At the beginning of class I invited you to participate in the Kean University English Department events for the National Day of Writing on October 20, 2009 at Liberty Hall. If you are interested or have questions - stop by my office or send me an email.
Tonight we discussed Stephen North's "The Idea of a Writing Center" and "'The Idea of a Writing Center' Revisited." we focused on conflicts between how the public perceives writing centers, and how North represents writing centers in terms of: who comes to writing centers (struggling students v all writers); why individuals come to writing centers (because they are sent by teacher v because they want to); and what happens at writing centers (drills & skills centered correction v 'holistic' participant observation by tutors who respond to particular writers interests/issues). We also considered North's revisions on these positions, as well as his changing position with respect to relationships between the university (and this mostly meant teachers)and the writing center; and the purpose/function of the center. According to North the center's most important function is to be a place where writers talk about writing - and he tags a few other purposes onto this central purpose.
Thanks for your interesting discussion of these rather abstract articles.
Make sure you have turned in an electronic copy of your response to Lunsford. I will read these over the weekend and return them via email by Monday night class.
For Blog 6: Create a writing center philosophy from the perspective of the director of a writing center. This version needs to address the issues identified by North: the center's purpose, who comes there, why they come, what they do => as well as the assumptions and "reasons" that underlie the practical answers to these questions. For example, assuming that knowledge is created through conversation mandates certain coaching practices, and assuming that knowledge will be created differently in different contexts, or that it is apprehended entirely in the mind of the learner may mandate different coaching practices. In this version of your philosophy make clear connections between what your center will DO - and your assumptions about learning, knowledge, and the political realities of writing centers. I am looking forward to reading these posts!
In class, we will talk about practices for observing and taking notes on writing sessions - and then you will practice some of these techniques while on in-class sessions between classmates.
Have a good weekend and see you Monday.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
September 28
In class tonight you used the techniques outlined in McAndrew and Reigstad to coach a classmate on his/her response essay for Lunsford. After your sessions we reflected on what the writer brings to the session and what the writing coach brings to the session. Writers generally took responsibility for what they wanted to work on - writing coaches generally asked questions + suggested processes to help students figure out HOW to work on their writing issues. As noted by several of you - coaches need to know something about different writing genres, they need to know how to read assignment sheets, and they need to be able to suggest different strategies to brainstorm, organize, develop, and focus ideas as writing.
For Wednesday:
Blog 5: write a description of what you did in your coaching session; you might also want to consolidate or reflect on some of what other students reported as taking place in their sessions. Use this post to write down some of the ideas and approaches you are exploring. What are you learning? What would you like more experience doing?
Read: Stephen North "The Idea of a Writing Center" and "Revisiting 'The Idea of a Writing Center'" 63-92.
Note: The information about the final research paper on your course syllabus is incorrect. You are not writing two 5-page essays. You will be writing one 7-10 page research essay (graduate students will write a 10-12 page paper). The reflective writing will be informal, and part of the short essays for homework. This will be more clear when we get to that part of the course. I apologize for any confusion.
Good class tonight - and see you Wednesday.
For Wednesday:
Blog 5: write a description of what you did in your coaching session; you might also want to consolidate or reflect on some of what other students reported as taking place in their sessions. Use this post to write down some of the ideas and approaches you are exploring. What are you learning? What would you like more experience doing?
Read: Stephen North "The Idea of a Writing Center" and "Revisiting 'The Idea of a Writing Center'" 63-92.
Note: The information about the final research paper on your course syllabus is incorrect. You are not writing two 5-page essays. You will be writing one 7-10 page research essay (graduate students will write a 10-12 page paper). The reflective writing will be informal, and part of the short essays for homework. This will be more clear when we get to that part of the course. I apologize for any confusion.
Good class tonight - and see you Wednesday.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
September 23 - Tutoring without a draft
You started out by reading classmates' posts about writing center philosophies. You posted comments to classmates in your group. As we looked over the posts, we thought about the following:
What do you need to include in a WC philosophy?
Different audiences = different statements
A writing center philosophy tells what center does
WC philosophy = public document = needs commitment + enthusiasm
We got more ideas from reading classmates’ work
Making your philosophy concrete – giving examples makes it easier to follow
Does it make a difference what kind of language you use? (yes)
Tutoring versus coaching?
Writing lab v writing center versus tutoring center?
We all seemed to have the same Object = to make students comfortable
But different individuals took different approaches
Hmmmm. There is food for thought here.
You spent the rest of the class putting into practice what you read about for coaching students who don't have a draft. I am hoping you made some conscious decisions about what approach to use (did you?) - and at the same time - that you were responsive to the particular writing needs of your student.
For Blog 4: Reflect on your experiences as a tutor and a student. For each role, think about: who did the most talking? Who asked the most questions? Who was most focused on the assignment sheet (understanding the directions)? Who contributed the most information about "what to write about"? What happened when there were different interpretations of the assignment? the reading? After you answer these questions - think about how or whether they reflect your philosophy about how students & writing coaches should interact.
Write: A response to Lunsford. Be sure to check out the assignment sheet. Writing to the assignment is KEY for successful academic writing.
Read: Models and strategies: responding to writers' work McAndrew and Reigstad 42 - 69.
In class on Monday, we will briefly discuss the strategies for working with writers; you will then work with each other - as coach and student - to decide how to revise your essay.
Over the weekend I will read through your blogs and provide you feed back + a grade for Blogs 1-3. Thanks for the great class this evening - and see you on Monday.
What do you need to include in a WC philosophy?
Different audiences = different statements
A writing center philosophy tells what center does
WC philosophy = public document = needs commitment + enthusiasm
We got more ideas from reading classmates’ work
Making your philosophy concrete – giving examples makes it easier to follow
Does it make a difference what kind of language you use? (yes)
Tutoring versus coaching?
Writing lab v writing center versus tutoring center?
We all seemed to have the same Object = to make students comfortable
But different individuals took different approaches
Hmmmm. There is food for thought here.
You spent the rest of the class putting into practice what you read about for coaching students who don't have a draft. I am hoping you made some conscious decisions about what approach to use (did you?) - and at the same time - that you were responsive to the particular writing needs of your student.
For Blog 4: Reflect on your experiences as a tutor and a student. For each role, think about: who did the most talking? Who asked the most questions? Who was most focused on the assignment sheet (understanding the directions)? Who contributed the most information about "what to write about"? What happened when there were different interpretations of the assignment? the reading? After you answer these questions - think about how or whether they reflect your philosophy about how students & writing coaches should interact.
Write: A response to Lunsford. Be sure to check out the assignment sheet. Writing to the assignment is KEY for successful academic writing.
Read: Models and strategies: responding to writers' work McAndrew and Reigstad 42 - 69.
In class on Monday, we will briefly discuss the strategies for working with writers; you will then work with each other - as coach and student - to decide how to revise your essay.
Over the weekend I will read through your blogs and provide you feed back + a grade for Blogs 1-3. Thanks for the great class this evening - and see you on Monday.
Monday, September 21, 2009
September 21
We discussed Andrea Lunsford's "Collaboration, Control, and the Idea of a Writing Center". We started out by identifying terms that would need to be included in a complete summary of her text.
Although it is pretty hard to model how to coach a writer on careful reading stratgeies when you are standing in front of a classroom with a marker in your hand - I gave it a shot. I asked questions, and responded with further questions that took discussion in the direction your answers. I directed you to the text, and asked you to help me find the information in Lunsford that you were using to support your interpretation. We came up with a pretty solid list of terms and ideas from this article.
You then worked in pairs to strategize how you would organize this material into a summary. Groups came up with at least three different patters - all of which made sense. My teacherly comment was to point out that summaries are focused around the author's main point - so the summary needs to set up that point in the beginning, and come back to it at the end, and the material in the middle needs to connect to that main point.
We then talked about writing center philosophies. While talking about Lunsford's article, we identified features of each of the three models for writing centers(Storehouse, Garret, and Burkean Parlor). Those features were:
- an image or model to represent the exchange of knowledge;
- who "owns" or has knowledge;
- how learners gain knowledge;
- and a description of what knowledge is.
For example, in the Storehouse model, the writing center is like a bank (with knowledge stored inside); the tutor (as a representative of the university) has knowledge that the student needs to "get;" learners are "told" or given knowledge by teachers/tutors; and knowledge itself is fixed in that there is a right or a wrong - it has a form outside of context or the person who has it.
For Blog 3: write your writing center philosophy.
For this post, identify:
- your position on what a writing center should be like (an image or model such as storehouse, garret, burkean parlor - or an image of your own.)
- where knowledge is (who owns it, or has the right to say what it is)
-how learners gain knowledge
- and what knowledge is (is it fixed & objective? subjective and inside the learner? created through conversation?)
These are your assumptions about learning and teaching. After you've stated these - do some writing to explore what your assumptions imply for:
- the role of the tutor (how sessions should be conducted, what authority tutors should have within the center)
- the physical set up for tutoring sessions + the center itself
- power relations between the director & tutors, tutors and students, between the center and the University, teachers and tutors - and so on.
This is going to be a draft. These relationships are complicated. As stated in class - part of the purpose for writing a philosophy, now, at the beginning of the term - is for you to think about what your assumptions are, so you can be conscious of them, and watch for how the unconscious assumptions will sneak up on you and direct your sessions.
Also for class Wednesday: Read Coaching when the writer does not have a draft - McAndrew and Reigstad, 31-42.
In class on Wednesday we will look at your writing center philosophies (you are going to comment on one another's blogs), and you will coach each other on writing a response essay. To prepare for the in-class coaching, you can do any pre-writing, reading you would like - but do NOT write a draft response essay.
Great class tonight, and see you Wednseday.
Although it is pretty hard to model how to coach a writer on careful reading stratgeies when you are standing in front of a classroom with a marker in your hand - I gave it a shot. I asked questions, and responded with further questions that took discussion in the direction your answers. I directed you to the text, and asked you to help me find the information in Lunsford that you were using to support your interpretation. We came up with a pretty solid list of terms and ideas from this article.
You then worked in pairs to strategize how you would organize this material into a summary. Groups came up with at least three different patters - all of which made sense. My teacherly comment was to point out that summaries are focused around the author's main point - so the summary needs to set up that point in the beginning, and come back to it at the end, and the material in the middle needs to connect to that main point.
We then talked about writing center philosophies. While talking about Lunsford's article, we identified features of each of the three models for writing centers(Storehouse, Garret, and Burkean Parlor). Those features were:
- an image or model to represent the exchange of knowledge;
- who "owns" or has knowledge;
- how learners gain knowledge;
- and a description of what knowledge is.
For example, in the Storehouse model, the writing center is like a bank (with knowledge stored inside); the tutor (as a representative of the university) has knowledge that the student needs to "get;" learners are "told" or given knowledge by teachers/tutors; and knowledge itself is fixed in that there is a right or a wrong - it has a form outside of context or the person who has it.
For Blog 3: write your writing center philosophy.
For this post, identify:
- your position on what a writing center should be like (an image or model such as storehouse, garret, burkean parlor - or an image of your own.)
- where knowledge is (who owns it, or has the right to say what it is)
-how learners gain knowledge
- and what knowledge is (is it fixed & objective? subjective and inside the learner? created through conversation?)
These are your assumptions about learning and teaching. After you've stated these - do some writing to explore what your assumptions imply for:
- the role of the tutor (how sessions should be conducted, what authority tutors should have within the center)
- the physical set up for tutoring sessions + the center itself
- power relations between the director & tutors, tutors and students, between the center and the University, teachers and tutors - and so on.
This is going to be a draft. These relationships are complicated. As stated in class - part of the purpose for writing a philosophy, now, at the beginning of the term - is for you to think about what your assumptions are, so you can be conscious of them, and watch for how the unconscious assumptions will sneak up on you and direct your sessions.
Also for class Wednesday: Read Coaching when the writer does not have a draft - McAndrew and Reigstad, 31-42.
In class on Wednesday we will look at your writing center philosophies (you are going to comment on one another's blogs), and you will coach each other on writing a response essay. To prepare for the in-class coaching, you can do any pre-writing, reading you would like - but do NOT write a draft response essay.
Great class tonight, and see you Wednseday.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Wednesday, September 16
Tonight we talked through the reading from McAndrew and Reigstad; as we talked we made connections between writing process, tutoring process(es) and language/conversational moves you might actually use in a writing session.
We started by talking about writing process as consisting of three parts: pre-writing, drafting, and revising - and we talked about how you could tell where a writer was in his/her process, and what you might work on with writers in different parts of their process. We also noted that writing process is recursive - in that writers cycle through gathering information in the pre-writing stage, getting information on the page in the drafting stage, and getting the forus, organization, development + language right in the revising stage.
We also talked about what goes on in writers heads, decided that chaos is OK, observed that language meanings depend on who is talking and under what circumstances, and discussed student centered, collaborative, & teacher centered approaches to coaching writing (with the observation that student centered is the preferred method in our text book).
We checked out methods and conventions for summaries (handout listed as a link to the right), and you did some role playing coaching students who are having trouble getting the meainings from texts. You came up with a great set of strategies for helping students see the text in new ways. After making sure they could state the "what happened" of the text, strategies to move them to think about ideas include: chunking the matierial into sections; asking students to state the purpose, themes, or what the author was doing; asking them to state one idea that says what a reading is about; getting them to look at the title + headings, introduction/conclusion, topic sentences, itialicized words, terms that are defined or repeated; listening to students questions and providing them with resources to find their own answers, and so on. I am thinking you don't really need me to teach this class!
For Monday:
Blog 2: list Lunsford’s main points
Read: Barnett and Blumer, "Collaboration, Control, and the Idea of a Writing Center" by Andrea Lunsford
In class, we will talk over writing center philosophies, do some more thinking about how to write summaries for different rhetorical purposes.
Have a great weekend and see you Monday.
We started by talking about writing process as consisting of three parts: pre-writing, drafting, and revising - and we talked about how you could tell where a writer was in his/her process, and what you might work on with writers in different parts of their process. We also noted that writing process is recursive - in that writers cycle through gathering information in the pre-writing stage, getting information on the page in the drafting stage, and getting the forus, organization, development + language right in the revising stage.
We also talked about what goes on in writers heads, decided that chaos is OK, observed that language meanings depend on who is talking and under what circumstances, and discussed student centered, collaborative, & teacher centered approaches to coaching writing (with the observation that student centered is the preferred method in our text book).
We checked out methods and conventions for summaries (handout listed as a link to the right), and you did some role playing coaching students who are having trouble getting the meainings from texts. You came up with a great set of strategies for helping students see the text in new ways. After making sure they could state the "what happened" of the text, strategies to move them to think about ideas include: chunking the matierial into sections; asking students to state the purpose, themes, or what the author was doing; asking them to state one idea that says what a reading is about; getting them to look at the title + headings, introduction/conclusion, topic sentences, itialicized words, terms that are defined or repeated; listening to students questions and providing them with resources to find their own answers, and so on. I am thinking you don't really need me to teach this class!
For Monday:
Blog 2: list Lunsford’s main points
Read: Barnett and Blumer, "Collaboration, Control, and the Idea of a Writing Center" by Andrea Lunsford
In class, we will talk over writing center philosophies, do some more thinking about how to write summaries for different rhetorical purposes.
Have a great weekend and see you Monday.
Revised Calendar
The link to the calendar now provides a document with assignments that will actually correspond to the dates we meet. There may be additional revisions - but this is a closer approximation than the first draft!
Bring Barnett & Blumer to class tonight - we are going to work through pre-reading activities as a way to set you up for reading this essay. See you soon.
Bring Barnett & Blumer to class tonight - we are going to work through pre-reading activities as a way to set you up for reading this essay. See you soon.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Class Monday, September 14
You set up your blogs, pasted in links to your classmates' blogs, and we got started talking about why peer to peer writing coaching works - and what tutoring isn't. Too bad we didn't get to the role-playing, that is really the heart of where learning takes place.
About blogs:
To change your layout or add gadgets, click customize (upper right of your page).
To create a new post - click new post. Once you are in "new post" you can click "edit posts" to go back and revise or delete an older post. You can also click the tabs for settings + layout to make other changes.
I have updated the blog list entry (after this one) and everyone's address should be on it. If I have misspelled or otherwise messed up your link, let me know. For next class, do your best to have a link to your classmates' blogs + mine.
Good work on the training certificates. Those of you who are finishing up, try to turn them in asap and I will turn them in to the Kean University IRB.
Good class tonight!
For Wednesday:
Post Blog 1: Your response to the readings so far. Any questions? Anything nnew or surprising? Anything you would like to learn more about?
Read: McAndrew & Reigstad, 21 -30.
I will fix the dates on the calendar. . . see you Wednesday.
About blogs:
To change your layout or add gadgets, click customize (upper right of your page).
To create a new post - click new post. Once you are in "new post" you can click "edit posts" to go back and revise or delete an older post. You can also click the tabs for settings + layout to make other changes.
I have updated the blog list entry (after this one) and everyone's address should be on it. If I have misspelled or otherwise messed up your link, let me know. For next class, do your best to have a link to your classmates' blogs + mine.
Good work on the training certificates. Those of you who are finishing up, try to turn them in asap and I will turn them in to the Kean University IRB.
Good class tonight!
For Wednesday:
Post Blog 1: Your response to the readings so far. Any questions? Anything nnew or surprising? Anything you would like to learn more about?
Read: McAndrew & Reigstad, 21 -30.
I will fix the dates on the calendar. . . see you Wednesday.
Blog addresses
http://dariarieker.blogspot.com/ Daria
http://timblog4070.blogspot.com/ Tim
http://sheerahg.blogspot.com/ Musheerah
http://rleigh-robinsclass.blogspot.com/ Robin
http://laneave.blogspot.com/ Laura
http://eng5070ryan.blogspot.com/ Ryan
http://kevin4070.blogspot.com/ Kevin
http://intelligentlisa.blogspot.com/ Talisha
http://dannyswrittingclass.blogspot.com Daniela
http://samuikamui.blogspot.com/ Sam
http://timblog4070.blogspot.com/ Tim
http://sheerahg.blogspot.com/ Musheerah
http://rleigh-robinsclass.blogspot.com/ Robin
http://laneave.blogspot.com/ Laura
http://eng5070ryan.blogspot.com/ Ryan
http://kevin4070.blogspot.com/ Kevin
http://intelligentlisa.blogspot.com/ Talisha
http://dannyswrittingclass.blogspot.com Daniela
http://samuikamui.blogspot.com/ Sam
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
What we did in class, September 8
For our first class, we introduced ourselves, went over the syllabus and the calendar, and talked about the course blog and IRB training. Most importantly, we got started on thinking about what makes good learning happen. You told stories about times when you had a good experience with learning - and we identified features of those experiences and listed them on the board. Your stories were strong examples of what motivates and sustains learners as do the scary work that accompanies trying to do something new. Features we noticed were: having concrete examples (with lots of different examples); having assurance, encouragement, and models (predictable routines and patterns); having connections to the learner's interest and motivation; good listening; getting step-by-step information about process (how to do something instead of what needs to be done); getting help with stepping back so the learner can "see" his or her self (like when Daniela's father video-taped her); working on a team and having opportunities to practice; getting one-on-one feedback; being able to ask questions - and some that I forgot.
Features of learning that are most important will vary from learner to learner and from situation to situation - but this list provides us with a good place to start thinking about how writing coaches can support learners as they work on their writing.
For next class:
Take the IRB training (linked from the right side of this page)and send me a copy of your certificate.
Read: in McAndrew and Reigstad, 8-21
Those of you who have laptops - bring them to class. I will see what I can do to get computers for the 5 students who said they do not have access to a laptop. In class you will set up your blogs, and we will continue writing and thinking about how writing centers and general - and writing coaches in particular- can support writers.
Thanks for your good participation in tonight's class. I am looking forward to working with each of you.
Features of learning that are most important will vary from learner to learner and from situation to situation - but this list provides us with a good place to start thinking about how writing coaches can support learners as they work on their writing.
For next class:
Take the IRB training (linked from the right side of this page)and send me a copy of your certificate.
Read: in McAndrew and Reigstad, 8-21
Those of you who have laptops - bring them to class. I will see what I can do to get computers for the 5 students who said they do not have access to a laptop. In class you will set up your blogs, and we will continue writing and thinking about how writing centers and general - and writing coaches in particular- can support writers.
Thanks for your good participation in tonight's class. I am looking forward to working with each of you.
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