Thus far..

So far I feel that I have done a fair job in the class. I have been blogging at least once a week, but  I should increase that to two times a week to earn more points. I still have to earn 40 points to reach our mid-semester goal of 80 points. Now that I know how to easily access the other blogs I will have a much easier time commenting. I'll be able to earn more points that way as well. I also have my peer consulting coming up next week. I will feel relieved when that is done!


As much as I am enjoying this experience I do feel that it can be a little overwhelming at times. I have never had a class that does not have exact due dates so that causes so stress and a constant feeling of being unsure about whether you have something to do or not. At this point I think that I am on track and know what I have to get done.

The one thing that I find frustrating is the Digital Story. I'm struggling to understand how the creating a digital story relates to our greater goal of studying to become excellent writing consultants. While it is an interesting project and and a tech savvy way to communicate I am not looking forward to creating this project. It will be interested to see how I feel after I have completed the project. Will what I gain from the experience match the stress and effort put into this technological advanced mean of communication?

Plagerism

What are we supposed to do as a Writing Colleague if we think that a student has plagerised on a paper? How do you approach the question? Even if it is unintential. It is possible that a student could even write a paper that is written with too much of an author's perspective and not enough of their own account of the analysis.

I imagine that if a student is dilligent enough to come into the Writing Center he or she is unlikely to have completely plagerised a paper. Who knows though--maybe they are taking it to us to see if it could pass as their own. this could be such a touchy subject to bring up. How do ask the question? "Uhm.. are you sure that you wrote this paper?" Awkward. I guess you would just have to suggest that they do more citing. Maybe propose "this sounds a lot like the author speaking. Maybe you should cite this?" I'm sure this happens from time to time. I'll be sure to ask the girl I shadow about it.

Speaking of the girl that I shadow... I went to shadow her last week and the girl that had signed up to meet with her cancelled her appointment. Although the appointment was cancellled I used that time to talk to her about her experience as a consultant. She said that the hardest thing about being a consultant is not knowing if you really helped someone or not.  For instance, she said that the student she helped before I came in wrote a paper on a topic that was foreign to her. It has to do with economics and trade. She has never studied that before and so she has a hard time trying to make sure that his paper was cohesive when really that whole thing was foreign to her. She did note that he was clear on what he needed help with so that ultimately gave her some guidance. She still left the meeting unsure of whether or not she helped him though. i guess it's the type of thing where you just have to do your best! Hopefully this week she will have an appointment!

Proofreading?!

I understand why Writing Consultants are not a proofreading service. If someone proofreads  student's papers time and time again the student will never learn how to proofreading for him or herself. However I do think that it might be possible that a student has not developed a skill in proofreading. Shouldn't we be able to help that student develop his or her skill? I think it would be appropriate to collaborate with a student to proofread a paper or two. After that a student should use the skills that you have given to him or her to proofread on their own.

Grammar can be tricky! If a student clearly needs help why not him him? It is possible that a paper can be very well thought out, well structured and have great flow, but it just has several grammar errors. That's distracting! Why not help? If a consultant has a tool box of knowledge shouldn't the consultant share? Isn't that what they are getting paid for. It is interesting that we would be refrained from sharing our knowledge.

I am really looking forward to shadowing a Writing Consultant next week. I think it will be fun to see what the environment is like and what kind of questions or concerns students come in with. I am also looking forward to meeting new people!  I think it will be a rewarding experience.

My sister got her good looks and smarts from me..

My sister is just so smart. She must have a great older sister who has influenced her in a profound way. Okay.. we'll maybe I shouldn't credit my sister's wonderfulness to me. But really... she is awesome.

Her first college writing assignment was assigned to her last week. She is in a really interested introductory English class called "Men in America". She was asked be write about how she first realized what gender was and how that has played a role in her life. She asked me to help her brainstorm with her when I visited her a last weekend at Wake Forest. Naturally I was hooked on her essay from the start.

When I first read her paper yesterday afternoon I was surprised and proud to see how well she developed her thougths and ideas since the time we first started to brainstorm a week ago. Needless to say I was impressed with my sisters work. I started by rereading the assignment and making sure that she addressed each component. She did address everything, but I thought she could ellaborate on one component. She agreed and told me that she had been toiling with that part of the paper and my reassurance was helpful.

The one thing that we both agreed that she needed help on was with her conclusion. She wasn't sure about was how to eloquently come to a close. She knew that recapping what she had already said would not be constructive, but found herself stuck with nothing else to say. I suggested that she leave the reader thinking more about the topic. Maybe bring up some additional questions that can be explored. We both thought that this work would really well for her topic. She hands in this rough draft on Tuesday. I am looking forward to hearing what her teacher has to say about it and then help her further on the final product.

You need to start over...

Last night Gyra and I helped out a friend writing an short essay for an application. His first draft was an incredibly standard and cliche essay for an application. I found it very difficult to give him strong and constructive advise without telling him "This really is not very good. You should probably start over". I think I handled it well by telling him to make it more about himself and to provide specifics about how the program will help him specifically-- not everyone attending. This experience got me thinking. How do you handle a terrible paper as a Writing Consultant? When someone has a terrible idea or thesis how do you give him or her advice about developing a stronger thesis without overwhelming the student? After Gyra and I gave our friend advice he felt daunted by the fact that he "basically had to start over". I imagine that it's important to try to find some positive aspects about the paper to help the student feel pleased about something that they have done.

I really enjoyed the compost metaphor in class today. I think the metaphor works well for all writers. If any writer spends too much time writing without having other people look at it the writing will be get stale. Someone needs to look at your work in order to help stimulate new growth and new ideas. 

I'm really looking forward to skyping with my sister to work on her first college paper. I'm bummed that I won't be meeting new people but I am looking forward to hearing about everyone's experience.

Collaboration

II found Andrea Lunsford's Collaboration, Control, and the Idea of a Writing Center to be rather thought provoking about the mission of the Univeristy of Richmond Writing Center and the role of a Writing Consultant. I have always believe that collaboration is a positive attribute to the learning process. Bouncing ideas off friends, having your sister proofread a paper, or hosting a group study session has always been beneficial to the greater outcome. In my experience with collaboration or group projects there is always a warning label. Teachers often assign group projects or advised students to work together. In my experience these instructions always come with a label--"use your judgement about how much help to give to you peers". It's always a vague warning. Never a precise guideline about what you can do to help one another.

So what exactly is the role of a Writing Consultant? Do professors have the same understanding of what a Writing Tutor is and what kind of help is given? Is the Richmond Writing Center a Storehouse? Are we providing instruction and skills? Or is it more of a Garrett Center? Are we trying to pull out the ideas and thoughts from the students inner thoughts? Or are we truly collaborating with students in a Burkean Parlor? (Seriously-- who came up with these names?) I am sure that all of these concerns and ideas will be addressed as the course unfolds, but these are just thoughts I had about this reading.

Also-- I was just remembering my first experience at a Writing Center at my first college. My professor advised us all to go to the Writing Center for a paper he had assigned. I made my appointment and went through my paper with the Tutor. I went back and made changes that we had discussed. I felt okay about my first college paper, but I wasn't incredibly proud of it. After getting it back I was devastated to see red ink all over it. As I got the end end of the paper the teacher left a note saying, " Your draft was much better--maybe you shouldn't go back to that specific Writing Tutor." Wouldn't you hate to be that Consultant? I was so upset that I had done what was told of me and ended up with a worse grade. I hope that never happens to someone I help!

No Grades in America

I have been thinking a lot about our discussion on why teachers assign writing assignments. People seem to think that writing is important for when we enter the real world--even though many of us will never write an analytical paper on a novel or journal article after college. (Or atleast I hope so?!). I understand that we may have to express ourselves or our ideas through writing. Maybe grammar on a resume or cover letter is pretty important, but what about after you land the job. If people are able to express themselves vocally why can't they just write as they would speak? I think it may be that our society has grown to be competitive perfectionists. Good writing is just another tool to help you land the job. If you can speak 3 languages and write professionally rather than colloquially you are going to get the job before someone who has fair writing skills and can only speak English. Yes-- this is also why UR requires its students to complete such an extensive language requirement.

So I realize that people able to string your thoughts together and write well is a skill that will set you apart from people who are also seeking jobs in the workforce, but why are they graded? What is the deal with grades? Shouldn't we have grades based on effort. Some people just aren't going to do things as well as others. Why comare them? Even if you have a final grade in a class shouldn't it be based on improvement thoughout the course? Especially with writing! All teachers want something different. Students are so focused on writing what their teacher will approve of rather than experimenting with their writing style. Few students are willing to go out on a limb and try something new or try to make a far-fetched connection. They are focused solely on earning an A and pleasing the professor. I think that teachers are afraid to instruct a class where grades weren't given. They fear that students won't take the class seriously or give their best effort. I disagree. I think that students would be excited to be able to try new things and write for themselves, not their teacher. I have no doubt that there would be positive feedback.

Let's be real though-- this is America. We are bred to be competitive and strive to the top.It would take a great movement for the American education system to become gradeless.