PeerCentered

Bon Voyage

2009-05-07T15:05:00.002-06:00

I just finished my last consultation and last shift at the Boise State Writing Center. I feel a bit lost. For so long the Center has been the nexus of my days and weeks. The Center was the one spot I knew I could go and be with peers. I knew I could wander in at anytime and have a thoughtful conversation or hear unique viewpoint expressed in often equally unique ways. Most of all, I knew that I could talk to any consultant about any writing and receive honest comments, questions, and suggestions. I knew they were all ready and eager to talk about writing.
And I knew that I could talk to them about anything else because they are a great group of people, peers, and friends.
After eleven semesters--including summers--and roughly 870 consultations, I leave the physical Center. I am sure that I take a part of each consultant and writer with me.

Thanks to all the consultants and to Mike, who agreed to put up with me in the first place.
Zachery

Introduction

2009-04-23T17:01:00.002-06:00

Hello, all.

I'm happy to finally find a place to talk to other tutors. I'm a grad student at Missouri State, finishing up my second year. I'm staying on a third year to get a second MA--my first one is in Creative Writing and my second is in Composition & Rhetoric. I've been tutoring since I started my grad program as part of my teaching assistantship.

When I first applied for the TAship, I have no idea what made me check the Writing Center box, and I also have no idea what made my director hire me, because we never actually met until the school year started (I interviewed over the phone). I didn't really think of myself as "tutor material." But really, I didn't think of myself as "teacher material," either, and yet here I am, ready to make it my career. This semester I was promoted to a Position With Many Names; first my director was calling it "Lead Tutor," then "Training Supervisor," and now he's calling me his assistant director. I've done everything from helping him with training modules to doing tutor evaluations to attending meetings with university bigwigs with him to covering reception when there's no one there to designing our brochure. I absolutely love it and I'll be very, very sad to leave. At least I have another year. :)

Our WC, with the help/prompting of my director's boss, the Associate Provost, is moving into a Learning Commons this summer. We're physically moving, too, from the English building to the library. The Learning Commons is a brand-new idea on our campus and we have NO idea what to expect. Is anyone else involved in one?

Life Beyond Tutoring

2009-04-16T22:53:00.000-06:00

I realized a few weeks ago that this may very well be my last semester tutoring, at least for a couple of years. I'm finishing my coursework for my Master's degree, and although I'm still working on the never-ending thesis of doom, I'm also already a certified teacher and have been looking for teaching gigs for nearly two years now. Whether or not I find a teaching job, I'll have to really get myself in gear and find a full-time job beginning in the summer.

Which made me realize that there's a distinct life beyond teaching. I know there's research about life after tutoring, and specifically how having tutored affects those who have served as tutors - as we move outside the field of education, as we leave school and move outward into different fields. But I'm wondering what those specific affectations of tutoring are, and why how we're affected by having tutored never quite make it back to students who are still tutoring. And I wonder, too, if there's value in telling tutors how tutoring affects us, both positively and negatively. I suspect there's a conference proposal in there somewhere - and I call dibs! - but it's something I've begun to think about, especially since I've been tutoring for more than five years now - specifically how tutoring could translate in any field. Because I'm also a teacher, I'm considering how tutoring translates into valuable job skills outside the field of education.

NEWCA 2009

2009-04-07T16:30:00.000-06:00

Last weekend was the 25th NEWCA, held at the University of Hartford in the wilds of Connecticut. This was the first conference I attended as a steering committee member, and it really made a difference; I always had a good time attending NEWCA, but I had such a great time this year! Harvey Kail from the University of Maine in Orono gave a great keynote, and Neal Lerner from MIT gave a good talk after lunch about the history of NEWCA.

I managed to sit in on some really interesting sessions. I chaired a session called "Record, Reflect, Renew: Using iPods to Understand Writing Center Work," in which students/tutors were using iPods to record tutor sessions for analysis and tutor training purposes. The second session I attended, "Decentering the Center: Taking the Writing Center Pedagogy into the Community," was co-presented by two Teaching Fellow from St. John's Univ. in Queens; they discussed taking writing center pedagogy into the community - Meridith into a church-based group; Kerri into her former high school - both of which I found extremely interesting. (And hearing them talk about the community outreach being done and supported by the St. John's folks finally got me to see what (I think) a few folks had been trying to tell me about applying to doctoral programs.) The third session,"Mandatory Tutoring Sessions: How Writing Center Tutors Can Squash the Combative Nature of Mandated FYW Tutoring Sessions," focused on turning negative sessions around and trying to put positive spins on those session.

I also led my first SIG - Tutoring in the Disciplines. I attempted to put something together so I could have a handout, a bibliography or "suggested reading" or something of the sort, but couldn't really find anything that would have been too helpful, and in a sense I'm glad it worked out that way because "tutoring in the disciplines" had meant something else to me than it did those who attended my SIG. I was thinking that tutoring in the disciplines was more along the lines of tutoring across the disciplines, while others were more concerned with tutoring writing in various fields, which is the other part of tutoring in the disciplines that I had been thinking of. I realized just how concerned tutors are in terms of tutoring writing in disciplines about which they know very little - any field that isn't directly in their major or about a topic they know something about - but there was equal concern and interest in that line between tutoring and outright teaching, being directive vs. being non-directive; in essence, determining when you have to teach or re-teach concepts directly vs. leading the student through her basic understanding of the material in order for her to understand the higher level material. We-the-tutors can still address the writing itself in terms of clarity or format (a lab report vs. a legal brief vs. a research paper, etc.), but there was a distinct line about what we do allow ourselves to do as tutors, and what we feel we should not do. Most of that concern boils down to not wanting to take over the session or doing the students' work for them, and keeping those "best practices" in mind also, but learning to distinguish when it might be acceptable, and even needed, to do within the confines of a tutoring session, and when we're crossing boundaries. These were most of the issues that came up in the SIGs, and I'm really glad I got the chance to lead that particular one. And if I get the chance to lead that SIG again, I'll have an idea of the types of resources I might be able to bring.

Thoughts on My Recorded Consultation

2009-04-01T13:01:00.007-06:00

So, when our writing center director requested that we record one of our consultations with a writer, I carried the consultant permission slip around with me and turned the tape recorder over in my palm, but put it off until the second or third or fourth reminder . . .

Why the delay? Excuses aside, I'm guessing it had something to do with not liking the way I sound, longing for those (less-invasive?) good old days of crayon and pencil vs. technology--podcast episodes, photo stories, RECORDINGS, and--dare I say it--blog entries? Can't I just WRITE something for you without other aspects of performance? And maybe I prefer to self reflect behind the scenes. Yet, here I am blogging voluntarily . . . eventually, I recorded a consultation, too.

Finally, I did it. What did I learn? Something about the careful dance I do situating myself regarding written work (that is how I'm tying the recorded consultation to my above ranting). I asked the student what he wanted to work on and quickly learned that it was his first time to the center, and he was there because his instructor required him to come to the writing center because he missed peer review. Does this answer the question of what he wants to work on? . . . not really. Uh-oh, where do I go from here? Wellllll, I asked him what he thought of his paper, personally, and if there was anything he was specifically working on as a writer . . . or something to that effect. And he began to talk. Yay! It seems like reluctant writers often have a lot to say about their topics or assignments, or even writing challenges, even if they have an answer to "What do you want to work on today?" The trick then, is to figure out how to apply it to the project at hand, and turn the conversation back to the written work . . .

It seems like there's a constant push-pull of the writing project, focusing on the specific writing there vs. the big picture . . . vs. subject knowledge . . . vs. I don't know what. I do know that I try to step back from the draft itself at the onset of the consultation . . . and then, I need to make sure to work my way back in.

I'm still not sure what I want to say about my recorded consultation, but I made one, woo. And I made a blog post, too. Have other writing center consultants recorded a session? Was it with trepidation? What did you learn from listening? Or, what have you learned from listening to the recorded consultations of others/viewing transcripts, etc?

And, of particular interest to myself, how do you keep the focus on, or bring it back to, the specific piece of writing at hand, and make sure the writer leaves with a strategy for development or revision?

Time to update those pamphlets . . .

2009-03-14T14:42:00.003-06:00

. . . MLA has released a new edition.

Even in citations, print is the default no more. The seventh edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, released Tuesday, states that the Modern Language Association no longer recognizes print as the default medium, and suggests that the medium of publication should be included in each works cited entry.

I haven't seen the whole thing, but the changes sound pretty good. As usual, the OWL at Purdue already has a good summary of the changes:

No more underlining!
No more URLs!
Continuous Pagination? Who cares?
Publication Medium
New Abbreviations

Camp Writing Center: Man's Best Friend

2009-03-03T17:04:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

I’m sure you are all just thrilled to get another post from me since I don’t show up here nearly as often as I should. I have been charged with posting something witty and smart, that incorporates my beloved Hank and Penny. For those of you who don’t know, Hank and Penny are my two beautiful English Setters. They are my babies, and they are a constant thought in my brain.

On that note, I want to use them as a jumping off point for my post. Hank and Penny spend some of their days at Camp Bow Wow. This is an innovative business for dog owners who consider their pets as their children. At this camp, dogs go through an interview process to ensure that they will be able to play well with others, and will cause no harm. After they are accepted, they can play all day at camp under the constant supervision of trained professionals. The owners are also able to check in on their babies through the use of a digital surveillance system that can be accessed via the website.

On the other hand, if I were to take my dogs to a dog park, they would still get the chance to socialize, but I would run the risk of encountering untrained dogs that could possibly do my perfect angels harm. Don’t get me wrong, I am not an anti dog park person, in fact, I take my dogs to the dog park regularly, however, I know that when I go there, I have to be very watchful of what is going on around me. I know that there is a greater risk of encountering an ill-behaved hound there.

You may all be wondering if all of this has anything to do with the Writing Center, or whether I am just looking for a way to incorporate my pooches into this forum. I assure you, I do have a point. It may be a tad bit far-fetched (pun unintended), but here it is. I have been privy to a lot of discussion about writing groups and peer review groups lately through my senior seminar course. The instructor is a supporter of writing groups. However, one of our assigned readings for the course is Stephen King’s memoir “On Writing.” In one of the chapters we just read, King talked about his disapproval of writing groups, in most all forms.

So, what does this have to do with Camp Bow Wow? It brings to light the reasoning behind King’s feelings on writing groups. It also reinforces the positive outcome of the Writing Center. King’s encounters with inexperienced peer reviewers proved harmful to him in that he felt attacked by people who weren’t qualified to attack him. Are you seeing the connection yet? Dog parks are like inexperienced peer review groups. In the same way that unchecked dogs can cause damage in an unattended setting, peer reviewers that have not been through at least some form of instruction on how to critique writing can set a writer up not to trust the process.

The Writing Center, on the other hand, is like Camp Bow Wow. We have a public water cooler, we offer treats, and we have nifty writing center squeezy balls. We do not have dogs running around the center, nor do we use squirt bottles to guard against rough-housing; but we do encourage a safe environment where writers can feel comfortable talking about their writing. As well, like the trained professionals that look after Hank and Penny, the writing center is staffed by trained consultants who are aware of the delicate nature of peer review. The chances of a writer being injured in the center are much less than in a non-mediated peer group.

I do not want to give the impression that I am against writing groups outside of the academic setting. I think these can be very helpful as well. I am just saying that when a writer engages in a peer review setting where no training has taken place, they run the risk of encountering an irresponsible reader who may not have the writer’s best interests at heart. What do you guys think? Have any of you participated in non-academic writing groups? If so, what was your experience like? Do you think Writing Centers offer a safer environment for writers to engage in conversation? (There may be treats for good consultants who take the time to respond)

Don't Let the Love Die!

2009-02-28T23:49:00.003-07:00

Here at the ol' BSU WC, times are a gonna change. The director and a few of the key grad students are heading off for new programs elsewhere at the end of this semester. As I think back over my time spent in the WC, and the people I have met there, I have come to realize that I am blessed to be a part of something both special to me, and special at our school. At the WC, I can drop by just to relax, join in on amazing and sometimes rediculous conversations, and get more than a few willing comments on anything I may be working on at the time. The people there are tryly caring, open, and professional in every way. And, as Big E mentioned, there is a lot of love between the consultants. But what is really cool is how this spirit extends to the writers that come in to the center. I have had more than a few writers comment on how much they enjoy thier visits, and not just because of the help they get. Our WC is a haven, and they can feel it. When I found out that we will be missing some key people next year, I was a little fearfull that our WC might not handle the change very well. I don't want to see the positive energy that bursts out of the Center fade. I want to encourage each of the consultants that are there next year to keep the love alive! I think that we all need to embrace the changes that are coming, welcome the new group of consultants, and be as helpful as possible to the new director. I know that the energy will change with each group of people that work there, but I think our passion for the work and a willingness to be friendly is something that can be universal, and can keep the love strong!

"Biggest Loser"

2009-02-23T18:23:00.002-07:00

Some of the ideas mentioned in recent posts, particularly the winter blues and WC cliques/communities, have gotten me to thinking, and now I want to share a new development in our WC with everyone here.

This semester, our campus Fitness Center decided to hold a "Biggest Loser" weight-loss program. I haven't seen it, but I guess it is modeled after a tv show of the same name. Anyways, we sign up in teams and spend the next three months trying to lose weight, to become the "Biggest Loser." So, in the spirit of WC community, I asked if tutors would want to form a team, and what do you know - seven of us are now signed up! (We're a small WC, so seven is about half our staff.) Our WC slogan is "Engaged on Paper, Engaged in Life," so this weight-loss program is a natural fit. Plus, it has tutors now going to the gym together, some for the first time. Although there are always problematics to weight-loss programs, it has been a pretty positive experience so far, and is helping us build that sense of community between tutors. And beat the winter blues!

So I'm curious if you have had any similar programs involving groups of tutors? Do you often, or ever, meet outside of the WC? If so, what kind of community-building work do you do?

Red Pens

2009-02-19T22:29:00.005-07:00

It was a typical Tuesday afternoon... or so I thought.
3 appointments in a row, coffee in my cup, and smiley faces on all the consultants.

Then it happened...
A young enthusiastic man entered the room. My 11 o'clock.
He had not been in before--so I gave him the paper work and we got started.
I asked him what he wanted to focus on and he replied,
"just grammar and punctuation. You can use my red pen and circle whatever you find."

A red pen?! Red pens scare me! What if I circle the wrong thing? What if I make him cry?
I am not qualified to use a red pen. Pencil maybe--but not the deadly red ink.

Plus, it goes against what the BSU Writing Center is all about.
This is supposed to be collaborative work! I replied,
"Haha... we work with you to help fix things. Let's read through some stuff you have questions on and I can see if I can come up with an answer!"
He was confused. "I thought you would be mean and mark my paper all up!" he said, looking at me.
"Nope. I feel like it will help you learn better if we work together." I said with a smile.
He understood. He understood!! I could tell it made sense to him. But this idea of working "together" had never been brought to his attention. At the end of the session he said he had learned a lot, and he would be back with a final draft. :D (yayayayay)

After that, a young girl came into the center who had never been in before. After we chatted and filled out the necessary initial paperwork she started rummaging through her bag.
"I know I have a red pen in here somewhere... it really helps me if you just circle everything in red and then I go home and fix it. That's what my teacher does."

Another request for a red pen?! No! Don't do it! I started to get nervous.

To her dismay she could not find it... so I grabbed a pencil and said, "Pencil is usually my style anyway. I would like to think of these sessions as 'collaborative' rather than me just telling you what you did wrong." I smiled. She smiled.
"Oh, that works!" She then said. And we started to look through her paper together as she read it out loud.

The rest of the session moved smoothly and at the end she seemed satisfied at the amount we had covered. No more mention of this said "Red Pen".
We all lived happily ever after. The End.

Is anyone else scared of red pens? Does any other center use them frequently?
I don't think BSU does at all.
We like out blue and orange; old school; plane gray graphite; no. 2, pencils. :)
No scary red ink.

Thanks for reading my story.
Signing off for now--

Lizzy :)

Work/work load.

2009-02-17T20:55:00.002-07:00

Hi, this is Katherine over at Boise State. I'm having the semester that will define my college career: six classes, a fellynship, an internship, and my beloved WC work.

I'm curious about how other people feel about their WC work when they are busy with other commitments. Does it feel like a burden, like "work" you "have" to do, or is it a welcome break from other kinds of school activities? Nine times out of ten, I find it my escape from the pounding "input" from other classes - I feel like a a clean page just walking in the door. I even like to go and hang out there - it feels so peaceful. I find myself puttering about at the busywork of washing coffee cups and such, clearing my mind and readying myself for the rest of my classes. When I'm there, I feel like I'm re-centering (ha) myself, becoming quieter, kinder, slowing down, getting organized. I smiled at E's post earlier about the abundance of "love" in our Center; I'm guilty! I'm guilty! But I promise, I pass it along!

How do you feel in your Center, now that you've weathered your first semester? Is it becoming a job, has the honeymoon worn off? Is it your refuge, your place of rest, where you discover a different kind of you?

trickling in...

2009-02-17T09:00:00.004-07:00

Hello All,

We've had little bit of the Winter blues at our Writing Center so far. We've had some no-shows, canceled appointments at the last moment, and a few open slots. We are starting to get a little busier though, and I suspect business will continue to pick up because 101 and 102 students are beginning work on their portfolio assignments. I look forward to these because I find that the vast majority of 101 and 102 professors are creative in their attempts to engage newer students in writing. Many students seem to gain even more confidence in their writing after coming in to work with us. Do other consultants/tutors enjoy this? Do other schools work with a lot of 101/102 (or the equivalent to) in their centers? Are their portfolio assignments creative? How responsive are they?
All the best,
Phillip Bode, Boise State Writing Center.

too much love?

2009-02-10T08:25:00.002-07:00

So with Valentine's Day right around the corner, love is in the air. Especially in our Writing Center air. At our school, the Writing Center consultants could be mistaken for some of REM's Shiny Happy People (holding hands). I feel really lucky to be working in this environment. Consultants regularly come to the Center to do homework or hang out when they aren't scheduled to consult. We are one another's special Valentines...

It's a lot of fun, but I wonder...how might this appear to writers? If students are apprehensive to come to the Writing Center, could our (perhaps seemingly exclusive) camaraderie make these students even more apprehensive to stop in? How can we balance our shiny happy friendships and our writer-centered philosophies?

A Quarter-Century of the "Idea"

2009-02-06T14:46:00.002-07:00

It's been pretty quiet around here this semester! Is everyone else as buried under snow as we are here in Ohio?

Anyways, it's my last semester as an undergrad (yaay!), so I'll be leaving my writing center at the end of this semester. A number of other tutors are leaving this semester or next, which means we'll have a definite change in leadership. And with that, a change in the attitude and focus of our center as well. Graduation has me thinking a lot about transition, and metamorphosis, and how this is going to apply to our center.

I say in this to build-up to what this post is really about: Stephen North's (in)famous essay "The Idea of a Writing Center." You may have heard of it; it's kind of a big deal. It was published in 1984, the same year I was born, so we've both turned 25 this year. Twenty-five years of one big idea. It's been revisited, contested, looked at through a post-colonial lens, collaborated and controlled. But what do those of us tutoring right this very moment think of North's Idea? And are our centers doing anything to celebrate this anniversary?

Our writing center has a bi-weekly continued tutor training meeting, where tutors can come and discuss theory and practice as a group. Each meeting has a topic, and this year, to reflect the transition we are going to see this semester, each topic is going to relate somehow to OUR idea of our center. At our first meeting, we re-read North's essay and discussed what we liked and what we wanted to discard. Each week we are going to look to push our idea, see how we can expand and stretch it, make it comfortable and make it our own.

I'll post periodically throughout the semester to discuss aspects of North's essay that I have always focused in on, ares in which I agree or disagree with North. But right now, I'd like to hear what everyone thinks of "The Idea of a Writing Center." Love it, hate it, or something in-between? Should we keep it or scrap it, or can we modify it?

Two areas that don't get much discussion in writing center research

2009-01-13T12:30:00.005-07:00

I've recently become interested in two areas that don't seem to garner much discussion amongst people writing about the writing center: the read-aloud portion of tutoring sessions and tutoring creative writers. Granted, these two topics don't seem to overlap (though I promise they do have an overlap in my odd brain, but since it isn't completely relevant to my point here I won't bore you with it), except in their shared absence of discussion, but I think both merit looking into a bit more, especially reading aloud.

In my experience, and from what little I've found to read, it seems like most of us read aloud for a combination of fairly standard reasons:

It's the least awkward way to find out what a client has written (having a client just sitting there silently while someone read through, and took notes on, their paper would probably be nerve-wracking and awkward).
It seems to help clients notice things they wouldn't otherwise pick up in their writing (most commonly this seems to be grammar or spelling self-correction, but there also seems to be a general hope that it is a way for writers to distance themselves from their writing and hear it more from an audience perspective).

While I certainly agree with both these reasons, I've also noticed reading aloud can create issues--the most common one seems to be that reading aloud makes it harder to discuss higher order concerns first, because grammar and spelling errors tend to stand out in the reading more dramatically than organization and content (though those certainly can stand out sometimes).

I'm wondering, in other words, whether it might be worthwhile to experiment with reading aloud, to try incorporating some rhetorical questioning into the reading aloud process (or other things). Not that these would necessarily improve this portion of the tutoring session, just that it seems worthwhile to consider tinkering with something that has become so standard as to be almost unnoticed by anyone investigating ways of improving consulting sessions.

So, what have your experiences been with reading aloud? What do you think about the practice?

Oh--and since I mentioned it at the beginning--I'd also be curious to know whether anyone has seen discussions of either reading aloud or of tutoring creative writing that I might not have found in my searching. Feel free to make suggestions :)

Parallels between tutoring and therapy

2008-12-15T23:33:00.002-07:00

In the 303 class, the one about tutoring writing at BSU, We discussed an Essay earlier in the semester called "Freud in the Writing Center: The Psychoanalytics of tutoring well" by Christina Murphy. She suggested a comparison between the tutoring process and the psychoanalytic process (page 96 in our St. Martin's Sourcebook text). Although the two practices address different subjects and contexts, both include a degree of vulnerability for the client. In our case, the client is a student writer who seeks help with the writing process. We can assume that many of these writers are not feeling particularly confident in their writing ability, so sharing their experiences with writing can be uncomfortable. There are certain qualities that a receptive writing tutor displays to ease some of the discomfort and gain the trust necessary to adress the writer's needs (97). Murphy connects this to the relationship between a therapist and a client, which also benefits from a sense of trust (96). As writing tutors, we're not giving psychological therapy in the way that a counseler or psychiatrist does, but the consultation process sometimes requires us to use empathy and be sensitive to the possible fear of being negatively evaluated (98).

Think about what it can be like for someone sharing writing (especially for the first time), which is often very personal. It does include a degree of vulnerability for the student writer coming in for the consultation. I think as writing tutors, we are involved with writing and around writing on a regular basis, so it may be easy to forget how intimidating the experience of a tutoring session can be for a student who feels very uncomfortable with writing and self-conscious about his or her work. This has been a topic I have been looking at in my pedagogy paper (philosophy of tutoring) lately as well, so I was wondering about anyone else's thoughts on the subject.

Why Does My Pedagogy Sound Like an Episode of Seinfeld?

2008-12-05T22:27:00.003-07:00

It’s a pedagogy about nothing. But it encompasses everything. How else could it be? I mean, there is no way to really approach a consultation with a cohesive plan. Every person, every paper, every encounter brings with it a new opinion, a new view on working with people, or a new insight into how your own biases affect the way you consult. Sure, there are the ideals: don’t take over the paper, try to take culture and experience into account, give concrete examples…..but is there a theme? I have toyed with a directive minimalist approach, where you gage how much you direct the work (could be read ‘bully into your own opinion’) based on the writers experience, fluency, etc. But is that really a way to look at consulting? When everything is possible, is there anything left to rely on?

Consultations to fulfill class/assignment requirements

2008-11-15T22:05:00.002-07:00

Hello, this is Eric from the BSU Writing Center. We had a discussion in class the other day about students who come in to the writing center to fulfill a requirement for an assignment. In other words, a student gets points for turning in proof of a writing center consultation. Some tutors thought this was irritating because the student may show a lack of concern and involvement with the session, caring only about getting the proof of consultation form and not about learning or improving their writing. The idea came up that these sessions steal time away from writers who earnestly want help with their writing.

I am not entirely sure where I stand on this issue, though, because I can see some positive aspects of these sessions. A situation like this can make for a frustrating and unproductive session, but it could also be a means of introducing the benefits of a writing consultation to someone who otherwise would have never explored what the writing center has to offer. Personally, I never made an appointment at the center before taking this class and becoming a tutor, simply because I never thought I needed one, but once I had one, I realized how helpful it can be just to have someone else to read my paper and discuss my writing. I have experienced one or two of these frustrating sessions, but I also have had teacher-assigned sessions in which students found that they had benefited from the experience more than they expected. I can also understand that if a writing center appointment is required for an assignment, a student may feel uncomfortable or unsure about what to say or what to ask for help on. However, many students can be difficult and have unfair expectations. Whatever the circumstances, I think we should try to remain as helpful and amiable as possible. Worst-case scenario, the students don't come back and we have a frustrating session. Best-case scenario, we have a successful session and a student who would otherwise be unaware of the center's benefits may return for future sessions.
Thoughts?

Service Learning Reflective Writing Podcast

2008-11-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

The Peer Writing Advisors (yes that's what they chose to be called many years ago) from the Salt Lake Community College Student Writing Center have put together their first podcast episode on service-learning reflective writing. The podcast can be found on the "Step ahead with writing" podcast page. Click on the link at the top labeled "StepAheadPodcast" to see the list of episodes. (There is only the one currently.)

Helping or Hindering

2008-11-11T20:59:00.007-07:00

Hello, this is Susan from Boise State's Writing Center and ENGL 303 class. Last Friday (the 7th) I conducted a consultation with a student who was to write an eight- to ten-page persuasive essay. She brought two pages with her and was seeking help in finding more to write about to in order to fill the instructor's requirement. I felt I gave her quite a bit of information to ponder, focusing on the three main parts of the essay: introduction, body, conclusion, as well as a few extra things, such as background and personal experiences. I asked her specific questions regarding her topic, and in doing so, she was able to formulate the rest of her essay.

"So what is the problem?" you ask. Well, when looking over her notes, she realized she still had a lot of research to do. She came to the Writing Center on Friday and the paper was due on Monday. She was clearly dismayed. Even though I felt the session had gone well overall, and she had enough information to fill the needed requirement, I came away feeling a little dismayed myself. Why? I would have welcomed the extra information with open arms. But she didn't. Anyone else have a similar experience? Did I help her . . . or hinder her?

Team Effort: Contrasting Collaboration

2008-11-11T11:13:00.008-07:00

Howdy, Phil and Rick here from the BSU 303 class. A couple of weeks ago we had an irregular session (as if any could be regular), and we wanted to get some input from the peanut gallery. Don't let the third person throw you off...

A student had an appointment with Rick to go over grammar and structure in his paper. The student was an ELL writer, and came to the appointment having already worked with Phil on a similar paper. During the session, the student repeatedly reminded Rick that the paper was due in an hour, and that he just needed to know what was wrong and how to fix it. Rick resisted the idea of straight out telling him what to do. For awkwardly worded phrases, Rick decided to ask the writer to think about other ways he could word them, without telling him what the 'correct' way to phrase them would be. The writer became increasingly agitated with Rick, and was not engaged with the session. He asked several times if Phil was free, and if he could work with him instead. After about a half hour ( the session was scheduled for an hour), Rick decided to ask Phil if he could join the session. Phil was confused at first as to why the writer would seek assistance from someone other than Rick. While observing the interaction between Phil and the writer, Rick realized that Phil was a lot more forthcoming than he had been regarding the writer's grammar and word structure. As Phil's part of the session went along, he realized the writer just wanted him to write the paper for him. When the writer asked for help with his conclusion, he expected Phil to tell him explicitly what to write. Phil, aware of this, after explaining the concept of a conclusion, informed him, "I'm not going to write it for you." The writer insistently told Phil, "What do I need to write?" Phil had to re-enforce that he wouldn't and couldn't write the paper for him. The writer soon stormed out, obviously frustrated with Phil as well, because Phil wouldn't write it for him.

In the end, Rick decided his approach of trying to let the writer use the language that he had to revise his phrases may have been too distant. But the idea behind his approach was the same as with native speakers: that they should be the authors of their own work.

Phil uses a more forth-coming, direct approach in the hopes that the writer will begin to recognize where they can improve on their own as they go along. While he hasn't dramatically altered his approach, Phil has since become more aware of writers expecting him to do the work for them throughout the consultation.

How forthcoming can you be until it becomes evident that you're doing the work for them? Does your mindset change if you're working with someone without the same command of the language as you do?
Has anyone else faced a similar dilemma of having to seek help from another consultant in a session?

Philosophical View

2008-11-09T19:34:00.004-07:00

Hello everyone,

Lizzy here from the elite and famous 303 class at Boise State.

We are coming to the end of this grand semester here at BSU, and I'm starting to think about my end or term paper. We have to write a pedagogy about ourselves as consultants.
I don't know about my class mates, but I'm freaking out.
I decided to use the Brooks essay on 'Minimalist Tutoring' and pick out the good and bad things about it. Mike gave me an idea for an article to look at as well (now the name escapes me) and I would like to take this moment to thank him. :)

But... I'm having second thoughts. I really don't know.
I want to be the kind of consultant that teaches each writer I sit down with something new about writing. I want to spread my passion for writing with the world and get people excited about it.

Does anyone have any ideas for me? Any articles that fall on the lines of, "Saving the world, one consultation at a time" ?

I would really appreciate your input. :)

-Lizzy
The one with the cupcake tattoo.

Pondering

2008-11-06T14:59:00.003-07:00

A few weeks ago I helped make an advertisement video for the Boise State Writing Center to put on YouTube. Actually, I was in two videos, but one was a group shot, so I am part of a team, not myself.
The video I am in is to help prospective consultants understand some aspects of working in the writing center. A few veteran consultants and a consultant currently in training were video-taped answering questions. The questions were nothing strange, nor were they ground-breaking. But they did get me thinking.

What do we as consultants want out of our training and experience? There are numerous articles about how to train and what to train and what to expect; what do we want? Yes, we want to help writers, but we are all critical readers and know to look deeper than that.

This is an honest question: What do you want out of your training and experience in your writing center?

Antiracsist Writing Centers Blog

2008-11-05T14:04:00.002-07:00

There is a new blog in the 'sphere that focuses on antiracism work in writing centers, appropriately called Antiracist Writing Centers. It comes from the work of both the IWCA Antiracism Special Interest Group (SIG) and the staff of the University of Illinois Chicago Writing Center. Check it out!

PeerCentered Podcast 3.2: Nancy Grimm Keynote

2008-11-03T16:40:00.001-07:00

Over on the podcast, you'll find a new episode featuring Nancy Grimm!