My experience with online tutoring, or tutoring by typing something out, has revolved around workshop critiques and a few newspaper articles. I've never had anyone ask me to look over a paper for them via e-mail, but it doesn't seem like a very daunting task.
In my creative writing classes, I am tasked to write a critique of someones work on the computer before class so that both the professor and the writer can have copies in print so that there is some chunk of text to read from beginning to end about a particular piece. The only difference between these critiques and an actual online submission to the Writer's Room would be the focus on grammar. Which, based on the examples from Raforth's "Responding Online," seem a little confusing to do for someone not familiar with the genre of online tutoring. He bounces one response after another with some spacing to emphasize points for the writer to look at, but if you've worked with Microsoft Word recently, the ability to track the changes you've made to the document seems to be the best route for a more hands-on online approach.
To the right, or left, of the text there are red lines leading to little bubbles with descriptions of what changes have been made. This, along with a written critique of the work not necessarily talking about overall reaction but talking more about clarity and repetitive grammatical errors, seems to be an easier way to make direct comments on the text. Sending a response with the attached edited copy would offer an immediate document for the writer to compare to their original draft. Bouncing text like that back and forth to showcase the progression of the conversation would keep the progress clear and create a history of documents to look back at and point out errors and awkwardness. Otherwise, things get foggy.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Little Bug
In the cases of non-traditional students and students with learning disabilities, the ego has be put away. That little bug eyed multi-colored ball floating over your shoulder screaming, "But I've done this, and I can do this and why would you write like this?" has to shut it's mouth.
Sometimes it's hard to throw it out, but I think that in extreme cases of learning disabilities and even with some non-traditional students, the ego is the first thing to go. In a regular session, your ego might be what gets you through it, what helps you find the answers or helps with the answers the client is looking for. In that case, it comes in handy and is something to be proud of.
I'm not saying that the tutors expertise with the English language is something to throw out of the window, but the fact that you might want to compare how your English stacks up with the paper that you're reading is something a tutor has to abstain from doing. I know this because it's hard not to compare yourself with someone, even if you don't mean to, because us Americans can be self-righteous and self-centered, and I often find myself making tiny comparisons or sizing up a piece of writing based on how it compares to my own English. But now that I'm aware of it I'm in better control of it.
I've only had to deal with a couple non-traditional students so far in the Writer's Room, and they've all been equally as intelligent as me but I still helped them out. It had to do with me not trying to prove anything to either myself or the client. Instead, I willingly helped the person because what they could learn from me is equal to what I could learn from them.
Sometimes it's hard to throw it out, but I think that in extreme cases of learning disabilities and even with some non-traditional students, the ego is the first thing to go. In a regular session, your ego might be what gets you through it, what helps you find the answers or helps with the answers the client is looking for. In that case, it comes in handy and is something to be proud of.
I'm not saying that the tutors expertise with the English language is something to throw out of the window, but the fact that you might want to compare how your English stacks up with the paper that you're reading is something a tutor has to abstain from doing. I know this because it's hard not to compare yourself with someone, even if you don't mean to, because us Americans can be self-righteous and self-centered, and I often find myself making tiny comparisons or sizing up a piece of writing based on how it compares to my own English. But now that I'm aware of it I'm in better control of it.
I've only had to deal with a couple non-traditional students so far in the Writer's Room, and they've all been equally as intelligent as me but I still helped them out. It had to do with me not trying to prove anything to either myself or the client. Instead, I willingly helped the person because what they could learn from me is equal to what I could learn from them.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Represent.
In "Looking at the Whole Text," by Jennifer Staben and Kathryn Nordhaus, they do their best at modeling an ideal ESL tutoring session with sections devoted to specific points a tutor must address in order for the session to have some positive results. Sections like these are all good I guess, but only as a vague example of something to follow if you're having trouble knowing where to begin, or how to handle, parts of the session. But the part of the section that I think they should have elaborated on more was, Talk Before Text.
The direction they hope students take their ESL sessions seems to be direct and focused on the assignment itself. They talk about finding ways to develop a repertoire between the tutor and the ESL student so that the student feels more confident in trying to convey their ideas as well as discuss linguistic choices they make with the tutor. But, the way to build this repetoire is not explored enough.
I recommend that a good starting point for a conversation with an ESL student is to begin a conversation with talk about where they're from and about their families and any other details that are universal. I'm genuinely interested in what other people outside of the United States think about the world and about where they're from. In this type of discussion I can also relate using my own context which helps build a bridge between the ESL student and myself. Once we realize we're not so different, accept for in how we speak English or how I speak Spanish or Japanese or German or etc., we can move on to more specific topics like the assignment at hand.
I don't want to act like a persons country of origin is the only important and only thing worth talking about, but at a base level, an introduction and conversation not revolving around the assignment could help them feel more of an equal to you and also help them open up when talking about the problem at hand. Conversations about their home country is a good way to get them thinking healthily and without hesitance.
Conversations aren't easy but they are an essential part of life. If people are afraid to talk to other people then they are depriving themselves of so much more they could learn about themselves and the world around them and for the purposes of tutoring, the conversation is a good way to get the session going. If they're afraid of you it probably won't work out so good, so care about the person, not just the paper.
In response to the two questions in class:
1. Like I mentioned in class, I value clarity over other cultural writing preferences because it is the easiest place to start from. Reading over somebody's paper in one sitting often has me asking immediate questions about clarity. About what the author meant by this or that, and that is a good jumping point in developing some solid piece of writing. When I write, I start off by trying to get the point across. After that, I make things fancier with descriptions and examples and I think I prefer these stylistic preferences because of journalism and famous writers who cross-applied their journalistic writing approach to their fiction, like Hemingway or Thompson.
2. If I notice a cultural difference in the way an ESL student is writing, or even an American student, I might ask them about why they chose to value one style over another. If they have thought it out and can justify why they choose examples over descriptions, than not only have I learned, but they've proven themselves as a competent writer. If the writing is unreadable even if they can justify it, I might try my best to explain how I don't like the way they've written it, and trade ideas back and forth until they at least see my point-of-view.
The direction they hope students take their ESL sessions seems to be direct and focused on the assignment itself. They talk about finding ways to develop a repertoire between the tutor and the ESL student so that the student feels more confident in trying to convey their ideas as well as discuss linguistic choices they make with the tutor. But, the way to build this repetoire is not explored enough.
I recommend that a good starting point for a conversation with an ESL student is to begin a conversation with talk about where they're from and about their families and any other details that are universal. I'm genuinely interested in what other people outside of the United States think about the world and about where they're from. In this type of discussion I can also relate using my own context which helps build a bridge between the ESL student and myself. Once we realize we're not so different, accept for in how we speak English or how I speak Spanish or Japanese or German or etc., we can move on to more specific topics like the assignment at hand.
I don't want to act like a persons country of origin is the only important and only thing worth talking about, but at a base level, an introduction and conversation not revolving around the assignment could help them feel more of an equal to you and also help them open up when talking about the problem at hand. Conversations about their home country is a good way to get them thinking healthily and without hesitance.
Conversations aren't easy but they are an essential part of life. If people are afraid to talk to other people then they are depriving themselves of so much more they could learn about themselves and the world around them and for the purposes of tutoring, the conversation is a good way to get the session going. If they're afraid of you it probably won't work out so good, so care about the person, not just the paper.
In response to the two questions in class:
1. Like I mentioned in class, I value clarity over other cultural writing preferences because it is the easiest place to start from. Reading over somebody's paper in one sitting often has me asking immediate questions about clarity. About what the author meant by this or that, and that is a good jumping point in developing some solid piece of writing. When I write, I start off by trying to get the point across. After that, I make things fancier with descriptions and examples and I think I prefer these stylistic preferences because of journalism and famous writers who cross-applied their journalistic writing approach to their fiction, like Hemingway or Thompson.
2. If I notice a cultural difference in the way an ESL student is writing, or even an American student, I might ask them about why they chose to value one style over another. If they have thought it out and can justify why they choose examples over descriptions, than not only have I learned, but they've proven themselves as a competent writer. If the writing is unreadable even if they can justify it, I might try my best to explain how I don't like the way they've written it, and trade ideas back and forth until they at least see my point-of-view.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Plans
Although I've been fortunate enough not to have to tutor an ESL student yet, I find it interesting that of the three terms for trying to tutor an ESL student: Assimilation, Accomodation, and Seperatism, assimilation is the only one I have a hard time trying to justify.
Accomodation is the happy medium of the two, and probably the example we want to follow the closest by working with their preconceived notions about writing, and seperatism is a hands-off approach to try and maintain the cultural identity of the ESL student. But assimilation seems to be a leading cause of concern for tutoring any student, not just ESL. Assimilation can be seen in many other ways than just in the writing center, but essentially it forces traditions and linguistic norms on to a person without accomodating their own personal knowledge and style of writing.
I've had to deal with assimilation myself and drawing from personal experience, I didn't learn anything from it. If anything I just shot for average to complete the assignment. I wasn't invested and I was only concerned with my grade. If I thought that as an NES student, I can only imagine an ESL student will feel the same way, if not more, causing a rift in the goals and actual accomplishments of the tutoring sessions.
Assimilation to me is plan C. If nothing else is working and you have to do something, than settle for forcing some standard on the ESL student to help them see another example of a way to write.
Accomodation is the happy medium of the two, and probably the example we want to follow the closest by working with their preconceived notions about writing, and seperatism is a hands-off approach to try and maintain the cultural identity of the ESL student. But assimilation seems to be a leading cause of concern for tutoring any student, not just ESL. Assimilation can be seen in many other ways than just in the writing center, but essentially it forces traditions and linguistic norms on to a person without accomodating their own personal knowledge and style of writing.
I've had to deal with assimilation myself and drawing from personal experience, I didn't learn anything from it. If anything I just shot for average to complete the assignment. I wasn't invested and I was only concerned with my grade. If I thought that as an NES student, I can only imagine an ESL student will feel the same way, if not more, causing a rift in the goals and actual accomplishments of the tutoring sessions.
Assimilation to me is plan C. If nothing else is working and you have to do something, than settle for forcing some standard on the ESL student to help them see another example of a way to write.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Writer's Block
Motivation is key to a good tutoring session. I learned this from watching a tutor for our observation analysis closely. I think the problem with most of the text we've been reading in regards to a tutoring session is missing a huge part of the whole interaction; motivation. When I watched a tutor sit and go over a paper I saw many parts of the lessons we've been taught executed. However, the session wasn't as interpersonal as I think a session needs to be to really understand a persons point of view as well as emotions surrounding a writing assignment.
Encouragment can only go so far. But what a tutor really needs to know how to utilize is their motivation to help the paper. I'm not saying the tutor I watched last week wasn't motivated or was doing something I wouldn't have done. The session was good in so far as both parties were willing to do what they came to the room to do. The tutor even seemed to have a good time but the good time was seperate from the paper in the sense that the interaction between the two was what made it a good time, not the handling of the paper. Perhaps creating a good repetoire, or at least making the client laugh, is a good technique to help relax them with whatever writing assignment they are working on but it doesn't necessarily get to the issue.
Motivation is something hard to control. But, our job as tutors is not supposed to be a breeze. We have to learn how to control our motivation to help so that we can find the real problems our clients are faced with. If I am going to help someone with a paper, I need to attempt to understand all of the facets of the writers life revolving around the paper in order to get a foothold on where to start helping. Not every problem revolves around organization or grammar. Sometimes the hardest part of a writing assignment has to do writers block. If the client has nothing to say or doesn't even know where to begin, then the task of the tutor becomes harder but in a good way. Writing problems can be very complex, but the more complex the problem the more motivation both the tutor and the client have for the assignment.
Encouragment can only go so far. But what a tutor really needs to know how to utilize is their motivation to help the paper. I'm not saying the tutor I watched last week wasn't motivated or was doing something I wouldn't have done. The session was good in so far as both parties were willing to do what they came to the room to do. The tutor even seemed to have a good time but the good time was seperate from the paper in the sense that the interaction between the two was what made it a good time, not the handling of the paper. Perhaps creating a good repetoire, or at least making the client laugh, is a good technique to help relax them with whatever writing assignment they are working on but it doesn't necessarily get to the issue.
Motivation is something hard to control. But, our job as tutors is not supposed to be a breeze. We have to learn how to control our motivation to help so that we can find the real problems our clients are faced with. If I am going to help someone with a paper, I need to attempt to understand all of the facets of the writers life revolving around the paper in order to get a foothold on where to start helping. Not every problem revolves around organization or grammar. Sometimes the hardest part of a writing assignment has to do writers block. If the client has nothing to say or doesn't even know where to begin, then the task of the tutor becomes harder but in a good way. Writing problems can be very complex, but the more complex the problem the more motivation both the tutor and the client have for the assignment.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
My Name Means Business
In Elizabeth Boquet's, "Snapshots of Life in the Center," she touches on an important issue that I feel is being overlooked. When presenting the example of a tutor who refuses to fill out documentation on her tutoring sessions, "I never fill those sheets out. They take too much time. If the student wants a note sent to her professor, I'll send that, but other than that, I just don't worry about it," it led me to wonder about what affect filling out the forms has on the client as well as the consultant.
Imagine that you are new to the room and the school and you walk in to get help and someone hops up from a table, picks up a sheet of paper, and starts filling things out. This form of documentation takes away from the interpersonal dialogue that is so valuable to the tutoring session. The form reminds the student that they are still in school. They are still being watched and anything they do could be up for question and they haven't even said more than, "Hi, my name is __"
Boquet goes on to defend the use of written forms of documentation for tutoring sessions with claims that it helps protect the tutor, inform the professor, and serves as a document in case a particular session is up for question. While her defense is valid I still feel that the formality of the paper hurts the clients initial interpretation of the Writer's Room. If my goal is to receive credit for helping someone tutor than I should be an adamant supporter of the forms. But, we've been taught thus far to do more than just clock hours and take names. Is there a happy medium?
I'm not sure. We could only fill out a form if a student wants us to, or only fill them out if we literally feel something from the session, but feelings are subjective and where one person may feel moved the other may feel stationary. We could throw the forms out all-together and pretend we're just some social hang-out with an emphasis in helping people with papers. But that could seem to much like a click and could hurt the over all goal of the room. Kids tend to get side-tracked, you know? We could fill forms out for every session, but like I said before, the formality of the documentation could hurt the ability to develop a good interpersonal connection.
Perhaps the best option is to leave it alone and pretend like it won't hurt anyone's overall opinion of the room. But we want to do more than just be a room where people go to get help in writing. Maybe implementing a teacher to watch over the room, one proficient with English, could be enough to secure the validity of each session. Maybe just an observer who sits behind the desk at the entrance of the room and signs people in and out and records sessions for us is the best option. It's all speculation, but I'm not a big fan of saying "Hello," and then looking down at a formal document.
Imagine that you are new to the room and the school and you walk in to get help and someone hops up from a table, picks up a sheet of paper, and starts filling things out. This form of documentation takes away from the interpersonal dialogue that is so valuable to the tutoring session. The form reminds the student that they are still in school. They are still being watched and anything they do could be up for question and they haven't even said more than, "Hi, my name is __"
Boquet goes on to defend the use of written forms of documentation for tutoring sessions with claims that it helps protect the tutor, inform the professor, and serves as a document in case a particular session is up for question. While her defense is valid I still feel that the formality of the paper hurts the clients initial interpretation of the Writer's Room. If my goal is to receive credit for helping someone tutor than I should be an adamant supporter of the forms. But, we've been taught thus far to do more than just clock hours and take names. Is there a happy medium?
I'm not sure. We could only fill out a form if a student wants us to, or only fill them out if we literally feel something from the session, but feelings are subjective and where one person may feel moved the other may feel stationary. We could throw the forms out all-together and pretend we're just some social hang-out with an emphasis in helping people with papers. But that could seem to much like a click and could hurt the over all goal of the room. Kids tend to get side-tracked, you know? We could fill forms out for every session, but like I said before, the formality of the documentation could hurt the ability to develop a good interpersonal connection.
Perhaps the best option is to leave it alone and pretend like it won't hurt anyone's overall opinion of the room. But we want to do more than just be a room where people go to get help in writing. Maybe implementing a teacher to watch over the room, one proficient with English, could be enough to secure the validity of each session. Maybe just an observer who sits behind the desk at the entrance of the room and signs people in and out and records sessions for us is the best option. It's all speculation, but I'm not a big fan of saying "Hello," and then looking down at a formal document.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
APARTMENT
Inside of the Writers' Room last week, I sat and witnessed one consultant work with two clients. Both of them were in an introductory writing class and, instead of having their work read and "work shopped," they opted to have the consultant read it and sign it and then leave.
I am aware that not every tutoring session is going to be the most invigorating experience I've ever had. The consultant, however, chose to tell his/her boss, ten minutes after the two students left in a nagging tone I'd often associate with a little sister, about how these kids just didn't respect him/her. He/She barked about how they didn't want to let him/her improve their work, so they wasted his/her time and their own time.
This made me wonder about what kind of people we have currently reading over other peoples work in the room itself. So what if they only wanted you to read it and sign it, let them. Not everyone is going to be as gung-ho about bullshit essays they are forced to write. If you can't accept that the people you're dealing with aren't A+ English majors, then you are a failing tutor. But, I may be jumping to conclusions about this consultant. They could have had a bad day and maybe just needed to vent about something nonconsequential.
Either way, she acted similar to the example used in the Censorship essay we read, in terms of their aggitation towards another opinion. Honestly, I can't help anyone unless I toss my opinion into another part of my brain and let their opinion come over and hang out in my little head apartment. Once they leave, or once things are safe enough, I open the closet and let both of our opinions exist together, even if they don't change.
I am aware that not every tutoring session is going to be the most invigorating experience I've ever had. The consultant, however, chose to tell his/her boss, ten minutes after the two students left in a nagging tone I'd often associate with a little sister, about how these kids just didn't respect him/her. He/She barked about how they didn't want to let him/her improve their work, so they wasted his/her time and their own time.
This made me wonder about what kind of people we have currently reading over other peoples work in the room itself. So what if they only wanted you to read it and sign it, let them. Not everyone is going to be as gung-ho about bullshit essays they are forced to write. If you can't accept that the people you're dealing with aren't A+ English majors, then you are a failing tutor. But, I may be jumping to conclusions about this consultant. They could have had a bad day and maybe just needed to vent about something nonconsequential.
Either way, she acted similar to the example used in the Censorship essay we read, in terms of their aggitation towards another opinion. Honestly, I can't help anyone unless I toss my opinion into another part of my brain and let their opinion come over and hang out in my little head apartment. Once they leave, or once things are safe enough, I open the closet and let both of our opinions exist together, even if they don't change.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
tooter
I had the pleasure of tutoring someone the last time I was in the Writers Room. We worked on grammar worksheets and I learned that I didn't like how simple it was. I imagined that I was in the classroom with the student and I had just received the worksheets as an assignment. I thought about how I would have read the directions and thought about how dumb the people handing the assignment to me must have thought I was. I imagined ways I could avoid doing it.
Putting myself into my clients classroom and imagining my own reaction helps me understand where the client may be coming from. They aren't necessarily stupid or lazy, they don't necessarily hate school, they just think about things differently than me. This is an important lesson to learn before trying to tutor someone.
In, "The Tutor's Role: Developing and Informed Practice," Murphy places lessons like this in pre-textual, the first stage of developing a tutoring method. Probably the best time to implement empathy would be towards the beginning of the conversation to best ensure that you both are equals in the tutoring session. When I let my client know that I too, thought the grammar worksheets were stupid, we became more than just consultant and client. We became two people tasked with the same problem. When two people share the same problem, that's when the conversation begins.
Murphy, Christina and Steve Sherwood. The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing Tutors. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008.
Putting myself into my clients classroom and imagining my own reaction helps me understand where the client may be coming from. They aren't necessarily stupid or lazy, they don't necessarily hate school, they just think about things differently than me. This is an important lesson to learn before trying to tutor someone.
In, "The Tutor's Role: Developing and Informed Practice," Murphy places lessons like this in pre-textual, the first stage of developing a tutoring method. Probably the best time to implement empathy would be towards the beginning of the conversation to best ensure that you both are equals in the tutoring session. When I let my client know that I too, thought the grammar worksheets were stupid, we became more than just consultant and client. We became two people tasked with the same problem. When two people share the same problem, that's when the conversation begins.
Murphy, Christina and Steve Sherwood. The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing Tutors. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Color
As I was sitting in the Writers' Room last week I realized why I haven't ever spent time in there. You'd think that a senior English major would have at least taken some interest in a room dedicated to improving/helping/guiding/playing Socrates with a piece of literature but I never have. It's not because I don't think I need the help or that students don't need the help. It is because the room itself is helpless.
For example, I am going to write something and I think it needs to be looked at by someone else before I turn it in because I'm unsure about how to get started, do I want to take my paper to a comfortable room where I can relax and talk with someone personally about a project, or do I want to walk into a gray room with gray walls and gray tutors far away from the English dept. and feel pressured to make sure the time I spend with my tutor is used "effectively?" The latter is the feeling I got when I sat at a table in the middle of the room.
When I watched the consultants on duty deal with two ESL students last Thursday I understood why the room was so empty. ESL students are the only ones who aren't lying to themselves about the purpose/effectiveness of the room. They understand that if they walk into the Writers' Room they'll spend fifty minutes having someone read over their shoulder and edit for grammar and logic. "Oh yes, that's right," and, "Okay," are what I heard as the consultants plucked away at the keyboards for them.
While the consultants may have felt they were helping the students, all they were really doing is helping to ensure a better grade. This could be due, in part, by the fact that the Writers' Room is a good walk from the Liberal Arts building and that the separation puts English under the roof of other disciplines like Science and Math and both types of thinking don't mesh well for a room designed for colorful conversations about writing.
But what the Writers' Room really needs is some energy and some interpersonal dialogue. I'm not talking, "What are you doing this weekend?" or, "I like your hair." I'm talking more about free thinking and the free sharing of ideas. Even when I was talking with the consultants in the room, I didn't feel like they thought of me as their equal. Although they didn't know anything about me, they were still in the mood to fix things. If the attitude switched from fixing to helping, the room could make more use of itself, but as is, I don't blame students for wanting to shy away from the room.
For example, I am going to write something and I think it needs to be looked at by someone else before I turn it in because I'm unsure about how to get started, do I want to take my paper to a comfortable room where I can relax and talk with someone personally about a project, or do I want to walk into a gray room with gray walls and gray tutors far away from the English dept. and feel pressured to make sure the time I spend with my tutor is used "effectively?" The latter is the feeling I got when I sat at a table in the middle of the room.
When I watched the consultants on duty deal with two ESL students last Thursday I understood why the room was so empty. ESL students are the only ones who aren't lying to themselves about the purpose/effectiveness of the room. They understand that if they walk into the Writers' Room they'll spend fifty minutes having someone read over their shoulder and edit for grammar and logic. "Oh yes, that's right," and, "Okay," are what I heard as the consultants plucked away at the keyboards for them.
While the consultants may have felt they were helping the students, all they were really doing is helping to ensure a better grade. This could be due, in part, by the fact that the Writers' Room is a good walk from the Liberal Arts building and that the separation puts English under the roof of other disciplines like Science and Math and both types of thinking don't mesh well for a room designed for colorful conversations about writing.
But what the Writers' Room really needs is some energy and some interpersonal dialogue. I'm not talking, "What are you doing this weekend?" or, "I like your hair." I'm talking more about free thinking and the free sharing of ideas. Even when I was talking with the consultants in the room, I didn't feel like they thought of me as their equal. Although they didn't know anything about me, they were still in the mood to fix things. If the attitude switched from fixing to helping, the room could make more use of itself, but as is, I don't blame students for wanting to shy away from the room.
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