Blog 7

The main similarity between Bouquet’s Writing Center Philosophy and North’s first and second writing center philosophy is that each essay believed writing was a process. In addition, all three essays endorsed coaching styles that were not strictly minimalist but not overbearingly caring or sympathetic such as a therapist session would be conducted. Also, in North’s second essay and Bouqet’s piece, the writers both believed that tutoring sessions should be focused on students instead of being teacher centered.

The differences are found within Bouquet’s Writing Center Philosophy and North’s first and second writing center philosophies. The differences are in regards to the administration structures. For example examples, in Bouquet’s piece, she believed that writing centers should be managed through a collaborative structure in which the responsibilities and duties are shared amongst team members. However, in North’s first and second writing center essays he states that writing centers should have a hierarchal administration structure.

Based on what I read and my experience at the writing center, I definitely think that tutoring sessions should not be teacher centered. Instead, I believe sessions should be focused on students. I do however, know that many people will come into the writing center expecting the tutor to act as a teacher. However, this is why publicity across the community is important. In addition, adequate training is necessary in order to prepare coaches to deal with situations in which students think tutors are the teachers.

In regards to administration, I think a hierarchal structure would be necessary. I think that there needs to be a person in charge of the writing center who delegates tasks to other members. In addition, I am a stickler for rules. I need organization and people should be held accountable for their delegated or volunteered responsibilities. I think there should be assistants who will work one on one with each coach. This is because my fear in having a writing center with a collaborative structure, is that coaches and staff members may lose sight of their tasks and will point fingers in regards to accountability.

In addition, I agree with both Bouquet and North's view of coaching. I don't like minimalist tutoring because I think students may leave frustrated and will never want to come back if a coach comes off as "not caring" or "rude". I do however think that writing coaches should not become therapist either. This is because the conversation of the session can easily become off topic and for a student, coming to the writing center just to "vent" may become habitual. I think coaches are not trained to be psychologist (whether or not they took some psychology courses in college). Writing coaches can only do so much for students, this is why I think there should be a balance between minimalist tutoring and overly sympathetic tutoring.

Blog 6 in progress, step away from this vehicle of chaos

Blog 6: Discussion of My Writing Cultures essay.

• the aspect of academic writing culture that is your focus (the values, expectations, un-stated "rules" of academic writing that direct how writing is received in the academy)
• There are unstated rules in academic writing culture that may confuse students who have never heard this information the past. These unstated academic rules include writing research papers without using the writer’s opinion or the words “I,me,my,our..etc”. For example, professors expect students to know the difference between an opinion and stating a position through use of concrete examples and citations. In addition, professors may expect that their student already knows how to elaborate on a direct quote. Professors also expect students to know the difference between paraphrasing and summarizing. However, these rules are unclear and sometimes difficult to understand even when students are given English handbooks.
• In the academy, if a student does not prove his or her theory/position in a paper by using citations and elaborating quotes and passages, he or she will not get necessarily get an "A" in their paper.
• In the academy, not only should quotes and passages be included, they must be explained, intertwined with the students writing, it must be tied in and cohesive so the paper maintains a flow and the reader is not confused or thrown off by choppy language. It is more than merely cut and paste.

• the identity/culture of the group who has a problem with academic writing
• The group who has a problem with this type of academic writing are new students who have not had any past experience with writing papers int his manner. Not all students came from highschools where teachers explained the importance of integrating quotes, not just simply pasting them in the essay.
• Students who may have only gotten their GRE's or returning adult students who have not written research papers for many years.
• Students who are non native english speakers.
• Although from different age groups and backgrounds, students who are inexperienced when it comes to research papers, but experienced with social networking may find explaining quotes even more difficult.
• a description of the values, expectations, & un-stated beliefs about what writing is and how it is used that associated with your group
• In groups that do not have experience with academic writing yet have experience on the internet, the writers may only " write their ideas, feelings, social networks are focused on “me”.
• These writers value the conventions of writing On the internet because they are able to justify their reasoning through simply pasting a link with , a picture or a video or article or website. Further explanation is not required because the link provides the other readers with a visual, an interactive tool.

• the problems the aspect of writing culture causes for your group of writers

• This brings forth problems in writing centers, when students bring research papers with their opinions. They say “I” or “my” however, the research papers don’t require any personal opinions. They need concrete evidence that must not only be shared, but explained. This is the differences between writing in for social networking and writing for academia.

• what these writers want when they come to the writing center

• Most of the time the writers do not understand the importance of explaining their quotes in their essay. Instead they want the coaches and tutors to merely proofread. This is because they may not have acquired the language to talk about their papers. If they have not had any prior experience with writing these types of papers, how could they even begin to talk about what exactly they need help with. If the only feedback they have gotten in the past placed more emphasis on grammar, then this is what they will go to the writing center for.

Blog 5 What a Disaster

Brainstorming

Is there even research done on the relationships between social networking and writing for academia and the struggles or benefits that it brings to students and coaches at writing centers?

I want to look into the types of writing that people do outside of academia and how it affects their writing in school or in the writing center. I’ve heard of stories where students type papers the way they talk online. I haven’t seen enough of those papers to even make the assumption that students write papers the way they chat with friends. How does this affect the writing culture at Kean Writing Center?

Does chatting online or creating online blogs impact people as academic writers? I think writing online allows people to take stand while hiding behind the screen. It allows people to put on a mask. It’s much different than tutoring sessions or reading your paper in class. What mask can you hide behind when you are in a tutoring session? How much of what you really want to talk about can you reveal in your sessions or assignment? We are asked to write about topics that don’t interest us. I don’t think students will write to their full potentials if they are not interested in a topic.

As a writing coach, it’s sometimes hard to find that balance. As coach I wanted to find a common ground with my students. How much of myself am I willing to reveal in order to find that common bond, gain that trust?

Based on my experiences with students at Kean, I haven’t met many students who write novels or essays for pleasure. Many are so caught up, so busy, too busy in fact to even watch television shows that they enjoy. They work two to three jobs and are full time students; some or many are even parents or taking care of relatives. However, I do see that many of the younger students have joined some form of social network or communicate with individuals through text tor even gaming. I want to know how that impacts their lives as writers for school, is there even a relationship.

How does writing for pleasure, students who write on facebook and myspace and blogs, affect their writing in school? I’m not sure. I know it does affect my typing skills. It provides me with an outlet, an escape.

I think I’m off topic. I don’t have a draft. I have sketchy ideas. I have to do some more reflections.

Since I’m big on social networking and blogging, I’m the type of person that needs to write in order for my ideas to develop. They can’t really just develop in my brain, I feel they get squished in there. It’s similar to how I update my statuses on facebook. I want to let out my random ideas..and validate them.

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Feed back from Dr. Chandler in class

Characterize and values of social networking writing

General to specific do they site sources

Students think they are writing in a n appropriate style because of their experiences in social networking site sand when they go to the classrooms.

The problem is their habits, under the surface assumptions that go, if they are told academic writing is different they write in a different style.

Sometimes they don’t' know that sending an email to a teacher is sending an email to a friend. At the same time there are some things that students know. This is a complicated problem.

Language teachers have particular expectaitons, however these aren't obvious to the students.

Say the differences in culture...

Writing center must validate

What aspects? talk about one set of features or feature and how it shapes the problems that a particular set of writers are going to confront....

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Messy Draft

Here’s a thought…Students have trouble proving their points in academic writing. Online they write their ideas, feelings, social networks are focused on “me”. In academic writing, papers are not supposed to be focused on the writer’s feelings and opinions. If an ideas is to be negated, it must be proven through explainations and references. On the internet, in order to validate a point, a picture or a video or article or website can be linked. No further explanation is required, a link is simply cut and pasted.

This brings forth problems in writing centers, when students bring research papers with their opinions. They say “I” or “my” however, the research papers don’t require any personal opinions. They need concrete evidence that must not only be shared, but explained. This is the differences between writing in for social networking and writing for academia.

I’m going to look for references, I’m thinking James Gee and others.

Blog 4

For this blog, I am required to do a rhetorical analysis of the assignment sheet. I had needed some clarification of what a rhetorical analysis was. Here is the link that I found helpful “http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/725/03/”.

This assignment sheet requires the reader to understand the elements of each section. These sections include the following: purpose, description of assignment, focus, organization, development, and criteria for paper length, criteria for resources, and criteria for grade. At first, the assignment sheet may look intimidating, but after rereading it a couple times and using context clues or even a thesaurus, a reader may be able to understand exactly what is being required from their own writing.

The first section is entitled “purpose”. This section requires the writer to analyze a group or a few groups of writing in relationship to how it helps shape or influence the communication amongst individuals, practices and mission of the writing center. The purpose section of the essay requires the writer to observe the various types of cultures present at Kean University. By understanding a culture or group of people’s outlook and reasons for writing, a writing center will be able to take in to account the diversities among students and staff which may contribute to or influence the expectations of both the coach and student as well as coaching techniques and reactions to” what if scenarios” .

The “description of the assignment” provides the writer with a set of directions which is broken down in paragraph form and bullet form. More importantly, the description of the assignment assures the reader the paper is to be written in for an academic audience. The bullet points provide clarifications as to what the writer should focus on. The first bullet point deals with the identities of students, faculty and administrators. Although it seems relatively easy to talk about the identities of the students and faculty, it may seem a bit more challenging to generalize the identities of administrators. Besides acquiring demographic information and searching the Kean Website and possibly researching administrator backgrounds on Google.com,Bing.com and Yahoo.com, a student can talk to his or her professors and ask for opinions or suggestions as to what they know about administration and where they can find more information about the identities of the administration.

The rest of the “description of the assignment section” is broken down into sections dealing with institution values, assumptions and relationship between Kean’s writing culture and other writing cultures associated with other institutions and groups of writers. In theory, this may mean that the assignment requires the writer to observe or analyze different groups of writers such as ESL writers, Freshman students, returning adult students, and possibly students grouped according to major. In addition, the section wants the writer to talk about institution values and assumptions; in all honesty, I’m not quite sure what to make of that section. I think that it may be important to look at course websites and various syllabi. This will provide the writer with an understanding of what professor’s value. The challenging part of this section for me, would be to connect my understandings of institution values to the various writing cultures associated with Kean and other institutions.

I’m not sure how long this blog should be, I think this blog is a work in progress. I could continue to analyze the assignment sheet but that would create a much longer blog. If necessary, after today’s discussion I will continue to add to this.

Blog 3

Kean Culture of Writing

As I wrote this piece, I went back over and over again and developed my ideas as I typed. I realized half way through my writing, that Kean Students value two types of writing. They value one type based on personal preference. The other type of writing is valued by force. You’re probably wondering “what the heck is she talking about?” Well let me explain, since this isn’t an actual essay, I don’t need to state my thesis…(there’s my slap in the face to the conventions and restraints of academic writing). Are you confused yet? Keep reading, I promise I’ll make sense.

I think Kean University students value their own writing, their own voice, their creativity and freedom to express themselves. However, they are forced to conform to academic writing if they want to receive good grades. Most courses require written pieces to follow a specific structure and style which creates boundaries and constraints which can hinder the creative flow.

I can’t speak for all of Kean students but I can speak based on my observations from working with classmates, students for the past few years. When these students are given boundaries and forced to write on “boring” topics, student seem detached and are just willing to do what is necessary in order to get the “good grade”. However, as these students are typing on their laptops or netbooks, the majority of the time, they have their word document opened with a browser window minimized, that shows me what they trully value above all.

By now, I’m guessing that you have figured out what I’m talking about. If you’re thinking, “Oh that link is facebook”. Then you’re right! When comes to topics of interest, or writing on the internet such as face book, people are given the chance to find their own voice. They are not worried about grammatical errors or formality. Of course there are student who are not fans of face book, I’m just pointing out that many of the people I’ve met on campus are computer savvy and write on a daily basis via internet. I also want to point out that although some people do not know how to use computers, it’s safe to say that many people do text. Again, I’m talking about the younger generation, no I’m not speaking for the nontraditional students or professors, and I’m talking about students between 17-27 years old. Maybe I seem biased, but hey I see many of them texting on their phones. I should conduct some surveys to prove my point huh?

Anyway, I guess I’m saying there are two sets of values that Kean students have. One is chosen while the other is forced. First, I think they mainly value their own writing, the liberating, unrestricted, “type whatever however whenever you want on the internet” kind of writing. It’s the writing where they socialize, connect and contribute and constantly update thoughts via internet or text message. While the other type of writing is academic writing. They have to follow the rules in order to get a good grade, graduate, find a job or continue going to school.

Now that you’ve read my blog, which do you think I value?

What is valued or expected from students in their courses?

Academic writing is valued by our professors. Our professors want us to clarify our main ideas, create our thesis statements in the very beginning. Write in APA or MLA format. They want us to justify our arguments, provide resources, paraphrase, quote and summarize. What is expected is clear concise transference of ideas through written pieces that adhere to the rules of Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style”.

Blog 2

My Writing Process

Writing for School

How do I write? I can tell you right now that I don’t use outlines in the beginning of my drafts. In all honesty, I rarely ever use outlines. I’m the type of writer that just needs to get the ideas down on paper, regardless of how disorganized or how confusing my thoughts may seem.

I usually start off with rambling. I just need to get my thoughts down, any thoughts in order to start the process. Sometimes I scribble on paper, most of the time I just start to type. It even helps if I cover my monitor or dim the lights on the screen so that I cannot see what I’m typing, that way I would just focus on getting my thoughts out and not focus on all the red and green squiggly lines from errors on my word document.

Other times, I create a list of questions that I need to answer. These questions are usually taken from a guide sheet or notes that I have written in class. As I write, I constantly go back and forth and save multiple versions of drafts and number them 1, 2, or 3 in my computer. I then look through my drafts and copy and paste sections that I find useful and continue to revise.

As I go through my writing, sometimes I color code and highlight points where I’m stuck. I make note of places I’m stuck and continue to write the sections that I’m more confident in, that way I don’t lose my train of though.

Of course as I’m writing, I’m usually talking out loud, reading my piece over and over again while sounding like a crazy person . I need to read my paper out loud. It’s imperative for me to hear what I’m saying; it helps me figure out if my sentences make any sense. Sometimes when I hear myself reading out loud, it sounds so much different from what I intended to write.

After writing for a good amount of time, I take at least an hour break. If I have time, I put the piece away for even a day or two. This way I have time to distance myself from the writing. If I edit my paper right after I write it, I’m more likely to overlook mistakes. I figured this out the hard way.

After creating my set of rough drafts, when I am finally ready to edit my piece, I print it out. I need something tangible in order to make corrections, move paragraphs around, modify ideas and underline key points and color code themes that correspond with my initial set of questions.

I then read my piece out loud, first looking for coherence, meeting objectives, focus and organization of ideas. This is when my highlighters and crayons and colored pens come in handy. My paper usually looks like a rainbow when I’m finished. I also doodle as I revise. Why? I don’t know. I guess I’m a doodler. It keeps me sane, keeps my pen moving.

Afterwards, I take my paper back to the computer and continue to create the changes. Once those changes are made, I then print out another draft (I usually use scrap paper or the back of my colored drafts and print two pages per sheet in order to save paper). This is the time I start to read my paper over again and fix grammatical errors.

Afterwards I read the paper to a friend or my boyfriend to make sure that I am making sense. If I’m happy with my paper, then I’m finished.

Writing for Myself

The process is not the same when writing for myself. I don’t modify and revise as much as when I’m writing for school. I just write to get thoughts out. Writing was an outlet for me during my tougher teenage years. Now, I usually blog or write in a journal at home (although I do admit, I’ve been very lazy). On my down time, I’d rather cook, play with my dogs or spend time with friends. I guess academic writing has taken over my life as a writer. I haven’t had inspiration or the drive to write outside of work and school. Ooops, I went off topic again. See? When I write for myself, I just go on and on. I don’t even read my writing again until days , weeks or even years later. Writing for pleasure doesn’t put any pressure on me, I don’t really care about rules, grammar, structure, organization or even coherence. After visiting a journal entry years later, I laugh and think “why on earth did I write about that?”. It’s exciting and it’s a way to revisit my memories (especially because I’m so forgetful).

When would coaching be effective in my process?

When it comes to my writing process I think coaching would be beneficial when I need someone to listen to me as I read my paper out loud. I also think coaching would be great to help me with the areas that I’ve color-coded which needs further development. Coaching would help me get “un-stucK”. I’ve had so many instances where I was on the verge of giving up in writing but one of my friends from the writing center would push me to keep going. Sometimes all I needed was reassurance that I don’t sound like a complete idiot. Sometimes all I needed was someone to help clarify the questions that were being asked. I feel like writing with a support is so much better than having a paper handed back to me with one sentence of feedback and pages of proofreading comments.

Blog 1

What I understood from the first three chapters?

Knowledge is created though social interactions. This refers to the concept of Social Construction. Therefore when professors or students refer to a writing center as a place where they should get their paper’s fixed, they are missing out on the concept of Social Construction. If tutors were to merely correct a student’s paper, the student and tutor both miss out on an opportunity to exchange ideas and converse.

Through correcting a student’s writing, there is minimal conversation. Instead, writing center work is about creating dialogue and constructing meaning through tutoring sessions. Through conversation, students and tutors will be able to learn from one another. In addition, through conversations new ideas are created. In addition, conversations can cause individuals to view a situation a through a different perspective. Page five discussed how Wendy Bishop viewed conversation as an imperative part of the writing process.

Throughout the years I have observed sessions in which both tutors and students viewed writing centers as “fix it” shops. However, I also observed sessions in which coaches talked with students in order to exchange ideas and brainstorm. Based on my observations, the sessions in which coaches guided students by asking a series of questions, led to students taking ownership of their writing. Through those sessions, students learned the language needed in order to talk about their writing. They were also able to learn brainstorming techniques and discovered their own style of examining and revising their work.

In addition, chapter one also introduces “Reader Response Literary Theories”. This theory implies that the meaning is not found in the text. The meaning is in the reader. It suggests that meanings are made and not found. Reader Response Theory hypothesizes that a reader comes to a text with his or her own individual experiences, discourse, criticisms, and reading history.

Reader Response Theory reminds me of a time when I was working with two different students on the same assignment. Student A was in a different tutoring session than Student B. However, they both were from the same class and were assigned to read a passage in their text book. The explanation and analysis of each of the students were different from one another. They related to the passage but in dissimilar ways. Student A was an older student who came back from the military and was starting a family. Student B was a student straight out of high school. The passage was related to time management in college and managing credit cards. Because the students came from completely different backgrounds, they each had a different experience to share. Student A understood the concept of time management through her experience in balancing school in work. When Student B talked about his experience with time management, he spoke about his senior year in high school and the sports he played afterschool. Despite their differences, they were still able to relate to the text.

In addition, because tutoring sessions are one-on one- students and tutors may establish a level of comfort. Although it is important for students to focus, there may be times when they are stressed or overwhelmed with issues unrelated to writing. It’s important for the student to “vent” however, a tutor must not become overwhelmed and become therapist.

Chapter Two contained a section that focused on Research on conferences. According to Walker and Elias in chapter two, many conferences are not successful because “the teacher dominates both time and agenda or focuses on surface mechanics at the expense of higher-order issues” (11). I have had similar experiences in which I had a professor only focus on Low Order Concern such as grammar. I received the lowest grade in my college career when I had that course. I retook the class with a professor who cared about my writing and concentrated more on focus and organization than grammar. I felt like I established a better relationship with that professor. It led to a sense of trust which ultimately changed my outlook on writing.

This is the type of relationship that I tried to establish with my students as a writer. Sometimes I had students come to me who said they needed to fix grammar. However, after reading their assignment sheet with them and having them read their papers, out loud, we were able to recognize that their papers sometimes didn’t even answer the appropriate question. I emphasized with my students that although grammar is essential, there are other aspects of writing that must be reviewed first. The students I coached learned that even if their grammar was perfect, if their writing didn’t answer the question being asked in their assignment sheet, then they would not earn a good grade.

I feel that if a tutor allows a student to feel comfortable to talk to them, the student will be more likely to open up during the tutoring session. If a tutor establishes a teacher-like attitude, then a student will just assume that the tutor has all the authority in the session. This may lead to unproductive sessions in which the student may be too intimidated to talk. Showing a student that you are there to help them and not criticize them is essential to tutoring sessions.

Although it is important for students and tutors to establish a level of comfort, Chapter three mentioned that tutors should not assume the role of a therapist. I have experienced this in my past tutoring sessions. I had students come frequently and throughout the semester we became friends. However, a tutor can not view the student as a close friend because this leads to off topic conversations and may cause the sessions to be unproductive. This can also lead to more serious cases in which students look to the tutors as their only friend or only hope. If situations get worse, chapter three suggests that tutors seek assistance such as suicide networks or counselors. Tutors are there to help students through the writing process but they are not trained as psychologist or therapists. As a tutor, I had to learn how to detach myself form particular conversations and allow students to vent, and then continue on with their work. In one case, I had a student who was too overwhelmed and realized she needed to go home because she could not focus on her paper, she had too many issues in her family. She spoke with her professor immediately that night and worked on some type of arrangement in order to hand her paper on a later date.