Dealing with a sick tutee is hard. Now that the swine flu has pretty much scared everyone, when someone comes into the Writing Center with a cough, box of tissues, nasal spray, and/or hand sanitizer your first reaction is to stay clear from he/she. It is our first intuition to move away from someone who's coughing or sneezing but, when in the Writing Center, moving away from a tutee can be offensive. Even though you are scared of the tutee's contagious cold/flu, we have to be kind and considerate of the tutee and his or her condition. After all, they came in for your help.
Today, I encountered a situation like this today. My tutee was sick and warned me from the start by stating he had 'flu like symptoms.' I wanted to line the table with Clorox wipes and place the hand sanitizer on the table but I thought that would scare the tutee away by not making him feel welcomed.(I am using sarcasm here--I'm not that mean) But what I decided to do was to make him feel comfortable and provided him with tissues, helped him with his work and distanced myself a little more than I usually do when working with a tutee. The session only lasted 15 minutes because he didn't feel well and just wanted to get an understanding of the assignment so after he left I cleaned.
The session was successful even though I was nervous the entire time. I thought, if I sanitize myself and the table we were working at--it will all be fine.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Open Mic Tonight
There is an Open Mic tonight!
When: Today, Monday October 5th from 8PM-Midnight
Where: The 193 Coffeehouse in the Memorial Union
Who: A number of poets, singers, songwriters and other URI students will be in attendance. I know last spring's graduate-level Academy of American Poets winner will be performing (and he is fabulous).
The 193 has delicious coffee and it is a really neat space. I, unfortunately, do not think I will be able to attend (bogged down with reading). I hope some of us attend and can let the rest of us know what it was like!
Happy tutoring, folks - see you Wednesday.
When: Today, Monday October 5th from 8PM-Midnight
Where: The 193 Coffeehouse in the Memorial Union
Who: A number of poets, singers, songwriters and other URI students will be in attendance. I know last spring's graduate-level Academy of American Poets winner will be performing (and he is fabulous).
The 193 has delicious coffee and it is a really neat space. I, unfortunately, do not think I will be able to attend (bogged down with reading). I hope some of us attend and can let the rest of us know what it was like!
Happy tutoring, folks - see you Wednesday.
I can be a bad student too...
Whenever I professors or tutors talk about writing, they always seem to emphasize starting in advance, doing multiple drafts, lots of peer review...etc. And it's fine to say all that. But sometimes...like this weekend...I feel really hypocritical. I had to go to a wedding in Ohio over the weekend, so I got no homework done. I have an essay due today...yeah, it's not written. Is it completely horrible that I can't do what I tell other students to do, like start early and plan and write it way before it's due? I remember WRT 353, where several of the other tutors-in-training said they never write project until the day or night or even morning before it's due. How can we do that but say other things?
This has been on my mind for a while, especially whenever we talk about a community of practice. I often don't write unless it's for a class, and even then I'm really good at procrastinating. Could we perhaps use the community to encourage each other to break these habits? Just some of my thoughts...
This has been on my mind for a while, especially whenever we talk about a community of practice. I often don't write unless it's for a class, and even then I'm really good at procrastinating. Could we perhaps use the community to encourage each other to break these habits? Just some of my thoughts...
Saturday, October 3, 2009
WRT 106ers and the Annotated Bib
I've been attempting to lure my students into the writing center as we've been working on the annotated bibliography. The thing is, I am getting ready to leave for a conference (10/7-10/11) and I want to make sure that they know where they can turn for help when I am not physically here.
So, in order to prepare y'all in the event of my students actually getting off their butts and up to the 4th floor of Roosevelt, here are the basics: they need 8-10 usable sources for their research project in the final annotated bib; they have the option of using any citation style they deem fit (mostly MLA with a few APA and CSE, more on that in a minute); summaries of the sources are supposed to be about 200-250 words each (other instructors may give guides in sentences); and I'm already seeing issues with quote integration.
The other issue that I am having is that 2 of my students are choosing to use CSE documentation style. This is not one that I have ever used and so we've been looking at the book together and hashing things out. Is anyone in the center comfortable with CSE or has anyone ever even used CSE style before? I'm hoping maybe I can recommend a tutor for them to go to while I'm out of town.
So, in order to prepare y'all in the event of my students actually getting off their butts and up to the 4th floor of Roosevelt, here are the basics: they need 8-10 usable sources for their research project in the final annotated bib; they have the option of using any citation style they deem fit (mostly MLA with a few APA and CSE, more on that in a minute); summaries of the sources are supposed to be about 200-250 words each (other instructors may give guides in sentences); and I'm already seeing issues with quote integration.
The other issue that I am having is that 2 of my students are choosing to use CSE documentation style. This is not one that I have ever used and so we've been looking at the book together and hashing things out. Is anyone in the center comfortable with CSE or has anyone ever even used CSE style before? I'm hoping maybe I can recommend a tutor for them to go to while I'm out of town.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
A Personal First in the WCenter: A Teary-Eyed Tutee
I had plenty of jokes last semester about how I'd never be able to effectively handle a crying writer in the WCenter; yesterday's 3:00PM appointment proved me wrong. Wholly out of necessity (and a general sense of been-there-too-female-kinship) I confronted my fear of crying tutees.
I shipped out to reception to meet my tutee, a freshman girl working on her arguable claim paper. When I walked in, she was sitting very still with black-blue card in hand, staring at the floor - undoubtedly, something was up. Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, I introduced myself in my most up-beat voice and shook her hand. We walked back to the center, where she told me she was concerned her evidence wasn't strong enough (only personal accounts) to support her overall claim (URI should not cram 3 students into 2-person dorm rooms). She was also concerned she was not going to meet the five page length requirement. During her summary of concerns, I was compiling a list of new evidence she could explore - but did not want to overload her with suggestions. Therefore, I asked when her due date was ("tomorrow") and what she had planned for tonight.
And so it happened: as she informed me she had a soccer game but wasn't going to go... she broke down in tears. She continued on, explaining that her boyfriend had called her while she was sitting in reception and dumped her. It was heartbreaking!
What happened next I was wholly unprepared for: ...I didn't freak. Nor did I stutter, become wildly uncomfortable, or run for the hills as I've jokingly predicted during Wednesday meetings. Instead, I offered her a cup of tea (she declined) and said: "Well, I have a few neat suggestions for new evidence for your claim - how do you feel about getting right into this paper as a distraction from him for the evening?" She loved the idea and we got to work.
She ended up searching for psychological studies regarding the "trio-is-detrimental" theory and ultimately interviewed me (I once lived in a triple on campus) as another piece of evidence. After hitting the Longman for how to cite an interview, Sarah and Katie arrived and she also discussed her evidence with them - Katie provided some particularly helpful evidence in her interview.
I was particularly happy Sarah and Katie came in when they did; my tutee had just finished telling me how her two roommates don't like her, and now her boyfriend dumps her out of the blue via telephone - she couldn't catch a break! I think the collective, "team-work" vibe Sarah, Katie and I achieved was really productive for the tutee, not only as a writer but as a student trying to make it through her first semester.
I shipped out to reception to meet my tutee, a freshman girl working on her arguable claim paper. When I walked in, she was sitting very still with black-blue card in hand, staring at the floor - undoubtedly, something was up. Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, I introduced myself in my most up-beat voice and shook her hand. We walked back to the center, where she told me she was concerned her evidence wasn't strong enough (only personal accounts) to support her overall claim (URI should not cram 3 students into 2-person dorm rooms). She was also concerned she was not going to meet the five page length requirement. During her summary of concerns, I was compiling a list of new evidence she could explore - but did not want to overload her with suggestions. Therefore, I asked when her due date was ("tomorrow") and what she had planned for tonight.
And so it happened: as she informed me she had a soccer game but wasn't going to go... she broke down in tears. She continued on, explaining that her boyfriend had called her while she was sitting in reception and dumped her. It was heartbreaking!
What happened next I was wholly unprepared for: ...I didn't freak. Nor did I stutter, become wildly uncomfortable, or run for the hills as I've jokingly predicted during Wednesday meetings. Instead, I offered her a cup of tea (she declined) and said: "Well, I have a few neat suggestions for new evidence for your claim - how do you feel about getting right into this paper as a distraction from him for the evening?" She loved the idea and we got to work.
She ended up searching for psychological studies regarding the "trio-is-detrimental" theory and ultimately interviewed me (I once lived in a triple on campus) as another piece of evidence. After hitting the Longman for how to cite an interview, Sarah and Katie arrived and she also discussed her evidence with them - Katie provided some particularly helpful evidence in her interview.
I was particularly happy Sarah and Katie came in when they did; my tutee had just finished telling me how her two roommates don't like her, and now her boyfriend dumps her out of the blue via telephone - she couldn't catch a break! I think the collective, "team-work" vibe Sarah, Katie and I achieved was really productive for the tutee, not only as a writer but as a student trying to make it through her first semester.
WRT 383 Project 1
So I've been in contact with Claudine from the RIC Writing Center the past few days, and I've arranged a time to go observe one of the tutors there in a couple of weeks. Two points:
1. I don't have a car, so if someone would like to tag along with me who does, that would be great. I'm supposed to go Monday October 19th at 12 p.m. If you do want to go then, just make sure you mention it to Claudine...
2. I mentioned in my last email to her that several other people will probably be contacting her soon, so she said she'll talk to her tutors and see what other times she can fit us in.
That said, do any of you have specific ideas you will be looking for when you go to observe, or are you just going to watch and then see what develops? Would you rather watch one tutor several times to see how they adapt to different situations or watch a couple tutors once each to see different styles?
1. I don't have a car, so if someone would like to tag along with me who does, that would be great. I'm supposed to go Monday October 19th at 12 p.m. If you do want to go then, just make sure you mention it to Claudine...
2. I mentioned in my last email to her that several other people will probably be contacting her soon, so she said she'll talk to her tutors and see what other times she can fit us in.
That said, do any of you have specific ideas you will be looking for when you go to observe, or are you just going to watch and then see what develops? Would you rather watch one tutor several times to see how they adapt to different situations or watch a couple tutors once each to see different styles?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Creative Writing & The Writing Center (OR: CW in the WC)
Jeremiah's discussion about fixing prose errors jump-started my thinking wheels today:
Since I began tutoring in the WCenter last spring, I've been asked a countless number of times whether or not creative writing projects are appropriate texts to bring to tutors on the 4th floor. For a while, I didn't know how to answer: I knew a few of tutors that had felt blindsided by a student with a prose poem or piece of short fiction and didn't want to encourage this uncomfortable situation - and, in turn, didn't encourage the creative writer.
Tutors can rightly feel a little off-kilter when a tutee comes in with a creative text; we each have a genre of two that makes us feel less-than-at-ease when it hits the tutoring table. I imagine a piece of fiction feels for some the same way I feel when a graduate Chemical Engineering student comes into a session with a lab report and tons of detailed diagrams. This uneasiness or unfamiliarity with creative texts/sessions is justified even more by the wide range of genres classified under "creative writing:" From poetry, to prose poetry, to fiction, to creative non-fiction, to song lyrics, to vignettes, to novel chapters, to short stories, to the Avaunt Gard I won't even attempt to classify -- who can keep up with it all?
The fact of the matter is no one is expected to know it all, but just as we proudly possess a working understanding of MLA, APA and Chicago style or have a general sense for what a lab report is 'supposed' to look like, we as tutors may want to expand a bit more and gather a general, working knowledge of the popular creative writing genres. I know this may seem daunting - it certainly does to me, but I feel we owe it to this wide base of URI writers to give it a shot. To visually imagine this shift into CW, envision a ven-diagram with circles representing each of the types of writing we tutor frequently (WRT1-- papers, business writing texts, communications and psych papers, nursing reports). Now picture another circle entering the over-lapping mix - one representative of just yet another realm of writing we'll have basic understanding of (CW). This circle may, say, be faded in color to represent that we don't encounter it as frequently as we do other types of texts - but nevertheless it has a place in the diagram.
Furthermore, I know many of the tutors in the center this semester are personally interested in creative writing, so I feel this may be the URIWCenter's kairotic moment to broaden our joint, WCenter horizon. Of course, partaking in the any of the creative writing discourse communities personally and tutoring a writer from one - even if you're completely familiar with it - are definitely two different things. Sure, an understanding of poetry is definitely going to help a tutor out during a session with a poet - but writing/reading poetry and tutoring a poet are separate endeavors, just as writing an essay and tutoring a student about writing an essay are not identical situations. Like with any writing, the creative writer's process may differ from yours, his or her personal belief about the art may be diametrically opposed to your own, etc. In short: Tutoring creative writing will definitely be eased/facilitated by one's prior knowledge of the subject, but either way we're definitely going to need some outside advice to really get into this successfully.
It is here that things get tricky. I've been researching for a better part of this afternoon and can report with confidence (and disappointment) that there is little scholarship regarding creative writing and writing centers. I did discover that many centers that frequently tutoring writing have a separate Creative Writing Center - schools including Middlebury and Umass conduct business in this manner. I personally do not favor this approach; I like the idea of a WCenter that tackles it all - to the best of their ability. I believe this atmosphere creates a great cohesion - a center that is working to work together with others to discover the answers that do not come easily to them. I also discovered some minimal scholarship, including a powerpoint presentation regarding the topic from Purdue and a large case study documenting tutors' feelings regarding creative writing entitled Tutor Attitudes Towards Tutoring Creative Writing in Writing Centers. Neither of the texts answer all of my questions about tutoring creative writing, nor do they raise any other particularly exciting ones. Nevertheless, they are worth a glance. (Note: The second article is super-tutor based in its findings, fyi.)
I will keep researching this topic in the future. I'm curious how you guys feel about getting a little cozier and intimate with creative writing - please comment and let me know! I know there are plenty of URI creative writers who would be thrilled to know they have a place to get some advice on their work.
Since I began tutoring in the WCenter last spring, I've been asked a countless number of times whether or not creative writing projects are appropriate texts to bring to tutors on the 4th floor. For a while, I didn't know how to answer: I knew a few of tutors that had felt blindsided by a student with a prose poem or piece of short fiction and didn't want to encourage this uncomfortable situation - and, in turn, didn't encourage the creative writer.
Tutors can rightly feel a little off-kilter when a tutee comes in with a creative text; we each have a genre of two that makes us feel less-than-at-ease when it hits the tutoring table. I imagine a piece of fiction feels for some the same way I feel when a graduate Chemical Engineering student comes into a session with a lab report and tons of detailed diagrams. This uneasiness or unfamiliarity with creative texts/sessions is justified even more by the wide range of genres classified under "creative writing:" From poetry, to prose poetry, to fiction, to creative non-fiction, to song lyrics, to vignettes, to novel chapters, to short stories, to the Avaunt Gard I won't even attempt to classify -- who can keep up with it all?
The fact of the matter is no one is expected to know it all, but just as we proudly possess a working understanding of MLA, APA and Chicago style or have a general sense for what a lab report is 'supposed' to look like, we as tutors may want to expand a bit more and gather a general, working knowledge of the popular creative writing genres. I know this may seem daunting - it certainly does to me, but I feel we owe it to this wide base of URI writers to give it a shot. To visually imagine this shift into CW, envision a ven-diagram with circles representing each of the types of writing we tutor frequently (WRT1-- papers, business writing texts, communications and psych papers, nursing reports). Now picture another circle entering the over-lapping mix - one representative of just yet another realm of writing we'll have basic understanding of (CW). This circle may, say, be faded in color to represent that we don't encounter it as frequently as we do other types of texts - but nevertheless it has a place in the diagram.
Furthermore, I know many of the tutors in the center this semester are personally interested in creative writing, so I feel this may be the URIWCenter's kairotic moment to broaden our joint, WCenter horizon. Of course, partaking in the any of the creative writing discourse communities personally and tutoring a writer from one - even if you're completely familiar with it - are definitely two different things. Sure, an understanding of poetry is definitely going to help a tutor out during a session with a poet - but writing/reading poetry and tutoring a poet are separate endeavors, just as writing an essay and tutoring a student about writing an essay are not identical situations. Like with any writing, the creative writer's process may differ from yours, his or her personal belief about the art may be diametrically opposed to your own, etc. In short: Tutoring creative writing will definitely be eased/facilitated by one's prior knowledge of the subject, but either way we're definitely going to need some outside advice to really get into this successfully.
It is here that things get tricky. I've been researching for a better part of this afternoon and can report with confidence (and disappointment) that there is little scholarship regarding creative writing and writing centers. I did discover that many centers that frequently tutoring writing have a separate Creative Writing Center - schools including Middlebury and Umass conduct business in this manner. I personally do not favor this approach; I like the idea of a WCenter that tackles it all - to the best of their ability. I believe this atmosphere creates a great cohesion - a center that is working to work together with others to discover the answers that do not come easily to them. I also discovered some minimal scholarship, including a powerpoint presentation regarding the topic from Purdue and a large case study documenting tutors' feelings regarding creative writing entitled Tutor Attitudes Towards Tutoring Creative Writing in Writing Centers. Neither of the texts answer all of my questions about tutoring creative writing, nor do they raise any other particularly exciting ones. Nevertheless, they are worth a glance. (Note: The second article is super-tutor based in its findings, fyi.)
I will keep researching this topic in the future. I'm curious how you guys feel about getting a little cozier and intimate with creative writing - please comment and let me know! I know there are plenty of URI creative writers who would be thrilled to know they have a place to get some advice on their work.
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