Boys and Girls Club

In class this past week we discussed establishing a rapport during a consultancy, and asked the very important question of whether one can have a successful appointment if there is no common ground between the consultant and the student. Tomorrow we will have the very real opportunity to apply this theoretical discussion into a very real situation at the Boys and Girls club. As always, theory does not fit perfectly with experience, and it will be interesting to see how what we talk about in the classroom applies to not just the University Writing Center but also outside of the Richmond bubble. 

In preparation for this appointment, I have thought a lot about how exactly to find this common ground, especially with someone with whom on the surface I might not have a lot in common. I will introduce myself, ask them about themselves (grade, school, extracurricular activities, how they like the Boys and Girls Club, why they wanted to do this project), and then just talk with them a bit about the project and who they're planning on interviewing. I think it'll be very important to show them that I care about what they say and who they are, all the while creating a relaxed atmosphere, hopefully helping them see me as an ally and not a power figure. Talking about what brought them to this project and who they are going to interview will be important and will help segue into discussing their own digital story. I found a good example of a digital story on the center for digital stories website:

http://www.storycenter.org/stories/

and I will most likely show them one of our stories as well. What's important for me is for the student to leave the appointment knowing exactly what they want to learn from their interview, good interviewing techniques, and an idea of how to transform this interview into a story. Discussing what makes a story a story, maybe talking about popular movies or books, will also help. 

I'm excited to see what tomorrow brings!

Difficult Appointments

I just had my shadowing appointment with my writing consultant, and the hour could not have been more applicable to what we have been talking about in class. The past appointments I've shadowed have been extremely successful, with a wonderful level of communication between the consultant and the student, and with everyone leaving happy, feeling like they made a contribution to both the paper and the idea of writing as a whole. Consequently, I have to admit I've begun to view the Writing Center through rose colored glasses, pardon the cliche. I began to think that every appointment was successful, every student was receptive, every paper was improved by an hour with a consultant.

Unfortunately, this week presented a more difficult situation, one not so nice and neat and pretty and clean. The girl who came in brought a creative writing assignment, which was interesting in itself because I had never considered how to edit something like a creative writing paper. However, it posed problems, most obviously description. The student was having a very hard time describing the gravestone about which she had to write, and no matter what kind of coaxing or methods the instructor attempted to use, she just seemed to shut down, unable to come up with adjectives or metaphors or similes of any kind. I just watched this tortuous dance for 15 minutes, both lamenting at the ineffectiveness of what was taking place but also not knowing what I would do differently if I was in the consultant's shoes.

I suppose sometimes you get students with whom you cannot establish a rapport with - but should we just resign ourselves to failure (to use a very relevant word in relation to our class discussion)? What can we do in these situations?

F stands for Success

Everyone knows that feeling. That feeling of sweaty palms and queasy stomach when the teacher announces that they're done grading the test. That sense of dread as you slowly turn the paper over. That drop in your stomach once you see the red markings, the big, angry "F" on the top right corner of the page. That thought that inevitably crosses your mind as you quickly shove the paper into your backpack before you have to look at it again, the thought that your class grade is that much lowered, which will in turn lower your GPA and hinder whatever plans you have - in short, failing this test demonstrated how you just fail at life. Over dramatic? Absolutely. Applicable to most students? Definitely.

"Failure is not an option" is the motto subliminally pounded into our heads as students of the American school system. An "A" stands for good work, excellence, success. "F" stands for, well, failure. Yet if what we discussed in class is true, if failure is truly the only way people learn, my question is how well is a 4.0 student learning, or is he/she simply regurgitating knowledge, demonstrating already acquired skills? This system that penalizes failure pervades our educational system, from marking up papers with red colored ink to idolizing the GPA. This house of cards comes a'tumbling down in the face of this new information, but how can we build a more solid house?

I have a sense that many teachers truly understand the importance of failure and are as frustrated as the students are with the state of the system. Yet I always hated when professors would say "Don't worry so much about grades, it's more about learning, it doesn't matter what grade you get as long as you learn as much as you can from this class". I wanted to stand up and say to them "Don't tell me not to worry when this arbitrary number/letter I get from you determines what organizations I can participate in, whether I can study abroad, what grad school I attend, how successful I am at finding a job! It might not be a big deal for you but it damn well is for me, so don't you dare treat it flippantly". As you can tell, I take my grades seriously, but only because the system has taught me to view them that way.

What can we do to fix it? How do you make room for failure? Should you reward failure? How can the actual learning take precedence over a number or a letter?

No Show

This week my writing consultant did not come to our shadowing appointment...I don't know whether he forgot or didn't have anyone to tutor, but it was a little sad because I had some experience last week with editing my friend's and sister's papers and I wanted to see how I could apply that in an actual tutoring session. Thankfully, another of my friends had asked me to help him with his paper, and so I at least had some sort of tutoring experience this week.

This assignment was a challenge both for him and for me. He had been writing summaries of articles all semester, about two pages each, and this assignment was to synthesize and play the articles off of each other  into some kind of thesis and write a 4-5 page paper. Such broad instructions can either be liberating or just baffling, and in this case it baffled him. I just had him talk through the articles, explaining to me the main points of each, or the argument of each, and then helping him see them not just as individual, unrelated blips on a screen but as interconnected and interrelated, either how they supported each other or brought out each other's nuances. Simply mentally mapping them this way helped him find an argument to get behind.

Even more interesting than this was learning about his writing style. In our digital stories we have been hearing about all different kinds of writing styles, from literally filing information into a book to pouring it all out onto the paper and then sorting it from there. Most likely because they have been professors, none of the writing styles have been bad, just different. But when I asked my friend how he typically writes a paper he answered "Oh, I usually just start writing and then figure it out as I go". And my first reaction was to scream "THAT'S A HORRIBLE IDEA!" and run out of the room. Just kidding. But I did NOT think that this was a good way to approach an essay, especially coming from the highly structured way I typically write.

Then again, that raised an interesting question for me: Is there such a thing as a "bad" writing process?

Compare and Contrast...Don't we all love that?

First of all, a belated welcome back from fall break! Now towards Thanksgiving!

Secondly, I meant to write a blog on Wednesday night detailing my informal writing session with my sister over fall break in lieu of my shadowing assignment, but then I talked with my friend who wanted me to help her with HER paper on Sunday, and so I decided to postpone the blog post so I could compare and contrast the two informal appointments. One of the first lessons I learned from both was that a writing consultant never quits. Ever. Once my friends and family found out that I was taking a class on editing, learning to be a writing consultant, I have received many frantic emails and calls asking me to look at papers. It's a lot like what my dad deals with as a dermatologist - everytime we're at a party or a big gathering of people someone inevitably asks him to look at some rash or dry skin or weird mole. And though it sounds like I'm complaining, I actually love it. First of all I love that people care enough about their writing that they ask me to look at it. I love that the label "writing consultant" isn't an anathema and that people view me as their ally. And selfishly, I just love reading other people's work, brainstorming with them, feeling like I've helped them write something truly good.

So when my sister asked me to help her with her midterm essay while I was visiting her at Stetson University over Fall break, I tried to play it cool with a nonchalant "Oh man, it's Fall break! But I guess if you REALLY need my help"...but we all know I was jumping with excitement on the inside. She actually hadn't started writing anything yet and was having trouble with the ideas at the base of the essay - the essay asked her to define a sociological method and then give examples. I honestly didn't understand the method so I asked her to explain it to me. Then by talking it through with her, we discussed some options - I led with questions, because I had an idea of what she could do but I wanted her to stumble upon it herself. And when she did, everything fell into place and she even though of things I hadn't thought of. It was collaboration at its finest.

Then when I got back, as I said before my friend asked me to help her with HER essay on Sunday. This was a completely different kind of editing process because her essay was fully completed. She was at the point where she had spent so much time on it that she couldn't step back and view it objectively and needed a second pair of eyes (I don't know about you, but I feel like that all of the time. Sometimes you just get so tangled in your own writing you just don't know if it's good or absolutely horrible). So I read through it with her, helped her with some style and organization, marked on the paper with her there and gave her a pencil (a strategy we discussed in class). It was a great contrast to the brainstorming I did with my sister, and really showed me the diversity of what a writing appointment can look like.

Don't worry, I'm a fast reader

This Wednesday I had my weekly shadowing appointment, and was able to sit in on a very interesting consultancy. I know that ideally, the writing consultant gets a copy of the writing assignment so that he can look it over, perhaps make notes on the page, and have ideas of what to discuss and go over with the student during the writing appointment itself. But as it is in most situations, the ideal situation is far from the reality, and this appointment was a perfect illustration of this.
The student brought in a 7 page paper that Bill* had never seen before. If this had been me, I would probably not have known what to do, and been a little frustrated at the same time. But Bill handled the situation like the perfect writing consultant with the lighthearted comment "don't worry, I'm a fast reader". Thankfully, I am a fast reader as well, so we were able to read through the document fairly quickly. But more importantly, Bill decided not to read through the entire paper, making the student wait uncomfortably in silence. Instead he took it a paragraph at a time, commenting on things and raising questions in order to keep the student active in the appointment rather than passively sitting by. This created a casual yet active learning environment.
However, though Bill handled the situation very well, there are serious drawbacks to having to edit a paper that you're just reading at that moment, especially a paper that is longer than a few pages. The argument should be fairly complicated, and so simply skimming it can lead to overlooking points and misunderstanding the author, which can complicate the process. Also, it cuts into the actual editing time of the appointment, and does not allow for both the consultant and the student to go deeper into the paper and the argument itself. However, I am sure I will have to deal with situations like this if I become a writing consultant, and so this Fall Break I will definitely be brushing up on my speed reading!

Everyone have a wonderful break, and I'll see you all on Wednesday!

College Essay Appointment - An Exercise in Brainstorming

This afternoon I skyped my sister, Julia, a senior in high school to go over her college application essays. She had previously sent me a copy of her Common Application essay, and I went into the appointment prepared to go through that essay, but also wanting to try out idea formation techniques that would help her brainstorm for the essays and short answer questions she has yet to write. I've edited many papers before, whether it be my friend's or my classmate's, but I have never before this class attempted macro edits, or constructive rather than descriptive comments. In short, I knew I could rearrange sentences and fix grammar to make the paper sound and look better, but I had never tackled the essence of the paper itself - the ideas. Also, I wanted to take into account Straub's article about control. As a person who likes to take control, I wanted to make sure I let Julia take the reins and just act as a sounding board for her to create her own ideas.

The appointment went extremely well, and I felt as if I learned as much (if not more) than she did. We began by just catching up, and I asked her about her college application process and how she felt about her essays so far. I had the benefit of already having a personal connection, so it was easy to fall into a comfortable discussion of her writing. We started with a short essay that she had yet to write with a prompt that asked the student to pick one adjective to describe themselves and then explain their choice. This was interesting because at the beginning she was not excited about writing her answer at all, but after we discussed what kind of image she wanted to present herself as she became much more invested. For example, we discussed the 2 ways she could go - either pick a positive adjective like "responsible" and write a straight essay, or pick a more controversial and even negative adjective to shock and interest the reader and then somehow turn it into something quirky. I think I did a good job at leading her with questions towards both becoming excited about her response and raising some interesting options for her without handing her the response itself.
During the second half of the appointment, we took a look at an actual piece of writing that she had just written that day for a specific college's application. I had to fight the urge to rearrange sentences or words, to make stylistic edits rather than focus on the big picture, but I'm very glad I did because we were able to have a wonderful discussion about the ideas central to the essay. The prompt was on the values, experiences, and goals that one has. Julia's answer, though well written, just sat on the surface of the question rather than dove into the deep end, and by asking her questions like "What is your definition of values? How are values, experiences, and goals interconnected and how do they build off of and create each other?" I was able to help her really sink her teeth into the prompt.

All in all, I was extremely pleased with this appointment. Helping someone I know and love was a wonderful way to ease into the position of writing consultant, but I look forward to the challenge of helping and collaborating with someone whom I do not know.

Who has the power?

"At one extreme, some comments are overly 

harsh or disrespectful, and usurp control over student writing, making 

sweeping editorial changes and dictating what should be said or how it 

should be presented from top to bottom. At the other extreme, some 

teacher comments are so minimal and generic that they become detached 

and offer no help, no real response. Both extremes ought to be avoided. "

The question of control in editing a paper is definitely an interesting one. When I first read Straub's article, "The Concept of Control in a Teacher Response", I was a bit skeptical. Having been on the receiving end of many teacher responses and comments on papers, I honestly like a teacher who takes control and tells me what they want. It is probably the lazy aspect of me that doesn't want to do any more work than I have to, but maybe it's the part of me that says "I've laid it all out there, I've given it my best shot, if you don't like it you better tell me what to change". And so I expected Straub to chastise teachers who give directive comments and to promote watered down comments that don't really guide the writer anywhere, just leave them confused as to whether the teacher liked it or not. 

I was presently surprised, then, when Straub recognized the importance of a multi-faceted approach, comments that both guide but encourage, that form as a sounding board. Most importantly, Straub realizes that not every teacher is the same, not every learning situation is the same, and not every student is the same. Therefore rather than prescribe one specific type of editing he encourages for teachers to find what works for them, as long as it is not one of the extremes in the quotes above. Again, this brings me back to the personal attachment a student has to their writing. Harshly directive comments will just crush a writer's spirit, but confusingly vague questions will just frustrate. It will be interesting to see what direction my style of editing will take in the months ahead.

A Conversation with a Writing Consultant

This week I went to the Writing Center to shadow my writing consultant. Unfortunately, he had no students on the roster for tutoring, but it opened up time for us to sit down, get to know each other, and talk about writing, the Writing Center, being a writing consultant, and the stories that go along with it. Though I didn't get the first hand experience I was hoping for, our conversation was great for establishing a connection between us and for gaining an inside perspective on what being a writing consultant is like.

The most interesting thing we discussed was the question of dealing with the difficult or complicated situations that occur every day in the Writing Center. Though there are a fair share of appointments that go smoothly without any hitches, the reality is that we are humans working with humans, thus miscommunications are bound to happen. My consultant said that he found Bedford's Guide to be extremely helpful in dealing with difficult or tense situations. For example, he related a story where a girl came in with an essay based on her personal experience with her grandfather. At some point during the appointment, she became extremely emotional, and my consultant recalled that if he hadn't known about leading with questions and the personal skills that are referenced in the Bedford's Guide, he would have frozen up. If anything, this reinforced the idea that when it comes down to it, you are dealing with people, and knowing how to deal with people is one of the most important skills to have, just as important as knowing the correct grammar and how to form a good thesis.