Blog 5

In my session as a student Dr. Chandler helped me through fixing some of the problems in my response essay. My first problem was that I hadn't read the assignment. And after she advised me to give it a quick read, I saw some of the problems and began to correct them. I needed to find a focus for my summary. After I did that, everything fell into place. Organization and structuring were next and then i had to find content to fit within the main ideas I had choosen for my response. Together, Dr. Chandler and I came up with some examples that fit nicely with the point I was trying to make. I learned that some of the methods discussed in the book are helpful. Reading and writing to the assignment as outlined by the textbook is definatley the most important and should be the first step for any tutor.

As a tutor I helped a student who had some organization issues. Her content was misplaced and some of it needed to be ommitted. She needed to tailor her response to the focus of her summary. Actually, the problem she was having was the same ones I had. The book mentioned that in tutoring, the tutor benifits even more than the student. I found this to be true in this session as I picked up on her mistakes and imidiately recognized that they were the same ones that occured in my writing.

Blog Assignment 9/28/09

During my tutoring session I learned the difficulty of being a student seeking help from a tutor. Playing the role of the student helped me to their position in a different light. I was able to empathize with the people who I help everyday. You have open yourself up and become vulnerable. You have to be able to accept your limitations and take advice and criticism. You also might feel unsure as to whether your tutor will be able to help you. I learned playing the role of tutor that not everyone fits a mold; different students have different needs that may deviate from what I'm used to. When I tutor I mostly focus on organization. I'm learning that some students may not have organization needs or other "higher level" concerns but just might need a good conversation to stimulate thoughts that they can transcribe onto paper. As a student I like to control the conversation and make sure that the tutor understands in which ways I need help. Overall, during the process I learned that there needs to be a give and take. I can't assume that I'm always right and even if I am, at the end of the day, its the students paper. This relates to the authors central purpose regarding collaboration and control. Its important to make sure that collaboration is really collaboration and control is shared and negotiated.

Blog Assignment 3

The writing center I’d champion would be aimed at embracing diversity and non-traditional yet effective strategies oriented toward making the student a better writer and independent thinker. The center’s physical appearance would embody this embrace of diversity and “out of the box” thinking. Much in the same way that therapy operates, the client/student is the boss and the therapist/tutor’s job is to guide that person to his or her personal definition of success. This center is named a Multidimensional Writing Laboratory (MWL).
The lab should have its own separate building on campus. The building needs an open feeling with many windows. Some walls should be colored. Lots of open spaces where people can feel free to walk and ponder are essential. There should be some mentally stimulating abstract art that is open to innumerable amounts of interpretations. Couches that are comfortable need to be placed around the room. In this lab there should be many computers with internet access. There should also be a few televisions (only used in cases where the student and tutor feel it is necessary). There should also be a room with its only purpose being for open discussion and debate that will help the student generate ideas.
In this model students learn though multiple dimensions. The writing lab should provide many resources. Scholarly journals, dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, big city newspapers, small town papers and an online research database are good starts. Political resources or ones that operate within a theoretical framework should be contrasting which allows the student to develop her own point of view and at the same time she is made aware of resources which she may not have known existed.
Also students learn through interaction with the tutor and other writing lab staff through a give and take relationship and in an environment that allows the student to generate her own ideas without reserve and free of judgment. The staff should feel free to voice their opinions if asked, even if topics include those deemed taboo for the workplace, like politics. The student thinks and writes and the tutor should intervene only when necessary. This way the student develops a work that is truly her own.
The tutor’s job is to be an active participant in purposeful discussions that allow students to generate ideas. The tutor is also to be a facilitator; letting the student work independently, probing and asking questions when directed by the writer through verbal or nonverbal cues (defeated gesturing). Everything the tutor does is in support of the writer to draft a work that she is proud of.
The tutor should be trained to in the proper usage of grammar. Tutors should also be trained in the art of tutoring and in accordance with the philosophy of the MWL. Tutors’ training should also involve techniques on remaining culturally sensitive and being objective and nonjudgmental.
With all this freedom from convention there is a potential for chaos. It is important that the role of director be given to someone who is able to maintain control but not impinge upon freedom and creativity. For this reason this writing center will have two directors. The two directors should have differing backgrounds; racial, gender, academic discipline, etc. They should oversee the direction of the entire lab. The directors should make sure that one point of view isn’t being championed by the lab thus eliminating biases. The directors need to make sure that tutors aren’t doing the students’ work and that students aren’t taking advantage of all of the freedoms.

Collaboration, Control and the Idea of a Writing Center

Andrea Lunsford’s Collaboration, Control and the Idea of a Writing Center, is a short essay that contrasts three different theoretical approaches of writing center operation; the authors previously preferred Storehouse Center, The Garett Center and the authors now favorite, text supported- Burkean Parlor. The focus of the text in each model is on the concept of collaboration and the balance of control that exists within each.
In the Storehouse Center the writing center is seen as an “information station”. Knowledge is viewed as external and accessible. The focus is on the individual and getting them the help and resources that they need. Collaboration isn’t particularly championed. Control is in the hands of the tutor.
An “Individual Genius” ideology governs the Garret Model. The center here has a focus in extracting knowledge from the individual rather then supplying information and resources. Just like in the storehouse model, collaboration isn’t prioritized. Control though seems to be in the hands of the student.
The text favorite-research supported Burkean Parlor is a strong supporter of collaboration which in this case integrates and embraces diversity. Knowledge is seen as socially constructed; individuals in a group exchange knowledge and engage one another. Research outlines many advantages to the collaboration that takes place in this conceptual model. Control lies with “the negotiated group”. The problem though is that this model of writing center defies the American ideology of individualism. It is also a challenge to the status quo of higher education.

Blog Assignment 1

I would have to say that the job of a writing center is to facilitate student's efforts at creating and handing in a quality paper. Also, I think the writing center's job is to help the students who entered (who might have been a little novice) to leave out with a better understanding of not only syntax but of their own style, process and voice as a writer. A writing center should have a sense of community where students feel free to bounce ideas off of each other without fear of criticism; a safe place to construct, revise, and scrutinize ones own work with the help of his/her peers.

List of Writing Center Principles
1. Facilitate...Don't overtake (lol)
2. Build a community with students... not an immunity to students (lol)
3. Be committed to the student's growth as a writer, not the student's paper

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