing Center

“Anybody there?”: A Comparison of Writing-Center Coaching and Crisis Counseling

My minor is in psychology, so I found this article interesting.  Maybe some people would not see the similarities between crisis counseling and Writing Center tutoring, but Virginia Poon of Virginia Tech does. She knows that bonding and empathy are very important in both situations.  Like the therapist and client relationship, the tutor/tutee relationship mirrors many of the aspects of  a psychotherapy session.  In terms of human development, students who come to the writing center realize their limitations, and are seeking support and betterment and growth as a writer.  A tutor has the ability to use their own interpersonal skills toward building trust, then using their expertise and experience to "demystify the assignment and implement steps for improvement." I see it as behavior therapy for the writer. We give them tools (resources, ideas, show and tell), and they use their new found knowledge to become a better writer.  Ultimately, Poon states, the most important similarity between the role of tutor and counselor is "the art of allowing clients and callers to think for themselves."  That's what we try to teach our students at the MSU-Denver Writing Center.

.http://emil.uwc.utexas.edu/praxis/?q=node/338

What Does "Helping" Mean

As I was sitting on the light rail heading home this afternoon, I was thinking about how the reality of my internship differed from my expectations.  I am considered a tutor, but honestly, sometimes I feel more like a counselor.  So many of my sessions with students are focused on giving them confidence: confidence to succeed.  It appears that my simple acts of empathizing and having faith in them allows them to move past their writer's block and/or anxiety, or whatever it is that discourages them. With this idea in mind, I found the article "Mapping the Meaning of "Help": Tutor Training and the Sense of Self-Efficacy." Essentially, it's about "the need to raise students’ expectation that they will be able to complete a writing task."

There are four components: 1)  Success through effort (getting better-mastery)
                                             2)  Modeling (showing not just telling)
                                             3)  Persuasion and encouragement (moving students away from self-                                                 defeating thoughts)          
                                             4)  Reducing anxiety (sharing concerns and empathizing)

Another idea is to make sure students leave with something: a renewed sense of confidence in their writing ability, a strong thesis sentence or  a even just "a plan."  Any of these "somethings" allow the student to move forward as a writer; moving forward equates to becoming a better writer.  The article states that "faith is an important component." This article is helpful to those of us who wonder "Did I really help my student today?" After reading this article I can honestly say YES.

http://emil.uwc.utexas.edu/praxis/?q=node/336