Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you all have survived the snowstorm and are safe at home in your warm cozy houses.

I'm writing in regards to the possibility of a Writing event. I recently had dinner with President Dooley, and he expressed interest in meeting with different student groups from campus. You can sign up through student senate, and spend the evening at the president's house for dinner, games, and general tomfoolery. I thought it might be nice to look into this as an event for the writing center crew, with the possibility of writing the consultants as well? I recently recieved a message from one of the students from my WRT 353 class, asking how my semester was. It occured to me then that we haven't seen the consultants at all! I thought it would be nice to meet up with them, chat, and increase our presence on campus.

Thoughts and feelings?

Enjoy the break, everyone!

A Closing Remark

This is just to say "Thank you!" to all who presented the past two Wednesdays. I was intrigued by the variety of approaches and the abundance of excellent points raised. Moreover, the execution matched the quality of the content! I do have to say that the "alienation" (a concept that I am professionally interested in) and the "deux ex machina" have kept me ruminating since (thank you, Angela, for the thought!).
I hope that everyone's semester concludes smoothly and successfully!

Info Request

I was remembering this morning an announcement from a few weeks back about an environmental essay contest in RI. I've got a handful of students with environmental topics form WRT 106 and a bunch of them have shown interest in taking their work further, for publishing or perhaps this type of contest.

Could I get some more info on that contest? Thanks!

Tutoring students from other disciplines

Last week I ran into one of the situations I've been most afraid of as a new tutor -- tutoring a grad student from a discipline I know absolutely nothing about. I've been worrying about this happening all semester! Tutoring undergrads, I feel fairly confident, especially when their papers are for a class I'm familiar with, like an English, Writing, or Philosophy class. But I've been nervous about how much I'd be able to help a grad student, especially one from a discipline that I have no experience with. I was nervous about whether or not I would be taken seriously, if the tutee would be able to figure out my cluelessness, and that I wouldn't be helpful at all.

Well, it happened. I got a tutee who was a graduate student in Accounting. When I found this out I had a moment of panic, trying to think of anything at all I knew about Accounting, which of course was nothing. He pulled out the paper that he wanted help with. And then he said...

"I'm mostly done with the paper, I just need some help with the citations."

I was immediately relieved. Citations are something I can do! As an English major, I am very familiar with MLA and not at all with any other style. I had no idea what style an Accounting paper should use, so I asked the tutee, and he didn't really know either, so he called a friend in the class who said their professor didn't care. I wasn't sure this was right, but what could I do? The tutee said that what he was familiar with was APA. So I quickly found the Longman handbook and flipped to the APA section. The tutee and I went through his list of sources and found the correct ways to cite each one.

I didn't think the session was bad -- it certainly went better than I'd initially expected -- but I did feel badly that the Longman handbook seemed to be doing more tutoring than I was doing. However, I don't know APA, so it was necessary.

How have other tutors handled situations like this?

Helpful Tutees

Lately, I have had some great sessions with students. The sessions are interactive and the tutee and I are on the same wavelength, it is such a great feeling to have. Especially because this is the first time I have ever been in the tutor position, it makes me feel really good about my abilities and helping others. With three consecutive awesome sessions, reality slapped me in the face with my fourth session. It's makes a session much more difficult when the tutee is not an active participant. I didn't even feel like the boy was shy, just that he simply did not care about the paper or my input. It was really frustrating because as tutors, people come to us looking for help. Why should I be digging into a person for some kind of inkling of desire to better a paper if they don't even want to be here in the first place? Obviously, I push this kind of thought out of my mind during the session but as soon as he left, I became very frustrated. I like being a directive tutor but I also really enjoy the laid back approach. Both are useful tactics for tutoring but being directive is totally necessary with certain kids. I'm mostly venting right now, because I know experiencing with a wide range of tutees makes me a better tutor. I just think that having a session with a tutee who is passionate about the paper makes the session much more helpful, for both the tutee and the tutor. Any thoughts? Similar experiences?

She's a regular

In light of such an incredibly stressful week full of final projects, presentations and preperations of final exams, I'd like to shed some light on a success story, as I'd like to call it.

I think it was in my second month of tutoring that I had an appointment booked with a girl who I'll call Jennifer. She can be described in three p words; pretty, poised and promising. The first day that I met her, she came in with her laptop, slid it over to me, and told me her paper was due in two hours. She then proceeded to tell me that she was a senior (a year my senior, no pun intended!) and knew how to write. Interesting I thought, someone who actually knows how to write!

Nonetheless, this was a little out of the ordinary for me to hear from a fellow student, usually it's,"I'm not a writing major"-->therefore don't judge me or, "I'm not used to college level writing" -->therefore my paper might be a little high school.

Needless to say, she was confident; and as she continued to tell me about her seniority etc. I think she even began questioning why someone as poised and old as she, needed to even visit the writing center.

I mentioned to her politely that we could just look over it together and see what we could come up with, but still, she was left a little weary as to how this process was to go. As I read her paper aloud, she was extremely apprehensive towards what I might have to say. About twenty-five minutes later, we both continued to mark up her paper with ideas, minor errors, underdeveloped areas, strong points etc. and even began talking about structuring and re-organizing paragraphs (not being afraid to move sentence 3-4 over to another paragraph etc.). It was sometime mid-session, that something really clicked.

By the end of the session, even her shoulders had become relaxed, and her attitude had completely left the room. Somehow, by keeping an extremely passive and calm demeanor as I tutored her, had led her to no longer view me as a threat or a critic, but as a fellow student that could simply help her see a few things she hadn't before.

She left the tutoring session completely satisfied and thanked me for my time. Two weeks ago I saw her in the WC for the second time, and today I saw her there again, working hard on one of her latest papers for that same class.

She's a regular now.

H1N1 and the WC: Update

The H1N1 vaccine is available to students 25 years of age and younger starting today, December 1st from 9AM-5PM, in the Memorial Union. FLUMIST is what will be provided to students, upon the presentation of your URI picture ID card. There is also a limited number of injectable vaccines available to students with nasal conditions, etc. The MIST will be distributed for the next 14 days up in the Union. NOTE: Approximately 400 doses will be available per day; if you plan on receiving the vaccine, perhaps consider heading over there early in the day, to ensure they still have the vaccine in stock on that day.

For more information, visit: http://health.uri.edu/showarticle.php?id=172.

You are invited to a Public Workshop!

Y'all are cordially invited to attend a public workshop of public documents on Wednesday, December 2, from 11-11:50am in Swan 202.

My WRT 106 students are currently working on their public documents, which include such genres as pamphlets, flyers, posters, bulletin boards, and more, and they would love to hear what you have to say about the construction of the documents! The students will have their public document drafts (or prototypes) on display throughout our usual class time and will be awaiting your questions and comments. We are most interested in hearing how these documents succeed or fail at grabbing your attention and conveying a clear message.

You can contact me directly with questions and concerns at: nicoleamyers@gmail.com

We look forward to seeing you at this very special event! And please spread the word to help ensure a decent sized turn out!

The Elusive Thesis

So this one will be a little bit more of a vent, I think- I had the worst session yesterday, and what's even worse is that I was being observed by a tutor-in-training. Oh my goodness. A student came in with a 104 analysis assigment, upon which the teacher had written that he hadn't analyzed so much summarized and re-summarized. Quickly glancing over his paper, I saw that this was true, so I set out to try and get him to understand what a "summary" and "analysis" are- define and contrast them so that he could see for himself what kinds of information are expected within each. But the kid wouldn't really talk. He seemed completely invested in remaining confused and perplexed, and the harder I tried to explain, the more question I asked, the more angles I tried, the more he balked, looked blank, and responded with "I dunno...".

I've taught 104 before, and I do know how hard it is to get students to write an analysis that is neither summary nor judgment, but as the pencil in the hand of the observant tutor started into action I really started to panic. It felt like we were getting nowhere, to both of us, and then, with 10 minutes left to go he said "Well, I just need a thesis. Thats all I need, a thesis". Argh! So he was not complying because he was looking for a specific thing, but by this point he was practically confusing ME. "This is just what a session isn't supposed to look like," I thought, "I should have just let him direct the session from the beginning, and now this poor tutor is going to see an example of everything going wrong!...and probably talk about it in class... I should have (insert any and every alternative tutoring session script here)".

What does a thesis for an analysis look like, anyway? I had always assumed, and said, that it should basically be a summary of what the analysis discovered- that the author, working in a specified context, wrote this work to achieve specified effects, and used specified features. Anyone? And any happy being-observed stories, so that I know that that poor class won't just have a horror story?

WRT 106ers and the Argument

Hello all! This week my WRT 106 students are immersed in argumentative writing. Their 10 page arguments, which should utilize at least 10 sources, are based on their semester long research projects. This is common throughout all of the WRT 106 courses. However, I have asked my students to approach argument in a way that is a little bit different. For instance, I have asked them to use the argument as a way of exploring their issue in a deeper way with/for an audience of their own choosing or as a way of persuading that audience, but to avoid looking at it as a win/lose genre. Because of this, some of their thesis statements may seem strange because they are using a formula that looks like this:
Topic + comment about topic = thesis

A second strange aspect of my version of this assignment is that I have been stressing argument as a way of leading an audience through a train of thought. My students are asked to examine the way in which they came to know their thesis statements (ie how do they know that shark populations are declining or that living off the grid is a way of combating climate change) and then to lead their audience on that same journey. So far, this has led a lot of them to thinking about the introduction as spanning more than a single paragraph, which I am loving!

So why am I telling y'all about this on the blog? Well, today is their workshop in class and the final draft if due on Monday. I have stressed for over a week that because this is such a lengthy assignment and is worth more than any of their other projects so far (a whole 8 points), that they really need to make an appointment with me or stop into the Writing Center for help and a pair of fresh eyes. First of all, since I am hoping that at least a handful if not more of them will actually stop in, I thought that a little background on my own approach in the classroom this semester might be helpful and could avoid any confusion if you encounter a thesis that may not initially appear to be an argument. Also, the way that each WRT 106 section is set up, some will be on the argument right now, while others may be on the public document. I thought it could be beneficial to throw that info out there to be aware of what may be wandering in in the next few weeks.

To Google or not to Google, that is the question

Towards the beginning of the semester, I frequently debated this topic of research-- I have now felt it necessary to share with you, and in turn gain some feedback on your own opinions and experiences!

Here's a frequent scenario:
Student (9/10 times, a freshman) comes into writing center with an assignment to analyze thematic element within a text -- sometimes one page of text, other times an entire novel of text.

Their Problem(s):
They either can't find any thematic elements themselves, or they don't understand the text enough to explain it, never mind find a thematic element.

My Problem(s) (as tutor):
A. I've either never read the text.
B. I don't have enough time to read the entire text.
Conclusion: Therefore, I cannot establish any grounds with them as to what thematic elements the text may incorporate.

Possible Solutions:
1. Research
2. Try and name off a few common thematic elements I know are explored in gen. ed courses I've taken previously
3. Ask other tutors if they've read the text before

After going through #2 and #3, I am left with research, which has proven to be the most useful tool for me in college literature courses. The debate however, is how 'academically moral' it is to show them these tools and resources that I have discovered and use today.

When I have asked the tutees if they've done any outside research from the text itself, the assignment sheet, and class discussion, more often than not, they had not.

Now while my first instinct when I don't understand something (or know something) is to do research, most of my tutees haven't even had the thought cross their minds.

The piece of information that I've been sharing with them is the following:
These texts that your professors require you to read have (more often than not) been read by many other people, for many, many years. Hence, there is an abundance of information on the texts available to you through various mediums including but not limited to: the Internet, library books, text books, book reviews, journals, film, radio interview etc.

Now personally, I don't find outside research on thematic elements to be a form of plagiarism.
The only time when I feel it becomes plagiarism is if they are taking that recycled thematic element, and using the same information, textual support, facts, research etc. from that source, and not citing it properly-- or acting as if they came to the conclusion themselves.

The good thing (for their professor and the students academic well-being) about these popular texts and articles is that most of the professors are well aware of the information 'out there' on the texts, and can (more often than not) tell when a student is indeed plagiarizing. Therefore, I don't think outside resources are condoning plagiarism, I think they are enriching the learning comprehension experience for a struggling student who understands how to use them properly and honestly.

Now here comes the interactive question:
Do you feel that if a tutee comes in with the above scenario, is it academically moral for me to share my own personal tools of knowledge, and to show them (if needed) resources online (since the Internet is the closest source of reference to/in the writing center) so that their writing processes may proceed?
Also, as we help them brainstorm ideas for papers, essays etc., is helping them utilize online resources to brainstorm themselves close to the same thing?

Thanks for reading!

2 Hours with a Tutee

On Monday I came into the writing center at 10:30 with no appointments--which has been the case recently as it seems to be a slow part of the semester. Amanda was working with a student who had a first draft of a nursing report. Thirty minutes were up for her and she had another appointment waiting in reception. I told her she had someone waiting and asked if she needed me to pick up her next appointment if she wasn't ready yet. She asked if I could finish up with the student she was working with so she could meet with her next appointment. I agreed, and quickly realized that this student wanted Amanda and I to go over his report sentence by sentence. After I worked with him, he made another appointment with Amanda and asked me if I had any appointments. I felt I couldn't lie and told him I didn't and he made a second appointment with me. It took Amanda and I two combined hours to go through his seven page report. Most of the errors were grammatical and all I was doing was reading aloud and asking him what he felt sounded weird or incorrect. By the end of the two hours, I think he had the ability to fix his own mistakes. Though I felt he learned something, I definitely felt used. At the end of my second session, I made it clear to him that it isn't our job to go through his entire paper and that he does not need to make any more appointments (he actually was going to make a THIRD appointment with Amanda). I said that we need to reserve our time for other students that need our help. It was very awkward and he left without a thank you. I feel bad that this happened but I also feel like it quickly spun out of my control. UGH.

Stop the Hate Campaign @ URI: "The Time is Now"

In light the recent offensive, inexcusable events on campus (noted in an email sent to all students, entitled "Memo: From President Dooley," & a list of which may be found on this event's facebook page) Christina Knoll, a URI student, has launched a Student Movement Against Hate Crimes at URI. Christina encourages students and organizations on campus to create anti-hate t-shirts, displaying "I will not stand for hate crimes at URI," and wear them as many times as possible in the coming weeks. T-Shirts are also being printed and handed our for free on campus.

In addition, Christina has organized a demonstration for Wednesday, November 18th at noon. She urges students to meet her on the Quad for a 15 minute moment of silence, protesting hate crimes at URI. Professors on campus will also be alerted about the demonstration and encouraged to host the 15 minutes of silence in their classrooms at noon, too.

We will be in our weekly Wednesday WCenter meeting during this time. I move to have the URI Wcenter tutors participate in this 15 minutes of silence, or -- as I understand we have a mere 50 minutes of time together to reflect and discuss -- at the very least discuss tolerance and/or intolerance with regard to tutoring and the WCenter. While I am aware we already dedicated one meeting to diversity earlier in the semester, these recent events clearly stress the significance of this topic, and I believe mention of it during next week's meeting would be not only be educational but -- if these recent events are any indication -- necessary.

If you are interested in learning more about the Stop the Hate Campaign on campus, contact Christina Knoll via Facebook, or pick up a flyer in the Memorial Union. I will be bringing copies of these flyers to the WCenter tomorrow morning.

An Effective Session

I feel like my last few posts have all been when I'm upset or pessimistic, so this time I'll mention a session that I had last week that was really good.

The student I worked with was writing a paper for her WRT 104 class (I think that's what it was). She had to describe an antique store that she went to and make it realistic to the reader, kind of like a portrait of a person would be. When she came in, she brought all of her notes from her trip to the store and a draft. Her draft wasn't long enough, so she wanted to add some length, but her main concern was that she wasn't capturing the right feel of the antique store--she wanted to add some more "creepy" feeling to her paper.

Needless to say, that was an awesome session. We spent forty minutes going through her paper, with me telling her every time her paper freaked me out like she was trying to do to her reader, and we made a list of several other items in the store that she could describe, like a portrait of a scared man looking out the window. Unlike many other students that I've worked with, she was really receptive to my comments and criticisms and actually had a pen out the whole time, writing down suggestions and brainstorming new paragraphs. It was a real treat for me not to spend the time fixing basic problems (she was a really good writer), but actually getting creative and helping her make a great paper. I'd love to find out what her professor thought.

I guess my point is that often, good stuff happens here, and this case reminded me that I'm not always a tutor, but most of the time I am a student too and I can learn from the people who come here. So this is a happy rant...

I can't believe this actually happened..

Okay, the picture above taken thanks to Kate Stone and her Blackberry. It is so horrible that I had to laugh. This student came in with the sheet (for those who can't read his writing) that said he was "finished" with his paper and his goal was a "slip." I did not let him off the hook and I read through is paper with him before giving him the slip. I just thought It was something I should share. Also, I did give the student a slip because he was willing to sit with me for a half an hour and go over his paper. I had to admire his bluntness. Any thoughts?

Here comes the Lipid Lab. . .

Just gave a talk to about 20 members of the Lipid Lab, many of whom will be coming for sessions soon. They'll want to talk about everything from concept mapping and outlining to editing and proofreading, including editing and proofreading citations/references.

FYI, here are some links to a couple of commonly used reference styles:

From the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:

Information for Authors: References

From the Journal of the American Medical Association:

Instructions for Authors: References

Number format! Have fun. . .

H1N1 and the WC: Gives "Contact Zone" a Whole New Meaning

In light of Jeremiah's announcement during today's meeting, the recent increase in flu-like symptoms on campus and the three H1N1-related deaths that occurred last week in the state, my personal H1N1 paranoia has definitely increased recently. Moreover, my concern for WCenter tutors has definitely spiked. The inherent structure of a tutoring session constructs a Contact Zone -- not only a space wherein persons from diverse backgrounds (heritages, cultures, etc.) interact, but literally a place where people are undeniably in close quarters, making almost literal contact! With regard to H1N1 prevention, this situation doesn't exactly cater to the "social distancing" strategy proposed by the University. Of course, we cannot tutor through walls (Well, I suppose we could try.. very Virginia Woolf, no?) and therefore can't practice this prevention technique realistically. I see this is as the precise reason why we should become more cognizant of the other available, simple prevention techniques -- perhaps even become some of the most informed individuals on campus.

The University has released an H1N1 Prevention Flyer, (complete with eerie sick-people images and lots of bold text) suggesting a list of basic prevention techniques to students, including:

• Washing hands FREQUENTLY with soap and warm water, or alcohol-based hand sanitizer
• Coughing or sneezing in the crook of one's elbow or a tissue
• Avoidance of touching one's eyes, nose and mouth, and
• Staying at home if feeling ill

In addition to the above suggestions, I've stumbled upon a few more simple choices we can make to stay tip-top and tutoring-ready:

• Probiotics: My boyfriend's mother is a Nurse Practitioner and thrust a bottle of these at me over Sunday dinner. Probiotics are found in yogurt and a number of other foods, and maintain balance in the body while, additionally, boosting the immune system. If you're not a yogurt lover, taking two of these side effect-free pills a day is a recommended form of prevention -- remember to store the bottle in the refrigerator!
  
• Plenty of sleep! As a senior in my final semester, I understand this is a tall-order suggestion. Nevertheless, a good night's sleep undeniably helps keep one healthy; it couldn't hurt of us all to try an rack up a few more sleep hours a week.
• Take the stairs. Physical activity is definitely connected to one's overall health, so take the stairs instead of that scary, creepy elevator!
• Drink plenty of fluids. Indulge in a little WCenter tea; there are currently boxes of delicious lemongrass, green, Irish breakfast and ginger tea up on the fourth floor!
  
• A note on social distancing: While we can't help being in close quarters in the WCenter, cultivating a healthy zen bubble outside of the center can also help to ensure tutor health. I'm certainly not suggesting we wear gas masks around our roommates, but perhaps avoiding the super-popular, communal ice-luge wouldn't be a bad idea...
  

In addition to the above suggestions, representatives from URI's Health Services are participating in web chats to address any student questions or concerns about the virus. The transcripts from the first and second chats are already available online. There is also an official webspace established "specifically for H1N1 updates." The last update was posted on the 21st of October.
Finally, the University has released a list of suggested items for students living on and off-campus to have on-hand. Some of these items seem applicable to the WCenter space; perhaps we could consider placing the following in the Center:

• Tissues
• Disinfectant Wipes
• A small package of surgical masks (though, I think this is a bit over-the-top)
• We're already got the sanitizer - go AEC and WCenter!

As Jeremiah announced today, calling out if we're really sick or incapacitated is recommended. If you are suffering from flu-like symptoms, the University encourages you to stay home until a full 24hours have passed since the last sign of symptoms. Flu symptoms include: Fever, headache, extreme tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, runny/stuffy nose, muscle aches, and an array of unpleasant stomach symptoms.

The H1N1 vaccine will not be available in Rhode Island until December - at least a month from now. Remaining conscious of the above suggestions and prevention tips may help ensure we're healthy and happy and tutoring. I know how dedicated to the writers of URI we all are and, as a girl that was ill for a number of months last year, I know the no-fun feelings that come with having to miss a session/class. Unlike with other illnesses, H1N1 will put one on house arrest (I've always been a fan of the not-contagious-push-self-up-four-floors-of-stairs-to-tutor-maneuver, which just won't do with H1N1!). Let's stay aware so we can stay upstairs!

Make-Believe Grammar

"The sentence which is spliced together out of the ‘parts of speech’ is, in truth, no sentence at all. It is not language any more than a company drill is fighting, or a scarecrow a man. Thought which is living, growing, organic in structure, cannot be conveyed or represented by a lifeless, static, artificial construction. Nor are we studying language by studying such a construction. The sentences which grammar presents to us have in very truth ceased to be language, once they have been cut off from all reference to the various acts of thought-communication which gave rise to them, so that they seem to exist in and for themselves, mere mechanical congeries of words, brought together only to fulfill certain arbitrary requirements of the sentence form as such" (Buck 148-9).

The above quotation comes form Gertrude Buck's 1909 article "Make-Believe Grammar." It may seem a bit random to post a 100 year old quote about grammar instruction on the WC's blog, but as I was rereading it today it reminded me of a session I had yesterday. The tutee was from South Korea and was here to go through a COMM paper with the standard desire for grammar and clarity advice that most of my ESL sessions consist of. As we came towards the end of the paper, I threw out a "comma here before the 'but'" and was startled when she asked why. She explained why she believed there should not be a comma there and it made good sense to me, making me question if my ideas on commas were true or if I've been secretly giving bad advice for years now.
So when I read this passage, it reminded me of not only this grammatical dilema of yesterday, but also it brought up the way in which I go about punctuating my own writing. Where I physically hear a pause or a breath is where I put my comma (I know, I know, there can totally be problems with this approach). It flows organically and is almost a literal life-breath to the words I type or write, especially in my freewriting and journaling. Wouldn't it be nice if all punctuation could move as effortlessly as that living comma?

Reflecting on the Repeat Tutee

I am going to try to be a bit coded here; it occurs to me that there is no way to know whether or not the tutee for whom this post is composed will be able to access this post, and I certainly do not want to hurt anyone.

Therefore, I am going to be rather vague, but perhaps I can fill in some holes at the meeting if anyone is interested.

Here is what I am wondering in this reflection: what ought we to do if we think a tutee is getting too comfortable with us?

I really do enjoy running in to tutees around campus or even in the emporium--especially when they are somewhat socially awkward, quirky, or a bit out there (also known as way too far off of the mainstream mark to have a lot of friends at URI) and it is clear that they are particularly happy to see you because there aren't a lot of folks around for them to talk with.

I have particular sympathy for these folks since I went to a small liberal arts university with mostly snobby and apathetic classmates and very invested in the upper-middle class American mainstream, so my only real friends were my English professors.

This empathy is likely where my hesitation to cut off this tutor/tutee relationship lies, but I am afraid my tutee has crossed some weirdness boundary that I find troubling--a line, in fact, that propels me into a sort of ambivalence about the whole thing. I am drawn in, maybe, by his obvious need for a friend, but am rather repelled by the same.

The trouble is that social misfits tend to slowly latch on way too strong. They catch you unawares. You realize you may, in the long run, actually do more harm than good.

ESL and Ethics

Alright, I know that this is my first real posting this whole semester, but its taking me awhile to get reflexive about tutoring again, as I haven't tutored since I was an MA TA...and that seems like years ago. What I have been reflexive about, though, is how much I love being able to really work with students' writing personally again. These past few years I have been only teaching, and as much as I cajol students to come and see me in office hours, etc., most of my work on student writing is from the distance of reader and author- and as much as can be said in marginalia and end notes, nothing is as nice as really sitting down with someone.

What I wanted to comment on today is an experience that I had this past week- a student with really, really bad mechanics- I mean, unreadably wicked bad, came in to work on a two page paper. She had failed the first draft and was in the writing center to get help. Now, even though I actually spent an hour and a half with her, there was absolutely no way I could even begin to address her difficulties with standard English grammar, spelling, syntax, etc. I quickly realized that she spoke much more fluently than she wrote, so I basically had her dictate to me what she meant at every sentence while we sat at the collaboration station, and I typed as she wrote. The final, much-discussed results weren't perfect (or maybe even passable, it was a 200 level class), but it was about 50 times better than her first draft. Here's my question- was it still her writing? She definitely couldn't have done it on her own, and I did suggest and supply a fair amount of vocabulary words and offer ways to re-word things that weren't standard. I know that the problem is fixing problems for people doesn't help them not make the same mistakes the next time, but in a case such as this, I almost felt like just modelling alternative wordings was as effective as anything else would have been. I did try to have her practice ways of writing her own spoken words, but she is just so far from being able to produce her own academic prose...I have been mulling over it ever since, and would love to hear what you all think. How do you handle difficult ESL cases? I wonder if there is any way to get quick training or info about what to do? Does anyone know more than me about this?

APA 6th Ed "Video Tutorials"

Had to look up how to cite a conference paper today (for my own purposes) and found that the APA 6th ed., doesn't state how. A google search yielded this useful site where there are flash video tutorials on how to perform various APA citations. Really rad.

http://www.nova.edu/library/dils/lessons/apa/#videos

Quintilian on Remediation: Kairotic Memoria

While organizing (a type of cleaning up) files this evening--I find that anytime I clean, tidy, etc., I am constantly distracted by the need to "look into" that which I'm cleaning--I came across a brief paper I had written a couple of years ago. It had a really, really interesting quote on Remediation from Chapter I, Book II of Quintilian's Institutes of Oratory about remediation:

It has been a prevalent custom (which daily gains ground more and more) for pupils to be sent to teachers of eloquence, to the Latin
teachers always, and to the Greeks sometimes, at a more advanced age than reason requires. Of this practice there are two causes: that the
rhetoricians, especially our own, have relinquished a part of their duties, and the grammarians have appropriated what does not belong to
them (qtd. in Bizzell and Herzberg, The Rhetorical Tradition ed., 1., 297).

Are we "teachers of eloquence" even if we aren't teachers? What does the "at a more advanced age than reason requires" seem to say about the students that must be sent for extra help? Have the real teachers, in Quintilian's framing, "rhetoricians," outsourced the teaching of "grammar"? I've read this several times since I wrote that paper, but memory has failed me. Sometimes revisiting memoria--through documents--is such a beneficially kairotic experience.

Shift Switching?

Hey,
There is a Thesis/Dissertation Formatting Workshop hosted by the Graduate School on Tuesday, November 10th. The problem is that the workshop starts at 2:30pm and my shift starts at 3pm. So I was wondering if anyone would be willing and able to switch shifts with me on that day (I need to RSVP ASAP to the event!). My whole shift is 3-4:30pm and I would be able to cover any other time that day, Monday afternoon, or Thursday anytime.
Thanks!

You Don’t See Us Messing with Your Equations

I think that many of us have probably had the experience before of tutoring a student who has been sent to the writing center to be fixed. You know the scenario: a paper covered in red pen and little guidance to what the student had done wrong aside from the instructions to “go thee to the writing center.” This particular paper even had our phone number on it.

As a tutor this sort of thing always makes my skin crawl, because it cements the idea that the writing center is a place of remediation; that we fix papers; that we are the place where bad writers should go to see the error(s) of their ways. As an instructor, I am bothered by the lack of culpability involved. How is it someone else’s job to tell a student what they did wrong on your assignment? We’re not -mind readers -- well, I can’t vouch for the rest of the staff, but I’m not. I guess it comes down to the fact that writing is perhaps one of the few college-level skills that virtually every discipline must muck around with.

What do I mean by this? Whereas as a writing/literature/women’s studies instructor you wouldn’t see me messing around with mathematical equations (let’s face it- stereotypes exist for a reason), writing is really unavoidable in most college classes. Maybe some professors do not feel that they have the background to teach students how to write a college-level paper, or do not think it is their job, so they send these students to us. However, rather than getting enraged and copping an attitude in front of a student who assuredly already feels pretty bad about himself in relation to this paper, I tried to consider it a teachable moment. Optimistically looking at the situation, I told myself that although I might not like the circumstances that sent the student to us/me, he might not have come otherwise.

So what was so glaringly abhorrent about this student’s paper? Nothing really. Like many inexperienced writers he had trouble presenting a clear thesis statement, and also like may freshman writers, that thesis statement was buried in his conclusion. Could this student’s instructor have easily pointed this out to him? Probably, but maybe I should give him/her the benefit of the doubt, because although you will never see me messing around with proofs or differential equations, most professors must muck around with writing, and although we might not like the message it sends when they tell their students to come to us to be fixed, at least they’re then coming to us. Maybe we can then turn a negative into a positive and shift focus from the paper to the writer.

What I Have Learned

This entry may not come as a surprise, however, I learn so much by tutoring; I learn just by reading the content of many of the student's papers. This past week I have had extremely interesting topics that taught me a great deal. I have had papers on O'bama's Nobel Peace Prize, Vegetarianism, Global Warming, The Fall of the House of Usher and Doctor's Moral Code of Ethics. All of these topics dealt with things I knew little about and all held my interest. I am a vegetarian, yet i know little about the gory details of animal cruelty. I bonded with my tutee, who is a vegetarian, and helped him add details to his already extremely strong argument. I love that learning is happening from both ends because that is what we are here for after all.

Writing Down the Bones

Writing Down the Bones, Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg. I really think everyone should read at least a chapter in the small, compact book full of inspiration and great perspective of writing. Someone I work with gave me this book to read during my free time because I told him I was a writing major. This book is absolutely incredible! Each chapter can be read on its own or collectively. The author gives advice and reasoning for writing as a means of "becoming intimate" with ourselves. She has incredible insight and her theories are relatable on multiple levels. This is because she looks at writing from the perspective of doing something you love. Whether it be cooking, running, animals even business management; her advice can reach and grab you. She talks about poetry, creative and free writing and gives advice such as: "keep your hand moving, don't cross out, don't worry about spelling punctuation or grammar, lose control, don't think don't get logical and go for the jugular." What she says really makes sense and gives you a whole other outlook on the craft/art of writing. I know I use writing as a way to express whatever I am feeling at the time. Our love for writing (which we all share)is not only a talent we've pursued but also an outlet we all have in common. This book really gives you a whole other perspective on what we love and how we can further encourage our own writing skills. I really think a lot of you guys would truly enjoy this book and I highly suggest you read it! If anyone does, let me know what they think!

Hard Copy, Please?

Out of all the good I have experienced from tutoring at the Writing Center, it’s safe to say that I have my first complaint. It comes in the form of a technological bundle of joy that I like to call the Laptop. While I understand that some classes are strictly Sakai, I unfortunately, am not an online database you may submit your essay to— that conveniently spits back almost-instant feedback for you to quickly revise, edit, and submit.

Nothing is more awkward than I, digging into my backpack to get out my handy dandy notepad and my blue www.uri.edu promotional pen, than a student plugging in their laptop to the nearest outlet, and sliding their Mac book Pro in front of me.

Not that I don’t already spend enough time typing papers on a brightly lit computer for hours on end as a double major, now I might as well become a regular at CVS as my reading glasses prescription get stronger and stronger.

Point being, I read/revise/type enough papers on my own laptop and when it comes to reading other students work, I would so much rather have it in print. It allows for both the tutor and tutee to work together and interact, with both the paper and the art of writing itself.

Both should be equipped with ready pens or pencils in hand and collaborate together to break down the structure, sentences, or whatever it may be. The way I look at it is writing is just like math. Math teachers generally request that students prove they know how to do a problem by showing their work. The same goes for the work that is produced in the writing center. If the writer can't show (and understand) the work and the steps it took to get there, they probably aren't learning much.

I'd say it might be a good idea to request (or require) a hard copy for all tutoring sessions. Now I know others have been put into the same situation, how do you feel when a tutor comes in with their laptop? Angie

Facilitative vs. Directive

When I first started tutoring, I realized how directive I can be. I noticed that if I know a topic, like analysis vs. summary, I become the teacher rather than a peer helping another. Once I made this realization I really had to take a step back and figure out how I could change this innate feeling to teach rather than help. I thought back to WRT 353 days when we would discuss in class some practices of the facilitative. I think being directive is a very blunt, cut the bull, kind of tactic to connect with your tutee. Sometimes it needs to be necessary, but I don't think it should always be your first approach.

I've really made an effort to ask more questions and try to indirectly guide the tutee to the problem and have them recognize it for themselves, rather than just telling them. I can see how much it helps the tutee too. Not only does it give them a little boost in their confidence, but it now gives them first hand experience in realizing how/why something could be changed for the better. I think this recognition is incredibly important in the learning process.

Local Gallery

As many of you know, yesterday, October 20th was the National Day on Writing. On October 8th the U.S. Senate passed a resolution declaring the day a national holiday. The aim of yesterday's celebration was for writers of any genre and caliber to pause and take a moment to share their writing. In order to facilitate this, NCTE established the National Gallery of Writing: A free, public (and snazzy) web space for any and all writers to publish their work for any and all to see. The writings showcased in the gallery cover the proverbial gambit of genre: Poetry, fiction, non-fiction, recipes, diary entries, dirty laundry lists, how-to instruction Manuel's, song lyrics, character development plans, word vomit, to-do lists, film reviews, critical essays, rants and beyond. Browsing the gallery is definitely worth one's time.
Patrons of the gallery may utilize the search engine to locate texts by geographic location, key words, age or media type. Numerous galleries have been opened in Rhode Island, including one from URI: WRT 490 at URI, wherein a few of our own tutors' work is featured.

I think it is worth mentioning this "local gallery" idea at the next meeting. Anyone can open a local gallery, and perhaps this could be a nice place for us tutors to represent what we write - and also take up this opportunity to become familiar with one another's writing interests. Jeremiah and Cathryn would make lovely curators...!

"The Same ol' Tutor"

Today i tutored a girl for the seventh time this year, which I see as a blessing and a curse. She told me that she enjoyed my tutoring style and purposely came to the Writing Center on days that I am here. Obviously i was flattered and happy that I have helped her with her writing. However, I was tempted to suggest that she make an appointment with someone else in the writing center. I feel that, while it is important that she enjoys the writing center and keeps coming back, it could only benefit her to get varying perspectives on her writing. I am considering telling her this the next time I tutor her. Perhaps, explaining that she is more than welcome to continue making appointments with me, but that more "eyes" on her work could only benefit her writing. What does everyone think?

Gifts, Aid, Assistance, Assemblage, Democracy: (Re)Thinking What We Do?

I found today's conversation about the blog very productive. Mihaela's comments on the Sartrean gift really cemented a connection that I thought was useful for me and might be useful to you all as well.

Currently I'm enrolled in a class here called the Politics of Development. Specifically, the class surrounds--political-- issues, yet, because writing seems to be an especially liminal tool (?), a great deal of what I read about these topics (for me) screams writing and rhetoric. Anyways, the point I wish to make is that a number of the readings have come to demonstrate the darker side DA (development assistance) which can include giving money (corruption), medicine (eugenical campaigns that de facto benefit one class, race, or segment of a country receiving aid), arms (inscrutable uses of power), and food (unfair choices as to who goes hungry and who eats--very similar to the problems with medicine). But most commonly DA surrounds technical advice, which seems to be similar to what it is that we do in the WC. If anyone is curious Oxfam provides a good introduction to foreign assistance.

So--what I want to do is reflectively engage our verbiage of (giving, aiding, helping) as Mihaela asks. What is it that we do? It is necessary that we even have an accurate verb? I, personally, am less sure that we do need a verb; what I do suspect, however, is that we do need an ontology for being within the WC in our positions as citizens. This is less, then, a doing and more of a how it is done. What that entails, though, is less concrete, more abstract--it becomes dynamic, contingent, and circumstantial. I lose the ability to really explain how or what I think about how we best can work with and for ourselves/others (sometimes different missions and responsibilities) when a tutee/visitor/citizen enters the space.

Thinking of how we think of those who we do come into contact with, though, in this space is as I mentioned at good starting point in creating less vertically oriented spaces.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/87913776@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

Spoken Word @Brown

*SISTER SPIT PERFORMANCE on OCT. 23rd. *
Free and open to the public!

Brown University
64 College St.
List Auditorium, Room 120
9:00 PM - 1:00 AM
Performance followed by a meet-and-greet, merch sale, and informal dance
party

Sister Spit, founded in San Francisco by Michelle Tea and Sini Anderson,
first launched in 1997 as a means to tour queer, feminist, outsider, and
otherwise marginalized poetry, spoken word, literature, and performance.


October 2009 features Sister Spit: Next Generation starring Michelle Tea and
a great new line-up of 6 other writers/artists/performers including
nationally-acclaimed writer Beth Lisick, spoken word champion Kirya Traber,
photographer/curator Sara Seinberg, novelist Rhiannon Argo, transgender
performance artist Ben McCoy, and former L Word staff writer and graphic
novelist Ariel Schrag.


*I've gone to a few events like this up at Brown since I've been in RI and all of them have been incredible.

Beginner Mind

I have been thinking a lot this past week about what we read in The Everyday Writing Center and discussed at the last meeting about the "beginner mind," and how this concept applies to tutoring. I think that many people, myself included, are afraid of the beginner mind. We want to have an expert mind, or at least to appear to be experts. Being an expert means being comfortable with what we are doing, not uncertain, able to navigate through tasks easily. Being a beginner means facing uncertainty everywhere and getting things wrong sometimes. But being a beginner is the only way to ever become an expert.

I think this concept relates to some of the other blog posts this week in which tutors have mentioned that students are sometimes afraid of coming into the Writing Center, especially Kate's post about the tutees bringing boyfriends and friends to sessions for security. It comes from fear of the beginner mind, fear of being unsure and not yet confident in one's abilities. Some students who come into the Writing Center definitely feel this, especially when working on assignments for beginning writing courses.

In some of the sessions I've had, the tutees seemed reluctant to talk. When I would offer a suggestion and ask them what they thought about it, hoping that they would say something in response so that we could begin a conversation about the writing, sometimes they would just nod and say, "Okay," like they wanted to take what I had said as an instruction for revising their paper, which wasn't what I meant at all. Then I would have to try another approach at getting them to talk about their writing. I think this is because, as beginners, what we want is definite instructions on how to move forward - anything else seems foggy and complicated.

Another thing that keeps coming up is when I ask a tutee if he or she has any questions, and many of them simply say no. I understand this very well. I remember, when I was younger, in high school or just beginning college, I would always say no when a teacher asked if I had any questions. I thought that asking a question would mean that I hadn't understood the material, which would make it look like I hadn't been paying attention, and I didn't want anyone to think that. This is another fear related to the beginner mind.

The question is, how can we make students who come into the Writing Center feel like being a beginner is not a bad thing, but a great thing because it means that they are free to learn anything?

Trading Spaces

Yesterday I observed at the Rhode Island College Writing Center for several hours. One of the biggest differences that I noticed between our centers is the use of space, and especially the layout of the rooms.

For us, two small rooms that are within the AEC don't give us much leeway to add furniture or partition areas for certain activities besides what the computers demand. In RIC, though, they use filing cabinets and desks to section off areas of the room (albeit they have a MUCH bigger room and a separate one as a lounge).

For people who haven't been there, here is my HORRIBLE rendition of their WC (please forgive me my bad paint skills):
The sections are labeled, but it's pretty hard to see. Basically, they have one big room that they've split into two so that tutors' space is separate from clerical, computers, etc. There is also a second room behind the snack bar that has a futon and a bunch of chairs that the tutors can use in their free time.

What I'd like to point out here is that although RIC has more space and more stuff in that space, we have basically the same elements that they do. Our amount of traffic seems to be lighter, at least compared to when I was there, so it works for us. Making appointments is done in pencil there, there's a printed journal instead of a blog, you can purchase snacks to pay for their conferences--things like that are different. But both WCs (ours and theirs) are committed to the students. I know that lately we've been disagreeing about how clinical the center should be (to couch or not to couch), but when it comes down to it, I think we should worry most about being productive and thoughtful tutors. Let's make the most of the space we have.

And again...I apologize for the drawing!

writing center makeover..who's in?

Ok, I know that there are some people who think that the center should be clinical and lab-like but hear me out. When you study, where do you go? When you have trouble with your homework, what part of your house do you go to? Isn't relaxation and comfort important? For me, I know that I need to be comfortable within my surroundings in order to get anything done.

When students come to the Center, I think they should feel welcomed, not only by our greeting, but also by the room. I think of Starbucks when I think of what the center should/could be similar to. I'm not saying we should dim the lights and put on soothing music, but I think a warmer atmosphere will be more welcoming to our peers.

So, who's up for making some changes? I think the Center should decorate for seasons (not excessive but funn!) and I also think that our door needs to say Writing Center on it and that it should have like poster paper on it to draw some stuff. Our blog picture with all the words meshed together is pretty cool and if we could put that on our door, in bigger letters, that would be awesome. By doing that, our room will be known as "The Writing Center" and not a place where the baseball players hangout. I'm not saying to go overboard but this could be a collaborative activity and a chance for us to get to know each other some more. Face it, we all have some free time when in the center...why not do something with the time?

No one has to agree with me, but I am just putting it out there--thoughts?

Remember this--the tutees are our peers. Why should we be in a real "classroom setting" with our peers.

A Good Session!

A lot of people, including me, have been writing about problems they encounter while tutoring. I decided to use one of my posts to write about a session that made me feel good today! A girl made an appointment with me about a paper she wrote for ENG 110. Her paper was less than a page and a half, but it was supposed to be two to three pages. Looking at the paper, I expected her to be totally distraught. On the top of the paper was a big, fat F (I hate when teachers do that-- is it really necessary??). Instead of breaking down, the girl was being very open and receptive. She explained that she didn't have much English preparation in high school--that she only wrote 3 or 4 papers all throughout high school. She needed help organizing her thoughts into a cohesive paper. I explained how she could make her thesis more analytical (using literary devices) and how she could focus her discussion on just one passage in the novel rather than the entire novel. I loved the session because she seemed to understand what I was saying and was willing to put the work into fixing the paper. I wanted to go through the book with her to help her find a passage but she didn't bring the book with her. I invited her back in case she had any other questions. I think I also enjoyed the session as compared to all the WRT students that come in (especially with all the WRT 104 analysis papers last week, I feel like I didn't get through to a lot of students). It can be very frustrating for me to explain WRT concepts as opposed to literary concepts, I think because English classes are my favorite! When I'm interested in a subject, it is so much easier for me to help students.

Maybe not "help"

So, I keep encountering tutees who quickly tell me about their paper and then push it across the table to me with "basically, I'm here to get this reviewed for grammar...sentence structure...clarity," and I balk. For a moment I try to gauge the student herself/himself, selecting a way to address an expectation that will not be fulfilled in the way in which the student seems to envision it. I have tried different approaches, but I cannot seem to escape that pang of disappointment, the "I thought this would be easy" sentiment that appears to flutter through them as I try to reason out what I suspect looks like a refusal to provide the help for which they are asking. Meanwhile I keep thinking about our Wednesday conversations early on regarding the image of the Writing Center and the concept of what we do, and particularly about the need to bridge this gap that seems to exist between the ideas of what we do. I wonder if it is not created by the word "help" to some extent. I must aside here: I come to Writing Center conversations now, as in I have little to no prior engagement with them, and I often wonder how far behind intellectual progress already made in these preexisting conversations my thoughts are. In other words, somone probably already has theorized what I am wondering about, namely disposing with the word "help" in association with what we do at the Writing Center. It is a pernicious word as far as I'm concerned, because it comes with a particularly treacherous system of connotations. Maybe instead of we "help," we can "equip," we can "rig," we can "create," "assemble," or some other active verb that escapes me right now, indicating a non-linear movement from tutor to tutee? Does this make sense?

Praise for y'all

Received the following message yesterday evening--Kathryn said I could share it with you--

"Hi Jeremiah,

I have just come back from a slew of AEC presentations to URI 101 peer mentors. I wanted to let you know that one of the most common pieces of feedback I heard was how their URI 101 students (or they themselves) found The Writing Center and the writing tutors so helpful. One mentor also said she got an A on the paper that she brought in.

Just wanted to pass along some positive feedback. Have a great night!

Kathryn"

How's that feel? It should feel pretty good.

Keep up the good work!

Dates in the Writing Center? Third-Wheel Wednesday

I had a strange, Third-Wheel-Wednesday in the Writing Center yesterday. That's right: Third-wheel.

I rowed-out to meet my fourth appointment of the day and my tutee was sitting on the couch in Reception with her boyfriend. Rather, she was less on the couch and more in her boyfriend's lap -- but I digress. I greeted her, introduced myself and welcomed her back to the Center. After a quick kiss, my tutee said "I'll be back in one minute" and walked down the hall.
Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of those sessions where the student just needs a Required Visit Pass. The writer had no questions, no direction for the session and calmly informed me "I have nothing to work in. Its fine. Can I get a pass saying I was here?" Clearly, she wanted to get back to her man (she kept looking at the clock and out the door during our sessions, too). After noting she had no claim (in her arguable claim text), we negotiated the aspects of her paper to include in a thesis, and she went back to her date.

A few hours later, I rowed-out for another tutee -- and this time her boyfriend came in to the session with her! The session was productive and successful... but we were watched the whole time by boyfriend #2. I wasn't particularly bothered by our voyeur, but couldn't help but think how strange it was to bring a date to a Writing Center session. Talk about really being a third-wheel.

Has anyone else experienced something similar to this? These were firsts for me. Either I am unhip and unaware that the new dating trend is Writing Center-dinner-movies, or the planets aligned yesterday afternoon, resulting in a (hopefully, infrequent) Third-Wheel Wednesday.

Tutoring as Colloborative

I keep thinking about the writing center as a "community of practice." I've had a few sessions where I've needed help or perspective from other tutors. A lot of times, having another tutor there enhances the session and gives the tutee advice that I wouldn't be able to give. For example, one student came in for help writing a rejection letter for a business writing. I was at the computer with him, trying to brainstorm ideas out loud. Amanda was at the other computer and I asked her if she had any suggestions--other than what I gave--to improve his letter. Having another tutor there also emphasizes the fact that tutors are not experts--sometimes we even need help, too.

That being said--I think there are other times when it's inappropriate to be collaborative--or for other tutors to interrupt sessions. For example, only the tutee working with a student can know the dynamic that is set from the very start of the session--and each of us as tutors sets a different tone/dynamic. We were talking in the meeting today (and the chapter mentioned) how we are all constantly learning and growing through new experiences as tutors. That learning is interrupted if another tutor interjects a session in progess. I think this happens sometimes, especially since the writing center is so small and everyone can listen to sessions. I just wanted to write about the times when it is appropriate/inapproriate to be collaborative as tutors. If another tutor asks for advice, it's definitely appropriate.

Signs--and Comfort

As a modest recommendation, we might take down this sign. And, we're all about writing right? "The No Cell Phones!" message, in my estimation, seems a bit heavy-handed. Just so that I'm being up front, I would like to note that the sign is likely slated to come down based on a converation that some members of our community had today. But, I'd like to think more about what this sign means nevertheless. First of all, I can see the utility of the sign: using cellphones in the WC can be distracting, rude, and, well, there are many more not so nice descriptors we could add to the list. So, perhaps, revising the sign to say (something) differently might be more appropriate.

What could the sign say? It's likely that that is better a group discussion. However, I think it should take into account the multitude of positive uses that cellphones can have within the WC. For example, as technological tools--(gonna do a lazy em dash insertion here) such as taking the photo of the picture with my camera phone, so that I may send it to my email, then download it to my computer, and last post it up here as a weblog pic that enables a critique of the space--cellphones tools afford us to do a number of darn-right good writing-practices within a number of space(s).

For example: (please do excuse the colon; and the semi colon, too; but, I gots some addiction issues with mechanical devices) I regularly use a cellphone as clock (because I don't wear a watch) so that I know a session's duration; as a calculator so that I can do mathy type things; as a recording device for verbal reminders to myself that are too long to text (which is also a sort of extended memory device); and, I use it as a research tool. Additionally, I regularly text google for definitions of words (create new text message, enter in google as the number/letter keys correspond, type the letter d and then the word you want to know the defintion to). I write down call numbers in the library so that I don't have to waste paper/and/or worry about if I have paper and a pen(cil).

More specifically in relation to the contexts of the WC, when Kate made this awesome dry-erase board investigation on logical forms, I took the liberty of photographing it so that I could think about it later. (The difficult with dry erase boards is that the content on them changes so quickly, and is then fleetingly lost.) Were visitors to the WC to follow the sign explicitly they would resultantly have lost the ability to engage this this type of memory-enhancing, note taking, writing practice (photographing cool stuff that we make that often goes bye-bye way too soon).

So, in close, I would like to return, briefly, to the comment I made about having the sign say "something" differently. In Multiliteracies for a Digital Age Stuart Selber (building upon the work of Bryan Pfaffenberger) talks about ways that power can fluctuate within technologies to regularize (and even exclude) users and uses of a technology. The WC taken as a technology here (can be critiqued by the heuristic Selber offers) makes me worry about the ways that the WC could be interpreted as a less amiable learning space--we all know it's awesome and fun and rad--but signs like this function to privilege an "ideal" user/use within a space. Specifically, this sign works as a "power move" of "technological regularization" called "delegation" (103). As Pfaffenberger explains, delegation is "a technical feature of an artifact [that] is deliberately designed to make up for presumed moral deficiencies in its users and is actively projected into the social contexts of use" (Selber 103).

How could we work to make it an every more rad place?

Tutoring Subjects

Normally students come into the Writing Center to talk about their writing...usually essays or research or brainstorming. So far this semester,I've only worked with people that have questions about writing that they've already done. Today was kind of weird, though, since both of my sessions wanted help with more grammatical or citation-al aspects.

The student at the first session brought in two punctuation worksheets and just wanted me to go over them with him and help him figure out where to put commas, semicolons, dashes, etc. We went overtime because he wouldn't let me close the session, even though my next tutee was waiting at another table.

The second session's student was here for help with MLA citation because she was afraid of plagiarizing. I showed her the Longman Handbook and answered questions, but when I suggested that we try to fix a couple of the citations in her essay, she said no.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that it seems like when students come in who don't want to focus on their writing, they really don't want to get their essays out. It was pretty frustrating to me to see the student's work in her folder but not be able to dig it out and get some work done on that. What if she forgets what I've said by the time she gets home--without any examples written down, how will she know what we'd talked about? And I understand that helping the first student with his punctuation is important, but since it wasn't in the context of an essay, I felt like he could have done the same work in a differing tutoring environment. I know we can't draw the line on students if they want to come here for help, but I just wish that sometimes it felt more relevant.

Sorry about the rant...

Problamatic Encounters

I have had many great tutoring sessions so far this semester. Many of them have been extremely rewarding and we accomplish a great deal. However, i have had encounter two major problems.

Problem 1: Ignorant of the Basics

I had one student that walked in appearing lost, nervous and confused. I immediately felt bad for him. He told me that he had to write a paper analyzing The Fall of the House of Usher. He asked me what i thought he should write for his thesis. He told me what he thought the theme for the paper should be and asked if i thought he was correct. However, I have never read that story and could not tell them if he was on the right track. It was hard for me because he had absolutely nothing for me to work with. Yet, i did not want to turn him away because he was so confused. He did not understand what a thesis was or the difference between summary and analysis. Instead of helping him with his actual paper, I explained to him what the difference between a summary and analysis was and how to construct a thesis. I genuinely think i helped him. He wanted me to google the plot of the story for him and go from there. However, i think teaching him the basics will help him in the long run and he seemed to be happy with the session as well.


Problem 2: Content

Last week I had a student who was a nursing major. She asked me for help on the content of the paper and said she was confident on her grammar and sentence structure. I had literally no idea about her topic (medical assisted suicide). Instead of telling her what information was wrong or right I had her read her paper out loud. We talked about what aspects of the paper were redundant and unnecessary. We talked about we're she may need to have sources to back up her stance. I surprised myself in this session because my immediate thought was that i could not do anything to help this student. Yet, i was able to help her in multiple ways just my reading it with her.


Honestly, i was going to complain about these two situations when i began to write this blog. However, as i was remembering the actual sessions i realize that they we're rewarding and we actually did get something accomplished (even if it wasn't exactly what the student was asking for).


MORAL: Tutoring sessions can take you somewhere you never thought you would go and that can be a beautiful thing.

Self-Sponsored or Creative?

I have to say -- I left our last staff meeting feeling a bit uneasy about the creative writing discussion. This uneasiness, I think, stems from a desire to keep the writing center away from drama. In fact, I do not fault the creative writing faculty if they do not want others infringing on their territory. (And perhaps it is fair to say, as well, that this is speculation at this point.)

I tend to agree with Stephen's point: if we want to know how to better serve creative writers who've chosen to come to the center, maybe we would do well to ask a member of the creative writing faculty to attend one of our meetings or to offer us advice in some other way.

If we want to welcome more creative writers in, then it seems likely that Laurie's idea is quite strong: we could host an hour long "creative writing space" once a week or so.

If the Writing & Rhetoric Department housed the creative writers, then it would probably be a fairly benign exercise to have such a "creative writing hour." However, since English owns creative writing courses, and since there has been (I'm told) tension between these two programs, maybe we would be better off staying away from the phrase "creative writing" altogether.

As some of you adeptly pointed out during our brief discussion, we are to be able to take on any writer at any stage working on any project. We have no particular responsibility to welcome more creative writers than we do to welcome any other subgroup of writers.

However, it is possible that we're using the idea of "creative writing" to fill in for what we really want and what is simply much more difficult to articulate (and this is my extrapolation from our conversing and our blogging) -- more writing-in-general; more varied writing; more varied writers; a less clinical setting; more sessions with things other than academic paper assignments at their center; more space for ourselves to write. If this is the case, I believe there may be other ways -- ways with little potential to spark drama -- for us to get to these related (and arguably better) goals.

If we want to hold an hour for writers producing texts for non-academic reasons, we could call this hour "self-sponsored writing hour in the writing center." During such an hour, students could either bring with them or produce there and then writing they are doing for reasons other than school and other than grades. Tutors could participate in such an hour as well. And while some of this writing may fall in to traditional creative writing genres, some will not.

I've also been thinking about the need to make our space look different from the rest of the AEC. It occured to me last week when two of the computers were taken up by baseball players browsing through their facebook accounts that there is a problem with the fact that the Writing Center does not really appear to be anything other than extra rooms in the AEC. I know we are housed there and that we rely on them, but I think it would be interesting to revamp or space to symbolically reassert our separateness.

These are rough ideas, and I welcome feedback.

Bags of Poems and Telephone Poles

In light of all our creative writing talk during today's meeting...

Have any of you found a little bag full of poems on any telephone poles in Narragansett? If so, you've unknowingly taken part in the Origami Poems Project. This project centers around a unique way of spreading the poetic word(s), so to speak. A number of poets are involved and these strange but surprisingly lovely gems can be found at a number of various locations in 'Gansett - all of which are posted on the website. How interesting!

Event: Read/Write Series

Read/Write Presents: Mary Cappello

When: Wednesday, October 14th 2009 from 4PM-6PM

Where: Hoffman Lounge, Swan Hall, Kingston Campus

URI English professor Mary Cappello will be presenting, discussing and reading from her newly released Called Back, a memoir crafted through the lens of a personal fight with cancer that intensely considers what "breast cancer awareness" truly cultivates awareness of and contemplates the seemingly simplistic phrase "Tell me what you're feeling." Called Back is Mary Cappello's third book; she is also the author of Night Bloom and Awkward: A Detour. A copy of this event's flyer can be found here.

Variance--The Work We Performe

As I have been following the blog, tutoring, and watching others tutor, I have come to notice that the work we engage in a writing center is quite variant. I think Kate's post from this week really encapsulates this phenomena. For this post I'd like to touch on a couple of the sessions I've worked on:

• My First Session: A student arrives who wishes to feedback on creative writing project;
• My Second Session: A student arrives who wants to conduct research for a paper. The student has no experience using with Google, Helin, EbScho, or search engines.
  
• My Third Session: A student arrives who wants assistance with 1) APA References page, 2) In-text citations, 3) Abstracts, 4) Headings.

During S1, I repeatedly tried to focus the student on the text. What did he wish to accomplish? What did he want me to read in particular? Was there a part of the story or an idea that he wanted me to engage. Having some experience with creative writing myself, I know that these texts can be very tied to one's sense of self--we invest ourselves in these pieces of writing. (This is, I think true for all writing, but for some reason creative writing, at times, seems more emotionally loaded.) The student really didn't know what he wanted from me or what he hoped we would accomplish in the session. I came to realize that the student just wanted someone to read the story, and someone to be able to talk to about his ideas. He didn't want or need my insights: he wanted to share his. I think, ultimately, the session enabled him the time and space he desired to be with this text with an audience.

During S2, I found the student really positive and eager to learn. She told me that growing up she hadn't had a computer, and now her family had just gotten one, but she wasn't really sure how and what to do with one. This, for me, was a pretty eye opening experience. With our Iphone, Ipod, Blackberry, digi-net-text-infused lives it's pretty mindbogglingly to meeting someone who isn't familiar with computers. But it does crystallize the wide gap between those that have access to computers and developing computer literacy and those who don't. I explained a bit about Google scholar, how to access the URI library page, and left her at the controls to navigate through the process/internet while I walked her through the process. Then, I asked her to close out and try to do it independently. She successfully found sources, and then because she said she wasn't familiar with the library, and because I still had time to work with her, I offered to walk her over to the library and locate the book sources she was looking for. I think she was kind of surprised to have someone really want to help her and she was really happy that she came to learn how to use the computer (for research) almost independently. Just a little bit of steering advice from me, but she really did the work.

During S3, a student arrived with an APA paper she had written. She was really pretty anti-self about her abilities and very un-confident that she was "doing" APA correctly. We talked about styles, and conventions for a minute, and I tried to bolster her confidence that, in fact, she had done a very good job. Sure there were a few "technical errors" in the references page (a comma missing here a period missing there), but holistically speaking the page accomplished what its purpose and the APA structures were well followed. As we transitioned into working on her citations and the abstract, again, she had that "I'm doing it all wrong" attitude but after showing her what she had done right, I think she got to see that APA is pretty technical and that knowing every nuance isn't necessary. We worked together at finding the parenthetical citation models to follow, and while at times I felt like she was trying to "get me to do it for her" she ended up doing the work. I thought it was a pretty good session all in all, and we spend nearly an hour working together on the paper which was roughly 12 pages long.

'I have Flu-Like symptoms' says the tutee...

Dealing with a sick tutee is hard. Now that the swine flu has pretty much scared everyone, when someone comes into the Writing Center with a cough, box of tissues, nasal spray, and/or hand sanitizer your first reaction is to stay clear from he/she. It is our first intuition to move away from someone who's coughing or sneezing but, when in the Writing Center, moving away from a tutee can be offensive. Even though you are scared of the tutee's contagious cold/flu, we have to be kind and considerate of the tutee and his or her condition. After all, they came in for your help.

Today, I encountered a situation like this today. My tutee was sick and warned me from the start by stating he had 'flu like symptoms.' I wanted to line the table with Clorox wipes and place the hand sanitizer on the table but I thought that would scare the tutee away by not making him feel welcomed.(I am using sarcasm here--I'm not that mean) But what I decided to do was to make him feel comfortable and provided him with tissues, helped him with his work and distanced myself a little more than I usually do when working with a tutee. The session only lasted 15 minutes because he didn't feel well and just wanted to get an understanding of the assignment so after he left I cleaned.

The session was successful even though I was nervous the entire time. I thought, if I sanitize myself and the table we were working at--it will all be fine.

Open Mic Tonight

There is an Open Mic tonight!

When: Today, Monday October 5th from 8PM-Midnight

Where: The 193 Coffeehouse in the Memorial Union

Who: A number of poets, singers, songwriters and other URI students will be in attendance. I know last spring's graduate-level Academy of American Poets winner will be performing (and he is fabulous).

The 193 has delicious coffee and it is a really neat space. I, unfortunately, do not think I will be able to attend (bogged down with reading). I hope some of us attend and can let the rest of us know what it was like!

Happy tutoring, folks - see you Wednesday.

I can be a bad student too...

Whenever I professors or tutors talk about writing, they always seem to emphasize starting in advance, doing multiple drafts, lots of peer review...etc. And it's fine to say all that. But sometimes...like this weekend...I feel really hypocritical. I had to go to a wedding in Ohio over the weekend, so I got no homework done. I have an essay due today...yeah, it's not written. Is it completely horrible that I can't do what I tell other students to do, like start early and plan and write it way before it's due? I remember WRT 353, where several of the other tutors-in-training said they never write project until the day or night or even morning before it's due. How can we do that but say other things?

This has been on my mind for a while, especially whenever we talk about a community of practice. I often don't write unless it's for a class, and even then I'm really good at procrastinating. Could we perhaps use the community to encourage each other to break these habits? Just some of my thoughts...

WRT 106ers and the Annotated Bib

I've been attempting to lure my students into the writing center as we've been working on the annotated bibliography. The thing is, I am getting ready to leave for a conference (10/7-10/11) and I want to make sure that they know where they can turn for help when I am not physically here.

So, in order to prepare y'all in the event of my students actually getting off their butts and up to the 4th floor of Roosevelt, here are the basics: they need 8-10 usable sources for their research project in the final annotated bib; they have the option of using any citation style they deem fit (mostly MLA with a few APA and CSE, more on that in a minute); summaries of the sources are supposed to be about 200-250 words each (other instructors may give guides in sentences); and I'm already seeing issues with quote integration.

The other issue that I am having is that 2 of my students are choosing to use CSE documentation style. This is not one that I have ever used and so we've been looking at the book together and hashing things out. Is anyone in the center comfortable with CSE or has anyone ever even used CSE style before? I'm hoping maybe I can recommend a tutor for them to go to while I'm out of town.