I apologize that it has been a while since I've posted. I must admit that I feel awkward dominating the blog with my posts, and so I held off for a little while.
Something great happened at the writing workshop in Weldin, though, and I wanted to share it with you all.
While I was helping a student with her essay, she actually turned to me to say how helpful the feedback was, and she wanted to know all about the writing center. It sounds like we've hooked another participant who might seek us out.
It was wonderful to hear, and it made me think that perhaps we could coordinate a little gypsy pack. We could schedule in-dorm write-a-thons that rotate through the dorms and spread the word of the writing center. It might be great P.R.
What do you think?
Jen
Monday, December 6, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tutor Jen vs. Teacher Jen
I always find it odd how different it is to be a teacher or a tutor. Sometimes, it feels like the same role. I've had a couple of sessions recently in which plagiarism came up, and I realized that my approach is entirely different when tutoring than it is with teaching.
When I teach, I try to inform my students about plagiarism thoroughly, devoting up to two class hours on discussing different types of plagiarism and ways to avoid them. I am stern and absolute, returning any work with any plagiarism until it is corrected, and I meet with students who are confused, to help them understand what must be addressed.
When I tutor, I know that the rules of plagiarism are the same, but what I do not know is how the instructor reviewed them, what the student should already know from the course, or how the instructor penalizes plagiarism. I'm not referring to stolen papers, but to plagiaphrasing, missing citations, and those other "accidental" plagiarisms that arise.
I find that, as a tutor, I am gentler. Rather than be intimidating about plagiarism and its consequences, I find myself giving polite cautionary suggestions. I do not know how many students take my advise when they revise their papers at home further.
Yet again, this is a rambling blog entry with no particular point, except that I am a little surprised at my own compartmentalization of roles, and I wonder if anyone else has noticed a divide like this in their own experiences.
When I teach, I try to inform my students about plagiarism thoroughly, devoting up to two class hours on discussing different types of plagiarism and ways to avoid them. I am stern and absolute, returning any work with any plagiarism until it is corrected, and I meet with students who are confused, to help them understand what must be addressed.
When I tutor, I know that the rules of plagiarism are the same, but what I do not know is how the instructor reviewed them, what the student should already know from the course, or how the instructor penalizes plagiarism. I'm not referring to stolen papers, but to plagiaphrasing, missing citations, and those other "accidental" plagiarisms that arise.
I find that, as a tutor, I am gentler. Rather than be intimidating about plagiarism and its consequences, I find myself giving polite cautionary suggestions. I do not know how many students take my advise when they revise their papers at home further.
Yet again, this is a rambling blog entry with no particular point, except that I am a little surprised at my own compartmentalization of roles, and I wonder if anyone else has noticed a divide like this in their own experiences.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tutoring thoughts of the day
I am surprised by how many students come to the writing center wanting grammar help, when their papers are fairly grammatically correct. I guess grammar's just that scary to most people. Even those of us who get it right most of the time stress out over the though that someone will assess our accuracy.
Many of the students I've seen have said they wanted grammar help, and then we quickly move to structure and content, instead, usually because those are the kinds of questions they have.
I wonder if it would help to change up the blue sheets to some manner of multiple choice (with the always-helpful, open-ended "other" as a final option, of course), to remind students that we can work on structure, thesis statements, cohesion, etc. Would categories like "narrative," "informational," "comparative," "analytical," "persuasive," etc., help them get more specific when describing their essays?
Many of the students I've seen have said they wanted grammar help, and then we quickly move to structure and content, instead, usually because those are the kinds of questions they have.
I wonder if it would help to change up the blue sheets to some manner of multiple choice (with the always-helpful, open-ended "other" as a final option, of course), to remind students that we can work on structure, thesis statements, cohesion, etc. Would categories like "narrative," "informational," "comparative," "analytical," "persuasive," etc., help them get more specific when describing their essays?
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
College Level Writing Collaborative
Two weeks ago, I went to a meeting of the College Level Writing Collaborative that was hosted at JWU's Harborside Campus. The goal of these meetings is for both upper-level high school instructors, and college writing instructors to meet and discuss how they (cumulatively and separately) help students become college writers.
We split into groups to hold round-table conversations, and the group I was in quickly began discussing templates and formulas for writing. While most of the high school instructors were required to use some manner of formula for their teaching, (i.e. write a topic sentence; then write three sentences that raise three examples; then write a closing sentence for the paragraph), many of them were unsatisfied with such rigidity in their instruction.
When we work with college writers, we sometimes see this kind of formulaic writing that lacks an overall sense of presence: a purpose or cohesion to a piece as a whole. I will admit that I've often taken the easy out and blamed it on high school instruction... but this became tougher to do once I heard high school teachers voice the same concerns that I've had.
Templates help beginning writers get a foothold on a concept, but they (eventually) need to see a "bigger picture." I guess that where I'm going with this is that, in the writing center, we have a unique opportunity to converse with writers. We are there as peers, as fellow writers, and so students are more comfortable telling us when they've written a certain way because they think it's an immutable rule, or because they were aiming for an effect. I suppose the whole experience of the meeting is making me re-think college and high-school instruction, and the ways that students are taught. I wish I had more of a handle on where my thoughts are going so that I could make an overt "point" with all of this, but all I can do at this time is mull it over.
Would any of you like to be added to the list-serv for the College Level Writing Collaborative? I think it would be interesting to have more writing center voices in the mix; (there was one college writing center head at the last meeting). The collaborative is really a fascinating concept, and the conversations are productive.
We split into groups to hold round-table conversations, and the group I was in quickly began discussing templates and formulas for writing. While most of the high school instructors were required to use some manner of formula for their teaching, (i.e. write a topic sentence; then write three sentences that raise three examples; then write a closing sentence for the paragraph), many of them were unsatisfied with such rigidity in their instruction.
When we work with college writers, we sometimes see this kind of formulaic writing that lacks an overall sense of presence: a purpose or cohesion to a piece as a whole. I will admit that I've often taken the easy out and blamed it on high school instruction... but this became tougher to do once I heard high school teachers voice the same concerns that I've had.
Templates help beginning writers get a foothold on a concept, but they (eventually) need to see a "bigger picture." I guess that where I'm going with this is that, in the writing center, we have a unique opportunity to converse with writers. We are there as peers, as fellow writers, and so students are more comfortable telling us when they've written a certain way because they think it's an immutable rule, or because they were aiming for an effect. I suppose the whole experience of the meeting is making me re-think college and high-school instruction, and the ways that students are taught. I wish I had more of a handle on where my thoughts are going so that I could make an overt "point" with all of this, but all I can do at this time is mull it over.
Would any of you like to be added to the list-serv for the College Level Writing Collaborative? I think it would be interesting to have more writing center voices in the mix; (there was one college writing center head at the last meeting). The collaborative is really a fascinating concept, and the conversations are productive.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Diggin' It
This semester I have seen a tutee by the surveilled name of ‘Maggie’. It was really awesome to see a tutee like this be engaged like she was. As a freshman, she has been completely engaged with me in fixing and working on her papers! She has come into the WC with her rough drafts that are in process up to a week before the due date! I mean seriously, how often does that happen!? At least for me, I consistently have students come in who have a paper due the next day--or even worse—the day of their appointment. ☹ That adds a lot of pressure to the tutor in the meeting, but also there is a lot of pressure being put back on the student in a 11th hour situation like that.
So far in the semester, there have been a lot of motivated tutees and I have not been getting any students who come in just for extra credit. Also, there seems to be a good flow that I have been feeling even if I have 4 or 5 tutees in a row. Needless to say, things are going well! Just thought I would check in and spread the good vibes!
So far in the semester, there have been a lot of motivated tutees and I have not been getting any students who come in just for extra credit. Also, there seems to be a good flow that I have been feeling even if I have 4 or 5 tutees in a row. Needless to say, things are going well! Just thought I would check in and spread the good vibes!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Harrington school bash: write-a-thon?
It looks like we're moving closer toward an end-of-semester event for Harrington School's first year students. I'm now in contact with a Residential Life staffer in Weldin Hall, where the Harrington living-learning community is located. Apparently, she has some resources to put on an event. So perhaps this could be some fun? I hope so.
Here's one idea I have been kicking around: a "write-a-thon." Everyone has trouble sitting down to draft papers and other assignments. So perhaps we could sponsor an event (with food) to get these students writing? After some opening remarks and some eating, we could set them to work, freewriting style. (Don't stop writing! If you have to stop, you must talk with a tutor!) Perhaps there could be prizes: for most words written, for most assignments fully drafted. It could be something like an athletic event for writers.
Comments? Guffaws? All feedback appreciated--
Here's one idea I have been kicking around: a "write-a-thon." Everyone has trouble sitting down to draft papers and other assignments. So perhaps we could sponsor an event (with food) to get these students writing? After some opening remarks and some eating, we could set them to work, freewriting style. (Don't stop writing! If you have to stop, you must talk with a tutor!) Perhaps there could be prizes: for most words written, for most assignments fully drafted. It could be something like an athletic event for writers.
Comments? Guffaws? All feedback appreciated--
Oh, the poster wall. . .
I really liked the idea of papering over the south wall of room 408 with posters, but I'm not sure how well its developing. In any case, I'm definitely tired of looking at that Korn poster. What should we do about the poster wall? Just tear them all down? Or do you all have more posters to contribute?
Thursday, September 30, 2010
I have been thinking about this fish tank in the writing center idea. I've freed up a 1-gallon bowl, and I've got enough extra plants, shrimp, and maybe even an extra tiny fish I could pop in there. What I don't have is an extra desk lamp. I was looking around the writing center, and I'm worried that the overhead lights alone won't be enough to keep the plants growing, and I was hoping to plant densely enough that I wouldn't need filtration (which would be hard to set up aesthetically in a 1-gallon bowl). Anyone have an extra desk lamp or reading light they could donate to this little project so that we can have a writing center fish mascot?
Getting more onto the topic of tutoring, there is definitely a difference when tutoring one of your own students. It is more difficult to encourage mutual participation when you are the one who gives the grades. My time on campus has been spreading a little thin, so I've been telling students they can also find me in the writing center, but I think I'll stop dropping those hints, and put more of a distinction between office visits and the writing center. I will keep encouraging both, but I'll stop mentioning that I'll be around the writing center now and again. Anyone have any tips for breaking down some of those teacherly barriers during writing center meetings?
Side Note: Did we ever find a way to mark some posts as visible to site participants only? I feel a little awkward discussing current tutees/students, even if I do stay abstract. I keep thinking that people will find posts that indirectly allude to them, and it makes me a little uncomfortable.
Getting more onto the topic of tutoring, there is definitely a difference when tutoring one of your own students. It is more difficult to encourage mutual participation when you are the one who gives the grades. My time on campus has been spreading a little thin, so I've been telling students they can also find me in the writing center, but I think I'll stop dropping those hints, and put more of a distinction between office visits and the writing center. I will keep encouraging both, but I'll stop mentioning that I'll be around the writing center now and again. Anyone have any tips for breaking down some of those teacherly barriers during writing center meetings?
Side Note: Did we ever find a way to mark some posts as visible to site participants only? I feel a little awkward discussing current tutees/students, even if I do stay abstract. I keep thinking that people will find posts that indirectly allude to them, and it makes me a little uncomfortable.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Starting the semester's tutoring
Monday was a great tutoring day. I was back to back, and the best part was that the students I met with had come in for very diverse reasons. I love that sessions can range from very directive help for a non-native speaker with great fluency to very holistic comments for a confident student whose draft is near completion.
Sometimes, we worry about how heterogeneous our students' are and how different their needs can be, but I think that's my favorite part of teaching/tutoring. Maybe I like the challenge, or maybe I just get bored easily, but the element of surprise and the constant change is one of the perks of our line of work as far as I'm concerned.
I wonder if other people feel this way. Am I "the odd man out," so to speak, for enjoying this aspect as much as I do? What does everyone else think about it?
Sometimes, we worry about how heterogeneous our students' are and how different their needs can be, but I think that's my favorite part of teaching/tutoring. Maybe I like the challenge, or maybe I just get bored easily, but the element of surprise and the constant change is one of the perks of our line of work as far as I'm concerned.
I wonder if other people feel this way. Am I "the odd man out," so to speak, for enjoying this aspect as much as I do? What does everyone else think about it?
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Graduate Writing Seminar this Friday, 12PM
I'll be moderating a panel presentation on graduate writing in the sciences this Friday (CBLS Atrium, 12-1 PM). Pizza will be provided.
URI researchers including Nancy Fey Yensen (Dean, HSS) and Scott McWilliams (Prof., CELS) will be talking about how they identify and communicate about "gaps" in research knowledge. Following the presentations, CELS graduate students and others will have the opportunity to ask questions of the panel.
This presentation begins a seminar series on graduate writing on the sciences. Seminars to follow will focus on writing literature reviews and working with references, among other topics.
I am thinking that this presentation will probably be useful for Writing Center tutors who would like to know more about science writing. I'd also like some tutors to attend to demonstrate the Writing Center's interest in supporting science writers.
URI researchers including Nancy Fey Yensen (Dean, HSS) and Scott McWilliams (Prof., CELS) will be talking about how they identify and communicate about "gaps" in research knowledge. Following the presentations, CELS graduate students and others will have the opportunity to ask questions of the panel.
This presentation begins a seminar series on graduate writing on the sciences. Seminars to follow will focus on writing literature reviews and working with references, among other topics.
I am thinking that this presentation will probably be useful for Writing Center tutors who would like to know more about science writing. I'd also like some tutors to attend to demonstrate the Writing Center's interest in supporting science writers.
Monday, September 20, 2010
its on!
So I just had to hop on and say how much fun it is to be tutoring again!
Unlike last year, I had tutees from my very first shift- both WRT 104 students working on narratives, both with full drafts. Is it something in the air this fall, or am a little mad to be perceiving everyone as just a little more excited and proactive? Even my own students have started using office hours, and I usually have to bribe and cajole them with eminent papers. I don't what it is, but its making my already sleep-deprived days feel more than bearable. Like :)
Anyway, hope you all have great first shifts, too, and looking forward to talking about North and Shamoon on Wednesday (two of my fav tutoring articles)!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Facebook page? Banner?
Writing Centers always have publicity problems, since everyone assumes that they are "fix-it shops" or "comma garages." Editing services, in other words.
In the case of our Writing Center, we also struggle with not being noticed. It's not clear, in other words, whether students think about us very frequently. (If they do, what do they think about us?)
In our staff orientation last Saturday, I thought we had some good ideas for addressing some of our publicity problems. If we want students to notice us, a Facebook site might be a good way to help that happen. Also, the idea to staff a table in the union (with a big ol' banner) is a good idea, too.
On Saturday, I set up our WCenter Facebook site. Now we just need to design the thing! (By design, I mean layout and text as well as some bigger questions: how do we want to use this tool? Do we really want our pictures up on the site? Will we be friends with it?)
This coming week, we should also start thinking in earnest about staffing a table in the Union. What do we want to do there? How do we want to appear? Perhaps the sign shop can make us a giant version of our sticker to display? Where are those stickers anyway?
Comments? Ideas? Please have your say--
In the case of our Writing Center, we also struggle with not being noticed. It's not clear, in other words, whether students think about us very frequently. (If they do, what do they think about us?)
In our staff orientation last Saturday, I thought we had some good ideas for addressing some of our publicity problems. If we want students to notice us, a Facebook site might be a good way to help that happen. Also, the idea to staff a table in the union (with a big ol' banner) is a good idea, too.
On Saturday, I set up our WCenter Facebook site. Now we just need to design the thing! (By design, I mean layout and text as well as some bigger questions: how do we want to use this tool? Do we really want our pictures up on the site? Will we be friends with it?)
This coming week, we should also start thinking in earnest about staffing a table in the Union. What do we want to do there? How do we want to appear? Perhaps the sign shop can make us a giant version of our sticker to display? Where are those stickers anyway?
Comments? Ideas? Please have your say--
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
See you tomorrow--
Roosevelt's 4th floor is quiet now, but it won't be for too long. Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow at our first 2010-2011 WCenter meeting--
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Observing Cathryn
I observed one Cathryn Molloy’s sessions. All semester it has been just the two of us on Fridays from ten to one. I always enjoy my time in the writing center with Cathryn. She always come in extremely perky and immediately makes me feel at home by asking if I want tea. She always wakes me up more than the coffee I am drinking.
Anyway, the session I observed was between her and a senior boy who was majoring Electrical Engineering. When she asked him what his paper was on her told her that it was about the economy. He informed her that his paper was “high stakes” and he needed her to do some intensive editing for him. He also told her to let him know if he needed to elaborate on any aspects of his paper. Cathryn explained that she would do her best because she did not have any background in the topic he was writing about.
Cathryn began reading his paper and immediately complimented him. She told him that he was brave to tackle such a complicated topic. After the compliment and positive reinforcement Cathryn began correcting his grammar. She told him to put a colon instead of a period and explained why he had to put the colon there; “a colon indicates a list.” Thus, she was teaching him how to utilize a colon for other papers as well; she was teaching not editing.
I observed how Cathryn phrased her sentences when tutoring to ensure that the student felt comfortable with her. For example, Cathryn used phrases like:
“Oh! this makes more sense to me”
“I think that’s what you meant here”
“this is interesting but I think you should clarify what you mean to the audience “
“Amazing”
“wow, so cool!”
“it’s really great how you give a term and define it!”
When the student’s session was over he seemed extremely happy with his session, a session that was filled with facilitative tutoring. This session exemplifies why Cathryn is an amazing tutor and teacher. Cathryn does more than just edit; she explains how and why the changes that are made are necessary. She also compliments the strong aspects of the paper, which makes the student more comfortable being critiqued on his or her weak moments.
I feel as if I am always subconsciously observing her sessions on Fridays. Cathryn is an outgoing, friendly, warm person. She is a natural born teacher and tutor. Her sessions appear effortless. I always feel inspired when I observe her and I am sure other tutors feel that same.
Anyway, the session I observed was between her and a senior boy who was majoring Electrical Engineering. When she asked him what his paper was on her told her that it was about the economy. He informed her that his paper was “high stakes” and he needed her to do some intensive editing for him. He also told her to let him know if he needed to elaborate on any aspects of his paper. Cathryn explained that she would do her best because she did not have any background in the topic he was writing about.
Cathryn began reading his paper and immediately complimented him. She told him that he was brave to tackle such a complicated topic. After the compliment and positive reinforcement Cathryn began correcting his grammar. She told him to put a colon instead of a period and explained why he had to put the colon there; “a colon indicates a list.” Thus, she was teaching him how to utilize a colon for other papers as well; she was teaching not editing.
I observed how Cathryn phrased her sentences when tutoring to ensure that the student felt comfortable with her. For example, Cathryn used phrases like:
“Oh! this makes more sense to me”
“I think that’s what you meant here”
“this is interesting but I think you should clarify what you mean to the audience “
“Amazing”
“wow, so cool!”
“it’s really great how you give a term and define it!”
When the student’s session was over he seemed extremely happy with his session, a session that was filled with facilitative tutoring. This session exemplifies why Cathryn is an amazing tutor and teacher. Cathryn does more than just edit; she explains how and why the changes that are made are necessary. She also compliments the strong aspects of the paper, which makes the student more comfortable being critiqued on his or her weak moments.
I feel as if I am always subconsciously observing her sessions on Fridays. Cathryn is an outgoing, friendly, warm person. She is a natural born teacher and tutor. Her sessions appear effortless. I always feel inspired when I observe her and I am sure other tutors feel that same.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Session observation
Last week I observed one of Meghan's sessions. Unfortunately for Meghan, it seemed to be such an agonizing session! The tutee just didn't seem to care at all, didn't voice any opinions, and was just completely indifferent and mostly silent. Meghan tried so hard to get him to talk! I admired how she used various methods and kept changing her tactic to try to get this tutee involved, but he just wasn't cooperating. Not that he was actively resistant -- he just didn't do anything.
He had an assignment to write a literary analysis paper and said that he didn't know where to start or how to write this kind of paper. He had brought the text he was supposed to analyze, so Meghan tried to get him involved by asking him questions about the text. She started with questions like "Why did you think the author decided to do that?" -- he didn't know -- and then she moved to more general questions like "Did you like this part?" -- and he still didn't know!
It seemed like Meghan was trying to come at the issue from so many different angles, trying to get the student engaged and trying to find something that would get him to express an opinion or even a little bit of interest, but he wasn't having it. She tried to move onto an even more general topic by asking him what books he liked, if there was anything he'd read in high school (he was a freshman) that interested him. He said he'd liked Brave New World, and Meghan asked him what he liked about it, what themes he saw in it. He said he didn't know... "I don't like to read."
At this point I was feeling so badly for Meghan because I think she's a great tutor and she was trying so hard to get this student involved! I felt like we were in Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" -- where Bartleby would say "I would prefer not to," this tutee said "I don't know."
Meghan moved on to give some suggestions to the student for how to start this kind of a paper, how to look for themes in a text. The student was a kinesiology major so Meghan even tried to apply literary analysis to his field, to get him interested, by saying that the sciences require logical thinking, which is also true of analyzing a text. Meghan showed the student how to access the reference databases to search for secondary sources, and encouraged him to read some scholarly essays about the text he had to analyze, to get ideas about what other people thought about this text. She encouraged him to come back to the writing center when he had a draft.
The student asked for a required visit slip and left. As he walked out I thought that I had possibly never seen a tutee so indifferent! Sure, I get some tutees who say they hate writing/reading, but at least they have an opinion. This student didn't want to express any opinions, really.
What to do with a tutee who is so completely ambivalent? I thought that Meghan's methods were great -- she tried really hard to find something that the student could connect to, something that would serve as a jumping-off point to get him talking. I feel that, in most cases, this would be a great method to use. It was unfortunate that this student wasn't responsive to it!
He had an assignment to write a literary analysis paper and said that he didn't know where to start or how to write this kind of paper. He had brought the text he was supposed to analyze, so Meghan tried to get him involved by asking him questions about the text. She started with questions like "Why did you think the author decided to do that?" -- he didn't know -- and then she moved to more general questions like "Did you like this part?" -- and he still didn't know!
It seemed like Meghan was trying to come at the issue from so many different angles, trying to get the student engaged and trying to find something that would get him to express an opinion or even a little bit of interest, but he wasn't having it. She tried to move onto an even more general topic by asking him what books he liked, if there was anything he'd read in high school (he was a freshman) that interested him. He said he'd liked Brave New World, and Meghan asked him what he liked about it, what themes he saw in it. He said he didn't know... "I don't like to read."
At this point I was feeling so badly for Meghan because I think she's a great tutor and she was trying so hard to get this student involved! I felt like we were in Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" -- where Bartleby would say "I would prefer not to," this tutee said "I don't know."
Meghan moved on to give some suggestions to the student for how to start this kind of a paper, how to look for themes in a text. The student was a kinesiology major so Meghan even tried to apply literary analysis to his field, to get him interested, by saying that the sciences require logical thinking, which is also true of analyzing a text. Meghan showed the student how to access the reference databases to search for secondary sources, and encouraged him to read some scholarly essays about the text he had to analyze, to get ideas about what other people thought about this text. She encouraged him to come back to the writing center when he had a draft.
The student asked for a required visit slip and left. As he walked out I thought that I had possibly never seen a tutee so indifferent! Sure, I get some tutees who say they hate writing/reading, but at least they have an opinion. This student didn't want to express any opinions, really.
What to do with a tutee who is so completely ambivalent? I thought that Meghan's methods were great -- she tried really hard to find something that the student could connect to, something that would serve as a jumping-off point to get him talking. I feel that, in most cases, this would be a great method to use. It was unfortunate that this student wasn't responsive to it!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A $20 Proposal
My last session of the day was filled with anxiety and plain old hyper-ness. For starters, my session before the last one went over about 5 minutes, and I rushed out to grab my next tutee, whom I will refer to as X. He was sprawled all over the waiting area like many tutees and the collection of all his possessions was like watching a juggling act. Turns out, that 5 minutes was excruciating for him and he almost left..part of me wishes that he had simply done so. X pushed the laptop towards me, thought thankfully not all the way in front of me, so at least he had that going for him. The assignment was unclear, he just directed me to sections of this large word doc at random; I am left with a pretty unclear vision of what he was even doing, but supposedly I really helped since that was a phrase that came out of his mouth every five minutes or so. I got a slightly creepy vibe from him from he very start, but on top of that, he was in a super hurry and was literally bouncing around, leaving me to feel like all I wanted to do was get him out of there. Unfortunately, it was also one of those instances where even though time is up, he just kept having one more question or one little section he wanted me to read. Why am I always a sucker for that "one more little thing"?
But the absolute best part of it all, after I finally answered all the little questions and could start packing up my own stuff, I was offered $20 to meet him in the library to go back over the whole thing with him later on. Hmmmm, let me think about that one. I said no if only because I couldn't handle anymore of his rush, rush, rush attitude. Though, after an hour has passed I do feel like I had a missed opportunity to take the money and reinvest it in some Indian food at the emporium for dinner, with enough left over to go get my eyebrows waxed.
In all seriousness, this offer did bring to mind all the times I've heard tutors talk about giving out their personal email addresses to tutees for further help and I can't help but wonder what types of extra burdens (maybe not so much burden, but ...) we place on ourselves because we feel connected to our tutees and really have this spirit of helpfulness. While it was easy to say no to X because I really just wanted to get away, those tutees who become a part of our community by coming in regularly are much harder to say no to.
But the absolute best part of it all, after I finally answered all the little questions and could start packing up my own stuff, I was offered $20 to meet him in the library to go back over the whole thing with him later on. Hmmmm, let me think about that one. I said no if only because I couldn't handle anymore of his rush, rush, rush attitude. Though, after an hour has passed I do feel like I had a missed opportunity to take the money and reinvest it in some Indian food at the emporium for dinner, with enough left over to go get my eyebrows waxed.
In all seriousness, this offer did bring to mind all the times I've heard tutors talk about giving out their personal email addresses to tutees for further help and I can't help but wonder what types of extra burdens (maybe not so much burden, but ...) we place on ourselves because we feel connected to our tutees and really have this spirit of helpfulness. While it was easy to say no to X because I really just wanted to get away, those tutees who become a part of our community by coming in regularly are much harder to say no to.
Friday, April 16, 2010
My Best Session of the Semester
On Tuesday, I had a student come in to work on a 10-minute English presentation. When we sat down and she began to talk about the assignment, her eyes welled up and she was on the verge of crying. Right then I knew I had to switch up my approach to something very laid back and confident.
We talked about the pressures of giving a presentation, and I gave her some tips on how I, a very shy student, overcame my fear of presentations. After that, we decided to start on the outline. I gave her the pen, but it didn't seem to be going as smooth as I expected, so I told her I would take notes while she went through a mock presentation.
It worked out great. She had notes to go off of in order to make her note cards, and she felt like she had a good understanding of the texts she was working with.
The best part is: I saw her yesterday, and she told me she received an "A".
We talked about the pressures of giving a presentation, and I gave her some tips on how I, a very shy student, overcame my fear of presentations. After that, we decided to start on the outline. I gave her the pen, but it didn't seem to be going as smooth as I expected, so I told her I would take notes while she went through a mock presentation.
It worked out great. She had notes to go off of in order to make her note cards, and she felt like she had a good understanding of the texts she was working with.
The best part is: I saw her yesterday, and she told me she received an "A".
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Observing Nikki
This past Tuesday Nikki and I were lucky enough to both have appointments at opposite times. While observing Nikki I noticed how energetic and friendly she was throughout the session. From the beginning the tutee, a freshman girl, was very quiet and unwilling to truly learn the points Nikki was making. However, Nikki was persistant and I really appreciated the tactics she was taking and being able to witness her tutoring take place. When the tutee walked in, Nikki sat down next to her but positioned her body so that they were face to face. She talked to the tutee as if they had been friends and used strategies that I use during my sessions as well. She makes the tutee read out loud and is very interactive with the paper. When Nikki asks questions, she gives the tutee plenty of time to think and revise on their own. There was one instance when the tutee didn't quite understand what the question was, Nikki casually rephrased the question and then went into further detail about the point she was trying to make. What I really liked about what Nikki did throughout the session was after the tutee had read a couple of sentences, Nikki would ask the tutee about it. This made the lethargic tutee have to participate and actually think about what she was putting into her essay. I thought this was extremely clever and effective for the tutee. Also, after the selected portion is read, Nikki summarizes what they just went over to make sure that the writer is getting across what is intended. Only making the tutee more involved in the session, whether she wanted to be or not. Overall, I thought the session was very successful and though the tutee could have been more willing Nikki handled herself, and the essay, with poise and enthusiasm, like any great tutor would.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Community and Food
The other day as I was walking to my car after yoga with a grumbling tummy, I found myself struck with memories from when I was an undergraduate student at SUNY Albany. I had been a part of the Women’s Studies Teaching Collective during my time there. As part of the Collective, I had the opportunity to aid in the development of an introductory course to feminisms (which we did as a group of 30) and then team teach the course (I taught with 2 other girls and we were overseen by a graduate student). It was a very unique experience not only because the department let undergrads teach other undergrads, but because so much of our time was spent building community. Our main source of community building was a series of monthly pot luck meetings outside of our regularly scheduled class periods. We rotated the location, sometimes meeting in someone’s apartment off campus, other times meeting in someone’s dorm room (this was reserved for those of us who lived in the larger apartment style dorms since the whole group of use with all of our various foods would never fit in a regular suite style room). The locations allowed us to relax and to get a glimpse of someone else’s real life , but I feel it was the food that really bonded us.
When we prepare food for others, we open up ourselves and offer a piece of us alongside a morsel. It is a gift of our time, our energy, and our affection. The dishes that appear at pot lucks can also tell a lot about the bringer/preparer. We tend to bring comfort foods, foods we are proud of, foods that remind us of our families and traditions. Even people who are too busy to make food, but who bring crackers and cheese or chips and dip expose a part of themselves – that they are busy and that these are the types of foods they gravitate towards, perhaps even as a comfort.
I can think of other instances as well that support a linkage between food and community. When my ex was working on Casey Farm, we would attend periodic pot lucks where all the local farmers, their families, and pets would bring veggies fresh from the pasture, meats that had grazed in their fields, oysters taken right out of the bay, and seasonal berries fresh picked only hours ago. There was the common element of the love of the Earth and the love of fresh foods, but it was the presenting of that food and the sharing of the meal that made conversation, music, and tomato tossing possible. And now, as a single lady looking to establish my own community in a state that is still very foreign to me, I’ve found a book club that comes complete with pot luck brunches once a month.
You may be asking by this point what the connection of food and community has to do with the Writing Center. Ideally, I would like to offer up the suggestion of a pot luck send off, a celebration of the time we have spent together and an offering of ourselves to the community we strive on a daily basis to shape and form. With such little time left and the chaos that the end of the semester brings, I’m not sure that it is even feasible to strive for such an event, so perhaps it is more of a suggestion for future orientations, as the community continues to grow and change, food can provide the catalyst to new conversations and opportunities.
But, as this idea has stewed, I also wanted to connect food and community to writing. In “Consuming Prose: The Delectable Rhetoric of Food Writing,” Lynn Bloom quotes food historian Massimo Montanari discussing food as a type of discourse:
"“Just as in verbal sentences, one or more protagonists,” the principal
foods, whether meat or grain dishes (equivalent to nouns), “are in the
center of the action,” accompanied—in their syntactic place—by appetizers,
side dishes, desserts.Condiments serve as the meal’s adjectives and adverbs.
“Food acquires full expressive capacity,” concludes Montanari, “thanks to the
rhetoric that in every language is its necessary complement. Rhetoric is the
adaptation of speech to the argument,to the effects one wants to arouse or
create. If the discourse is food, that means the way it is prepared, served,
and eaten”. "(Bloom 347)
So perhaps in preparing a dish for a pot luck, one is intrinsically creating a story about themselves. It may be an introduction of the self to a new community or it may be a reinforcement of who the individual is – especially when calling upon grandma’s famous apple pie recipe or traditional hot tamales!
You can take this as food for thought or let it marinate a bit as I did to come to a better grasp of what the presentation of food can mean for the presentation of self and the building of community. After all, when we define community as a group of people with some common interest or aspect, what greater commonality do we have than the need for food?
When we prepare food for others, we open up ourselves and offer a piece of us alongside a morsel. It is a gift of our time, our energy, and our affection. The dishes that appear at pot lucks can also tell a lot about the bringer/preparer. We tend to bring comfort foods, foods we are proud of, foods that remind us of our families and traditions. Even people who are too busy to make food, but who bring crackers and cheese or chips and dip expose a part of themselves – that they are busy and that these are the types of foods they gravitate towards, perhaps even as a comfort.
I can think of other instances as well that support a linkage between food and community. When my ex was working on Casey Farm, we would attend periodic pot lucks where all the local farmers, their families, and pets would bring veggies fresh from the pasture, meats that had grazed in their fields, oysters taken right out of the bay, and seasonal berries fresh picked only hours ago. There was the common element of the love of the Earth and the love of fresh foods, but it was the presenting of that food and the sharing of the meal that made conversation, music, and tomato tossing possible. And now, as a single lady looking to establish my own community in a state that is still very foreign to me, I’ve found a book club that comes complete with pot luck brunches once a month.
You may be asking by this point what the connection of food and community has to do with the Writing Center. Ideally, I would like to offer up the suggestion of a pot luck send off, a celebration of the time we have spent together and an offering of ourselves to the community we strive on a daily basis to shape and form. With such little time left and the chaos that the end of the semester brings, I’m not sure that it is even feasible to strive for such an event, so perhaps it is more of a suggestion for future orientations, as the community continues to grow and change, food can provide the catalyst to new conversations and opportunities.
But, as this idea has stewed, I also wanted to connect food and community to writing. In “Consuming Prose: The Delectable Rhetoric of Food Writing,” Lynn Bloom quotes food historian Massimo Montanari discussing food as a type of discourse:
"“Just as in verbal sentences, one or more protagonists,” the principal
foods, whether meat or grain dishes (equivalent to nouns), “are in the
center of the action,” accompanied—in their syntactic place—by appetizers,
side dishes, desserts.Condiments serve as the meal’s adjectives and adverbs.
“Food acquires full expressive capacity,” concludes Montanari, “thanks to the
rhetoric that in every language is its necessary complement. Rhetoric is the
adaptation of speech to the argument,to the effects one wants to arouse or
create. If the discourse is food, that means the way it is prepared, served,
and eaten”. "(Bloom 347)
So perhaps in preparing a dish for a pot luck, one is intrinsically creating a story about themselves. It may be an introduction of the self to a new community or it may be a reinforcement of who the individual is – especially when calling upon grandma’s famous apple pie recipe or traditional hot tamales!
You can take this as food for thought or let it marinate a bit as I did to come to a better grasp of what the presentation of food can mean for the presentation of self and the building of community. After all, when we define community as a group of people with some common interest or aspect, what greater commonality do we have than the need for food?
Thursday, April 8, 2010
(Re)envisioning Community: A Metanarrative
First, I would like to thank Stephen for not only providing an entry point into what could be a vibrant thread of conversation on this blog, but also for providing me, personally, a reason to refocus my energy towards this blog. While Stephen, in many ways, returned our attentions to a theme we have discussed often throughout this semester, I find it important to share my interpretation of the conversation that followed his entry, and some of the thoughts I have long mulled on but have yet put out for many of you to hear.
A recap of today's discussion: Today we discussed this blog: just one place where we enact our (micro?)community. We spoke of a "community of practice," a concept when have discussed at other times throughout the semester. After leaving the discussion, I felt (1) Invested in composing an entry (in the near-term) to this area where writing/community/reflective activity occurs (2) There was something odd about the seeming disconnection between our initial conversations of community, and those that followed regarding revision, editing, and proofreading. For example, we talked about how our perceptions of these concepts can differ from other constituencies (e.g. students and instructors) who are also (more and less active) members of the larger community in which we are situated. Moreover, Professor Dyehouse shared an opportunity to partake in a collaborative writing project with a member who is outside of our more immediate, university based, constituencies (e.g. peer tutors; writing center administrators; tuttees; faculty; AEC staff, etc.). I am beginning to wonder, then, what are the many ways "our" community comes together? Who do "we" (and, not) count as members of that community? And, what are our rationales for doing so? In other words, I am seeing our conversations about "revision" as directly interrelated with our conversations on community.
A recent thought: Almost three weeks ago, I attended a panel discussion at CCCC where Professor Hensley Owens discussed the some of the challenges of being a mother/academic. One point in particular has resonated with me since that time. She shared a story of presenting at another conference, with her newborn child in one of those shoulder carriers do-hickeys. In doing so, she provided a reflective look into her life as someone who inhabits (at least) two subjectivities (mother/academic). However, what I took as the more powerful aspects were that (1) she shared her vulnerabilities (the difficulties and complications of giving a presentation at an academic with a child attached to her hip literally), and said that while people sometimes think she makes "it look easy," occupying such a hybrid-role is nevertheless very taxing and very rewarding at times. (2) she shared so much with a large crowd, maybe of people she barely knew, but yet that she considered a community that she was nevertheless invested in.
A return to our discussion: Many of you, today, questioned what is community? You asked how do we define, and gauge what "good" or "valuable" communities are? You asked how do we perceive our roles for self and other in these communities in different ways? You shared. And, demonstrated that while we many of us hold different perspectives. we nevertheless seem to relate in amiable and happy ways. I know that I enjoy our time at 12 on Wednesdays: smiling faces, people who identify with some of the things I care about in life, people who are willing to consider, and reconsider, and than consider again a multitude of topics that are more and less "directly" linked to writing, and our roles as writing facilitators.
A thought on community: Community in the center, to me, is when I come in and say hi to the receptionist (I know all of their names, those that work during my time period). It is talking with them, getting to know a little bit about them-what they want to share, and what I want to share with them.
Another thought on community: Community in the center, to me, is knowing the faces of the regulars, and saying hi to them when they come in for a session, even when its not you.
Community etc: But the community I value most, perhaps, in the center are those moments when I am talking with others in actual physical space, in the fleeting moments where we are at some place together. Moments like when Cathryn asks if I want a cup of tea, and makes it for me; or, when, any of us are having a bad, horrible, no good day and we pause for a moment, and rally to help support one another by listening, exchanging strategies/tactics, and just showing that we a humans who care for one another. It is the moments when we realize that it is not just the material and economic products that matter in our work, but also ethical quality (in terms of how we form subjectivity not morals here) of how we approach such a process.
A recap of today's discussion: Today we discussed this blog: just one place where we enact our (micro?)community. We spoke of a "community of practice," a concept when have discussed at other times throughout the semester. After leaving the discussion, I felt (1) Invested in composing an entry (in the near-term) to this area where writing/community/reflective activity occurs (2) There was something odd about the seeming disconnection between our initial conversations of community, and those that followed regarding revision, editing, and proofreading. For example, we talked about how our perceptions of these concepts can differ from other constituencies (e.g. students and instructors) who are also (more and less active) members of the larger community in which we are situated. Moreover, Professor Dyehouse shared an opportunity to partake in a collaborative writing project with a member who is outside of our more immediate, university based, constituencies (e.g. peer tutors; writing center administrators; tuttees; faculty; AEC staff, etc.). I am beginning to wonder, then, what are the many ways "our" community comes together? Who do "we" (and, not) count as members of that community? And, what are our rationales for doing so? In other words, I am seeing our conversations about "revision" as directly interrelated with our conversations on community.
A recent thought: Almost three weeks ago, I attended a panel discussion at CCCC where Professor Hensley Owens discussed the some of the challenges of being a mother/academic. One point in particular has resonated with me since that time. She shared a story of presenting at another conference, with her newborn child in one of those shoulder carriers do-hickeys. In doing so, she provided a reflective look into her life as someone who inhabits (at least) two subjectivities (mother/academic). However, what I took as the more powerful aspects were that (1) she shared her vulnerabilities (the difficulties and complications of giving a presentation at an academic with a child attached to her hip literally), and said that while people sometimes think she makes "it look easy," occupying such a hybrid-role is nevertheless very taxing and very rewarding at times. (2) she shared so much with a large crowd, maybe of people she barely knew, but yet that she considered a community that she was nevertheless invested in.
A return to our discussion: Many of you, today, questioned what is community? You asked how do we define, and gauge what "good" or "valuable" communities are? You asked how do we perceive our roles for self and other in these communities in different ways? You shared. And, demonstrated that while we many of us hold different perspectives. we nevertheless seem to relate in amiable and happy ways. I know that I enjoy our time at 12 on Wednesdays: smiling faces, people who identify with some of the things I care about in life, people who are willing to consider, and reconsider, and than consider again a multitude of topics that are more and less "directly" linked to writing, and our roles as writing facilitators.
A thought on community: Community in the center, to me, is when I come in and say hi to the receptionist (I know all of their names, those that work during my time period). It is talking with them, getting to know a little bit about them-what they want to share, and what I want to share with them.
Another thought on community: Community in the center, to me, is knowing the faces of the regulars, and saying hi to them when they come in for a session, even when its not you.
Community etc: But the community I value most, perhaps, in the center are those moments when I am talking with others in actual physical space, in the fleeting moments where we are at some place together. Moments like when Cathryn asks if I want a cup of tea, and makes it for me; or, when, any of us are having a bad, horrible, no good day and we pause for a moment, and rally to help support one another by listening, exchanging strategies/tactics, and just showing that we a humans who care for one another. It is the moments when we realize that it is not just the material and economic products that matter in our work, but also ethical quality (in terms of how we form subjectivity not morals here) of how we approach such a process.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
The Writing Center Staff as a Community: Conceptual Limits
As a professional community with a common objective the WC staff functions very well. Our weekly meetings—however focused or unfocused they may seem—contribute greatly to each staff members’ ability to function as an effective tutor; facilitating each individual’s negotiation of his or her role within and relationship to the community. I would go so far as to say that even when we convene without a particular objective in mind, merely gathering, seeing each other, and listening to each others' ideas and anecdotes is a useful and beneficial routine.
Regarding the limitations one might discern when considering the WC staff as a communal entity, I believe these to be consistent with those of any other community. Individuals differ in their opinions, understandings, practices, and attitudes, but these differences are, ironically, essential in terms of a community’s health and ability to thrive. It is only when unwillingness on the part of community members to articulate their apprehensions or listen to those of others emerges that a community breaks down. When factions begin to form they inevitably do so with progressively isolationist momentum and the result is often disregard for concerns over what might be accomplished and how, in deference to what is problematic and why. Answers for the latter of these concerns is, of course, ready-made.
In order to conceive of the WC staff as a community I believe it is important for individuals to recognize themselves as such—in possession of unique attributes and goals that distinguish them from others—but perhaps more importantly, to remain mindful of others’ individuality, and to bear in mind that we needn’t be unanimous in our opinions in order to be a community; rather, we need to communicate our differences.
Regarding the limitations one might discern when considering the WC staff as a communal entity, I believe these to be consistent with those of any other community. Individuals differ in their opinions, understandings, practices, and attitudes, but these differences are, ironically, essential in terms of a community’s health and ability to thrive. It is only when unwillingness on the part of community members to articulate their apprehensions or listen to those of others emerges that a community breaks down. When factions begin to form they inevitably do so with progressively isolationist momentum and the result is often disregard for concerns over what might be accomplished and how, in deference to what is problematic and why. Answers for the latter of these concerns is, of course, ready-made.
In order to conceive of the WC staff as a community I believe it is important for individuals to recognize themselves as such—in possession of unique attributes and goals that distinguish them from others—but perhaps more importantly, to remain mindful of others’ individuality, and to bear in mind that we needn’t be unanimous in our opinions in order to be a community; rather, we need to communicate our differences.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Mihaela observes Tim L.
Mihaela:
Tim L. and I had a very “interesting” session for the peer-observation assignment (Tim tutored, I observed). The tutee, a senior with a lengthy project, had already met with someone on Monday, after a misunderstanding regarding her scheduled appointment had been resolved, but had not managed to complete reviewing the paper during that session. Thus, she had requested a one-hour appointment on Tuesday, but had been scheduled for 30 minutes with me (my last session) and 30 minutes with Tim (his first session). This raised the question of one-hour appointments again for me, and I realized that I am still not quite clear on whether tutees can be scheduled for a full hour upon request. Considering the scope of this particular project, it seemed to me that it would have been best had the tutee been able to meet with the same tutor again (especially since she had found the previous session productive), but she ended up meeting with me and with Tim instead. Basically (and this is purely my perspective), she was not looking for much more than editing help (and, since she was sick, Tim and I both chose to read out loud as opposed to asking her to read). In retrospect, perhaps this was not the most exciting or apposite session to observe, since “nothing” happened. But as I was thinking this on my way home afterwards, I also thought that perhaps this session was very much like many of our sessions and in that sense was the most appropriate to observe. I also wondered how much Tim’s tutoring was changed by my observing, and wished that I had sat at a table nearby which may (or may not) have allowed for a more organic dynamic, if I can call it that; but this is a question that you could address, Tim, if you feel like it.
Tim:
I honestly felt like the session was exactly how I would handle a session where a student wanted editing help, but was still there to work with me. I had told the tutee before the session started that I would not just simply edit her paper. She agreed that it would be good to work with me on this paper. And I felt like she really was working with me, and I wasn’t simply an editing service.
M:
We didn’t have time to discuss any of my observations because he had a session right after, and I had to leave (but this is perhaps something that other peer-observers should do—sign themselves up for the session right after observing). So, Tim and I decided that I will e-mail him my thoughts (this section of the post) and, once he enters his own, he can post it as our collaborative work. But, to get to my specific thoughts:
1. I have been on prior occasions in passing (my leaving and his starting a session) and was again this time impressed by the balance that Tim strikes instantaneously among soft-spokenness, confidence, alertness, and calmness. In thinking about it, it seems to me a very useful (conscious or unconscious) approach, because it allows access to an array of modes, one of which could be emphasized depending on the tutee and the situation without an abrupt change in attitude.
T:
Thank you Mihaela, that is a very nice compliment!
M:
2. Tim began the session with a few “small talk” questions, which made me think about my own session beginnings and that I rarely do this, when in certain situations it may be quite useful (let the tutee catch her/his breath so to speak).
T:
I find that the small talk helps to get the tutee in their own sort of comfortable situation, especially tutees that have not been to the writing center before. They become more apt to tell me their exact feelings on a paper, rather than just being quiet and general.
M:
3. He asked about goals, which I think is necessary pretty much always (unless the tutee has been to the Writing Center many times and starts the session by discussing goals her/himself), and this opened a brief exchange about editing. The student announced awareness of editing not being the Writing Center’s purpose, and I thought it was productive that Tim elaborated on this by making an explicative note on the difference between editing a paper and working on improving a paper. (It made me wonder if we should all contribute our definitions of this distinction to a collage that we could put up on one of the walls).
T:
Most of the time that I receive tutees that want a strictly editing session, I resort to these definitions of editing and working on a paper. I feel that explaining both definitions gets repetitive and we should probably get a poster in the writing center that states both. Although, this discussion does help a lot as far as clearing the air with editing goes.
M:
4. I especially liked that Tim paused over problematic sentences and allowing the tutee to take a stab at them first, asked for clarification on the ideas expressed, and explained most of the sentence-level suggestions that he was making. I find maintaining all three of these throughout a session to be crucial, if we are not to compromise our position on editing, even though (or because?) they take time and effort. It seems to me that these are also the most critical aspects in terms of the difference pointed out above, in 3 (and wouldn’t it be a clear indication of how a tutee really feels about editing versus working on their paper, if they are not listening or answer questions carefully, or are getting annoyed that it is taking much longer than they expected?).
T:
I find that working on all three fronts will show the student exactly where I am going with their pieces to the big puzzle. Smaller orders of concerns such as the three listed above seem to be most of what I am thinking about when tutoring. The higher orders of concerns such as the general idea of the paper, and the flow of the piece are in the back of my mind, as I feel that smaller order concerns really do affect the piece more than higher order concerns do, because if you didn’t have any small orders, there would not be any large order concerns.
M:
5. In addition, when the tutee seemed uncertain about a sentence revision suggestion, Tim pointed out that it is merely a suggestion, which I find a particularly useful technique for putting a slipping dynamic back on track.
I suppose that I could keep going, but this entry may get a bit too long…
T:
To me, this session seemed to be very routine. The tutee initially wanted me to edit her piece, but I was not going to let that happen. After explaining what us tutors do in the Writing Center, the tutee seemed to be more understanding of the ways in which this session would proceed. When this situation happens, many of times I get a hint that the students eventually lose interest in their small order concerns. However, I refuse to sit back and “edit” their work. It just isn’t right to let the student boss me over and take advantage of tutors as peer editors. It seems as many tutees come in with very high expectations, and leave with a mediocre result. Perhaps the tutees think that appointments are an hour and not simply a half an hour? Or tutees really do believe that we are an editing service…
Tim L. and I had a very “interesting” session for the peer-observation assignment (Tim tutored, I observed). The tutee, a senior with a lengthy project, had already met with someone on Monday, after a misunderstanding regarding her scheduled appointment had been resolved, but had not managed to complete reviewing the paper during that session. Thus, she had requested a one-hour appointment on Tuesday, but had been scheduled for 30 minutes with me (my last session) and 30 minutes with Tim (his first session). This raised the question of one-hour appointments again for me, and I realized that I am still not quite clear on whether tutees can be scheduled for a full hour upon request. Considering the scope of this particular project, it seemed to me that it would have been best had the tutee been able to meet with the same tutor again (especially since she had found the previous session productive), but she ended up meeting with me and with Tim instead. Basically (and this is purely my perspective), she was not looking for much more than editing help (and, since she was sick, Tim and I both chose to read out loud as opposed to asking her to read). In retrospect, perhaps this was not the most exciting or apposite session to observe, since “nothing” happened. But as I was thinking this on my way home afterwards, I also thought that perhaps this session was very much like many of our sessions and in that sense was the most appropriate to observe. I also wondered how much Tim’s tutoring was changed by my observing, and wished that I had sat at a table nearby which may (or may not) have allowed for a more organic dynamic, if I can call it that; but this is a question that you could address, Tim, if you feel like it.
Tim:
I honestly felt like the session was exactly how I would handle a session where a student wanted editing help, but was still there to work with me. I had told the tutee before the session started that I would not just simply edit her paper. She agreed that it would be good to work with me on this paper. And I felt like she really was working with me, and I wasn’t simply an editing service.
M:
We didn’t have time to discuss any of my observations because he had a session right after, and I had to leave (but this is perhaps something that other peer-observers should do—sign themselves up for the session right after observing). So, Tim and I decided that I will e-mail him my thoughts (this section of the post) and, once he enters his own, he can post it as our collaborative work. But, to get to my specific thoughts:
1. I have been on prior occasions in passing (my leaving and his starting a session) and was again this time impressed by the balance that Tim strikes instantaneously among soft-spokenness, confidence, alertness, and calmness. In thinking about it, it seems to me a very useful (conscious or unconscious) approach, because it allows access to an array of modes, one of which could be emphasized depending on the tutee and the situation without an abrupt change in attitude.
T:
Thank you Mihaela, that is a very nice compliment!
M:
2. Tim began the session with a few “small talk” questions, which made me think about my own session beginnings and that I rarely do this, when in certain situations it may be quite useful (let the tutee catch her/his breath so to speak).
T:
I find that the small talk helps to get the tutee in their own sort of comfortable situation, especially tutees that have not been to the writing center before. They become more apt to tell me their exact feelings on a paper, rather than just being quiet and general.
M:
3. He asked about goals, which I think is necessary pretty much always (unless the tutee has been to the Writing Center many times and starts the session by discussing goals her/himself), and this opened a brief exchange about editing. The student announced awareness of editing not being the Writing Center’s purpose, and I thought it was productive that Tim elaborated on this by making an explicative note on the difference between editing a paper and working on improving a paper. (It made me wonder if we should all contribute our definitions of this distinction to a collage that we could put up on one of the walls).
T:
Most of the time that I receive tutees that want a strictly editing session, I resort to these definitions of editing and working on a paper. I feel that explaining both definitions gets repetitive and we should probably get a poster in the writing center that states both. Although, this discussion does help a lot as far as clearing the air with editing goes.
M:
4. I especially liked that Tim paused over problematic sentences and allowing the tutee to take a stab at them first, asked for clarification on the ideas expressed, and explained most of the sentence-level suggestions that he was making. I find maintaining all three of these throughout a session to be crucial, if we are not to compromise our position on editing, even though (or because?) they take time and effort. It seems to me that these are also the most critical aspects in terms of the difference pointed out above, in 3 (and wouldn’t it be a clear indication of how a tutee really feels about editing versus working on their paper, if they are not listening or answer questions carefully, or are getting annoyed that it is taking much longer than they expected?).
T:
I find that working on all three fronts will show the student exactly where I am going with their pieces to the big puzzle. Smaller orders of concerns such as the three listed above seem to be most of what I am thinking about when tutoring. The higher orders of concerns such as the general idea of the paper, and the flow of the piece are in the back of my mind, as I feel that smaller order concerns really do affect the piece more than higher order concerns do, because if you didn’t have any small orders, there would not be any large order concerns.
M:
5. In addition, when the tutee seemed uncertain about a sentence revision suggestion, Tim pointed out that it is merely a suggestion, which I find a particularly useful technique for putting a slipping dynamic back on track.
I suppose that I could keep going, but this entry may get a bit too long…
T:
To me, this session seemed to be very routine. The tutee initially wanted me to edit her piece, but I was not going to let that happen. After explaining what us tutors do in the Writing Center, the tutee seemed to be more understanding of the ways in which this session would proceed. When this situation happens, many of times I get a hint that the students eventually lose interest in their small order concerns. However, I refuse to sit back and “edit” their work. It just isn’t right to let the student boss me over and take advantage of tutors as peer editors. It seems as many tutees come in with very high expectations, and leave with a mediocre result. Perhaps the tutees think that appointments are an hour and not simply a half an hour? Or tutees really do believe that we are an editing service…
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
A Few Observations...
Before the break began, I observed Katie Walsh tutoring a student who wanted help with her research paper. Before I get into the specifics of this particular session, I want to echo what Katie astutely points out in her most recent post: most of us regularly observe each other quite by accident.
I, for one, get restless in the writing center. If I don't have sessions, I tend to talk incessantly, to rearrange the chairs, to disinfect, to make fifteen cups of tea and to push them on anyone around--anything but tend to the "work" I usually have in my bag.
In the backdrop of these practices, I overhear many, many interesting sessions. In Katie's case, here are a few thoughts based on everyday eavesdropping and confirmed through formal observation:
1) Katie has a good number of repeats. I attribute this fact mostly to her strong efforts to relate to and to empathize with her tutees. Repeats are likely also to do with her consistent friendliness and to her skills as an active listener and as a gentle suggester. In fact, I covered one of her shifts last term, and when I "rowed out to meet my ship," the tutee was quite disappointed to see me and not Katie.
2) Katie usually sits more next to than across from her tutees. She also tends to talk with her tutee in a tone that would suggest a friendship that preceeds the meeting, though other information indicates that her tutees are not her friends, at least outside the center.
3) Like many of the tutors reading this post, Katie usually will give her tutees more than 30 minutes if she does not have other sessions scheduled.
4) She is, as most of you already know, a genuinely nice person. I've never seen her be short with or curt to her tutees. She laughs with them and tries to draw them out.
5) Through a casual back-and-forth, she is able to make the tutee feel like an informal conversation is unfolding. Other tutors probably notice, though, that she has an agenda; she is conveying some valuable information on effective writing practices for college writers.
Now, here are some notes from the actual and official observation of her session. I want to say, from the outset, that this session was a tough one. I think she hung in there and tried her best, but the student was not the easiest. This is not to say that the student was recalcitrant or even mildly unlpleasant; the tutee was neither. She was just a bit on the hard-to-figure-out side. Was she tired? Apathetic? I couldn't tell. Confused? What, specifically, did she want from the writing center/from Katie?
Tip: Katie and I have discovered that, if one tutors in the collaboration station room, then a peer can observe undetected from the desk just below the cut-out.
Note: Katie and I talked, afterward, about how this session might have gone better if the collaboration station had been working. It was in the computer hospital in the basement of the library, though, getting its mouth cleaned out with soap, or pepper put on its tongue or whatever the fitting punishment is for naughty computers who've uploaded a lot of porn. Aly, when is that "no porn, no flossing" sign going to be ready?
No more digressions. Here goes:
The tutee wanted help with her thesis statement, so Katie asks about the assignment. Although the tutee does not have an assignment sheet with her, she does try her best to explain the assignment. She seems overwhelmed. Katie asks if she is nervous about the paper. I noticed that Katie as very careful in her efforts to steer the tutee away from concern with the thesis statement and toward a focus on critical researching.
Katie commends the tutee's printed out search results from JStor, suggests a few other databases, and suggests a number of alternate search terms. She also tries to refine the thesis with the student and to get the tutee to clarify her thesis based on the research, but the tutee is reluctant. It seems that the professor has "approved" the thesis, so the tutee does not want to part with her original plan.
Katie is gentle in her approach here: she suggests alternatives, but she leaves the option to stick to the original thesis entirely up to the student. (The tutee wants to find articles that make a specific argument to do with families' incomes and the effects these have on children. Katie notices that the tutee has found more on "working mothers").
In keeping with her conversational style, Katie says things like "So, you know what your thesis statement is, right?" and "This source looks useful/less useful" and "Does any source strike you as the strongest?" "Can you tell me what the argument is in this one?" "If you are focusing on dual income families, then you should probably decide what you want to focus on within that topic."
During the bulk of the session, Katie is trying to slowly and carefully get the tutee to evaluate and to summarize sources, to create a manageable list of related and reputable articles, and to try to find books as well as articles (she strongly suggests the library). She also offers a sort of mini-lesson on evaluating sources.
All of the casual back and forth, I can tell, is deliberate on Katie's part. She is helping the tutee to discern central arguments and to evaluate the evidence used in the articles the student has collected--all through what sounds like a chat between two friends. She pulls this off through many, many casually phrased questions interspliced with expressions of empathy, understanding, and comradary. What is most impressive, to me, is her "hidden" agenda--to get the tutee to come to realize that her thesis is not going to work. It may not come to the tutee while she is sitting in the writing center, but I am sure she will have that epiphany if she continues to follow Katie's friendly advice on evaluating other writers' arguments/uses of evidence, etc.
Katie is a tutor I admire, and I am very glad that I got a chance to observe her. For all the other eavesdroppers out there: check her out!
I, for one, get restless in the writing center. If I don't have sessions, I tend to talk incessantly, to rearrange the chairs, to disinfect, to make fifteen cups of tea and to push them on anyone around--anything but tend to the "work" I usually have in my bag.
In the backdrop of these practices, I overhear many, many interesting sessions. In Katie's case, here are a few thoughts based on everyday eavesdropping and confirmed through formal observation:
1) Katie has a good number of repeats. I attribute this fact mostly to her strong efforts to relate to and to empathize with her tutees. Repeats are likely also to do with her consistent friendliness and to her skills as an active listener and as a gentle suggester. In fact, I covered one of her shifts last term, and when I "rowed out to meet my ship," the tutee was quite disappointed to see me and not Katie.
2) Katie usually sits more next to than across from her tutees. She also tends to talk with her tutee in a tone that would suggest a friendship that preceeds the meeting, though other information indicates that her tutees are not her friends, at least outside the center.
3) Like many of the tutors reading this post, Katie usually will give her tutees more than 30 minutes if she does not have other sessions scheduled.
4) She is, as most of you already know, a genuinely nice person. I've never seen her be short with or curt to her tutees. She laughs with them and tries to draw them out.
5) Through a casual back-and-forth, she is able to make the tutee feel like an informal conversation is unfolding. Other tutors probably notice, though, that she has an agenda; she is conveying some valuable information on effective writing practices for college writers.
Now, here are some notes from the actual and official observation of her session. I want to say, from the outset, that this session was a tough one. I think she hung in there and tried her best, but the student was not the easiest. This is not to say that the student was recalcitrant or even mildly unlpleasant; the tutee was neither. She was just a bit on the hard-to-figure-out side. Was she tired? Apathetic? I couldn't tell. Confused? What, specifically, did she want from the writing center/from Katie?
Tip: Katie and I have discovered that, if one tutors in the collaboration station room, then a peer can observe undetected from the desk just below the cut-out.
Note: Katie and I talked, afterward, about how this session might have gone better if the collaboration station had been working. It was in the computer hospital in the basement of the library, though, getting its mouth cleaned out with soap, or pepper put on its tongue or whatever the fitting punishment is for naughty computers who've uploaded a lot of porn. Aly, when is that "no porn, no flossing" sign going to be ready?
No more digressions. Here goes:
The tutee wanted help with her thesis statement, so Katie asks about the assignment. Although the tutee does not have an assignment sheet with her, she does try her best to explain the assignment. She seems overwhelmed. Katie asks if she is nervous about the paper. I noticed that Katie as very careful in her efforts to steer the tutee away from concern with the thesis statement and toward a focus on critical researching.
Katie commends the tutee's printed out search results from JStor, suggests a few other databases, and suggests a number of alternate search terms. She also tries to refine the thesis with the student and to get the tutee to clarify her thesis based on the research, but the tutee is reluctant. It seems that the professor has "approved" the thesis, so the tutee does not want to part with her original plan.
Katie is gentle in her approach here: she suggests alternatives, but she leaves the option to stick to the original thesis entirely up to the student. (The tutee wants to find articles that make a specific argument to do with families' incomes and the effects these have on children. Katie notices that the tutee has found more on "working mothers").
In keeping with her conversational style, Katie says things like "So, you know what your thesis statement is, right?" and "This source looks useful/less useful" and "Does any source strike you as the strongest?" "Can you tell me what the argument is in this one?" "If you are focusing on dual income families, then you should probably decide what you want to focus on within that topic."
During the bulk of the session, Katie is trying to slowly and carefully get the tutee to evaluate and to summarize sources, to create a manageable list of related and reputable articles, and to try to find books as well as articles (she strongly suggests the library). She also offers a sort of mini-lesson on evaluating sources.
All of the casual back and forth, I can tell, is deliberate on Katie's part. She is helping the tutee to discern central arguments and to evaluate the evidence used in the articles the student has collected--all through what sounds like a chat between two friends. She pulls this off through many, many casually phrased questions interspliced with expressions of empathy, understanding, and comradary. What is most impressive, to me, is her "hidden" agenda--to get the tutee to come to realize that her thesis is not going to work. It may not come to the tutee while she is sitting in the writing center, but I am sure she will have that epiphany if she continues to follow Katie's friendly advice on evaluating other writers' arguments/uses of evidence, etc.
Katie is a tutor I admire, and I am very glad that I got a chance to observe her. For all the other eavesdroppers out there: check her out!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Listening
We were asked to observe a fellow tutor in the writing center this semester. I found this funny because I am constantly observing other tutors. I observe without meaning to when I do not have a session of my own. Last semester I paid particular attention to fellow tutor’s sessions because I hoped to learn tips from them. Observation paid off, in my case. I would observe, and through observation, began to realize what aspects of their tutoring style I wanted to adapt myself. For example, I learned from observation that student’s tended to enjoy reading there papers aloud. I noticed that the students who were asked to read aloud were able to catch their own mistakes. This helped the students help themselves do something that perhaps they would not have done without guidance. It made the student feel that this paper was entirely their own because they caught the mistakes that they made. I feel that listening to other sessions is something that is unavoidable and beneficial.
What is the moral?
You can’t help but listen, and it helps you to listen.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
On a Mission for a Statement
At Wednesday's meeting, we discussed creating a mission statement for our writing center. Here is our current "statement":
"The Writing Center provides assistance to writers from across the University community. Offering a mix of appointment-based and walk-in tutoring appointments, the Writing Center also makes writing resources available to students and teachers on the Kingston campus. The Center employs as tutors both undergraduate and graduate students, who work with writers as a complement to their University studies.
Western Carolina University: They have a list of ethics which was kind of cool:
"The Writing Center provides assistance to writers from across the University community. Offering a mix of appointment-based and walk-in tutoring appointments, the Writing Center also makes writing resources available to students and teachers on the Kingston campus. The Center employs as tutors both undergraduate and graduate students, who work with writers as a complement to their University studies.
The Writing Center is also a research center. While working in the Writing Center, tutors may participate in research studies that add to knowledge about writing center practices. Research studies also provide a means for inquiring into broader problems in writing, rhetoric, and education. Graduate and undergraduate tutors have the opportunity to present at local and national writing center conferences and to publish their reflections and research."
As you can see, we need a mission statement. I've picked out some good example statements (in my opinion) from other colleges' writing centers:
Endicott College: "Tutors facilitate student-writers' own efforts and processes. They do not edit or do work for students. Instead, they encourage students to identify their own strengths and weaknesses and to understand how and why changes can be made." --We discussed this Wednesday, but I would like to repeat how Endicott states what their tutors do not do.Western Carolina University: They have a list of ethics which was kind of cool:
- "Tutors will not write papers for students or assume ownership of a student's paper or ideas.
- Tutors will not comment negatively to students about instructors' teaching methods, assignments, personalities, or grading policies.
- Tutors will honor the confidentiality of the tutoring relationship.
- Tutors will honor the professionalism and varied ability of fellow tutors, requesting assistance when necessary and offering assistance when invited to do so."
IUPUI University: "The University Writing Center is a free service available to all IUPUI students, faculty, and staff, at both the graduate and undergraduate level. If you are a student, staff, or faculty member, the Writing Center is a place where you can sit down with an experienced reader who will provide assistance with your writing. UWC tutors aid both experienced and inexperienced writers at all stages of the writing process, and in any discipline. Additionally, tutors can assist you with other writing-related projects such as resumes, scholarship letters, etc..." --I thought that this statement reflected our writing center well. And it really opens the center up and encourages its use, as its light language reflects.
Central Washington University: "They guide their peers toward communication that is effective in a global and diverse environment, during and after studying at Central." --Always thinking about the future!
I think that these are a few good examples of some of the things we may want to include. What are some other thoughts?
Central Washington University: "They guide their peers toward communication that is effective in a global and diverse environment, during and after studying at Central." --Always thinking about the future!
I think that these are a few good examples of some of the things we may want to include. What are some other thoughts?
Friday, February 26, 2010
Overwhelmed
I believe as Tim A. was writing his post on Wednesday, I was coming up with the same idea in mine.
Wednesday, the 24th, was two full hours of, “Can you edit this?” “Can you take a look and let me know what needs to be fixed?” “I’m not sure what we should work on, specifically.”
Not that I mind helping students out with their work, I however mind the word edit. The word edit, as defined by dictionary.com is “to supervise or direct the preparation of (a newspaper, magazine, book, etc.); serve as editor of; direct the editorial policies of.” I am NOT an editor. I am a tutor. The word tutor from dictionary.com is “a person employed to instruct another in some branch or branches of learning.” I am here to teach you about yourself as a writer and to help you progress with the English language as well as progress your use of rhetoric. If I were an editor, and all of us at the Writing Center were editors, this would be called the Editing Center.
Is there or should there be a preface to a session? Some sort of message that comes with booking an appointment that says something along the lines of “In order for tutee and tutor to work together, please work alongside your tutor and engage with your text as clearly as possible” or “Please come to your tutoring session prepared and ready to specifically state your exact wants/needs from a session (i.e. editing is not a specific enough qualification for a session).”
Maybe I’m stressed out because school is getting busy, or maybe I’m onto something here. That is something I would like to discuss with all of you. What are your thoughts on this matter? What do you do when students have nothing more to say than “Can you edit this?” Do all students (whether they say it or not) want a free edit? Is it wrong of me to want more substance than the process of editing?
Wednesday, the 24th, was two full hours of, “Can you edit this?” “Can you take a look and let me know what needs to be fixed?” “I’m not sure what we should work on, specifically.”
Not that I mind helping students out with their work, I however mind the word edit. The word edit, as defined by dictionary.com is “to supervise or direct the preparation of (a newspaper, magazine, book, etc.); serve as editor of; direct the editorial policies of.” I am NOT an editor. I am a tutor. The word tutor from dictionary.com is “a person employed to instruct another in some branch or branches of learning.” I am here to teach you about yourself as a writer and to help you progress with the English language as well as progress your use of rhetoric. If I were an editor, and all of us at the Writing Center were editors, this would be called the Editing Center.
Is there or should there be a preface to a session? Some sort of message that comes with booking an appointment that says something along the lines of “In order for tutee and tutor to work together, please work alongside your tutor and engage with your text as clearly as possible” or “Please come to your tutoring session prepared and ready to specifically state your exact wants/needs from a session (i.e. editing is not a specific enough qualification for a session).”
Maybe I’m stressed out because school is getting busy, or maybe I’m onto something here. That is something I would like to discuss with all of you. What are your thoughts on this matter? What do you do when students have nothing more to say than “Can you edit this?” Do all students (whether they say it or not) want a free edit? Is it wrong of me to want more substance than the process of editing?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Session: Session Redux
During two shifts this week I worked with the same graduate student. Like other graduate students, he had come in for help with an pretty extensive document (20+ pages). After greeting the student (for the first session), I asked the student what they wished to work on within the 30 minute block. The student responded by telling me that they "didn't have a lot of time" and the student would just leave the document here with me and pick it up the next day.
I attempted to explain that that is not how we do writing tutoring here. The student than said well "can you just edit what you can now" and I'll come back and pick it up. Again, I tried to explain that that was not something I was "going to do," but I would work through the document to help the student learn a couple of effective ways to performing editing. For instance, reading the document aloud to another person who identities, in turn, areas where the prose "doesn't sound right." The student responded that, that technique wouldn't work because 1) the document needed to be finished quickly because the student didn't have time 2) the student didn't know anyone who would do that with and for the student. I responded that, I, would work with the student to do this, and passed the document to the student who decided it would a good time to try to "strong arm me" into editing the document. We spent the next 25 minutes recircling the issue that the student 1) didn't have time 2) it would just be "easier" if I did it for the student. Certainly, the student was pragmatic, in a sense. The student was right, it would be "easier" if I did it for the student, but then the student would never learn how to performing editing or correct the grammatical and mechanical mistakes that were in the essay independently. aka the give a person a fish, and they will eat for a day; teach a person to fish, and they will eat for their life.
Ultimately, I ended up explaining that if the student wanted to speak with the director of the writing center I would certainly put the student in contact with the director. The student said "no," I just need this done. So, I did the next best thing I could think of, I encouraged the student to return to revisit this conversation.
The student did return the very next day. And, to my disappointment the student brought the same attitude: I give the paper to you; you do the work for me. Thinking about the conversations today (i.e. the dynamic on giving and who is doing the giving) I now am beginning to think this is an interesting inversion of the power-differential. [Fissure for reflective pause.] And, splicing both Foucault's theorizations of power relations (specifically that which surrounds reverse discourse) and Freire's pedagogy of critical-praxis for dialogic interaction, I have come to a certain ethical stance I tend to take towards how I hope power relations might function.
[Brief explanation 1: "power relations"-(oversimplification for brevity) are created, maintained, and revised through discourse (I tend to define discourse broadly as what Burke calls "symbolic action" but basically for me it assumes both of the conscious and less conscious purposeful actions we engage in everyday. aka rhetoric.]
[Brief explanation 2: "reverse discourse"-is that which are more and less complete inverses in the way that the power-relations flows through the ways "subjects" are positioned vis-a-vis discourse (aka tutors give tutorial support; tuttees receive tutorial support reverses to tutees give directives; tutors do what tutees say).]
[Brief explanation 3: "dialogic interaction"-is the active product of a process that works to level power-relations by proactively involving participants as subjects in an action and decision making]
[Brief explanation 4: These are really big ideas, and I'm trying my best to be inclusive to all of the members of our community]
So, essentially, this is my ethical stance: I don't want the tuttee to be the "object" to my "subjective gaze"; nor, do I want to be the "object" of the student's "subjective gaze. Instead, of approaching power relations as unidirectional, which Foucault certainly theorizes they are not; I assume that they can be made, if parties come open and willing to take up the work of "dialogue," multidirectional. Aka, not falling into reverse discourse. Freire really makes that point that the "oppressed" need to be vigilant to not "reverse" the situation for those that once did the "oppressing" i.e. simply reverse the dynamic so that really there is no substantive change 1 party always assumes the subjective position and the other the object position in the model of giving and receiving. [But, I also acknowledge and realize that there are still the historical material and institutional differentials that exist before, during, and after a WC session transpires]. Ultimately, I don't want to appropriate a student's place within this contact space; nor, do I wish to be appropriated in a reverse fashion. What I want to do, and made slight headway towards, during the second session I had with this student is enacting a type of exchange that is neither to (I appropriate the tuttees place), nor for (the tuttee appropriates my place), rather with (we inhabit our places in a common and negotiated dialogue): perhaps the "textual" product does not improve, but it is my hope that the "ethical" product does or may.
At the end of the 2nd session, all I am sure of is two things: 1) The student learned there is a difficulty in their use of articles; 2) If the student wants to work with me to do the work of learning, addressing, and talking about how articles function, I will be here.
At the end of all of this, all I am sure of is three things: 1) I have appropriated a space that is not entirely mine with an ethical stance which is mine; 2) This is a contradiction to the ethical stance I have enacted; 3) I am comfortable with that because of the weird paradoxical sense it makes given the reasons I have outlined.
I attempted to explain that that is not how we do writing tutoring here. The student than said well "can you just edit what you can now" and I'll come back and pick it up. Again, I tried to explain that that was not something I was "going to do," but I would work through the document to help the student learn a couple of effective ways to performing editing. For instance, reading the document aloud to another person who identities, in turn, areas where the prose "doesn't sound right." The student responded that, that technique wouldn't work because 1) the document needed to be finished quickly because the student didn't have time 2) the student didn't know anyone who would do that with and for the student. I responded that, I, would work with the student to do this, and passed the document to the student who decided it would a good time to try to "strong arm me" into editing the document. We spent the next 25 minutes recircling the issue that the student 1) didn't have time 2) it would just be "easier" if I did it for the student. Certainly, the student was pragmatic, in a sense. The student was right, it would be "easier" if I did it for the student, but then the student would never learn how to performing editing or correct the grammatical and mechanical mistakes that were in the essay independently. aka the give a person a fish, and they will eat for a day; teach a person to fish, and they will eat for their life.
Ultimately, I ended up explaining that if the student wanted to speak with the director of the writing center I would certainly put the student in contact with the director. The student said "no," I just need this done. So, I did the next best thing I could think of, I encouraged the student to return to revisit this conversation.
The student did return the very next day. And, to my disappointment the student brought the same attitude: I give the paper to you; you do the work for me. Thinking about the conversations today (i.e. the dynamic on giving and who is doing the giving) I now am beginning to think this is an interesting inversion of the power-differential. [Fissure for reflective pause.] And, splicing both Foucault's theorizations of power relations (specifically that which surrounds reverse discourse) and Freire's pedagogy of critical-praxis for dialogic interaction, I have come to a certain ethical stance I tend to take towards how I hope power relations might function.
[Brief explanation 1: "power relations"-(oversimplification for brevity) are created, maintained, and revised through discourse (I tend to define discourse broadly as what Burke calls "symbolic action" but basically for me it assumes both of the conscious and less conscious purposeful actions we engage in everyday. aka rhetoric.]
[Brief explanation 2: "reverse discourse"-is that which are more and less complete inverses in the way that the power-relations flows through the ways "subjects" are positioned vis-a-vis discourse (aka tutors give tutorial support; tuttees receive tutorial support reverses to tutees give directives; tutors do what tutees say).]
[Brief explanation 3: "dialogic interaction"-is the active product of a process that works to level power-relations by proactively involving participants as subjects in an action and decision making]
[Brief explanation 4: These are really big ideas, and I'm trying my best to be inclusive to all of the members of our community]
So, essentially, this is my ethical stance: I don't want the tuttee to be the "object" to my "subjective gaze"; nor, do I want to be the "object" of the student's "subjective gaze. Instead, of approaching power relations as unidirectional, which Foucault certainly theorizes they are not; I assume that they can be made, if parties come open and willing to take up the work of "dialogue," multidirectional. Aka, not falling into reverse discourse. Freire really makes that point that the "oppressed" need to be vigilant to not "reverse" the situation for those that once did the "oppressing" i.e. simply reverse the dynamic so that really there is no substantive change 1 party always assumes the subjective position and the other the object position in the model of giving and receiving. [But, I also acknowledge and realize that there are still the historical material and institutional differentials that exist before, during, and after a WC session transpires]. Ultimately, I don't want to appropriate a student's place within this contact space; nor, do I wish to be appropriated in a reverse fashion. What I want to do, and made slight headway towards, during the second session I had with this student is enacting a type of exchange that is neither to (I appropriate the tuttees place), nor for (the tuttee appropriates my place), rather with (we inhabit our places in a common and negotiated dialogue): perhaps the "textual" product does not improve, but it is my hope that the "ethical" product does or may.
At the end of the 2nd session, all I am sure of is two things: 1) The student learned there is a difficulty in their use of articles; 2) If the student wants to work with me to do the work of learning, addressing, and talking about how articles function, I will be here.
At the end of all of this, all I am sure of is three things: 1) I have appropriated a space that is not entirely mine with an ethical stance which is mine; 2) This is a contradiction to the ethical stance I have enacted; 3) I am comfortable with that because of the weird paradoxical sense it makes given the reasons I have outlined.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Whiteness
Below I have taken the liberty of copying and pasting sections from a review of the book that a few years back introduced me to "whiteness theory." I had taken a Harlem Renaissance course by then and read W.E.B. DuBois among others, but David Roediger presented something I had not thought about at all.
Here there are, a few fragments by Faron Levesque (Smith College):
"In _The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class_ (1991), David Roediger writes that 'Even in an all-white town, race was never absent. I learned absolutely no lore of my German ancestry and no more than a few meaningless snatches of Irish songs, but missed little of racist folklore.'
By questioning why the main body of white, Marxist work has 'neutralized' whiteness and over-simplified race in the United States, Roediger concentrates the thematic structure of his sweeping analysis from this point of contention. The idea of 'profiting' socially, psychologically, and economically, from the 'wages of whiteness' is taken from the fundamental theory of W.E.B. Dubois. Emphasizing that even though white working classes earned low wages, Roediger asserts that their compensation went beyond the monetary to include a public and psychological wage. Moreover, 'Status and privileges conferred by race could be used to make up for alienating and exploitative class relationships, North and South. White workers could, and did, define and accept their class positions by fashioning identities as not slaves and as not Blacks.’
Within the historical legacy of racial invention, Roediger superimposes a constrained lens to question the evolving, technological operations of racial mechanisms amidst the objects of industry, folklore, humor, song, and language used to build an insidious racial hierarchy with ultimate staying power."
I decided to include these sections in my post because they capture the gist of that which altered the way that I think about race--my race--but also raise the problem of defining oneself as non-, or rather being the background against which others are made visible. They, like some points in Cathryn's post, also reverberate the blurry line (or so it seems to me) between reinforcing and redefining, or about how to change language, how to abandon stagnating words and categories in order to create new ones. I keep thinking about a professor's point with regard to attitudes such as racism, sexism, homophobia in the class room, namely not to engage them in a reasoned argument because that would validate them as equal or legitimate perspectives.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Racism and other everyday practices
Last week, I read Native American author Sherman Alexie's poem "On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City" with a small group of students. In the poem, Alexie describes an everyday experience--he's on a train, and a white woman across from him "points out the window past [him]" in order to identify all of the "history" in the landscape. Alexie means, of course, for the word "past" to carry particular salience. She fails to see him; she can only see past him. Hers is likely a scene she's played out with countless other social actors who've played this same scene, too, with others, and so on. Her intentions are at least benign, and maybe they are even good. That is why Alexie decides to buy her an orange juice from the snack car instead of telling her off.
In response to the poem, one student relayed a commonplace reaction to this kind of text -- "It doesn't sit well with me," he said, "when minorities act like all white people are racists. I am not a racist at all."
What does a racist look like? What does he sound like?
As the EWC authors demonstrate in their chapter on everyday racism, "racism" is a particularly hard-to-pin-down bit of ideology. It is insidious, amorphous--it is like the fog lingering and moving all over the place in T.S. Elliot's London. It stands in drains. It moves around a house somewhere only to curl up and fall asleep. It moves and stretches and changes density, but it does not necessarily ever dissolve. It is yellow and thick and dirty and unpleasant. It sits stagnant and it flares up in fits and starts. The world that makes it can't will it away by simply turning its back on it and failing to own up to it.
The student's response, in other words, (and let me say here that this is a particularly thoughtful and open student--the sort of student who regularly lights up with depth-filled epiphanies) has to do with an outdated way of thinking about racism and hate--one that considers "racism" a visitor in the world, something that's visited us and caught us unawares and one that we long ago voted off the island. This way of thinking does not allow for the possibility that well-intentioned, ordinary, and everyday men and women made this beast through everyday practices and that everyday practices might, therefore, be the channels through which it survives, or even thrives.
One might have thought, at one time, moreover, that a "racist" was a person who committed some kind of overtly hateful and ill-intentioned act (or series of actions). His lexicon would have included any number of head-turning obscenities. This was never really real, but it was a nice idea. This way of thinking was entirely practical, and it still is.
It is a way of containing a staining and relentless social problem under the protective cover of a bell jar. This way of thinking about racism, though, has allowed the everyday practices that give some folks a boost and others a hard push down to proliferate unquestioned. It makes sense--I like to hang on to lies that make me feel safe, even when I know they are lies through and through somewhere in my head. Some of them only harm me, though, so maybe I am alright with keeping these or letting them go as I please.
Fog. It lingers and it infects and you can't touch it because it is everywhere and it is nowhere.
The woman on Alexie's Amtrak train is reproducing a time-honored set of social niceties. She's ruminating to a captive audience -- the stranger on the train. She's stringing together any number of cliches that fall, generally, under the "things one says on a train to a stranger" rubric. What is the harm, really?
These exchanges, though, are practices produced and reproduced in the context of deeply racist institutions. And institutions are not born out of the ether by some evasive higher power, are they? Nor are they the result of some evildoers working all on their own.
While the writing center is an institutional entity, it is also a sort of bastard child of the academy. It can afford, maybe, more than other entities, to transgress in various ways. What does this mean?
We are all "implicated" in a "power structure" that socializes us into "raced identities," which "are used to determine, categorize, evaluate, sort, promote, or reject us," and are the result of "the vast array of systems and institutions through which our social, political, intellectual, and spiritual lives are conditioned" (95). This is not, in other words, an issue we can opt out of because we are complicit in its operations every day in the everyday ways we do being people.
This is not the kind of issue one can simply say one does not participate in...it's a real thing in the world in which we live. We can no more escape it than we can escape the universe. So, now what?
The authors of the EWC are mindful of this rather icky milieu. They know the world is not going to be able to go through the 12 steps to "recover." One cannot pluck the fibers from their being they'd rather not know about and toss them to the wreckage pile. So, in an artful weaving together of a possibility-- a community in which humility reigns supreme and where participants linger in tensions and in unknowns -- they present the writing center community with a particular challenge--one that I can't fit into a neat little quip to end this piece even if I wanted very badly to do so. It would be easier, it would make me feel pretty good about myself, and it would satisfy. Instead, I'll have to end with a hope--that you'll want to go soot-hunting with me.
In response to the poem, one student relayed a commonplace reaction to this kind of text -- "It doesn't sit well with me," he said, "when minorities act like all white people are racists. I am not a racist at all."
What does a racist look like? What does he sound like?
As the EWC authors demonstrate in their chapter on everyday racism, "racism" is a particularly hard-to-pin-down bit of ideology. It is insidious, amorphous--it is like the fog lingering and moving all over the place in T.S. Elliot's London. It stands in drains. It moves around a house somewhere only to curl up and fall asleep. It moves and stretches and changes density, but it does not necessarily ever dissolve. It is yellow and thick and dirty and unpleasant. It sits stagnant and it flares up in fits and starts. The world that makes it can't will it away by simply turning its back on it and failing to own up to it.
The student's response, in other words, (and let me say here that this is a particularly thoughtful and open student--the sort of student who regularly lights up with depth-filled epiphanies) has to do with an outdated way of thinking about racism and hate--one that considers "racism" a visitor in the world, something that's visited us and caught us unawares and one that we long ago voted off the island. This way of thinking does not allow for the possibility that well-intentioned, ordinary, and everyday men and women made this beast through everyday practices and that everyday practices might, therefore, be the channels through which it survives, or even thrives.
One might have thought, at one time, moreover, that a "racist" was a person who committed some kind of overtly hateful and ill-intentioned act (or series of actions). His lexicon would have included any number of head-turning obscenities. This was never really real, but it was a nice idea. This way of thinking was entirely practical, and it still is.
It is a way of containing a staining and relentless social problem under the protective cover of a bell jar. This way of thinking about racism, though, has allowed the everyday practices that give some folks a boost and others a hard push down to proliferate unquestioned. It makes sense--I like to hang on to lies that make me feel safe, even when I know they are lies through and through somewhere in my head. Some of them only harm me, though, so maybe I am alright with keeping these or letting them go as I please.
Fog. It lingers and it infects and you can't touch it because it is everywhere and it is nowhere.
The woman on Alexie's Amtrak train is reproducing a time-honored set of social niceties. She's ruminating to a captive audience -- the stranger on the train. She's stringing together any number of cliches that fall, generally, under the "things one says on a train to a stranger" rubric. What is the harm, really?
These exchanges, though, are practices produced and reproduced in the context of deeply racist institutions. And institutions are not born out of the ether by some evasive higher power, are they? Nor are they the result of some evildoers working all on their own.
While the writing center is an institutional entity, it is also a sort of bastard child of the academy. It can afford, maybe, more than other entities, to transgress in various ways. What does this mean?
We are all "implicated" in a "power structure" that socializes us into "raced identities," which "are used to determine, categorize, evaluate, sort, promote, or reject us," and are the result of "the vast array of systems and institutions through which our social, political, intellectual, and spiritual lives are conditioned" (95). This is not, in other words, an issue we can opt out of because we are complicit in its operations every day in the everyday ways we do being people.
This is not the kind of issue one can simply say one does not participate in...it's a real thing in the world in which we live. We can no more escape it than we can escape the universe. So, now what?
The authors of the EWC are mindful of this rather icky milieu. They know the world is not going to be able to go through the 12 steps to "recover." One cannot pluck the fibers from their being they'd rather not know about and toss them to the wreckage pile. So, in an artful weaving together of a possibility-- a community in which humility reigns supreme and where participants linger in tensions and in unknowns -- they present the writing center community with a particular challenge--one that I can't fit into a neat little quip to end this piece even if I wanted very badly to do so. It would be easier, it would make me feel pretty good about myself, and it would satisfy. Instead, I'll have to end with a hope--that you'll want to go soot-hunting with me.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Meghan's 'stare fest'
AMANDA:
Okay so I just observed Meghan tutoring and it was....different? Her monotone tutee did not have much to say other than the topic 'drugs'. Granted that's what his projects were about but every other word? I heard Meghan trying to get more out of him and to try and get him to elaborate on his thoughts but he really didn't do that.
Along with his blank stares and lack of communication, I believe something was accomplished; the start of a repeat tutee! He was practically in lust with her! He obviously didn't have much to say or much to ask questions about but he kept the session going as long as he could. He seemed pretty content with his side-by-side one-ended stare fest.
MEG:
It's true. His interest did not seem to be with an upcoming paper ("Project 4") that we were brainstorming for. It wasn't due until May, but hey, it's nice to get a head start. (Even though "Project 2" is due next week and hasn't been started...) He spoke slowly and in circles. No matter what questions I came up with, he didn't have an answer other than "drugs."
"What is your paper about?"
"Drugs."
"Which ones?"
"Drugs in general."
It was exhausting. His thesis was too broad (Drugs are good and bad.) and he wasn't interested in narrowing it down. Therefore, the question becomes: "What do I do now?" It is difficult to engage a tutee who is just not interested...in their writing. However, that is not my job. As a tutor, I am here to help those who want to be helped.
So, I simply said, "Well, it looks like you have a good start," and I stood up. Men.
Okay so I just observed Meghan tutoring and it was....different? Her monotone tutee did not have much to say other than the topic 'drugs'. Granted that's what his projects were about but every other word? I heard Meghan trying to get more out of him and to try and get him to elaborate on his thoughts but he really didn't do that.
Along with his blank stares and lack of communication, I believe something was accomplished; the start of a repeat tutee! He was practically in lust with her! He obviously didn't have much to say or much to ask questions about but he kept the session going as long as he could. He seemed pretty content with his side-by-side one-ended stare fest.
MEG:
It's true. His interest did not seem to be with an upcoming paper ("Project 4") that we were brainstorming for. It wasn't due until May, but hey, it's nice to get a head start. (Even though "Project 2" is due next week and hasn't been started...) He spoke slowly and in circles. No matter what questions I came up with, he didn't have an answer other than "drugs."
"What is your paper about?"
"Drugs."
"Which ones?"
"Drugs in general."
It was exhausting. His thesis was too broad (Drugs are good and bad.) and he wasn't interested in narrowing it down. Therefore, the question becomes: "What do I do now?" It is difficult to engage a tutee who is just not interested...in their writing. However, that is not my job. As a tutor, I am here to help those who want to be helped.
So, I simply said, "Well, it looks like you have a good start," and I stood up. Men.
Labels and themes
When the staff created the URI WCenter blog last spring, we brainstormed a number of types of posts. Here's the list (with explanations as needed):
announcements
assignments - descriptions of common writing projects
diversity - posts on the theme of diversity
events - like announcements?
idea bucket - creative ideas for tutoring strategies
images
kvetch - complaints about work in the Center
proposal - policy change ideas
resources - online (and other) tutoring resources
Use these designations to "label" your posts, if you like. Or just look down the list to help you invent something to post.
Commenters: can we think up some other themes for posts? Give it a try.
announcements
assignments - descriptions of common writing projects
diversity - posts on the theme of diversity
events - like announcements?
idea bucket - creative ideas for tutoring strategies
images
kvetch - complaints about work in the Center
proposal - policy change ideas
resources - online (and other) tutoring resources
Use these designations to "label" your posts, if you like. Or just look down the list to help you invent something to post.
Commenters: can we think up some other themes for posts? Give it a try.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Up and Running...And Already Blogging?
Yes, I find that the first day of tutoring presented me with quite a few calls to write. The first thing I should point out here is that I began my shift disconcerted; I was suprised to learn that my four available appointments were booked solid on my first shift for the term. I thought, I suppose, that I might ease my way into the tutoring semester, but no such luck. I hope that these impresssions aren't tainted with that mood, but they likely are--just a quick preamble/disclaimer...
I was surprised to learn that my first tutee was a professor--a visiting professor from another country. I asked what he wanted to work on during the session, and he said he wanted to talk about how the writing center could help him with langauge and with writing.
No problem, I thought--I have this down: we let writers set the agenda; we work on specific writing-related issues and/or on particular pieces of writing; we, at times, help writers identify patterns in their own writing, etc.
However, when I finished this longish monologue detailing practices, he just sort of stared at me blankly. Picture: every facial feature completely still, posture titled slightly to the side (is he bored?), legs crossed, silent. Hmm...I wondered if he thought I was pausing, so I pretended that I had merely been pausing and I continued talking. However, my structure fell apart and I was just sort of spouting off little bits of information I could think of and asking random questions in a stream-of-consciousness sort of way; he started to look a little bewildred, so I slowed down and tried to be as relevant as possible...I told him about a former writing tutor we used to have; "She is fluent in Arabic," I told him with a knowing smile. "It is too bad she isn't here anymore."
Then his eyebrows forrowed and he tilted his head to the side. "I am already fluent in Arabic. Already I can speak and write Arabic."
I tried to say that I had known that and that I meant that perhaps she'd have made a good tutor for him due to this shared langauge background, but I suppose I see now how that doesn't actually make perfect sense.
After this conversation, he (remarkably) asked if he could make a running appointment with me -- twice a week, and could he have my email address.
I said yes to the appointments, so we'll see how it goes. It will, hopefully, be less awkward when there is writing between us.
The next session was fairly unremarkable -- a literature review in need of a better structural/organizational design, but I think the tutee looked vaguely upset by the end. I can't pinpoint why, and I am hoping that the upset was more overwhlem with her own work and not to do with aggressive tutoring.
The last session, though, was perhaps as unusal as the first. The tutee told me he is a PhD student working on a seminar paper and that his professor told him he needed to get writing help. The draft was thick, so I suggested he tell me which section he'd most want to work on. His reply: "I can email you the rest, what you don't get to today."
My reply, in brief: "No, thank you."
I told him we'd start at the beginning and we'd see how far we could get. I could see why his professor wanted him to get help; the essay was confusingly written, and he had a very strange variation on the subjunctive that manifest itself as a series of misplaced and badly executed "woulds." He seemed to want very much to question my grammar/mechanics knowledge. Every time I suggested a sentence-level change, he sort of grunted/commented on the fact that it was like that for a reason that was clearly over my head (it was not)...since this was the end of a strange shift, I very nearly told him that I am the product of 17 years of catholic education.
That's right, nuns. Sister Marie Therese with her "Jerry" books--her beloved 9th grade grammar books...my friend, one day, threw them out the window of our 3rd floor English classroom before she made her way down the hall and into the door; she looked for them on the shelf where they were usually kept, and she looked completely dejected to find them gone. It would be like me without the Longman's chart on transitional devices.
She was not red in the face and screaming the way she'd have been if someone were to talk while sentence diagrams unfolded in perfectly slanted cursive writing on the blackboard. No. She was silent and expressionless, and something in her stillness told me she was too overwhelmed to be angry per say. She made him go to the lawn to collect them. She did not even call the Christian brother who was our disciplinarian and resident ass grabber. We watched out of those small, rectangular windows as he tried to stay ahead of the wind blowing them out onto the highway. The books landed on our desks crumpled. We sharpened our pencils.
I ended this session by using a rather loud and emphatic tone and telling him to look up the subjunctive mood in a handbook, to (no one will be surprised here) see a transitional devices chart, to move certain parts around, to cut down on repetitions I could point out, and then to come back. Finally, finally he started to give me the impression that he thought I just might know something about writing effectively. That made me very glad in a perverse and mean-spirited sort of way, and he should be equally glad that I did not throw his essay out the window.
I was surprised to learn that my first tutee was a professor--a visiting professor from another country. I asked what he wanted to work on during the session, and he said he wanted to talk about how the writing center could help him with langauge and with writing.
No problem, I thought--I have this down: we let writers set the agenda; we work on specific writing-related issues and/or on particular pieces of writing; we, at times, help writers identify patterns in their own writing, etc.
However, when I finished this longish monologue detailing practices, he just sort of stared at me blankly. Picture: every facial feature completely still, posture titled slightly to the side (is he bored?), legs crossed, silent. Hmm...I wondered if he thought I was pausing, so I pretended that I had merely been pausing and I continued talking. However, my structure fell apart and I was just sort of spouting off little bits of information I could think of and asking random questions in a stream-of-consciousness sort of way; he started to look a little bewildred, so I slowed down and tried to be as relevant as possible...I told him about a former writing tutor we used to have; "She is fluent in Arabic," I told him with a knowing smile. "It is too bad she isn't here anymore."
Then his eyebrows forrowed and he tilted his head to the side. "I am already fluent in Arabic. Already I can speak and write Arabic."
I tried to say that I had known that and that I meant that perhaps she'd have made a good tutor for him due to this shared langauge background, but I suppose I see now how that doesn't actually make perfect sense.
After this conversation, he (remarkably) asked if he could make a running appointment with me -- twice a week, and could he have my email address.
I said yes to the appointments, so we'll see how it goes. It will, hopefully, be less awkward when there is writing between us.
The next session was fairly unremarkable -- a literature review in need of a better structural/organizational design, but I think the tutee looked vaguely upset by the end. I can't pinpoint why, and I am hoping that the upset was more overwhlem with her own work and not to do with aggressive tutoring.
The last session, though, was perhaps as unusal as the first. The tutee told me he is a PhD student working on a seminar paper and that his professor told him he needed to get writing help. The draft was thick, so I suggested he tell me which section he'd most want to work on. His reply: "I can email you the rest, what you don't get to today."
My reply, in brief: "No, thank you."
I told him we'd start at the beginning and we'd see how far we could get. I could see why his professor wanted him to get help; the essay was confusingly written, and he had a very strange variation on the subjunctive that manifest itself as a series of misplaced and badly executed "woulds." He seemed to want very much to question my grammar/mechanics knowledge. Every time I suggested a sentence-level change, he sort of grunted/commented on the fact that it was like that for a reason that was clearly over my head (it was not)...since this was the end of a strange shift, I very nearly told him that I am the product of 17 years of catholic education.
That's right, nuns. Sister Marie Therese with her "Jerry" books--her beloved 9th grade grammar books...my friend, one day, threw them out the window of our 3rd floor English classroom before she made her way down the hall and into the door; she looked for them on the shelf where they were usually kept, and she looked completely dejected to find them gone. It would be like me without the Longman's chart on transitional devices.
She was not red in the face and screaming the way she'd have been if someone were to talk while sentence diagrams unfolded in perfectly slanted cursive writing on the blackboard. No. She was silent and expressionless, and something in her stillness told me she was too overwhelmed to be angry per say. She made him go to the lawn to collect them. She did not even call the Christian brother who was our disciplinarian and resident ass grabber. We watched out of those small, rectangular windows as he tried to stay ahead of the wind blowing them out onto the highway. The books landed on our desks crumpled. We sharpened our pencils.
I ended this session by using a rather loud and emphatic tone and telling him to look up the subjunctive mood in a handbook, to (no one will be surprised here) see a transitional devices chart, to move certain parts around, to cut down on repetitions I could point out, and then to come back. Finally, finally he started to give me the impression that he thought I just might know something about writing effectively. That made me very glad in a perverse and mean-spirited sort of way, and he should be equally glad that I did not throw his essay out the window.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Orientation readings
Welcome back! Here are the readings for our orientation this Saturday (to be held from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM in the WCenter):
1. An excerpt from Barbara Ehrenreich's book, Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America
2. one of Ehrenreich's blog posts on "Rich Get Poorer, Poor Disappear"
We'll discuss these at orientation, but feel free to comment on them here--
1. An excerpt from Barbara Ehrenreich's book, Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America
2. one of Ehrenreich's blog posts on "Rich Get Poorer, Poor Disappear"
We'll discuss these at orientation, but feel free to comment on them here--
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