Today we talked about North's "The Idea of a Writing Center," and "Revisiting 'The Idea of a Writing Center." We identified his fundamental focus in the first essay as on how writing centers are (mistakenly) perceived and his focus in the second essay as on de-romanticizing the representations in the first. As Nick pointed out though - in both essays he remains clear that writing centers are student centered and about writing as process; that they serve a "whole community," work on writing at all points in the writing process and are not defined by isolated points within composing such as checking spelling & punctuation and etc. Within this discussion we spent some time talking about practices for dealing with "bad assignments" and comments/responses/teaching processes surrounding student work that do help them learn more about writing.
For the bad assignment problem, Marie suggested that tutors might ask about what else is going on in class, and Stephanie suggested that students might talk to the teacher. Both of these are good suggestions - depending on who the student is and who the teacher is. I suggested that sometimes students need to have you listen and receive their frustration before you move on the writing issues associated with their problems. You don't have "solve" their problems - but to have a constructive session - many times you have to hear them and acknowledge them.
Also - in our discussion of Lunsford as compared to North, Erin pointed out that North was to the point & Lunsford was questioning and putting forward conflicting points of view. This led to a long digression from me about learning and cognitive/psychological development - and how students in their late teens and early twenties are just at the place where they are STARTING to be willing to think about "answers" in more complex ways. Until learners move out of what is called "dualistic" (black v white/right or wrong) thinking - where rules can determine what is "right" - to relativistic thinking - where the particular situation determines what to do - articles/assignments/and interactions that do not provide clear, rule-bound directions for what to do are going to feel "unclear" or even "wrong." As a tutor, you will need to make a judgment about students' developmental level, and you will need to work in a tutoring style that reflects that judgment. Your style should take into account where students are AND the fact that being a "good" writer requires students to learn when to break the rules - all the while remembering that students can't break rules successfully until they know what they are. Yes. That is a lot to take in. Development does not end at the close of puberty: changes in the way the brain works and the way we think continue throughout the lifespan; these changes generally occur in a sequence and at predictable "stages" => so that we learn "differently" in every stage. Having some information about how to recognize the different learning patterns can help you as a tutor.
Hopefully this summary of that discussion along with talk in class will be of some help. For those of you who are interested in how student's cognitive development affects tutoring - sources you might want to look at include:
Chandler, Sally. "Oral History across Generations: Age, Generation, and Oral Testimony." Oral History, 33(2), 2005, 48-56.
Evans, Nancy J., Deanna S. Forney and Florence Guido-DiBrito. 1998. Student Development in College: Theory, Research and Practice. San Francisco: Josey-Bass.
Hays, Janice. 1995. “Intellectual Parenting and a Developmental Feminist Pedagogy.” In Women’s Experience in American Composition and Rhetoric. ed. Louise Wetherbee Phelps and Janet Emig, 153-191. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
For class on Wednesday - you were given a "bad assignment" => write a 1-2 page analysis of North. The purpose is for you to reflect on the kinds of problems students confront as they write "bad assignments" and to gain some experience conducting a session on a paper that where students are given very little direction or confusing information about what the instructor expects. Bring your essay to class on a jumpdrive or printed so you can work on it in a writing session. Also - review LOC in McAndrew and Reigstad (as some of you may be in a place to work on these issues in your essays).
For your Blog, do some more writing on your writing center philosophy. As we discussed in class - your philosophy will state your assumptions about what learning is and how it takes place - in terms of what writing centers should "do." For example, North seems to believe that knowledge is primarily created through social interactions, but that some part of what we know is also "there" inside the student. As a result - his fundamental conception of a writing center is that it is about writing process (Burkean parlor) and student centered (Burkean parlor with basis in Garret). See what you can do. I realize a lot of this language is new (pedagogy, epistemology, - even thinking about "philosophy" in the concrete way that this task demands) but from your conversations in class you seem to be doing fine. Learning to talk about your teaching and your teaching practice in these terms will help you in the teaching field - and in academia in general.
Finally, in class on Wednesday you are going to conduct tutoring sessions on the North essays - and you will take notes on those sessions. Our focus is moving more and more toward taking notes on your sessions - since that is how you are going to gather your "data" for your final project. At the beginning of class, I am going to ask you to do some writing about your notes on previous tutoring sessions. What kinds of notes provided the best information? What kind of strategy did you use [for what to write - for how to balance observing and listening - for how to create a balance between what is said and what is going on (descriptions of actors, actions and setting) etc] ? How are you going to modify that strategy? Your notes are the heart of your project. The better your notes - the more basis you have for developing your "theories" about what is going on in tutoring sessions (why some sessions work and others do not).
Whew. That was a lot to write. Now it is here for us - and we can read it and think about it. We are really starting to get into the fun part of this course (not that it all hasn't been fun). I will be giving you a presentation on your research project on Oct. 15 - and we will brainstorm topics and talk about what exactly you will be doing at that time. Still - it is not too early for you to start thinking about what interests you about tutoring - about something you might want to study. So as we conduct the rest of the in-class sessions - watch yourself and your classmates. See if there is something about the way tutoring works (or doesn't work) that interests you. Write it down. Ask some questions. I fully expect that there will be some papers in writing center journals and presentations at writing center conferences from your work in this class. Your discussions and reflections in your blog are very strong.
See you on Wednesday!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wednesday, Sept 23
Today you tried out some of the tutoring techniques in the book in your own sessions. Before you started, as a class, we identified the what you would be working on - focus, development or organization - then each "tutor" picked the techniques from the textbook that she would try out in her session. I encouraged you to try a technique that was new to you - so you would have some new experience to draw from when you begin to work in the center. We usually draw from techniques we have used before - so one of the purposes of our in-class work is for you to practice/try out many different techniques - so you have a large repertoire of practices to draw from when you get to the center.
In your blogs, write a description of what you did in your session & how it worked. Give your evaluation of how the technique described by McAndrew and Reigstad worked in your session. If it did work - why? If it didn't why not? Would it work in a different kind of session?
Finish your response essays for the Lunsford article, and turn them in to the 4070 gmail address.
Also - for next class, read "The Idea of a Writing Center" and "Revisiting the Idea of a Writing Center" by North in the *Guide to Writing Center Theory & Practice." You will begin class Monday with some writing about North's ideas about writing centers. As you read - work on identifying North's philosophy - and how it changed. Good work today, and see you on Monday.
In your blogs, write a description of what you did in your session & how it worked. Give your evaluation of how the technique described by McAndrew and Reigstad worked in your session. If it did work - why? If it didn't why not? Would it work in a different kind of session?
Finish your response essays for the Lunsford article, and turn them in to the 4070 gmail address.
Also - for next class, read "The Idea of a Writing Center" and "Revisiting the Idea of a Writing Center" by North in the *Guide to Writing Center Theory & Practice." You will begin class Monday with some writing about North's ideas about writing centers. As you read - work on identifying North's philosophy - and how it changed. Good work today, and see you on Monday.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Monday, Sept 22
Today you conducted tutoring sessions for students who did not have drafts - and you did a great job! As we summed up how the sessions went I noticed in our notes on the board that each session was quite different - and that the directions the sessions took reflected the needs of the students in the session. This is exactly the way it is supposed to go. I strongly suggest that you read through the strategies in McAndrew and Reigstad a few more times - so that they are there in your head as resources. Remember that the idea is to get the student to do the work, and that the work is WRITING. Some of the exercises are better for generating material - some of the exercises work better for organization - read through the list so that you have several options in your mind when you need them.
For class Wednesday, write a draft for the response assignment you worked on in your tutoring session. Read McAndrew and Reigstad, 42-69 => strategies for responding to writers' work. In class you will switch roles - and conduct writing sessions to revise and complete the response to Lunsford. Also - write up your experience of the tutoring session. Respond to the prompts as posted on the calendar. Good work today and I will see you on Wednesday.
For class Wednesday, write a draft for the response assignment you worked on in your tutoring session. Read McAndrew and Reigstad, 42-69 => strategies for responding to writers' work. In class you will switch roles - and conduct writing sessions to revise and complete the response to Lunsford. Also - write up your experience of the tutoring session. Respond to the prompts as posted on the calendar. Good work today and I will see you on Wednesday.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wednesday, September 17
Today's class was your first experience taking notes on a tutoring session. We talked a little about what kinds of observations would be most helpful in your notes - and I was quite definite that you needed to write descriptive rather than interpretive observations. That is - you need to state "the tutor is smiling and looking into the face of the student" rather than "the tutor looks friendly." This is not always easy. With respect to the content of your notes - our list included: behaviors; body language; conversation ( with some direct quotes); actions; and description of the appearance of the subjects, the setting (context) and circumstances (what is going on around the session). You then observed a session between me and Stephanie (thank you Stephanie).
After you took your notes, I suggested that you took a moment to add some "head notes" in the margin => your interpretation or "feelings" about what was going on. These notes can provide you information when you look back - though it is important to be able to know which notes were directly observed - and which were reconstructions - added after the session.
We then talked a little about your experience taking notes - and the consensus seemed to be that writing everything down (there was so much going on!) was a little overwhelming, and that is was a challenge to stay focused. With respect to content of your notes - we generated a list of the features of the session that included: validating the student's language; the tutor's acknowledgment that she may be wrong;
inviting the student to participate in summing up what happened in the session (your notes are probably better than this - I am just remembering this off the top of my head). From class discussion it seemed to me that you are getting a good feel for how to take note that will help you develop your projects. Good start on this.
The rest of the class was devoted to a too-fast, not-in-enough-depth discussion of the ideas in Lunsford's article. I focused on the three models for Writing Centers she develops: Storehouse, Garret and Burkean Parlor, and the three models for knowledge, learning and learners these models assume. The notes on the board went something like:
Storehouse:
knowledge = one right way, "out there" to be discovered; similar to an object in that it can be conveyed from one person to another, divided into parts, and evaluated through "objective" practices
learning: takes place through transferring of information from a text or teacher
learners: passive, "receive" knowledge that is intact and "correct"
teachers: need to have complete mastery of subjects to teach them, are responsible for the learning process
Garret:
knowledge: created within the individual; different for every learner, cannot
learning: takes place through internal discovery + reflection
learner: active, discovers unique voice/perspective on information
teachers: "help students get in touch with" their internal knowledge = facilitator
Burkean Parlor
knowledge: inseparable from the language that articulates it; socially created (just as language itself was created through peoples "use" of it => no one person invented it or understands it - we (re)create language every time we speak with one another)
learning: takes place through social interactions: conversation, collaborative thinking, sharing ideas where each person contributes, listens and re-thinks ideas through on-going interactions
learners: active - everyone brings certain kinds of knowledge
teachers: theoretically on the same level as learners - though different learners/teachers will have different areas of expertise and experience
So - with all that in mind, in your Blog for Monday you will do some writing about your writing center philosophy. In this philosophy you will state your theory of how knowledge is made, what learning is, and the roles for learners and tutors. As you develop these ideas - you will think about what helped you learn (from the discussion the first day), what made learning harder (from the discussion the second day), and what a tutoring session (at least one kind of session) looks like (from your experience today. Think about how a writing center ought to be run, what it should look like, and how the tutors will be trained in order to put your philosophy into action. I am *really* interested in reading these since Kean University is in the process of creating its writing center - and your perspectives as students and tutors - are important to its success.
Also for Monday,
- re-vise your summary in light of talk in class (hopefully you got some ideas about how to work on it from watching the tutoring session);
- and read McAndrew and Riegstad, 31-42.
I will be giving you feedback via email on your first two blogs probably on Sunday - so you have an idea about my expectations and how I will be evaluating them before we get too far into the term.
Have a good weekend.
After you took your notes, I suggested that you took a moment to add some "head notes" in the margin => your interpretation or "feelings" about what was going on. These notes can provide you information when you look back - though it is important to be able to know which notes were directly observed - and which were reconstructions - added after the session.
We then talked a little about your experience taking notes - and the consensus seemed to be that writing everything down (there was so much going on!) was a little overwhelming, and that is was a challenge to stay focused. With respect to content of your notes - we generated a list of the features of the session that included: validating the student's language; the tutor's acknowledgment that she may be wrong;
inviting the student to participate in summing up what happened in the session (your notes are probably better than this - I am just remembering this off the top of my head). From class discussion it seemed to me that you are getting a good feel for how to take note that will help you develop your projects. Good start on this.
The rest of the class was devoted to a too-fast, not-in-enough-depth discussion of the ideas in Lunsford's article. I focused on the three models for Writing Centers she develops: Storehouse, Garret and Burkean Parlor, and the three models for knowledge, learning and learners these models assume. The notes on the board went something like:
Storehouse:
knowledge = one right way, "out there" to be discovered; similar to an object in that it can be conveyed from one person to another, divided into parts, and evaluated through "objective" practices
learning: takes place through transferring of information from a text or teacher
learners: passive, "receive" knowledge that is intact and "correct"
teachers: need to have complete mastery of subjects to teach them, are responsible for the learning process
Garret:
knowledge: created within the individual; different for every learner, cannot
learning: takes place through internal discovery + reflection
learner: active, discovers unique voice/perspective on information
teachers: "help students get in touch with" their internal knowledge = facilitator
Burkean Parlor
knowledge: inseparable from the language that articulates it; socially created (just as language itself was created through peoples "use" of it => no one person invented it or understands it - we (re)create language every time we speak with one another)
learning: takes place through social interactions: conversation, collaborative thinking, sharing ideas where each person contributes, listens and re-thinks ideas through on-going interactions
learners: active - everyone brings certain kinds of knowledge
teachers: theoretically on the same level as learners - though different learners/teachers will have different areas of expertise and experience
So - with all that in mind, in your Blog for Monday you will do some writing about your writing center philosophy. In this philosophy you will state your theory of how knowledge is made, what learning is, and the roles for learners and tutors. As you develop these ideas - you will think about what helped you learn (from the discussion the first day), what made learning harder (from the discussion the second day), and what a tutoring session (at least one kind of session) looks like (from your experience today. Think about how a writing center ought to be run, what it should look like, and how the tutors will be trained in order to put your philosophy into action. I am *really* interested in reading these since Kean University is in the process of creating its writing center - and your perspectives as students and tutors - are important to its success.
Also for Monday,
- re-vise your summary in light of talk in class (hopefully you got some ideas about how to work on it from watching the tutoring session);
- and read McAndrew and Riegstad, 31-42.
I will be giving you feedback via email on your first two blogs probably on Sunday - so you have an idea about my expectations and how I will be evaluating them before we get too far into the term.
Have a good weekend.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Monday, Septemebr 15
You began class by writing about a "bad" experience with writing - a time when your writing did not turn out - or wasn't received - the way you hoped. Problems included not having a clear understanding of instructor or genre expectations; not having useful feedback on what to do; procrastinations; not being able to connect to the topic; and having too much going on in your life to do the project the way you envisioned it. After discussing your experiences we talked about what kinds of coaching might have enabled you to move forward with your work - and to have a more successful outcome.
In talk about the reading assignment we pointed out the complexity of the writing process, and observed that it is important for writing coaches to understand these different parts of writing => because they need different strategies to support writers who are "stuck" in different parts of the process. We talked about cultural differences in expectations about the "right" way to write, and noted that it is important to assure students that our coaching is not about the "right" way - but about how to write to the expectations of a particular assignment. In the discussion of the three approaches to tutoring - student centered, collaborative, and teacher centered - we noted that while student centered coaching provides the most active role for the student, in some cases, particularly when students do not know or know how to find a particular piece of information, teacher centered or collaborative tutoring will be important.
The assignment for Wednesday is (almost)correct as listed on the calendar. The only revision is that in addition to turning in your summary of Lunsford as an attachment to the ENG4070 address, bring a hard copy to class so you can work on it in a tutoring session with a classmate. Good class today!
In talk about the reading assignment we pointed out the complexity of the writing process, and observed that it is important for writing coaches to understand these different parts of writing => because they need different strategies to support writers who are "stuck" in different parts of the process. We talked about cultural differences in expectations about the "right" way to write, and noted that it is important to assure students that our coaching is not about the "right" way - but about how to write to the expectations of a particular assignment. In the discussion of the three approaches to tutoring - student centered, collaborative, and teacher centered - we noted that while student centered coaching provides the most active role for the student, in some cases, particularly when students do not know or know how to find a particular piece of information, teacher centered or collaborative tutoring will be important.
The assignment for Wednesday is (almost)correct as listed on the calendar. The only revision is that in addition to turning in your summary of Lunsford as an attachment to the ENG4070 address, bring a hard copy to class so you can work on it in a tutoring session with a classmate. Good class today!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Wednesday, Sept 10
Today we told stories about experiences where someone helped us to understand/learn something new, and then abstracted or identified the features of that experience that helped make it successful. If I had an LCD screen I would have written our list as a document and published it here. What was so great about that list was that it was a very close match to what they first reading in McAndrew and Reigstad identified as what research tells us about what students learn from tutoring. In other words, our list was an accurate representation of what we need to do to assist writers. If anyone wrote down the list - send it to me and I will post it here as part of the record for our course.
During the second section of the course you set up your blogs and we talked over the NIH training. By the end of class you all had your blogs set up, and you were working on linking to classmates' blogs (I still have to do that). If you run into trouble - send me an email at the course dedicated email and I will see what I can do.
For next class, use your blog entry to sum up your reflections on the first two readings - research on tutoring and what tutoring isn't - in light of our class discussion. Also - include some reflection on what you found interesting. As I pointed out in class, you will develop an empirical research project on tutoring this term - and now is a good time to start thinking about what you might like to study. Cast a wide net. Think about what connects to your personal interests.
Also - finish the NIH training and send me your certificate. I need to turn the certificates with the application for IRB approval. Please forward them to me ASAP.
Finally, read the section in McAndrew and Reigstad noted on the calendar. See you Monday!
During the second section of the course you set up your blogs and we talked over the NIH training. By the end of class you all had your blogs set up, and you were working on linking to classmates' blogs (I still have to do that). If you run into trouble - send me an email at the course dedicated email and I will see what I can do.
For next class, use your blog entry to sum up your reflections on the first two readings - research on tutoring and what tutoring isn't - in light of our class discussion. Also - include some reflection on what you found interesting. As I pointed out in class, you will develop an empirical research project on tutoring this term - and now is a good time to start thinking about what you might like to study. Cast a wide net. Think about what connects to your personal interests.
Also - finish the NIH training and send me your certificate. I need to turn the certificates with the application for IRB approval. Please forward them to me ASAP.
Finally, read the section in McAndrew and Reigstad noted on the calendar. See you Monday!
Classmates' Blogs
Angela http://angelapeertutor.blogspot.com/
Camille http://camille-tutor.blogspot.com/
Erin http://erinbutterly.blogspot.com/
Kevin http://kevinrisse.blogspot.com
Marie http://marieacot1.blogspot.com
Molly molly-peertutoring.blogspot.com
Nick http://nicholasjvasilo.blogspot.com/
Stephanie http://stephy1125.blogspot.com/
Vanessa http://torresv.blogspot.com/
Camille http://camille-tutor.blogspot.com/
Erin http://erinbutterly.blogspot.com/
Kevin http://kevinrisse.blogspot.com
Marie http://marieacot1.blogspot.com
Molly molly-peertutoring.blogspot.com
Nick http://nicholasjvasilo.blogspot.com/
Stephanie http://stephy1125.blogspot.com/
Vanessa http://torresv.blogspot.com/
Monday, September 8, 2008
September 8: First class
Today we got to know one another a little bit. From listening to what you said about yourselves, it sounded to me like each one of you has had experieces you can draw from for tutoring work. I think we have a great group and I am looking forward to working with you this term.
We also went through the syllabus and the calendar, you got a brief (and very small) look at the course blog, and took a look at the NIH site for training.
Regarding the non-computerized nature of our classroom, I have found three additional laptops that we can use M- W from 9:30 - 11:00 - and as I recall that was all we needed. So for Wednesday - be sure to bring your laptop - and an ethernet cable if you have one. The room is supposed to have wi-fi but I have had mixed experiences with being able to connect to the internet in that room. So for now, it looks like we will be meeting in CAS 315.
For Wednesday - buy your books and look them over. Read through the sections in McAndrew and Reigstad (8-21) on research, and what tutoring *isn't*. And find yourself a writing joural & get started on the NIH training.
In class on Wednesday we will talk over the readings, make sure everyone is OK with the NIH online training, and you will do some writing in your journals and set up your blogs. Also - I am going to ask everyone to send me an email at the course email from your dedicated account. See you Wednesday!
We also went through the syllabus and the calendar, you got a brief (and very small) look at the course blog, and took a look at the NIH site for training.
Regarding the non-computerized nature of our classroom, I have found three additional laptops that we can use M- W from 9:30 - 11:00 - and as I recall that was all we needed. So for Wednesday - be sure to bring your laptop - and an ethernet cable if you have one. The room is supposed to have wi-fi but I have had mixed experiences with being able to connect to the internet in that room. So for now, it looks like we will be meeting in CAS 315.
For Wednesday - buy your books and look them over. Read through the sections in McAndrew and Reigstad (8-21) on research, and what tutoring *isn't*. And find yourself a writing joural & get started on the NIH training.
In class on Wednesday we will talk over the readings, make sure everyone is OK with the NIH online training, and you will do some writing in your journals and set up your blogs. Also - I am going to ask everyone to send me an email at the course email from your dedicated account. See you Wednesday!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Check out the course blog
Welcome to ENG 4070! This should be an exciting class - and with any luck it should be fun as well. The links on this page will connect you to course documents, important journals for writing center research, sites for some of the leading writing centers across the country, and most importantly - to your classmates' blogs.
I will use my posts to respond to and sum up class discussions, note changes in the course calendar, and generally reflect on the ideas and events that come up throughout the term.
Be sure to get started on the online training so we can get IRB approval for your projects for the course.
I will use my posts to respond to and sum up class discussions, note changes in the course calendar, and generally reflect on the ideas and events that come up throughout the term.
Be sure to get started on the online training so we can get IRB approval for your projects for the course.
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