September 30 Writing Center Philosophies

We spent most of class applying talk from Tuesday in a discussion of Writing Center philosophies (see assignment sheet posted on the right). As we talked through the language choices in the WC philosophy statements at the links on the assignment sheet, we were able to make some informed guesses about the the statement's audience and purpose, as well as about how the center operated, and why. As stated on the assignment sheet, your WC philosophy will include your statement AND an analysis of the connections between theory and practice your philosophy implies. The first draft for your WC philosophy is due on your blog for class discussion, October 7. The revised WC philosophy will be turned in as an attachment (and a blog post) October 12. And the final document (for the grade) will be turned in with your portfolio. I expect MLA format, but I did not develop a length requirement. As you noticed from the sample WC philosophies - in many ways the length of your statement is rhetorical and will connect to choices about audience & purpose.

We will spend some time in class Tuesday discussing the criteria for this assignment.

We spent what little time was left first characterizing and then "acting out" the coaching philosophies described in the two readings. If we had had time - we would have had a more in-depth discussion of connections between the authors' theories about learning - and the tutoring approaches. Because all learners are different -it is useful to have a range of coaching strategies to draw from. These two are a start.

For Tuesday:

Blog 8: Post your draft Writing Cultures assignment; at the top of your post make any requests for feedback/comments that you think might be useful for you.

Read: Guide, Andrea Lunsford, 92.

In class we will talk about Lunsford's classification for the different kinds of writing centers - including conversations about the philosophies/assumptions that underlie these different centers - we will continue to discuss the WC philosophy assignment - and if I can do a little better with my time-management skills - you will conduct some practice coaching sessions (and take notes) to develop the WC philosopy & analysis.

Enjoy the rain.