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.