Blog # 4 Training is Everything...

When deciding if working in the writing center for me was an attainable goal, I looked at my goals on the main thing I wanted to achieve. First, I wanted to be a better writer. I was told, if you want to be a better writer, you have to write. You cannot just wish for it. Second, I wanted to help others who were in the writing blues shoes, to get out of it and love to write, like I do. Give me a topic; I will write because I love it. YET.... Training.. I asked about training and was told they'd give me a few week training. Luckily, I have heard that training is ongoing. Still in the dark about what training consisted of, I learned through this weeks reading what a peer tutoring training course would possibly look like. It would fall nothing short of writing itself. Then your peers would critique it. The more they have to say about it, the better it is, in my opinion. In Marcia Silver's article about how Brooklyn College tutoring training course is constructed, she stated that there were four steps in the critique stage done by the peers and overseen by the professor/instructor. They implemented what things they wanted you to focus on at each stage.

In Paula Beck's, "Peer Tutoring at a Community College" response to Nassau Community College's training course, I was once again inspired to continue my pursuit of happiness in applying for a position at the writing center, despite being a little deterred lately about doing so. I love how Nassau implemented grammar into their curriculum and not entirely shunning it out because of a "Stigma" avoidance of what the writing center is. I enjoyed how a student said she'd learned more about people in once semester at working at the writing center than she had in ANY of her psychology and sociology courses. Other than becoming a better writer and assisting others, having a broader interaction and knowledge of others is what I am looking forward too. They used similar tactics in training that Brooklyn College tutor training used as well as adding specific training, such as grammar, to better assist their enrolled students. I digress in some aspects of the article, though, "Tutees can hope to emulate the skills of their peers, while those of their professors sometimes seem hopelessly beyond them." I am a firm believer that the higher you aim, the more likely you are to meet your target. I also have experience working with professors as tutors in the writing center and have never felt inferior to them. I felt as if I was a sponge, and they were filling me with knowledge. I also felt like they were the sensa', or sefu and I was the student, disciple. My goal is to be as good as the master, not to be inferior. TO learn all that, he knows and to surpass him, hopefully, in due time.

When Starting to read the "Training Peers Tutors in the Art of Teaching" by Thom Hawkins, I was excited not to be apart of his program.  Then as I read through I felt we had the same philosophy, " tutors learn by doing", which coincided with what I have been taught that writers learn by writing; it is the only way to get better. Tutors doing just learn to write..."they will have learned so much about the importance.. placed on reliability, determination, perseverance, and individual commitment to helping others. They learn to..."identify the cause of their students' problems, and willing to use all available resources to find solutions. they learn that they need to adapt their teaching styles to the learning habits of their students as well as the content." 

Whether the students second language is English, a freshman in a two year college/four year college, or a junior having trouble articulating what exactly they need to do in a paper for class, students come to the writing center with a need for getting help. I understand some of the students are lazy and might be manipulative into convincing the tutor to write the paper for them. I believe the training sessions enlighten and teach the tutor to expect these things and show them the proper response for handling the situation. I believe the more adaptable one is, be it directive or nondirective approaches, if you are flexible and trained to help most, if not all, students that walk through the writing center doors,  and this in turn will assist in helping to make them better writers.

Assignment #3 the Approach

In this week’s reading of four articles I keyed in on two essays that caught my attention. One that was interesting and the other meh! Not on my to read list again. I feel all the articles gave me a little insight on the ongoing debate of which approach would better fit the purpose of the writing center. Similar to the article that addressed the movie Robin Williams was in and his eccentric way of teaching his students vs. the traditional method. I don’t believe there is a one size fits all approach. You will get a variety of students coming in and out of the writing center and the more adaptable you are to their needs, the more the student will get from the session. In no way am I saying make it a fix it shops, but I am staying, be open to using both directive and non-directive as well as using them concurrently.

Writing Lab Newsletter – I seen the approach of non-directive being addressed as the basic minimalist tutor. Where they side beside the student, not in front of which can be intimidating. They spoke on body language and being able to set the tone of the session with little to no spoken words. They also introduce an advanced minimalist tutoring approach which you say more than you would in a basic minimalist tutor session but…, you don’t take over the session and become a dictator. There were some areas I highly digressed in. Where they introduced the defensive minimalist tutor: where they advised the tutor to sit there slump in the chair and reciprocate the actions of the student. I feel like yes, being up front and honest about how you can help them is a start, but how productive would a tutor be to play mimicking games? These are instances where using both directive and non-directive approach would have made sense. This time is used foolishly by both tutor and student. They also spoke on the various types of returning adults that go back to school and visit the writing center. They spoke various approaches used in order to get them motivated and started.  I do believe you should exhaust every method you can in order to get the student to a more comforted state of expressing the current knowledge they possess on a given topic.

A Critique of Pure Tutoring- My favorite article this week broke down the discipline of the directive approach. They spoke of the musicians and artist how effective the direct approach is in the learning practice. I also believe they went into detail of how to combine both in the writing center in order to cater to the variety of students that come in and out seeking help and advice from their sessions. I felt as this was the most balanced, rational and ideal aspect of what the writing center should encompass.

Tutoring Style, Tutoring Ethics: The continuing Relevance of the Directive/Nondirective Instructional Debate- went into details on how the when using different approaches non-directive and directive in the writing center some of the beliefs and approaches that are used. This essay focused on the writing center and it’s modern reason for existing. I feel this was a pro-non-directive article, condoning “Socratic Dialogue” to the directive approach. As always the main concern seems to want to ensure that the student’s paper’s integrity remains intact, while glorifying the hands off approach.

Perspectives on the Directives/Non-Directive Continuum in the Writing Center – My least favorite article.  Yet, I enjoyed the focus on improving the writer and not the writing is the premise in which they believe will assist the student most. Assisting the student in self- discovery rather than enabling a student to depend on using the writing center as a crutch in which they will forever be bonded.

Blog 2 The middle ground

When reading the articles for this weeks assignment, it definitely was a more familiar ground than last weeks. I felt this was to me, what the writing center was all about. in my favorite article of the week, Muriel Harris "Talking in the Middle: Why Writers Need Writing Tutors, I felt Wow..  that is exactly what I believe the writing center's who existence is about. "A writing center encourages and facilitates writing emphasis in courses IN ADDITION to those in an English department's composition program." I feel as if the essence of this statement should ultimately be the foundation of what the writing center is.

The writing center allows me, the student, a safe haven to go and clarify something that I cannot quite understand. While they went into the fact students have a more comforted feeling with the tutor, while the teacher can make students feel inferior, I can't say that has been my experience. I use both as tools to make myself a better writer. I want to satisfy my professors request. I go further into details with my professor to find out what can I do to make this paper even better. I take that information to the writing center and then I sit and collaborate with them, sharing, speaking, thinking and pow wowing to get the gist of where this is going.

The article focused on how one is different from the next and how the tutoring instruction is more relaxed, while the class is structured. I agree with this as well. The classroom time is a more structured college lecture. The professor doesn't have the time to deal with issues that are not minute. The student has to either ask his or her peers questions, meet with the professor for 5 minutes after class or visit the tutoring center, where he or she can spend up to an hour clarifying things that may have been vague before. If the student still has issues, she can easily visit the professor to clear up where they went wrong. I feel some students are intimidated by asking the professor additional questions and the writing center or tutor are their best chances on getting some elaboration. They reduce the stress that the student may have about an up coming assignment.

At times I myself have not been able to clearly understand what a professor wanted from these mundane instructions. As a person with anxiety, it sounds like the  Charlie Brown teacher, Whomp, whomp, whomp and more whomp. That frustrates a student. The writing center is again a safe haven, I go there and I know that if my current tutor does not understand something, someone else in there will. I feel like unlike the classroom that can leave me with high anxiety, the writing center reduces it. I have had episodes of speaking to professors and they made me even more confused. With tears in my eyes, I sit with my tutor break it down piece by piece and come up with a plan to present to my professor.

Group projects even add more stress. As with Lundford's article "Collaboration, control and the idea of the Writing Center", getting groups together of any kind is like pulling teeth. I had a group project with just me and one other person, yet when we did get together twice in 4 months, we pulled together an outstanding project. I agreed to write the paper and she would do the treatment portion and power point. I did not care about balancing the work load, I just wanted I done. We came for our second meeting with ideas that made it not hideous or tedious. The most frustrating part of the group project was organizing time. When we were together in the same room, we were able to use our experiences and our knowledge to make a great presentation. I used her strengths and she used mine.

My tutor of the century, John, would ask me questions. Next session, I would already ask myself these questions. Next session I have my paper edited and primarily finished, but he would still challenge me to make the paper even better. We collaborate on reaching even higher levels. A professor might just look it over to make sure the information he or she desires is there and chaulk it up as sufficient. I would rather be challenged and made to be the best ME Writer I can be, than just fitting a rubric.

9/8/2016

Before starting this class, my idea of the writing center was pure and naive at it's best. I have never heard anyone bash the writing center or refer to it as something negative. I reflected on my own experience in the writing centers. I started at Middlesex Community College in Edison, where they also had a writing center. This writing center assisted me with my knowledge as a returning adult student with little to no knowledge about structured writing. The writing center at MCC was ran solely by professors. I went to this writing center at times with nothing but what was in my head. They assisted me in brainstorming, mechanics, editing, composing, and my drafting process. I never felt bad going to the writing center. In North's article, it appalled me to read that professors would cast such a negative stigma on a service provided for students. No student, to me, should ever feel as if going to the writing center is for those who have twenty five errors on one page. I am still struggling to believe that this is the mentality of professors across the nation.

When I transferred to Kean University, I was a little annoyed that the writing center used it's own students in the writing center. I was of course used to the professors themselves assisting me in the writing center. I felt as if I was getting less quality service initially, but actually gained skills in analyzing and composing my own paper. MCC held my hand, and Kean allowed me to think for myself. I found a tutor named John, who was absolutely amazing. Like North implied, you get to know your tutor, and the tutor gets to know your style of writing. John would assist me if I had trouble starting a project, but for the most part I would come in with many ideas, drafts and research information. Most of the most valuable assistance came from John and I speaking about what I already knew, what I wanted to do to reach my said goal or outcome.

I do believe if I heard any of the bad stigma's attached to the writing center as North has indicated in his first essay "The Idea of a Writing Center", Robert Moore's "removing students' deficiencies, " Hairston's "First aid" and "treating symptoms, " North's colleague's "twenty-five errors per page," Hayward's punctuation and grammar referrers, and Walvoord's "carrying the ball for mechanics", were all an indication that the professors implying to their students that if they go seek help at the writing center there is something ultimately wrong with them. (North 437)

I digress with the article in saying that making it mandatory to use the writing center is something that doesn't have a positive outcome. As I read through the articles, I wasn't sold that having a student take their 3rd or final draft to the writing center as part of their requirements would do more harm than good. If the professor attaches positive rewards and also speaks positively about the writing center, more students would go on their own to get the help that is needed.

I never felt the writing center was a "fix-it" shop. I did feel I could go there with my paper and they would help me to help myself. In the revision of North's original essay, he joined his experience with his original essay, and changed some points of view, while maintaining some of his original statements. He elaborated that students go to the writing center to finish their essay, rather than because they are motivated. I believe the student who goes to the writing center has to be motivated at some level initially and it may so be they are motivated to complete their assignment. The final grade is motivating them to go the writing center. The belief that the writing center tutor will help them in some form or fashion is the motivation and they are the benefactor of the entire process. (North 11)

North posed a question about how a professor would use the writing center, and the answer he gave is that you do not, only the writer does. How can the professor help the student use the writing center as an ally? How can he oar she assist the student in learning to help themselves when necessary. Sure the professor teaches, but someone is bound to get loss, it could be simple misunderstanding of terminology. The writing center is a more one on one intimate session where the student can confidently ask questions without fear of being ridiculed.

The final article recites North's article as one of the most used in the Writing Center across the nation. Casually stated that the evidence north provided as discouraging when it came to stating his goal as to the purpose and identity of writing centers. (Bouquet 175) North's idea that hew writing center would have to be accepted on their terms and those alone. So far, from the new feedback I am receiving about the writing center's, changes will have to be made. Issues of funding have been mentioned, bad stigma's being casted on by professors and lack of knowledge of what they do, has been their rut so far.

Every year freshman and transfers enter various universities' around the nation. Many enter without knowledge of what the resources that each school provides, and what is available to them and how to use it. It may seem redundant to say the same speech over and over or go out and seek students who should be seeking help on their own. Yet, there is a need for it. Maybe it is better advertisement, or positive reinforcement from professors such as additional points on a paper or part of their final grade. Maybe the professors need to be more active in the writing center such as with Middlesex Community College. Maybe the writing center needs to have small computerized labs, and at least one printer for the students to use and come to complete their work during their session. At the end of the day, the writing center offers a variety of services that I as a student am happy they offer. North's first article "The Idea of a Writing Center", did not make me second guess the abilities of what the writing center offers, but I can't say if I read that article first, I wouldn't have been as misinformed as some of the professors who had spoken were.