Hi guys!! It's a freaking beautiful day! I'm currently blogging in a lovely grassy spot outside :)
I'm a little nervous because theres a bunch of tables nearby.. I think they're gonna set up that W day thing right where I'm sitting. Awkward.
Also, warning: I can't really see my computer screen due to the glare of the sun. Let's just say this blog is free form... I'm just going to keep typing. I can't see what I'm typing, and I'm not going to put in much effort to go back and change things (because I can't see)
Anways, I figured it was about time for me to start reflecting on the session we had on Tuesday. I'm a little nervous because I didn't really take any notes. I hope I can remember enough to write the reflection. I should have just blogged right after the session on Tuesday, but I was really tired and cranky. I guess that's my first point. I had been having a pretty bad couple of days before the session. I had a paper due that day, got minimal sleep the few previous nights before, was super stressed out with other homework, and honestly just wanted to pause life for a bit so I could sleep and get my shit together. I was feeling like my life's a mess.
Naturally, I was especially nervous about the session I was supposed to have. I felt like there was no way I could lead a productive session! I couldn't even think straight. The was no way I could help John make a cohesive paper if my thoughts weren't even cohesive. I was feeling a little guilty. I didn't want my life problems to hinder our session. Regardless, we started the session like any other.
Of course, John asked me to read the paper out loud. The one day where I really, truly didn't want to read aloud, and probably couldn't even focus enough to do so, the writer wanted me to read aloud. It was awful. I stumbling over lots of words, I had to stop and thinking about what I was actually reading. It was a problem.
I actually cane to realize that my confusion might have helped the session. I was asking real, honest questions because I didn't know what was going on. John was able to clear things up, and I think it changed the way he thought about the paper. He marked some things to change and clarify. Most importantly, we talked about whether or not each part of the paper was even relevant. We realized the argument he was trying to make was not stated in his thesis. WE made a plan to change the thesis, and restructure the paper to match. I feel like at the end of the session John knew what he needed to do, but I'm not sure.
I hope he thought the session went well. I hope he didn't realize I was a tired, cranky mess. Tuesday I learned that I need to make sure my personal problems don't affect the sessions.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Sex.
Hi guys. I don't remember the last time I wrote a blog outside of the hollenbeck lab. I'm in my dorm right now. We'll see how this goes.
Seeing as I come from an academic environment where the importance of a thesis was drilled into my head, I was digging the acronym today: FAST (focused, arguable, sexy, thesis). But on my way back to New Hall, I was thinking about the concept of a thesis. Is it possible to have a really well-written essay that doesn't have a thesis? I can't imagine every attempting such a thing, but what if the intro paragraph layed out the paper and set up an argument but didn't have a specific thesis presented at the end of the first paragraph?
Just a thought. Because I know we kind of have the concept of a five paragraph essay drilled into our heads in American. Hook, thesis, topic sentences, transitions, conclusion... why? This brings me back to that video we watched about ESL students and how other cultures tackle writing differently. In American academia, inconclusive, circular writing is frowned upon. A straight-forward argument is expected.
Returning to my first rhetorical question, I just realised: the definition of a "well-written" paper is so completly subjective. It depends on what country you're in and a whole host of other things. Regardless, it might be interesting to attempt an essay without a thesis. I don't think I could do it.
I like theses, like most of us. I believe in the power of a sexy thesis, and the "turn-off" created from the lack of a thesis. When there isn't a thesis in an essay, I'm immediately sceptical and nervous. I hate not knowing what the paper is going to be about by the time I've read through the introduction paragraph. A paper without a thesis leaves me disappointed, confused, and generally uninterested before I've even reached the second paragraph. That's a big deal.
So yay for sexy theses! Today's class redefined my relationship with theses and took it to a whole new level...
I'm gonna make some posters about this, I swear.
Sarah
Seeing as I come from an academic environment where the importance of a thesis was drilled into my head, I was digging the acronym today: FAST (focused, arguable, sexy, thesis). But on my way back to New Hall, I was thinking about the concept of a thesis. Is it possible to have a really well-written essay that doesn't have a thesis? I can't imagine every attempting such a thing, but what if the intro paragraph layed out the paper and set up an argument but didn't have a specific thesis presented at the end of the first paragraph?
Just a thought. Because I know we kind of have the concept of a five paragraph essay drilled into our heads in American. Hook, thesis, topic sentences, transitions, conclusion... why? This brings me back to that video we watched about ESL students and how other cultures tackle writing differently. In American academia, inconclusive, circular writing is frowned upon. A straight-forward argument is expected.
Returning to my first rhetorical question, I just realised: the definition of a "well-written" paper is so completly subjective. It depends on what country you're in and a whole host of other things. Regardless, it might be interesting to attempt an essay without a thesis. I don't think I could do it.
I like theses, like most of us. I believe in the power of a sexy thesis, and the "turn-off" created from the lack of a thesis. When there isn't a thesis in an essay, I'm immediately sceptical and nervous. I hate not knowing what the paper is going to be about by the time I've read through the introduction paragraph. A paper without a thesis leaves me disappointed, confused, and generally uninterested before I've even reached the second paragraph. That's a big deal.
So yay for sexy theses! Today's class redefined my relationship with theses and took it to a whole new level...
I'm gonna make some posters about this, I swear.
Sarah
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Love a Good Metaphor
Hi guys.
I loved the metaphor worksheet we did today! While at first I thought it was kind of strange, it really got me thinking about myself as a writing advisor. I love metaphors and symbolism and all that jazz. It reminds me of my theater classes in high school. Everything symbolizes something in theater! I remember having to design sets, and then having to write up a justification for everything on the set. A lot of the time, I would create the set with the first ideas that came to mind, and then make a metaphor/justification for it all later. My theater director really helped me realize that usually the first thing that comes to mind has relevance to us, and has strong meaning and symbolism. Often, people try to force a metaphor and make it really meaningful, but the ideas in the back of our head often have more power than the ideas we spends hours trying to come up with.
Cool stuff.
So, to summarize my metaphor sheet, I am a circular, navy chihuahua who loves yoga pants, Tuesdays, jazz, wind, and bread. Yay.
At first I tried to come up with a really significant response to each of these questions, but then I realized that by over thinking things, I wasn't giving honest answers. Kind of like theater.
With the animal metaphor, at first I wanted to describe myself as an animal known for wisdom or poise, but I realized that was so forced (and possibly inaccurate :P). I am a chihuahua --not the super annoying, wimpy kind, but the chihuahua that is excited, involved, enthusiastic, and ready to go. I love the writing center, and I'm already getting really excited about the work we do. I love talking to people about papers! I think language is really freaking awesome and I love to see how people use their words. Yes, I may have my tired days, but my enthusiasm for writing will never change.
The yoga pants were kind of a stretch (pun?). I think I am yoga pants as an advisor because yoga pants are comfortable and familiar, but they still make you look good. They are far more presentable than sweatpants, and look a lot less sloppy.
As an advisor, I am navy. Navy is warm and deep. I'm constantly searching for hidden metaphors and philosophical reasoning/ symbolism. I try to find a deeper meaning for everything, even if the writer wasn't intending to have some form of symbolism. (Although I won't try to change the writer's ideas; sometimes I keep these supposed metaphors to myself). I'm a circle because I always look for connection and logical progression in a paper. Papers must have a certain fluidity and cohesion.
I am wind because I push the writers along. I ask questions, and always look for a deeper development.
I am jazz music because, similar to the wind, I like to have the session constantly moving and developing. I ask unexpected questions, and I'm quick to improvise and create.
I am Tuesday because Monday's suck, but by Tuesday you're ready to take on the week. At least for me, I always have a general weekly to-do list created by Tuesday. I'm ready to be productive and dominate the week.
I am bread, because I believe in starting with the basics. Bread serves as a substantial base to every meal. I believe that a strong thesis and an clear set of ideas are the most important part of a a paper. They are the base of the paper, and that's where I like to focus my attention.
Have a lovely day,
Chihuahua <3
I loved the metaphor worksheet we did today! While at first I thought it was kind of strange, it really got me thinking about myself as a writing advisor. I love metaphors and symbolism and all that jazz. It reminds me of my theater classes in high school. Everything symbolizes something in theater! I remember having to design sets, and then having to write up a justification for everything on the set. A lot of the time, I would create the set with the first ideas that came to mind, and then make a metaphor/justification for it all later. My theater director really helped me realize that usually the first thing that comes to mind has relevance to us, and has strong meaning and symbolism. Often, people try to force a metaphor and make it really meaningful, but the ideas in the back of our head often have more power than the ideas we spends hours trying to come up with.
Cool stuff.
So, to summarize my metaphor sheet, I am a circular, navy chihuahua who loves yoga pants, Tuesdays, jazz, wind, and bread. Yay.
At first I tried to come up with a really significant response to each of these questions, but then I realized that by over thinking things, I wasn't giving honest answers. Kind of like theater.
With the animal metaphor, at first I wanted to describe myself as an animal known for wisdom or poise, but I realized that was so forced (and possibly inaccurate :P). I am a chihuahua --not the super annoying, wimpy kind, but the chihuahua that is excited, involved, enthusiastic, and ready to go. I love the writing center, and I'm already getting really excited about the work we do. I love talking to people about papers! I think language is really freaking awesome and I love to see how people use their words. Yes, I may have my tired days, but my enthusiasm for writing will never change.
The yoga pants were kind of a stretch (pun?). I think I am yoga pants as an advisor because yoga pants are comfortable and familiar, but they still make you look good. They are far more presentable than sweatpants, and look a lot less sloppy.
As an advisor, I am navy. Navy is warm and deep. I'm constantly searching for hidden metaphors and philosophical reasoning/ symbolism. I try to find a deeper meaning for everything, even if the writer wasn't intending to have some form of symbolism. (Although I won't try to change the writer's ideas; sometimes I keep these supposed metaphors to myself). I'm a circle because I always look for connection and logical progression in a paper. Papers must have a certain fluidity and cohesion.
I am wind because I push the writers along. I ask questions, and always look for a deeper development.
I am jazz music because, similar to the wind, I like to have the session constantly moving and developing. I ask unexpected questions, and I'm quick to improvise and create.
I am Tuesday because Monday's suck, but by Tuesday you're ready to take on the week. At least for me, I always have a general weekly to-do list created by Tuesday. I'm ready to be productive and dominate the week.
I am bread, because I believe in starting with the basics. Bread serves as a substantial base to every meal. I believe that a strong thesis and an clear set of ideas are the most important part of a a paper. They are the base of the paper, and that's where I like to focus my attention.
Have a lovely day,
Chihuahua <3
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Are all sessions this fun??
Hi friends!
Due to my excessive coffee consumption over the past couple hours, my excitement for the writing center is completely amplified, but I ensure you the excitement is not false. I'm super excited for next year!!! Back home I used to work at an Italian restaurant, and that job made me happy. I love having a job to escape from the rest of my moderately stressful life. I can already tell that working on the Writing Center is going to be the same kind of happy escape :)
Talking to people about their papers is really cool --especially when the subjects are this interesting! A book about how technology is going to destroy society? Heck yes. So cool. I hate technology. I have avoided a smart phone for the longest time. I'm only getting one this weekend because my phone broke, and an iPhone is equally as expensive as a non-smart phone.
I will be stealing Whitney's copy of Feed and reading that book this summer. Yay. John's paper was over all pretty well written and made me want to read the book. I was actually pretty nervous about how well written it was. I thought I wasn't going to have much to say (who am I kidding, I always have something to say), but I feel that by paraphrasing his argument as we went along, we were able to have a pretty solid conversation. I gave him the perspective of someone who hadn't read the book, which happened to be exactly what his paper needed to consider.
Throughout his paper, there were several instances where he would mention characters or events from the book that I was unable to fully grasp. These were easy fixes, but still extremely important. When he quoted the book, I was unable to understand the significance of the quote because I didn't understand exactly what was going on, or who the character speaking was.
There were also sentences that would be unclear to even those who have read the book. Every once in a while, we paused and examined sentences that were vague, had pronoun issues, or had lack of parallelism. I was able to voice what the sentence appeared to say, and John was able to correct the sentence in a way the conveyed what he was actually trying to say. It went well. He's a strong writer and immediately knew how to rephrase the sentence. I mean the kid took AP lit. I didn't even take AP lit at my high school.
Our final concerns were repetition and being concice. I was a little nervous because John's thesis appeared to set the body paragraph's up for 1) a paragraph on technology and being uniformed 2)a paragraph on technology on ignorance. But John actually had two paragraphs on ignorance. I thought this was going to feel kind of unbalanced, but it worked really well. His second paragraph on ignorance proved to be a natural extension of the first. I didn't see a ton of overlap, but we marked a couple things he said he was concerned about. At the end of the session, he seemed to have a clear direction.
I like using my blogs as a way to collect my own thoughts. This session reflection shouldn't be too bad, seeing as I just essentially reflected for 500 words or so. Awesome.
PS: "Our final concerns were repetition and being concise." -----> is there a noun that basically means "the act of being concise"? Concision? Oh I googled. Concision it is!
Pretend it says: "Our final concerns were repetition and concision". Sounds better.
Kay bye friends.
Have a lovely day.
Check out the Jack Johnson Pandora Station. Instant happiness.
That's all.
Due to my excessive coffee consumption over the past couple hours, my excitement for the writing center is completely amplified, but I ensure you the excitement is not false. I'm super excited for next year!!! Back home I used to work at an Italian restaurant, and that job made me happy. I love having a job to escape from the rest of my moderately stressful life. I can already tell that working on the Writing Center is going to be the same kind of happy escape :)
Talking to people about their papers is really cool --especially when the subjects are this interesting! A book about how technology is going to destroy society? Heck yes. So cool. I hate technology. I have avoided a smart phone for the longest time. I'm only getting one this weekend because my phone broke, and an iPhone is equally as expensive as a non-smart phone.
I will be stealing Whitney's copy of Feed and reading that book this summer. Yay. John's paper was over all pretty well written and made me want to read the book. I was actually pretty nervous about how well written it was. I thought I wasn't going to have much to say (who am I kidding, I always have something to say), but I feel that by paraphrasing his argument as we went along, we were able to have a pretty solid conversation. I gave him the perspective of someone who hadn't read the book, which happened to be exactly what his paper needed to consider.
Throughout his paper, there were several instances where he would mention characters or events from the book that I was unable to fully grasp. These were easy fixes, but still extremely important. When he quoted the book, I was unable to understand the significance of the quote because I didn't understand exactly what was going on, or who the character speaking was.
There were also sentences that would be unclear to even those who have read the book. Every once in a while, we paused and examined sentences that were vague, had pronoun issues, or had lack of parallelism. I was able to voice what the sentence appeared to say, and John was able to correct the sentence in a way the conveyed what he was actually trying to say. It went well. He's a strong writer and immediately knew how to rephrase the sentence. I mean the kid took AP lit. I didn't even take AP lit at my high school.
Our final concerns were repetition and being concice. I was a little nervous because John's thesis appeared to set the body paragraph's up for 1) a paragraph on technology and being uniformed 2)a paragraph on technology on ignorance. But John actually had two paragraphs on ignorance. I thought this was going to feel kind of unbalanced, but it worked really well. His second paragraph on ignorance proved to be a natural extension of the first. I didn't see a ton of overlap, but we marked a couple things he said he was concerned about. At the end of the session, he seemed to have a clear direction.
I like using my blogs as a way to collect my own thoughts. This session reflection shouldn't be too bad, seeing as I just essentially reflected for 500 words or so. Awesome.
PS: "Our final concerns were repetition and being concise." -----> is there a noun that basically means "the act of being concise"? Concision? Oh I googled. Concision it is!
Pretend it says: "Our final concerns were repetition and concision". Sounds better.
Kay bye friends.
Have a lovely day.
Check out the Jack Johnson Pandora Station. Instant happiness.
That's all.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
Any more buffalo than that and I'm done. I tend to get words stuck in my head in the same way people get songs stuck in their head.
*BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO*. Thanks mike.
But thinking about this makes me wonder, why are the Buffalo Buffalo so mean to their fellow Buffalo buffalo? Moving on:
Today's session was so extrememly helpful. I brought in a piece of crap summary --partially because I did it right before class, and partially because I had a really hard time deciding what to focus on in summarizing Muriel Harris's article. It wasn't that I didnt understand the article, there was just so much information! I couldn't figure out a way to efficiently and successfuly simplify it. Kelsey really helped me break down her article and gather my thoughts.
In general "Making Our Institutional Discourse Sticky: Suggestions for Effective Rhetoric" is about the way writing center's present themselves to institutional audiences. She explains that we tend to define ourselves by what we are not. We aren't a fix it shop, we do not write papers for students, we do not work with only remedial students. Harris notes that this is a poor way to define ourselves; "If we define ourselves by what we are not, we cannot be much to ourselves or others." She says that instead, we should define ourselves in terms that are sticky: "writing that is positive, appeals appropriatley to our audiences, is highly memorable, and is concrete and specific." In writing with stickyness in mind, people "will understand and correctly remember who we are and what we contribute to the process of writing."
Wow. Okay maybe I can incorporate some of what I just said in this blog into my new summary.
As you can see, the over all arguement of the article makes sense. (At least it makes sense to me). But I think what really threw me is the size and structure of her arguement. In her introduction she bassically gives a mission statment of the article:
"I offer here cautionary advice to help avoid some tempting morrasses to unwittingly fall into as well as some more solid ground to stroll along when composing our institutional prose"
So then in the body of the piece she gives three or four methods we SHOULDN'T use to present the center, along with psychological research supporting her arguement for each example, and then she finally concludes with the right way to present the center. I had a really hard time summarizing all of this. By citing her research, was I getting too detailed? Should I incorporate a summary of each of her examples of "the wrong ways" to define the center?
This 20 page article is separated with sections with headings. I initially tried to include a bit from each section, but doing so forced me to create a really awkward body paragraph with little flow. Its really a gross paragraph. I'm actually super embarrased that we have to turn our draft into mike. I would never turn in something with that low of quality.
I've decided to reformat my introduction paragraph with bits and pieces of what I stated above. I'll make a thesis statment of sorts that outlines her article a bit better. I've decided to focus on two parts of her argument, the usagage of negation in defining something, and our tendancy to use abstact, rhetorical language in describing what we do. I'll also summarize her solution to this problem. Okay I feel much better about this.
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Everything above that line is a personal rant for my own benifit. I essentially just talked myself through how I'm going to fix this crappy summary. My appologies for being really boring/selfish in this blog. I'm sure you guys don't really care about my plans for revision.
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PS. I just realized I wrote the title of the article wrong in my first version of this summary. I such a successful summarizer.~
ooooh!!! on the plus side I just hit the spelling check thing and it didn't highlight anything! Usually I spell really simple words wrong/
I may be a summarizing failure, but today I am a spelling champion!!
*BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO*. Thanks mike.
But thinking about this makes me wonder, why are the Buffalo Buffalo so mean to their fellow Buffalo buffalo? Moving on:
Today's session was so extrememly helpful. I brought in a piece of crap summary --partially because I did it right before class, and partially because I had a really hard time deciding what to focus on in summarizing Muriel Harris's article. It wasn't that I didnt understand the article, there was just so much information! I couldn't figure out a way to efficiently and successfuly simplify it. Kelsey really helped me break down her article and gather my thoughts.
In general "Making Our Institutional Discourse Sticky: Suggestions for Effective Rhetoric" is about the way writing center's present themselves to institutional audiences. She explains that we tend to define ourselves by what we are not. We aren't a fix it shop, we do not write papers for students, we do not work with only remedial students. Harris notes that this is a poor way to define ourselves; "If we define ourselves by what we are not, we cannot be much to ourselves or others." She says that instead, we should define ourselves in terms that are sticky: "writing that is positive, appeals appropriatley to our audiences, is highly memorable, and is concrete and specific." In writing with stickyness in mind, people "will understand and correctly remember who we are and what we contribute to the process of writing."
Wow. Okay maybe I can incorporate some of what I just said in this blog into my new summary.
As you can see, the over all arguement of the article makes sense. (At least it makes sense to me). But I think what really threw me is the size and structure of her arguement. In her introduction she bassically gives a mission statment of the article:
"I offer here cautionary advice to help avoid some tempting morrasses to unwittingly fall into as well as some more solid ground to stroll along when composing our institutional prose"
So then in the body of the piece she gives three or four methods we SHOULDN'T use to present the center, along with psychological research supporting her arguement for each example, and then she finally concludes with the right way to present the center. I had a really hard time summarizing all of this. By citing her research, was I getting too detailed? Should I incorporate a summary of each of her examples of "the wrong ways" to define the center?
This 20 page article is separated with sections with headings. I initially tried to include a bit from each section, but doing so forced me to create a really awkward body paragraph with little flow. Its really a gross paragraph. I'm actually super embarrased that we have to turn our draft into mike. I would never turn in something with that low of quality.
I've decided to reformat my introduction paragraph with bits and pieces of what I stated above. I'll make a thesis statment of sorts that outlines her article a bit better. I've decided to focus on two parts of her argument, the usagage of negation in defining something, and our tendancy to use abstact, rhetorical language in describing what we do. I'll also summarize her solution to this problem. Okay I feel much better about this.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everything above that line is a personal rant for my own benifit. I essentially just talked myself through how I'm going to fix this crappy summary. My appologies for being really boring/selfish in this blog. I'm sure you guys don't really care about my plans for revision.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS. I just realized I wrote the title of the article wrong in my first version of this summary. I such a successful summarizer.~
ooooh!!! on the plus side I just hit the spelling check thing and it didn't highlight anything! Usually I spell really simple words wrong/
I may be a summarizing failure, but today I am a spelling champion!!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
How can I help you?
Hey guys. I'm kinda in a slump right now. I have a super cool headache. ~
Receiving the new syllabus in class today made me so nervous! Is it possible that we really have less than 5 weeks left? So crazy. And judging by the amount of stuff I have to do, I'm sure the weeks will fly. Summary, reflection, an education research paper, another reflection, and the ever so daunting pedagogy. Oh and then a final project for astronomy. AHHHHH.
Sophomore year is quickly approaching, and I'm really excited to work in the Writing Center.
Side note: screw all the people in the Hollenbeck Lab right now. SHUT UP. This is a quiet zone or something, right??
Anyways, the mock sessions today were really interesting. Too often I assume that our work in the writing center will strictly involve "less experienced" writers, but that is far from the truth. It is entirely possible for a writer to bring in a dense, well-written, almost finalized draft of a paper that is on a subject I don't know about. Previously, I would have thought that I would be able to handle a paper of an advanced level, but the one in class today made me really nervous.
I have no problem flat out telling the writer that I am unknowledgeable of his topic. I'll admit to not reading a particular book, not knowing anything about history, or not understanding technical scientific ideas. What I'm afraid of, however, is not being able to help. The paper we looked at today seemed finalized to me. I had no suggestions. I had no commentary. How do you deal with that in the center? Should I just become really picky and find something minuscule that could be changed?
Sarvanni said something really interesting in class. She said, "I forgot, the writer is aloud to be right." So true. So maybe in this scenario we can comment on positive aspects of the paper, and have conversation with these advanced writers that centers on our understanding of the point they are trying to get across. At the end of the discussion, we may not have any critiques, but at least we can provide a sense of reassurance for the writer.
Regardless, I still hope writers don't come to me with finalized papers. I know no paper is perfect, but providing no constructive criticism would make me feel like I didn't help the writer at all.
Receiving the new syllabus in class today made me so nervous! Is it possible that we really have less than 5 weeks left? So crazy. And judging by the amount of stuff I have to do, I'm sure the weeks will fly. Summary, reflection, an education research paper, another reflection, and the ever so daunting pedagogy. Oh and then a final project for astronomy. AHHHHH.
Sophomore year is quickly approaching, and I'm really excited to work in the Writing Center.
Side note: screw all the people in the Hollenbeck Lab right now. SHUT UP. This is a quiet zone or something, right??
Anyways, the mock sessions today were really interesting. Too often I assume that our work in the writing center will strictly involve "less experienced" writers, but that is far from the truth. It is entirely possible for a writer to bring in a dense, well-written, almost finalized draft of a paper that is on a subject I don't know about. Previously, I would have thought that I would be able to handle a paper of an advanced level, but the one in class today made me really nervous.
I have no problem flat out telling the writer that I am unknowledgeable of his topic. I'll admit to not reading a particular book, not knowing anything about history, or not understanding technical scientific ideas. What I'm afraid of, however, is not being able to help. The paper we looked at today seemed finalized to me. I had no suggestions. I had no commentary. How do you deal with that in the center? Should I just become really picky and find something minuscule that could be changed?
Sarvanni said something really interesting in class. She said, "I forgot, the writer is aloud to be right." So true. So maybe in this scenario we can comment on positive aspects of the paper, and have conversation with these advanced writers that centers on our understanding of the point they are trying to get across. At the end of the discussion, we may not have any critiques, but at least we can provide a sense of reassurance for the writer.
Regardless, I still hope writers don't come to me with finalized papers. I know no paper is perfect, but providing no constructive criticism would make me feel like I didn't help the writer at all.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Lincoln Elementary
Alright guys, I'm going to be really upfront with this: my blog today is going to be about the tutoring I did at Lincoln this afternoon, and I'm going to hope I'll find a connection to the writing center by the end of it. It may be a stretch.
So for my Philosophical Perspectives in Education class, we're tutoring for an hour once a week, every week, at Lincoln Elementary school. The way they set up the tutoring is that we are each paired with a student from one of the classes, and we sit with that student during their scheduled "reading block" and help them with whatever they need. Basically we join in on the class, focusing on one particular student. Not all of the students get tutors.
Lincoln Elementary is consistently producing poor reading scores on state tests. To fix this problem, the school has decided to focus on the "bubble students": students that are in the middle ground. Bubble students are failing tests, but they aren't so far gone that they can't be helped. These bubble students are assigned Wittenberg tutors. Not all of the students get a tutor. In my class, for example, its just me and one other guy from my education class who are serving as tutors.
Today was different from how most of our tutoring days will be, however, because it was "Book Share presentation day". Instead of working side by side with a student, we sat in the corner and observed. I felt pretty fortunate to have my first day at Lincoln be an observation day; I was able to learn a lot about the kind of culture that exists within the Springfield City schools.
My apologies to any native Springfielders who may be offended by my description of Lincoln and its students, but Lincoln is Springfield's worst school. It is in the heart of one of the worst parts of Springfield. The school itself may look nice with its new renovations, but its appearance is a facade. The school houses students who are consistently behind what is expected for their grade level. Not only are the students behind in reading and math, but they are also behind in social expectations.
I've never seen a class of sixth graders so disrespectful. These kids are what, twelve? And it's like no one has ever taught them how they are supposed to act in a classroom. They were all running around up out of their seats, yelling out, and over all just being rude. The teacher had to ask them several times to sit back down, listen, pay attention. I was surprised by the disrespect. The students talked back to the teacher, denying her command to do anything productive.
Once the presentations started, I realized this was a group of sixth graders unlike any class I had seen before. The range of their skill level was astonishing. While one sixth graders had a well organized report on the lengthy, 750 page final book of the Twilight series, another student had a vague report on a book that seemed to be the intellectual equivalent of Go Dog, Go or whatever. It was such a strange comparison. These students were all over the place. Someone from my class who had tutored earlier this week said that his sixth grader didn't know the differences between "there, their, they're," and he couldn't begin to spell any of them! He wrote "ther". He's in the sixth grade.
I met the girl that I will be working with these next few weeks. Her name is Selena. At the end of the class, I got to sit next to her for five minutes or so while she did a reading comprehension activity, and she seems pretty bright. I can't wait to start working with her and see the problems that might arise. Maybe I'll test some of the tutoring theories we've discussed in class, though with a younger student it might help to be a bit more direct than our advisers generally are in the Center.
So for my Philosophical Perspectives in Education class, we're tutoring for an hour once a week, every week, at Lincoln Elementary school. The way they set up the tutoring is that we are each paired with a student from one of the classes, and we sit with that student during their scheduled "reading block" and help them with whatever they need. Basically we join in on the class, focusing on one particular student. Not all of the students get tutors.
Lincoln Elementary is consistently producing poor reading scores on state tests. To fix this problem, the school has decided to focus on the "bubble students": students that are in the middle ground. Bubble students are failing tests, but they aren't so far gone that they can't be helped. These bubble students are assigned Wittenberg tutors. Not all of the students get a tutor. In my class, for example, its just me and one other guy from my education class who are serving as tutors.
Today was different from how most of our tutoring days will be, however, because it was "Book Share presentation day". Instead of working side by side with a student, we sat in the corner and observed. I felt pretty fortunate to have my first day at Lincoln be an observation day; I was able to learn a lot about the kind of culture that exists within the Springfield City schools.
My apologies to any native Springfielders who may be offended by my description of Lincoln and its students, but Lincoln is Springfield's worst school. It is in the heart of one of the worst parts of Springfield. The school itself may look nice with its new renovations, but its appearance is a facade. The school houses students who are consistently behind what is expected for their grade level. Not only are the students behind in reading and math, but they are also behind in social expectations.
I've never seen a class of sixth graders so disrespectful. These kids are what, twelve? And it's like no one has ever taught them how they are supposed to act in a classroom. They were all running around up out of their seats, yelling out, and over all just being rude. The teacher had to ask them several times to sit back down, listen, pay attention. I was surprised by the disrespect. The students talked back to the teacher, denying her command to do anything productive.
Once the presentations started, I realized this was a group of sixth graders unlike any class I had seen before. The range of their skill level was astonishing. While one sixth graders had a well organized report on the lengthy, 750 page final book of the Twilight series, another student had a vague report on a book that seemed to be the intellectual equivalent of Go Dog, Go or whatever. It was such a strange comparison. These students were all over the place. Someone from my class who had tutored earlier this week said that his sixth grader didn't know the differences between "there, their, they're," and he couldn't begin to spell any of them! He wrote "ther". He's in the sixth grade.
I met the girl that I will be working with these next few weeks. Her name is Selena. At the end of the class, I got to sit next to her for five minutes or so while she did a reading comprehension activity, and she seems pretty bright. I can't wait to start working with her and see the problems that might arise. Maybe I'll test some of the tutoring theories we've discussed in class, though with a younger student it might help to be a bit more direct than our advisers generally are in the Center.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
OSU writing center
Jeeze. I just googled "Ohio State Writing Center", and I'm already forming opions on the things that I've seen. I realize I have some bias on the subject of writing centers, so I'll try to keep an open mind while reading their description....
Lets be real though: this blog is bound to turn into a post about why I think Witt's center is better.
From first glace, their general definition of the center is similar to ours. They talk about helping with any writing assignment at any stage of the process and so on. But if you continue reading, big bold letters present the title, "WRITING CENTER POLICIES." Cool. Basically they have a ton of rules associated with their center. Wittenberg doesn't have rules, and we function just fine. Chill out, OSU.
I really didn't want this blog to be a giant copy-and-paste scenario, but check out these policies:
You may schedule ONE appointment at our Mendenhall location each week. You may have one walk-in tutorial daily (up to four per week) at our satellite center. People with documented learning disabilities may have two appointments per week.
Clients with too many appointments per week will have the overflow appointments canceled.
If you need to cancel an appointment, please call 614-688-4291 or go online to AT LEAST ONE HOUR before your appointment. Canceling an appointment less than an hour before the appointment will count as a no-show. If you call to cancel more than an hour before your appointment, you may, if we have openings, reschedule an appointment for later in the week.
Clients who miss an appointment without calling or visiting the scheduler system AT LEAST ONE HOUR in advance are considered no-shows and may not hold another appointment that week. Clients accumulating two or more no-shows will have appointments canceled and will not be allowed to schedule another appointment for the remainder of the quarter.
I understand OSU is huge, but these rules are rough. Is it really necessary to limit the amount of appointments a student has per week? I think first come, first serve (aka whoever makes the appointment first) is a fine thing. Also, I think their strict cancellation rules are comical, considering last time I had an appointment in our center, I changed the time of it like three times --one of those times being 15 minutes before the appointment was supposed to happen. Whoops. I understand the need to have cancellation notice so that other students can have the opportunity, but threatening to ban a student from the center does not set up a warm, inviting atmospere for the center.
Another policy that confused me:
Tutors in the writing center will not tutor students for work in the following courses: Education 106, 107, and 108. To get help with those courses, call the ESL program (292-6360).
Lets be real though: this blog is bound to turn into a post about why I think Witt's center is better.
From first glace, their general definition of the center is similar to ours. They talk about helping with any writing assignment at any stage of the process and so on. But if you continue reading, big bold letters present the title, "WRITING CENTER POLICIES." Cool. Basically they have a ton of rules associated with their center. Wittenberg doesn't have rules, and we function just fine. Chill out, OSU.
I really didn't want this blog to be a giant copy-and-paste scenario, but check out these policies:
I understand OSU is huge, but these rules are rough. Is it really necessary to limit the amount of appointments a student has per week? I think first come, first serve (aka whoever makes the appointment first) is a fine thing. Also, I think their strict cancellation rules are comical, considering last time I had an appointment in our center, I changed the time of it like three times --one of those times being 15 minutes before the appointment was supposed to happen. Whoops. I understand the need to have cancellation notice so that other students can have the opportunity, but threatening to ban a student from the center does not set up a warm, inviting atmospere for the center.
Another policy that confused me:
I don't know what those classes are, but I'm assuming they are entry-level ESL courses. The idea of separating native speakers from non-native speakers baffles me. Discrimination! They say in their description that they will help any student with any assigment, but then they throw in a rule against ESL kids? What the heck. The writing advisors in their center should be able to handle ALL students, whether they are fluent in English or not.
Speaking of the advisors, I can't really tell if they are students or teachers. In the center's scheduled hours, they list that they are closed from "1:30-2:18 for staff meeting." If the student's were advisors, my guess is that they would not have to close for this meeting.
I'm not necessarily against teachers as advisors, but I bet if they had some students as advisors, they could expand the size of their center to accomodate for the larger student body of OSU.
Very interesting.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Three cheers for free coffee in the science center!
Three cheers for free coffee in the science center!
I am currently fully energized to write this blog. Does this mean it will be a coherent blog? Probably not, as my brain plus coffee usually leads to A.D.D. As in, I'm currently thinking about a million things all at once. Yay. Get excited. Let's hope I can keep the tangents to a minimum.
#1 Thought: I've come to realize that I love simplistic explanations and definitions. This realization first occurred in my Multi variable Calculus class, and appeared again in class today. In introducing something new to a class, I wish all teachers started with a simplistic explanation rather than diving into a bunch of dense information. For example:
-A gerund is an "ing" verb that is being used as a noun.
-A phrase is a word or collection of words that function as part of a sentence, but the phrase does not have both a subject and predicate.
-The gradient of a function of three variables is a vector composed of the partial derivatives in respect to each variable.
-A clause is a combination of a subject and a predicate.
After these definitions, it'd be appropriate to explain the general use of these things with examples, then move on to bigger and more complex situations. I'm not trying to say Mike/Gordon did not give complete explanations of the grammatical terms, but I think simplistic definitions should be stressed more when teaching. I've sat through entire lectures where at the end of the class, I could not explain the topic in simple terms.
For example, Dr. Higgins's lecture on gradients in Multi variable Calc. Let me start by saying that Higgins is obviously a very intelligent man and I really respect him, but sometimes it feels like he doesn't know how to put things in simple terms. It's like he forgets that we don't already understand the subject. In our lecture introducing gradients, he gave a long definition in mathematical terms and proceeded to give examples of how to find the gradient. At the end of the class, I found myself asking "what exactly is the gradient? What is is it used for?" This was very frustrating, seeing as I had three pages of notes, but didn't exactly know what was going on.
Sometimes I feel like lessons in grammar have a similar ending. Earlier this year, when we first took brief notes on the difference of a phrase and a clause, I had in my notes the a clause contained a subject and a predicate. I did not, however, have a clear explanation of what was in a phrase. All I knew was that it wasn't a clause. It wasn't until today that I was able to go back to those notes and fill in the blanks with the definition I have in the list above.
I hope to remember these frustrations when I become a math teacher. It's so easy to forget that students are not on the same page. I'll start every class with a straight forward explanation of what the formula or subject is, why we have it, and what it is used for. I'll end every class with the same simple explanation.
#2 Thought: Everyone needs to watch Waiting for Superman. We watched part of it in education class today and it made me want to cry. Shitty teachers should lose their jobs. Pardon my French. Screw unions and tenure.
#3 Thought: I declared my math major yesterday! Yay! Wish me luck.
#4 Thought: I've been looking at the open course description thing for next semester, and I might end up with no Tuesday/Thursday classes the first half of the semester. My schedule is super awk (lol awk), and its making me nervous. Three of the classes I have no choice but to take for my major and minor are back to back MWF at 9:10, 10:20, and 11:30, and then all of the classes I want to take as gen eds are also MWF.
Great~.
^ is that how the ~ works?? If so, it may replace the semicolon as my favorite punctuation!
#5 Thought: If I don't have any classes T/Thurs, hopefully I can get some early Writing Center hours on those days so I don't have the option of sleeping all day!
Cool beans.
Sarah
PS. I just used the spell check and realized I've been spelling "explanation" wrong my whole life. Explaination.... whoops.
I am currently fully energized to write this blog. Does this mean it will be a coherent blog? Probably not, as my brain plus coffee usually leads to A.D.D. As in, I'm currently thinking about a million things all at once. Yay. Get excited. Let's hope I can keep the tangents to a minimum.
#1 Thought: I've come to realize that I love simplistic explanations and definitions. This realization first occurred in my Multi variable Calculus class, and appeared again in class today. In introducing something new to a class, I wish all teachers started with a simplistic explanation rather than diving into a bunch of dense information. For example:
-A gerund is an "ing" verb that is being used as a noun.
-A phrase is a word or collection of words that function as part of a sentence, but the phrase does not have both a subject and predicate.
-The gradient of a function of three variables is a vector composed of the partial derivatives in respect to each variable.
-A clause is a combination of a subject and a predicate.
After these definitions, it'd be appropriate to explain the general use of these things with examples, then move on to bigger and more complex situations. I'm not trying to say Mike/Gordon did not give complete explanations of the grammatical terms, but I think simplistic definitions should be stressed more when teaching. I've sat through entire lectures where at the end of the class, I could not explain the topic in simple terms.
For example, Dr. Higgins's lecture on gradients in Multi variable Calc. Let me start by saying that Higgins is obviously a very intelligent man and I really respect him, but sometimes it feels like he doesn't know how to put things in simple terms. It's like he forgets that we don't already understand the subject. In our lecture introducing gradients, he gave a long definition in mathematical terms and proceeded to give examples of how to find the gradient. At the end of the class, I found myself asking "what exactly is the gradient? What is is it used for?" This was very frustrating, seeing as I had three pages of notes, but didn't exactly know what was going on.
Sometimes I feel like lessons in grammar have a similar ending. Earlier this year, when we first took brief notes on the difference of a phrase and a clause, I had in my notes the a clause contained a subject and a predicate. I did not, however, have a clear explanation of what was in a phrase. All I knew was that it wasn't a clause. It wasn't until today that I was able to go back to those notes and fill in the blanks with the definition I have in the list above.
I hope to remember these frustrations when I become a math teacher. It's so easy to forget that students are not on the same page. I'll start every class with a straight forward explanation of what the formula or subject is, why we have it, and what it is used for. I'll end every class with the same simple explanation.
#2 Thought: Everyone needs to watch Waiting for Superman. We watched part of it in education class today and it made me want to cry. Shitty teachers should lose their jobs. Pardon my French. Screw unions and tenure.
#3 Thought: I declared my math major yesterday! Yay! Wish me luck.
#4 Thought: I've been looking at the open course description thing for next semester, and I might end up with no Tuesday/Thursday classes the first half of the semester. My schedule is super awk (lol awk), and its making me nervous. Three of the classes I have no choice but to take for my major and minor are back to back MWF at 9:10, 10:20, and 11:30, and then all of the classes I want to take as gen eds are also MWF.
Great~.
^ is that how the ~ works?? If so, it may replace the semicolon as my favorite punctuation!
#5 Thought: If I don't have any classes T/Thurs, hopefully I can get some early Writing Center hours on those days so I don't have the option of sleeping all day!
Cool beans.
Sarah
PS. I just used the spell check and realized I've been spelling "explanation" wrong my whole life. Explaination.... whoops.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Juggling, Gerunds, and Sunshine
Hi Hi Hi.
What a beautiful day it is today! Funny how easily the sun affects my mood. It has been such a good day today! I started my morning class with a trip to Lincoln Elementary school, and started my afternoon class with a much-needed dose of sunshine. Love it. Other than the fact that I was reminded of my poor hand-eye coordination, the juggling session was much appreciated. I love how so many class activities can be justified by an extended metaphor.
Juggling is like a writing center session! Juggling is like putting the pieces of a sentence together! Okay, maybe these metaphors are an excuse to spend twenty minutes outside, but I'm not complaining. The metaphor for juggling as writing works quite well. A writer takes all the parts of a sentence and puts them all together, just a juggler deals with many things at once. A talented writer/juggler takes all the pieces and plays with them in a new, interesting way.
Is it necessary for us to define the parts of the sentence? To an English speaker, the definitions seem to make things more complicated. I am sitting here writing this blog in Hollenbeck, and if I were to take the time to analyze each part of my sentences, it would take much longer. I don't want it to take longer. I want to go back outside!
To English speakers, defining the parts of the sentence is a tedious and seemingly unnecessary process. We don't question the parts of our sentences until we are trying to manipulate them into another language. Perhaps grammar classes are a thing of the past, but there's no denying that the technical terms can help us have a conversation about our writing. When working with a writer and using our terminology, we can give reasoning to our suggestions other than "it sounds better this way."
There is a problem, however. Writing Center advisors may feel it is a waste of time to sit there and explain all of the writing terminology. Additionally, we may intimidate the writers if we choose to use words they don't understand. Using advanced language creates a barrier between the writer and the advisor; they are no longer on the same level. The big words may go right over the writers head.We have to be careful to continue to display ourselves as peers, despite an obvious difference in understanding.
What a beautiful day it is today! Funny how easily the sun affects my mood. It has been such a good day today! I started my morning class with a trip to Lincoln Elementary school, and started my afternoon class with a much-needed dose of sunshine. Love it. Other than the fact that I was reminded of my poor hand-eye coordination, the juggling session was much appreciated. I love how so many class activities can be justified by an extended metaphor.
Juggling is like a writing center session! Juggling is like putting the pieces of a sentence together! Okay, maybe these metaphors are an excuse to spend twenty minutes outside, but I'm not complaining. The metaphor for juggling as writing works quite well. A writer takes all the parts of a sentence and puts them all together, just a juggler deals with many things at once. A talented writer/juggler takes all the pieces and plays with them in a new, interesting way.
Is it necessary for us to define the parts of the sentence? To an English speaker, the definitions seem to make things more complicated. I am sitting here writing this blog in Hollenbeck, and if I were to take the time to analyze each part of my sentences, it would take much longer. I don't want it to take longer. I want to go back outside!
To English speakers, defining the parts of the sentence is a tedious and seemingly unnecessary process. We don't question the parts of our sentences until we are trying to manipulate them into another language. Perhaps grammar classes are a thing of the past, but there's no denying that the technical terms can help us have a conversation about our writing. When working with a writer and using our terminology, we can give reasoning to our suggestions other than "it sounds better this way."
There is a problem, however. Writing Center advisors may feel it is a waste of time to sit there and explain all of the writing terminology. Additionally, we may intimidate the writers if we choose to use words they don't understand. Using advanced language creates a barrier between the writer and the advisor; they are no longer on the same level. The big words may go right over the writers head.We have to be careful to continue to display ourselves as peers, despite an obvious difference in understanding.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Learn Your Grammar.
Guys,
Remember that one time I filled out the answer to the example question and got the answer wrong? Yeah. I'm embarrassing. It's been a long week. All sense of grammar flew out the window last night lol.
Side note: I'm doing this blog in the writing lab in Hollenbeck again. Yay focus. But I'm really hungry... And I don't think they have a vending machine on the first floor, so I'm going to try to make this quick.
Anyway. I feel like the grammar test went pretty well. Other than the example problem, I only missed like five questions. Of the questions I missed, all but two were just stupid mistakes that I would have corrected had I taken the time to read over my answers. I don't want to say this test was really easy, but it definitely was not difficult. Like Lorena, I thought that this test was taken from some form of standardized test. To be honest, I actually thought it was some form of middle school Ohio Proficiency test.
The fact that this is a test potential teachers have to take as part of the Praxis kind of scared me. I really feel that if a college student doesn't know how answer these simple grammar questions, they need to learn some things before they decide to be a teacher. Maybe we should give a test like this in English 101. I, personally, would be pissed if we talked about nitty gritty grammar things all year in 101, but if students don't know how to do this, they need help.
I realize my grammar has yet to be perfected, but I saw something on facebook yesterday that drove me crazy. There was a facebook status that ended up having 145 comments on it, all arguing about politics, media, and materialism.
When you are trying to make a point, use grammar properly! Clarity is important.
This was a comment:
"Politically you are wrong, media does not rule the world when you have country's like Russia in which citizens there have media as there number I think it's 3 or 4 source of information and most interest in. Looks are more of a younger woman's concern to. Yes people are overwhelmed with what people think of them, but so are they in different ways all over this world. Losing faith in humanity only makes you as an individual naive. We have come so far, and only can keep going. We live in America. Not a third world country."
The whole conversation continued with similar grammar usage. GROSS. College freshman should understand grammar.
On another note, our class today kind of reminded me of my Philosophical Perspectives in Education class today. We had a guest speaker in class, and I'm really embarrassed I don't remember his name.... It was the guy who leads/created the Springfield Promise Neighborhood. He gave a really heavy presentation and told a story about one of the kids from Lincoln Elementary. After explaining his program, he showed us Ohio Proficiency Test scores from Lincoln Elementary. He handed out charts that displayed the percentage of students who were proficient in reading and math tests.
About 60 percent of the third graders at Lincoln were proficient in math. and 40 percent were proficient in reading. Looking at the chart for fourth grade scores, there was an obviously downfall. Only 25 percent of the fourth graders were proficient in math, about 40 percent again in reading! This scares me.
I realize this may not be related to Writing Center Theory, but makes me consider the background of each student who walks into the Writing Center.
Remember that one time I filled out the answer to the example question and got the answer wrong? Yeah. I'm embarrassing. It's been a long week. All sense of grammar flew out the window last night lol.
Side note: I'm doing this blog in the writing lab in Hollenbeck again. Yay focus. But I'm really hungry... And I don't think they have a vending machine on the first floor, so I'm going to try to make this quick.
Anyway. I feel like the grammar test went pretty well. Other than the example problem, I only missed like five questions. Of the questions I missed, all but two were just stupid mistakes that I would have corrected had I taken the time to read over my answers. I don't want to say this test was really easy, but it definitely was not difficult. Like Lorena, I thought that this test was taken from some form of standardized test. To be honest, I actually thought it was some form of middle school Ohio Proficiency test.
The fact that this is a test potential teachers have to take as part of the Praxis kind of scared me. I really feel that if a college student doesn't know how answer these simple grammar questions, they need to learn some things before they decide to be a teacher. Maybe we should give a test like this in English 101. I, personally, would be pissed if we talked about nitty gritty grammar things all year in 101, but if students don't know how to do this, they need help.
I realize my grammar has yet to be perfected, but I saw something on facebook yesterday that drove me crazy. There was a facebook status that ended up having 145 comments on it, all arguing about politics, media, and materialism.
When you are trying to make a point, use grammar properly! Clarity is important.
This was a comment:
"Politically you are wrong, media does not rule the world when you have country's like Russia in which citizens there have media as there number I think it's 3 or 4 source of information and most interest in. Looks are more of a younger woman's concern to. Yes people are overwhelmed with what people think of them, but so are they in different ways all over this world. Losing faith in humanity only makes you as an individual naive. We have come so far, and only can keep going. We live in America. Not a third world country."
The whole conversation continued with similar grammar usage. GROSS. College freshman should understand grammar.
On another note, our class today kind of reminded me of my Philosophical Perspectives in Education class today. We had a guest speaker in class, and I'm really embarrassed I don't remember his name.... It was the guy who leads/created the Springfield Promise Neighborhood. He gave a really heavy presentation and told a story about one of the kids from Lincoln Elementary. After explaining his program, he showed us Ohio Proficiency Test scores from Lincoln Elementary. He handed out charts that displayed the percentage of students who were proficient in reading and math tests.
About 60 percent of the third graders at Lincoln were proficient in math. and 40 percent were proficient in reading. Looking at the chart for fourth grade scores, there was an obviously downfall. Only 25 percent of the fourth graders were proficient in math, about 40 percent again in reading! This scares me.
I realize this may not be related to Writing Center Theory, but makes me consider the background of each student who walks into the Writing Center.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Syntax
Hi guys.
I'm trying this new thing where after 242, I'll go immediately to the lab in Hollenbeck and write a blog based on what we did in class that day and my thoughts. I will not allow myself to leave the building until I have another published blog! Yay. I'm in the lab now. This sounds extreme, but seriously, this way I'll have ideas still fresh in my mind. No more questioning what I'll right about. No more procrastination.
My thoughts for today center on the idea of syntax. The irony here? I've changed the punctuation in "No more questioning what I'll right about. No more procrastination" like four times. Whatever. Those fragments are a stylistic choice. Blogs are supposed to be informal anyways! I'm going to have to admit that I just googled the word "syntax". To be honest, I never heard of syntax until just recently. I guessed out of context clues that it is how our sentences flow. Google says ssentence syntax is: "In linguistics, the study of the rules that govern the ways in which words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences." Sounds good to me, although this definition is a lot more technical than I thought it would be.
In the end, does syntax=grammar?
Looking at the example sentences Mike handed out, grammar seemed to fix most of the syntax issues. Other issues, like clarity, were improved by rewording part of a phrase. Again, I think it's really awesome how a sentence can be worded infinitely many ways and still convey the same meaning. Conversely, using one weird or unparalleled form of a word can blur the meaning of a sentence.
Well, I was quoted twice in our handout today. It looks like I made the same mistake twice:
"Having nothing but a few writing center sessions where I was the writer, a few weeks in Writing Center Theory, and a couple of practice sessions under my belt, apprehension was expected."
"After turning the paper right-side up, he admitted that he had never been to the Writing Center before, so I gave him a brief summary of what we do and explained we generally start with reading the paper aloud."
In both of these examples, I failed to indicate the subject for the first part of my sentence. As you can see, I like occasionally starting sentences with -ing verbs. I guess I never thought about how it could create some confusion if not done correctly. Like Keri said, "it made sense to me." It's difficult to catch mistakes when we already know what we're trying to say. I guess this is why the Writing Center is such a useful tool! Writers must be aware of the readers' perspectives. Chances are, the reader is not telepathic, so writers must follow the rules of sentence syntax.
This brings me to my sketchy quote of the day. I believe it was Alexa who said something along the lines of "more stylistic, less realistic." Writers must be careful when choosing a stylistic approach. Very few writers have the authority to choose this approach, unfortunately. Stylistic, sometimes grammatically incorrect, approaches are not generally accepted in formal, academic writing. It is sad, but it is true. Look at my first paragraph again. Don't the fragments at the end make sense? I blog the way I would speak. And if I said all of that first paragraph aloud in conversation, I bet most people would understand what I was trying to say.
Too bad the misused grammar is often a distraction in written language.
I'm trying this new thing where after 242, I'll go immediately to the lab in Hollenbeck and write a blog based on what we did in class that day and my thoughts. I will not allow myself to leave the building until I have another published blog! Yay. I'm in the lab now. This sounds extreme, but seriously, this way I'll have ideas still fresh in my mind. No more questioning what I'll right about. No more procrastination.
My thoughts for today center on the idea of syntax. The irony here? I've changed the punctuation in "No more questioning what I'll right about. No more procrastination" like four times. Whatever. Those fragments are a stylistic choice. Blogs are supposed to be informal anyways! I'm going to have to admit that I just googled the word "syntax". To be honest, I never heard of syntax until just recently. I guessed out of context clues that it is how our sentences flow. Google says ssentence syntax is: "In linguistics, the study of the rules that govern the ways in which words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences." Sounds good to me, although this definition is a lot more technical than I thought it would be.
In the end, does syntax=grammar?
Looking at the example sentences Mike handed out, grammar seemed to fix most of the syntax issues. Other issues, like clarity, were improved by rewording part of a phrase. Again, I think it's really awesome how a sentence can be worded infinitely many ways and still convey the same meaning. Conversely, using one weird or unparalleled form of a word can blur the meaning of a sentence.
Well, I was quoted twice in our handout today. It looks like I made the same mistake twice:
"Having nothing but a few writing center sessions where I was the writer, a few weeks in Writing Center Theory, and a couple of practice sessions under my belt, apprehension was expected."
"After turning the paper right-side up, he admitted that he had never been to the Writing Center before, so I gave him a brief summary of what we do and explained we generally start with reading the paper aloud."
In both of these examples, I failed to indicate the subject for the first part of my sentence. As you can see, I like occasionally starting sentences with -ing verbs. I guess I never thought about how it could create some confusion if not done correctly. Like Keri said, "it made sense to me." It's difficult to catch mistakes when we already know what we're trying to say. I guess this is why the Writing Center is such a useful tool! Writers must be aware of the readers' perspectives. Chances are, the reader is not telepathic, so writers must follow the rules of sentence syntax.
This brings me to my sketchy quote of the day. I believe it was Alexa who said something along the lines of "more stylistic, less realistic." Writers must be careful when choosing a stylistic approach. Very few writers have the authority to choose this approach, unfortunately. Stylistic, sometimes grammatically incorrect, approaches are not generally accepted in formal, academic writing. It is sad, but it is true. Look at my first paragraph again. Don't the fragments at the end make sense? I blog the way I would speak. And if I said all of that first paragraph aloud in conversation, I bet most people would understand what I was trying to say.
Too bad the misused grammar is often a distraction in written language.
Summaries
Hello bloggers,
Last week, as all of you know, we had the assignment to summarize two of our reading out of the Murphy/Sherwood book. I was looking through our syllabus today and saw we weren't scheduled to do any more summaries for the year. I quickly realized I felt a little relieved our summarizing days were over, but why did I fee l that way?
There's something about summarizing that just feels so boring and superficial to me. Maybe I'm missing the point, but in my summaries, I just gave an overview of the main idea of the piece, the broke down the essay into a brief outline of the author's supporting points. I was a little stuck when I tried to begin a summary.
In recent English classes, I've spent most of my time analyzing and voicing opinion on a reading; little time is spent summarizing.
While writing a summary about DiPardo's "Lessons of Coming and Going", I found myself wanting to draw conclusions, ask questions, form opinions, and then make some sort of thesis statement. I had to remind myself that analysis was not my objective. After writing the summary, however, I came to a conclusion: Before forming an argument about our readings, we must first have a strong grasp on the author's true, over-arching purpose.
To be completely honest, I read these essays a lot more thoroughly because I knew I had to write a summary about them. I knew I would have to have a comprehensive idea of what it was about. I'm not trying to say that I don't read the essays when a summary isn't required, but the way I read is differently. When I don't have to write a summary, I go through the reading and only highlight things that strongly agree or disagree with. I look for things that are controversial. I look to form an opinion, and sometimes this comes from looking at individual statements and side remarks. When I have to write a summary, I go through and look for main ideas. I search for the big picture arguments.
Neither type of reading is wrong, but I feel like when I have to summarize, I'm forced to look at what the author is trying to say. Google tells me that a summary is "A brief statement or account of the main points of something". Opinion not included. Overall, I much prefer to analyze and form opinions rather than write up a summary. In thinking about an essay, I'm tempted to skip the summary and move straight to the next level. The analysis and critique is the fun part. As hesitant as I am to say this, perhaps I should be forced to summarize more often. It's an essential process that readers often skip.
Last week, as all of you know, we had the assignment to summarize two of our reading out of the Murphy/Sherwood book. I was looking through our syllabus today and saw we weren't scheduled to do any more summaries for the year. I quickly realized I felt a little relieved our summarizing days were over, but why did I fee l that way?
There's something about summarizing that just feels so boring and superficial to me. Maybe I'm missing the point, but in my summaries, I just gave an overview of the main idea of the piece, the broke down the essay into a brief outline of the author's supporting points. I was a little stuck when I tried to begin a summary.
In recent English classes, I've spent most of my time analyzing and voicing opinion on a reading; little time is spent summarizing.
While writing a summary about DiPardo's "Lessons of Coming and Going", I found myself wanting to draw conclusions, ask questions, form opinions, and then make some sort of thesis statement. I had to remind myself that analysis was not my objective. After writing the summary, however, I came to a conclusion: Before forming an argument about our readings, we must first have a strong grasp on the author's true, over-arching purpose.
To be completely honest, I read these essays a lot more thoroughly because I knew I had to write a summary about them. I knew I would have to have a comprehensive idea of what it was about. I'm not trying to say that I don't read the essays when a summary isn't required, but the way I read is differently. When I don't have to write a summary, I go through the reading and only highlight things that strongly agree or disagree with. I look for things that are controversial. I look to form an opinion, and sometimes this comes from looking at individual statements and side remarks. When I have to write a summary, I go through and look for main ideas. I search for the big picture arguments.
Neither type of reading is wrong, but I feel like when I have to summarize, I'm forced to look at what the author is trying to say. Google tells me that a summary is "A brief statement or account of the main points of something". Opinion not included. Overall, I much prefer to analyze and form opinions rather than write up a summary. In thinking about an essay, I'm tempted to skip the summary and move straight to the next level. The analysis and critique is the fun part. As hesitant as I am to say this, perhaps I should be forced to summarize more often. It's an essential process that readers often skip.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
No Reality is Absolute.
Hi all.
I loved our discussion on the correlation of perception, reality, and language the other day. I feel like we could have continued the conversation all day. Language creates reality, and language defines reality. What a crazy concept. I'm sketchy and a wrote down some things people said in class during that conversation. I just love the intellectuality we have within our bunch.
Brandon Pytel: "because of language, no reality is absolute." Brandon's statement is an accurate representation of our conversation. Every given word can have a thousand meanings, all based on a person's connotation and assosiciations for that word. Words are so indefinite. At the same time, when used correctly, words can have such an accurate desciption of what we feel, see and think. I love words so much. I love how certain words can evoke specific images. I love how words can have so much weight. This is why I'm a dork. Although I guess if all of you guys are pretty solid writers, you might feel the same way.
Language is a way to solidify the reality around us, although like Brandon said, our words never provide an absolute reality. I use words to figure out what's going on in my life. My thoughts are often a scramble of words and ideas. Writing is a way to piece the mess together, figure out what I'm thinking, and draw conclsuions about my life. I got through some of the most confusing situations of my life by writing everything I was thinking down in a journal. By wrting, I figure out my reality and can analyze my life. I love to think about why I do the things I do. By writing, I can draw these conlusions.
Another quote from our discussion was from the lovely Kari Hemmert: "perception is reality". How wonderfully true. Kari used the example of "it's only awkward if you make it awkward", and I love that rule in life. It shows how we all percieve things differently, not only based on our past expiriences, but based on our attitudes.
Writing center advisors need to be aware of the different perceptions each writer may have. Our perceptions form our realities, and these realities are displayed through our writing. Advisors need to help each writer convey their own reality.
I loved our discussion on the correlation of perception, reality, and language the other day. I feel like we could have continued the conversation all day. Language creates reality, and language defines reality. What a crazy concept. I'm sketchy and a wrote down some things people said in class during that conversation. I just love the intellectuality we have within our bunch.
Brandon Pytel: "because of language, no reality is absolute." Brandon's statement is an accurate representation of our conversation. Every given word can have a thousand meanings, all based on a person's connotation and assosiciations for that word. Words are so indefinite. At the same time, when used correctly, words can have such an accurate desciption of what we feel, see and think. I love words so much. I love how certain words can evoke specific images. I love how words can have so much weight. This is why I'm a dork. Although I guess if all of you guys are pretty solid writers, you might feel the same way.
Language is a way to solidify the reality around us, although like Brandon said, our words never provide an absolute reality. I use words to figure out what's going on in my life. My thoughts are often a scramble of words and ideas. Writing is a way to piece the mess together, figure out what I'm thinking, and draw conclsuions about my life. I got through some of the most confusing situations of my life by writing everything I was thinking down in a journal. By wrting, I figure out my reality and can analyze my life. I love to think about why I do the things I do. By writing, I can draw these conlusions.
Another quote from our discussion was from the lovely Kari Hemmert: "perception is reality". How wonderfully true. Kari used the example of "it's only awkward if you make it awkward", and I love that rule in life. It shows how we all percieve things differently, not only based on our past expiriences, but based on our attitudes.
Writing center advisors need to be aware of the different perceptions each writer may have. Our perceptions form our realities, and these realities are displayed through our writing. Advisors need to help each writer convey their own reality.
Monday, February 13, 2012
They say, I say?
Hi.
I've been thinking about They Say/ I Say a lot since our last discussion in class. While a was orginally sceptical of this precise essay formula, I am now starting to see it as a useful tool for creating a cohesive essay. I wish that I had had this book while writing essays in high school.
I'm all about structure. If an arguement doesn't follow a logical progression, I get really frustrated and sometimes I stop following. Part of of this structural obsession most likely stems from my OCD; I like everything to be in order. Maybe another part of it comes from ADD. If an essay isn't clear, with a natural progression, I stop paying attention. So, when I start writing an essay, I have a step by step process. After researching and forming a thesis (which is subject to change as I dig deeper into the subject), I make a list of all of my supporting points. I then think of a way the supporting points most naturally relate to eachother, i.e. which points are related and could have potentially easy transitions. I kind of create a flow chart. A ---> B ----> C. Points A, B, and C etc. become sections of my paper.
Each of these sections can have more than one paragraph depending on the amount of information found. Within each paragraph, I start with some strong topic sentence, then support it, then show how it relates to the thesis, and transition into the next paragraph. After the body paragraphs, I write a conclusions. At the very end of my process, I go back and form a introduction paragraph that sets up the reader for everything that will follow.
This is where They Say/ I Say throws me for a loop: I have never thought about thoroughly discussing the counter aguement and what has already been said about the topic before I begin my arguement. In some essays I weave a counter argument througout my whole paper, in some essays I through in a paragraph towards the end that displays a counter arguement. But the beginning? I've never done it. Yes, I give some brief background of the topic in my introduction, but I've never dedicated the initial paragraph of my essay to "what has already been said/ argued".
It makes so much sense though! I kind of want to write an essay just so that I can attempt this formatting! So I respect this They "Say", followed by "I Say" structure, although it may not always be necessary. I've written successful essays in the past, and I've never consiously started with what they say. Plus, doesn't the amount of explaination of what "they say" depend on the audience? If you're writing a paper to an audience that already knows what has been said, why wast time going over what's been said?
So in general, I respect this method, although writers must remember to play around with it. This book provides a base. The writer must complete the essay with thought provoking arguements and conclustions.
I've been thinking about They Say/ I Say a lot since our last discussion in class. While a was orginally sceptical of this precise essay formula, I am now starting to see it as a useful tool for creating a cohesive essay. I wish that I had had this book while writing essays in high school.
I'm all about structure. If an arguement doesn't follow a logical progression, I get really frustrated and sometimes I stop following. Part of of this structural obsession most likely stems from my OCD; I like everything to be in order. Maybe another part of it comes from ADD. If an essay isn't clear, with a natural progression, I stop paying attention. So, when I start writing an essay, I have a step by step process. After researching and forming a thesis (which is subject to change as I dig deeper into the subject), I make a list of all of my supporting points. I then think of a way the supporting points most naturally relate to eachother, i.e. which points are related and could have potentially easy transitions. I kind of create a flow chart. A ---> B ----> C. Points A, B, and C etc. become sections of my paper.
Each of these sections can have more than one paragraph depending on the amount of information found. Within each paragraph, I start with some strong topic sentence, then support it, then show how it relates to the thesis, and transition into the next paragraph. After the body paragraphs, I write a conclusions. At the very end of my process, I go back and form a introduction paragraph that sets up the reader for everything that will follow.
This is where They Say/ I Say throws me for a loop: I have never thought about thoroughly discussing the counter aguement and what has already been said about the topic before I begin my arguement. In some essays I weave a counter argument througout my whole paper, in some essays I through in a paragraph towards the end that displays a counter arguement. But the beginning? I've never done it. Yes, I give some brief background of the topic in my introduction, but I've never dedicated the initial paragraph of my essay to "what has already been said/ argued".
It makes so much sense though! I kind of want to write an essay just so that I can attempt this formatting! So I respect this They "Say", followed by "I Say" structure, although it may not always be necessary. I've written successful essays in the past, and I've never consiously started with what they say. Plus, doesn't the amount of explaination of what "they say" depend on the audience? If you're writing a paper to an audience that already knows what has been said, why wast time going over what's been said?
So in general, I respect this method, although writers must remember to play around with it. This book provides a base. The writer must complete the essay with thought provoking arguements and conclustions.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Energy
Hi all.
So today I kind of want to reflect on the different types of sessions and scenarios that the Writing Center advisors brought to our attention last week. I've been thinking, and I realized it's kind of hard for me to imagine how I would react in any situation, because I feel like my lack of experience allows me to assume I would be capable of handling whatever was thrown my way.
Like the scenario I was involved with, for example. If someone repeatedly answers their phone in a session, I would like to believe I could handle it calmly. I think it would be great to sit next to the person awkwardly, listen in on their conversation, and hope they realize they're being rude. If they want to spend a potentially helpful session talking on the phone, wasting time, then they might as well. I won't force a person to let me help them. If they don't value the session, whatever. Neither will I.
But if I'm having a bad day and someone picks up an unimportant phone call, I could very well impatiently roll my eyes, say something about their conversation, and walk away. It’s hard to know what I would do in a given situation until I'm actually there. We can discuss what the ideal reaction would be, but it’s a case by case scenario. Maybe we should politely remind them of the importance of the session, but maybe some people don't deserve the reminder.
The same goes for the sleepy student. I can pardon this more readily than I would a phone call recipient, but in both scenarios the lack of focus is rude. I understand being tired. I'm completely exhausted right now, actually. The student in the session, however, should try to pay attention to the best of their ability. Drink a coffee, eat a snack, and pull yourself together. You can waste my time, a break from the daily strain of sessions might be nice, but by wasting your own time you are doing a disservice to yourself.
In connection with my previous blog, I think ESL kids would be awesome to work with. They are in our session for a purpose. They need to figure out the language, so they won't waste time. ESL students know that we can help them, and they know they need our help.
In all of my thoughts about a writing center appointment, I come back to the same conclusion:
Energy and attitude determine EVERYTHING in an appointment.
So today I kind of want to reflect on the different types of sessions and scenarios that the Writing Center advisors brought to our attention last week. I've been thinking, and I realized it's kind of hard for me to imagine how I would react in any situation, because I feel like my lack of experience allows me to assume I would be capable of handling whatever was thrown my way.
Like the scenario I was involved with, for example. If someone repeatedly answers their phone in a session, I would like to believe I could handle it calmly. I think it would be great to sit next to the person awkwardly, listen in on their conversation, and hope they realize they're being rude. If they want to spend a potentially helpful session talking on the phone, wasting time, then they might as well. I won't force a person to let me help them. If they don't value the session, whatever. Neither will I.
But if I'm having a bad day and someone picks up an unimportant phone call, I could very well impatiently roll my eyes, say something about their conversation, and walk away. It’s hard to know what I would do in a given situation until I'm actually there. We can discuss what the ideal reaction would be, but it’s a case by case scenario. Maybe we should politely remind them of the importance of the session, but maybe some people don't deserve the reminder.
The same goes for the sleepy student. I can pardon this more readily than I would a phone call recipient, but in both scenarios the lack of focus is rude. I understand being tired. I'm completely exhausted right now, actually. The student in the session, however, should try to pay attention to the best of their ability. Drink a coffee, eat a snack, and pull yourself together. You can waste my time, a break from the daily strain of sessions might be nice, but by wasting your own time you are doing a disservice to yourself.
In connection with my previous blog, I think ESL kids would be awesome to work with. They are in our session for a purpose. They need to figure out the language, so they won't waste time. ESL students know that we can help them, and they know they need our help.
In all of my thoughts about a writing center appointment, I come back to the same conclusion:
Energy and attitude determine EVERYTHING in an appointment.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Perspective
Hi friends. So today I have decided to blog about the writing center advisor profile we just submitted, because honestly, I have so much more to say. I wish we had a chance in class to discuss our thoughts on the assignment and what we all learned from our interviews. Maybe we’ll have a discussion about it next week. I never really know what to expect from our class.
Well I’ll have to admit, I was initially really scared of the profile assignment. It made me nervous to have to interview a writing center advisor. I expected this situation:
“Hi I’m Sarah. Someday I’ll be a writer center advisor too. Please share your wealth of knowledge with me!”
Super awkward. Also, I was nervous that I wouldn’t ask the right questions. Maybe my questions would sound stupid. Maybe I wouldn’t ask the questions I needed answered for my profile. I was additionally nervous about the format of this assignment. While I read the example profile mike sent us, (like five times) I didn’t feel confident that I would do it right. The example profile seemed a little dry, and void of a significant thesis or conclusion. I still don’t know if I did it right.
When I was conducting the interview, however, I was very engaged and happy with the discussion. I worked with Alexandra, who’s a senior East Asian Studies major and an ESL specialist. I didn’t even know that certain advisors could have a specialty! It was very apparent that she loved her work with ESL students, and I was interested to hear her perspective. Naturally, our discussion seemed to focus on her work with ESL students. I was a little worried about our strict focus on her work with ESL, because I knew our profiles weren’t supposed to focus on one aspect of their job, but at the same time it was a unique, interesting discussion.
I’m sure I’m not alone when I admit that I have some apprehension when thinking about working with ESL students. Working with someone who doesn’t fully understand the language seems like it would be so much more difficult. Plus there’s the added difficulty of the language barrier. What if I don’t understand the ESL student? What if they don’t understand me? This didn’t seem to be a problem for Alexandra.
Alexandra said she loved sessions with ESL students because they were always really sweet. They valued the appointment and they were eager to learn. Sometimes they brought her little presents, and whenever she saw them around campus they were excited to see her. If a student has that much energy and appreciation, how can an appointment go wrong?
Alexandra said her least favorite appointments were the ones where she was with someone who wasn’t ready to learn. She hates “the kid that won’t talk at all: the empty session with a kid that just wanted a spell check, the slip that said they went to the center.” At the same time, she hates the kids that fight her. The kids who don’t listen to what she has to say, they don’t value her knowledge. She can’t stand “the kids who won’t stop talking. How right they are. They’re validating their own mistakes, or they’re embarrassed and trying to explain what they’ve written. Then we don’t get anything finished.”
Compared the kids who refuse to learn, the ESL kids sound great. I never thought about it like that.
Alexandra does admit that working with ESL students is a lot of work. It’s a long process. Everything is very stop and go with an ESL student. You have to explain the little things that you wouldn’t normally have to explain. “You focus on grammar, commas, and the details of writing… There’s more poetry with the English speakers”.
She used a sweet metaphor when talking about finally working with a native English speaker after having a bunch of ESL kids: “It’s like driving in city traffic all the time, then finally getting to go on a road trip.”
Mad respect. Loving the metaphor.
Anyways, I just thought I would share my experience will all of y’all.
À bientôt,
My thoughts are in French right now… super cool.
Sarah:)
Friday, January 27, 2012
Coffee, coffee, coffee, theater.
After a long week of chaos, sororities, and absurd amounts of homework, I could not have been more thrilled to show up to class Thursday afternoon to find out we would be doing improv and theater games. I had more cups of coffee that day than hours of sleep Wednesday night, so I was in the perfect slap-happy mindset for some ridiculousness. There's something about theater games that is so comforting to me. I was fortunate enough to have a really strong theater department at my high school; I took theater classes as art credits every single year. Maybe it's the familiarity of theater that makes it so comfortable, or maybe it's the idea of being able to do whatever the hell you want without judgment. Either way, I was happy to reminisce and release some of the tension from the week.
The connection between improv and the writing center is not difficult to see. No two improv scenes are the same, just as no two writing center sessions are the same. In each situation, we feed off of the person we are with. If the writer shows up unwilling to work with the advisor and make changes to a paper, nothing will be accomplished. If an actor is close-minded, the scene will go nowhere. The actors both have to be fully open to ideas and willing to go with any situation presented, just as the writing consultant must be ready for any type of paper and any stage of the writing process.
The most beneficial result of improvisation, however, is the way it eliminates any restraints or fears in candid conversation. Given the quick, unexpected nature of improv work, the actors must be able to think fast and respond naturally. There is no time for an actor to over think a line and fully analyze the direction of a scene. A writing consultant faces a similar challenge. In a writing center session, the consultant has no time to formulate a perfect response.
The advisor must present their thoughts on the paper right there and then. There is no time to step back and read the paper over again. There is just barely enough time to create a constructive criticism that will not offend the writer. At the same time, we cannot allow the fear of offending the writer keep us from saying what needs to be said.
Improv also speeds up the relationship process. We must get rid of all boundaries of what is considered awkward, and dive-in unknowingly, working with a scene partner as if we’ve known them our whole lives. Similarly, we must be open to have an honest conversation with a complete stranger during an advising session. In the process, there is no avoiding forming a small connection with someone. Through class on Friday, I was able to practice my improv skills while getting to know my future fellow consultants a bit better :).
The connection between improv and the writing center is not difficult to see. No two improv scenes are the same, just as no two writing center sessions are the same. In each situation, we feed off of the person we are with. If the writer shows up unwilling to work with the advisor and make changes to a paper, nothing will be accomplished. If an actor is close-minded, the scene will go nowhere. The actors both have to be fully open to ideas and willing to go with any situation presented, just as the writing consultant must be ready for any type of paper and any stage of the writing process.
The most beneficial result of improvisation, however, is the way it eliminates any restraints or fears in candid conversation. Given the quick, unexpected nature of improv work, the actors must be able to think fast and respond naturally. There is no time for an actor to over think a line and fully analyze the direction of a scene. A writing consultant faces a similar challenge. In a writing center session, the consultant has no time to formulate a perfect response.
The advisor must present their thoughts on the paper right there and then. There is no time to step back and read the paper over again. There is just barely enough time to create a constructive criticism that will not offend the writer. At the same time, we cannot allow the fear of offending the writer keep us from saying what needs to be said.
Improv also speeds up the relationship process. We must get rid of all boundaries of what is considered awkward, and dive-in unknowingly, working with a scene partner as if we’ve known them our whole lives. Similarly, we must be open to have an honest conversation with a complete stranger during an advising session. In the process, there is no avoiding forming a small connection with someone. Through class on Friday, I was able to practice my improv skills while getting to know my future fellow consultants a bit better :).
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Goal. Purpose. Happiness.
Hello to all my 242 blog-stalkers. My apologies for the lack of blogging I have done this week. As you may have noticed during our discussion at the end of class today, I have been really frustrated with this blogging assignment and the “Better Essay”. Today, however, I had a revelation. A vague and somewhat limited prompt does not mean that our creativity has to be equally limited. I was stressing because, to be honest, these readings don’t inspire me to write. While the theories and concepts are interesting, I really don’t have much to say. I can’t write a blog twice a week strictly about what I think a writing center advisor should be. I was scared because I didn’t see the full potential of this assignment.
I’m one of those people who has never been forced to write about something that I didn’t find super interesting. Even in my 101 class, we were given a bajillion prompts and I seriously fell in love with every one of my papers for that class. I wrote about hazing a Witt, the literary cannon/book banning, the power of photography, and racism in the movie Aladdin. I loved it.
So I have decided that for each of these blogs, I’m probably going to moderately discuss the essay we have to read or the discussions we have in class, but I’ll always be connecting it to something else that I think is really interesting. English 242 is one of five classes I’m taking right now, and I can see a way to relate these essays and concepts to each of those other classes. I will challenge myself to do so.
Currently I’m crazy interested and/or possibly obsessed with the discussions we’ve been having in my Philosophical Perspectives of Education class. The similarities between that class and 242 are awesome. Basically every philosophy of education we discuss can be scaled down and applied to the writing center.
One of our biggest discussions so far was how each person’s big picture life goal affects the way they view schooling. When students have life goals such as having lots of money, having a good job, or being successful, they tend to fail to see the purpose in going to school. Yes, going to school leads to a diploma, which leads to college, which leads to a degree and a potential “good job”, but that’s not the only way to make lots of money and be successful. Dr. Monke told us the story of this guy who was sick of the education system, so he dropped out of school, took a little bit of money he inherited, moved to a foreign country (I think in South America), and created a business. Well guess what. He became a millionaire. True story.
Or there’s the other route of becoming a drug dealer. Success, money, and a “good job”? Goal: achieved.
Kids these days often fail to see the purpose of school. So often when they ask why they’re in school, we answer “so you can get a good job”. While school may lead to a good job, there’s a lot of different ways to get a “good job”. There’s also the additional problem that once someone achieves a “good job”, they often don’t know what their next goal should be; what’s the purpose of their life after the “good job”?
Our further discussion led us to examine other purposes of life and purposes of education. We came to a purpose everyone agreed on: happiness. We were talking about how we are happy to learn when the material can be somehow related to our lives. Happiness is a goal we can strive for our whole lives, and schooling can fit into that picture.
The concept of thinking “big picture” to have more meaningful experiences can be applied to the Writing Center. In finding a purpose to come to the Writing Center, I can only hope that students are thinking “big picture”. Those who arrive at the Writing Center hoping to learn, expand the way they view an assignment, and become better writers gain much more than the student who go to the Center to have their paper simply “edited” or “fixed”.
I feel much better about these blogs now.
I can do this.
-Sarah
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
A Response to "The Idea of a Writing Center"
First, I would like to note I have never blogged before. Are there rules to blogging? Must we be grammatically correct as if this is an official assignment? From what I understand, we were supposed to read the first essay, blog, and then read the second essay. That's what I'm doing.
Overall, I was not highly impressed with "The Idea of a Writing Center". I find North's subject matter and opinions interesting, but I struggled to read the whole piece. I got bored. North's initial energy, however, was fantastic. He was obviously very passionate (and angry) about the idea of writing centers, but after the first few pages the energy seemed to decrease. Perhaps if the intial anger was toned down, the rest of the essay could have the same level of energy and feel more cohesive.
This is a random response: I hate North's excessive use of long dashes. It started to get really distracting and made some of the paragraphs feel choppy. I found myself counting dashes.
Okay, now that I have all of those complaints out of my system, I should probably respond to the content.
I totally agree with Norths argument. Contrary to the ideas of many students and teachers, the writing center should not be a "fix-it" shop. While it is important for students to understand grammar and punctuation, grammar and punctuation alone don't make a good paper. In the grand scheme of writing, a missed comma is not the bigest deal. North writes (and rephrases/repeats serveral times) that the writing center's job "is to produce better writers, not better writing" (50). This is such a great concept. It's sad to think that most writers fail to see this big picture. Instead of looking at just the logistics of a specific paper, we must focus on the writer as a whole.
Additionally, I liked how North talked about how we must adapt to each writer. We should adjust to whatever stage of writing their in, as well as whatever problems they may have. In the end, however, we still should look for an improvement in the writer, not just the writing."Tutors...must measure their sucess not in terms of the constantly changin model they create, but in terms of changes in the writer" (51).
North's essay finished strong as he connected back to the misunderstanding of what it means to be a writing center. Although it is disappointing teachers and students don't understand the puporse of the writing center, it is even worse to hear writing centers all over the country only serve as "fix-it shops".
While Wittenberg's writing center may be misunderstood, I'm still glad our writing center serves as more than a "fix-it" shop.
Overall, I was not highly impressed with "The Idea of a Writing Center". I find North's subject matter and opinions interesting, but I struggled to read the whole piece. I got bored. North's initial energy, however, was fantastic. He was obviously very passionate (and angry) about the idea of writing centers, but after the first few pages the energy seemed to decrease. Perhaps if the intial anger was toned down, the rest of the essay could have the same level of energy and feel more cohesive.
This is a random response: I hate North's excessive use of long dashes. It started to get really distracting and made some of the paragraphs feel choppy. I found myself counting dashes.
Okay, now that I have all of those complaints out of my system, I should probably respond to the content.
I totally agree with Norths argument. Contrary to the ideas of many students and teachers, the writing center should not be a "fix-it" shop. While it is important for students to understand grammar and punctuation, grammar and punctuation alone don't make a good paper. In the grand scheme of writing, a missed comma is not the bigest deal. North writes (and rephrases/repeats serveral times) that the writing center's job "is to produce better writers, not better writing" (50). This is such a great concept. It's sad to think that most writers fail to see this big picture. Instead of looking at just the logistics of a specific paper, we must focus on the writer as a whole.
Additionally, I liked how North talked about how we must adapt to each writer. We should adjust to whatever stage of writing their in, as well as whatever problems they may have. In the end, however, we still should look for an improvement in the writer, not just the writing."Tutors...must measure their sucess not in terms of the constantly changin model they create, but in terms of changes in the writer" (51).
North's essay finished strong as he connected back to the misunderstanding of what it means to be a writing center. Although it is disappointing teachers and students don't understand the puporse of the writing center, it is even worse to hear writing centers all over the country only serve as "fix-it shops".
While Wittenberg's writing center may be misunderstood, I'm still glad our writing center serves as more than a "fix-it" shop.
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