Course reflections
1. What did you notice about your writing process during this course? Did your writing process change? If so, how?If your writing process changed, what course assignments/interactions supported that change?
I have noticed that my writing process have changed during this course. I look at writing as a process because writing is a process. What supported this change I believe the fact that we as students/peer tutors have trouble talking about what we are going to say in our paper. So instead of talking about my ideas I instead wrote them down and was able to become more aware of my writing style and voice. The assignments that really showed me how to become more aware of my writing style. Even though no one is perfect about writing, I find that the approach about how I go about writing. I look at all the questions and try to make sense of the question and then I prepare a draft of my essays.
2. What have you noticed about your finished essays?Did the quality of your essays change as a result of this course? If so how?If your final products changed, what do you think led to those changes?
Yes, my draft really change. Not only did my draft change but the structure of my sentences have changed as well. I had to take out information and add more information. I took a more direct approach towards my final essay such as first writing down my ideas, then going to the CAS building to get tutored and I talked with my classmates.
3. What did you notice about the way you coach writing students? Did your approach to coaching change during the term? If so, how? Were any course assignments/interactions useful in facilitating this learning?
Coaching writing students is hard because every student learns differently. I have learned that as a writer coach tutors have to be flexible and have a lot of patience. I would say it changed slightly because when students came into the writting center and had papers due on the same day I had to act as a teacher, a coach and a peer all at the same time.
Describe.4. What have your experiences coaching writing students shown you about effective strategies for talking/communicating to others? Were any course assignments/interactions useful in facilitating this learning?
That every method can work but only if you have a student who is willing to be in thew writing center and wants to work. If the student is in a rush or comes in late during the session then the session does not work at all.
Describe.5. How has your work coaching writing students changed the way you learn? Were any course assignments/interactions useful in facilitating this learning? Describe.
My work has changed in the way that I focus on my thesis. I learned that it is best to =just write constantly and then go back and connect your essays together. I also learned that you should not try to do everything the last minute.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Blog # 22
Talisha Robinson
Eng 4090-01
Peer Tutoring and Writing
Writing center Philosophy
The purpose of the Writing Center is to provide assistance to all students who request help with their writing in all different subjects. A writing center should have reference books for students and the tutors to refer to filled with examples of how to cite the different kinds of papers. A writing center should have at least twenty computers for students to work on in case he or she does not have a laptop. A writing center should have tutors who write at different grade levels. For example, a writing center should be centralized and there should be a balance between talking between the student and the tutors. Therefore, a writing center should have guidelines for everything and a writer should address the following aspects of the student responsibilities, the tutor responsibilities, director responsibilities faculty responsibilities and the institutional responsibilities.
Student responsibilities
Students should come into the writing center with an open mind.
Students should have their assignment with them when he or she comes into the writing center. Students should not come into the writing center when an assignment is due on the same day except in extreme circumstances that may prevent the student from coming in earlier. Students should realize that we as tutors are students too.Students should not expect us to read through your paper and fix it. We will not correct your paper for you. We will make suggestions about style as we come to understand your meaning. In cases where we think sentence structure needs review, we will address specific rules with you. Tutors will not tell you what your idea is or how to read a particular piece of evidence. Tutors will prompt astudents to rethink and complicate your idea, and we will help you to develop ways to clarify, deepen, and refine your readings of evidence. Tutors will not assess the validity of a grade you have received.
Tutor responsibilities
Tutors are expected to create a productive environment. Tutors are expected to help students become independent learners. Tutors are expected to have a positive attitude.
Tutors are expected to adjust to the learner needs and wants.
Tutors are not allowed to write the paper for the student. Tutors are expected to be able to be flexible with every student that comes in for help.
Director responsibilities
· As a director of the writing center, the director should provide a space where the students and tutors can work together in an effective manner.
· The director should evaluate the tutor in a beginning when the tutor starts and than at the end of the term to see if there are any improvements in the session.
· Should have a supportive attuide towards students and tutors in the Writing Center
Institutional responsibilities
· Tutors should spend one hour in the writing center consulting with undergraduate and graduate students and sometimes faculty on the affects n their writing.
Faculty responsibilities
· Professors should provide a copy of the assignment of what they want their students to work on in the writing center. (If possible faculty should be able to provide a copy of the assignment with the tutor so the tutor can have an idea of what the student will be working on before he or she arrives.
.
Eng 4090-01
Peer Tutoring and Writing
Writing center Philosophy
The purpose of the Writing Center is to provide assistance to all students who request help with their writing in all different subjects. A writing center should have reference books for students and the tutors to refer to filled with examples of how to cite the different kinds of papers. A writing center should have at least twenty computers for students to work on in case he or she does not have a laptop. A writing center should have tutors who write at different grade levels. For example, a writing center should be centralized and there should be a balance between talking between the student and the tutors. Therefore, a writing center should have guidelines for everything and a writer should address the following aspects of the student responsibilities, the tutor responsibilities, director responsibilities faculty responsibilities and the institutional responsibilities.
Student responsibilities
Students should come into the writing center with an open mind.
Students should have their assignment with them when he or she comes into the writing center. Students should not come into the writing center when an assignment is due on the same day except in extreme circumstances that may prevent the student from coming in earlier. Students should realize that we as tutors are students too.Students should not expect us to read through your paper and fix it. We will not correct your paper for you. We will make suggestions about style as we come to understand your meaning. In cases where we think sentence structure needs review, we will address specific rules with you. Tutors will not tell you what your idea is or how to read a particular piece of evidence. Tutors will prompt astudents to rethink and complicate your idea, and we will help you to develop ways to clarify, deepen, and refine your readings of evidence. Tutors will not assess the validity of a grade you have received.
Tutor responsibilities
Tutors are expected to create a productive environment. Tutors are expected to help students become independent learners. Tutors are expected to have a positive attitude.
Tutors are expected to adjust to the learner needs and wants.
Tutors are not allowed to write the paper for the student. Tutors are expected to be able to be flexible with every student that comes in for help.
Director responsibilities
· As a director of the writing center, the director should provide a space where the students and tutors can work together in an effective manner.
· The director should evaluate the tutor in a beginning when the tutor starts and than at the end of the term to see if there are any improvements in the session.
· Should have a supportive attuide towards students and tutors in the Writing Center
Institutional responsibilities
· Tutors should spend one hour in the writing center consulting with undergraduate and graduate students and sometimes faculty on the affects n their writing.
Faculty responsibilities
· Professors should provide a copy of the assignment of what they want their students to work on in the writing center. (If possible faculty should be able to provide a copy of the assignment with the tutor so the tutor can have an idea of what the student will be working on before he or she arrives.
.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Blog # 21 Rough Draft
I realize that my draft is a little drafty and I realize that in certain points of my research I need to find and provide detailed notes about how the research fits into my research question especially within my data analysis. I will continue working on it day by day. I also need to shorten my paper. I am already at eight pages so I need to find a way to provide a more effective way of saying what I have found and I need help with the discussion which is why I have not included it.
Adapting to the cultural change in a writing center: Taking a direct approach:
As a metaphor for writing center and the effort of how a tutoring center can effect the student and the tutor I borrow Muriel Harris words in the essay in where Sandra Lee McKay “points out one of the differences with ESL students have is that when he or she writes is that they are influenced by their cultural, social, and educational experiences’’ (261).
There are various educational intuitions which maintain a writing center and it provides students with assistance on their papers or whatever the student would like to work on. The key goal of a writing center is helping students learn to become better writers. With this being said this statement may not apply to all students such as ESL students. ESL students are students who come from all different backgrounds and who are not familiar with the English language. Therefore this essay will focus on the context of ESL students in the writing center and who takes control of the sessions such as the tutor or the student and will be emphazing a broader view adds depth and breadth to the discussion by demonstrating how writing centers offer insights into the rules and conventions of English, and sharing the stories of ESL students who visit the writing center and why tutors are often take on a teacher/student role. Throughout the findings writing centers have to take a more directive role with ESL students because students need time to process the information which is given to them or tutors need to take an authoritave role.
Most of the publish literature that I have found deals with tutors and students in the writing center who are ESL students and the articles focus on the aspects of the roles of students and the question that I have considered when elevating my sessions and collecting data is When there is an ESL Student who takes control of the coaching and how does that affect both the student and the tutor in an undergraduate writing center? Good tutoring sessions usually consist of tutors asking the writers what they want to accomplish. Writing centers (or writing labs have been regarded as separate form the classroom, a unique space for writers working on their writing. In short students who come to the writing center sometimes do not know why they are coming to the writing center; some students come because they are required to come. The article by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino emphasizes on facilitating the writing process, by saying that peer tutor reactions is best seen as an interaction between peers who share similar backgrounds experience and status, one that creates a different and powerful context for learning.
Research has increasingly pointed to a range of cognitive and social reason behind ESL student’s transgresive textual appropriation, defined as student’s source use that contravenes acceptable borrowing practices. Sometimes the students are unable to meet the needs of what is wanted of them. So this article focuses on some suggestions for educational practice.
One of the main themes of the tutor training literature is that successful tutoring depends on tutors acting as peer’s vis-à-vis their tutees-supportive, interested readers-rather than on tutors as authoritative instructors. However this stance is problematic for at least three reasons: First ethnographic studies of tutoring have demonstrated that, in practice, tutors take on a multiplicity of roles from more to less authoritative . In an article Cultural Conflicts in the Writing Center: Expectations and Assumptions of ESL Students, Muriel Harris states that writing tutors and ESL students have different expectations about the routines of a writing session. Tutors are trained to be collaborators, and ESL students come to a tutor for answers and solutions. ESL students may struggle with typical open-ended questions tutors ask because finding their own answers is a foreign exercise. She explains that these different expectations will indeed create a conflict, or a loss which in my case refers to why tutors may have to take a more directive approach to his or her writing session. Harris also writes that ESL students respond positively to a tutor who is sympathetic or understanding about the challenges that come with learning English.
1. Method
Case study injury was used to investigate student/tutor pairs because I was interested in analyzing when there is an ESL student who sets the agenda and who takes the control of the coaching, The questions that I have considered when evaluating a sessions were the following questions:
• Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students?
• Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor?
• Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda?
• What is said by the tutor and what is said by the student?
• What did the student need to work on?
• How prepared is the student?
• Is there a balance between talking between the tutor and the student?
• What subject matter does the student need help in such as what kind of paper was it for such as an English class and etc…
1.1. Context for the study
Tutors for the study were both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a Peer Tutoring Writing Class held at Kean University. One of the course requirements was to tutor students enrolled in various courses such as an English composition class.
ESL students were enrolled in either various sections of freshman composition. The course instructor had assigned asked each student to focus on a particular aspect that he or she wanted to focus on during designated times that the students have signed up for.
Before the tutoring began, both the undergraduate and graduate students in the class took a test and had to pass it before moving forward to earn a certification in order to move forward and be able to collect data.
To document and collect data tutors were to observe what happened in the section after the tutoring center and when it was time to observe other students in the writing center we were to have a checklist, and observation forms. Tutors/writing coaches were expected to keep a progress on how their sessions were going by writing on our blogs that each individual have created for class.
Finally at the end of the semester, each student was asked to write a paper summarizing their experience as tutors and the collections that each student was focusing on. Graduate students have to write a longer paper and undergraduate students have to write an eight page paper and have sources to back up the data that he or she is collecting.
Data analysis
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow. So after going through her paper, I asked her did she know what a run on sentence was and she did not. So I said let's look at what a run on sentence is. So we read the definition out loud to me saying what a run on sentence and after reading what is was she was able to summarize it in one sentence.
Lida was able to adjust he paper because she was focused. Lida seemed to have been comfortable with the tutor's approach. She came in and I welcomed her. Sometimes we as tutors have to transition from the student/tutor role and sometimes incorporate a teacher /tutoring session based on what the student needs to accomplish.
Adapting to the cultural change in a writing center: Taking a direct approach:
As a metaphor for writing center and the effort of how a tutoring center can effect the student and the tutor I borrow Muriel Harris words in the essay in where Sandra Lee McKay “points out one of the differences with ESL students have is that when he or she writes is that they are influenced by their cultural, social, and educational experiences’’ (261).
There are various educational intuitions which maintain a writing center and it provides students with assistance on their papers or whatever the student would like to work on. The key goal of a writing center is helping students learn to become better writers. With this being said this statement may not apply to all students such as ESL students. ESL students are students who come from all different backgrounds and who are not familiar with the English language. Therefore this essay will focus on the context of ESL students in the writing center and who takes control of the sessions such as the tutor or the student and will be emphazing a broader view adds depth and breadth to the discussion by demonstrating how writing centers offer insights into the rules and conventions of English, and sharing the stories of ESL students who visit the writing center and why tutors are often take on a teacher/student role. Throughout the findings writing centers have to take a more directive role with ESL students because students need time to process the information which is given to them or tutors need to take an authoritave role.
Most of the publish literature that I have found deals with tutors and students in the writing center who are ESL students and the articles focus on the aspects of the roles of students and the question that I have considered when elevating my sessions and collecting data is When there is an ESL Student who takes control of the coaching and how does that affect both the student and the tutor in an undergraduate writing center? Good tutoring sessions usually consist of tutors asking the writers what they want to accomplish. Writing centers (or writing labs have been regarded as separate form the classroom, a unique space for writers working on their writing. In short students who come to the writing center sometimes do not know why they are coming to the writing center; some students come because they are required to come. The article by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino emphasizes on facilitating the writing process, by saying that peer tutor reactions is best seen as an interaction between peers who share similar backgrounds experience and status, one that creates a different and powerful context for learning.
Research has increasingly pointed to a range of cognitive and social reason behind ESL student’s transgresive textual appropriation, defined as student’s source use that contravenes acceptable borrowing practices. Sometimes the students are unable to meet the needs of what is wanted of them. So this article focuses on some suggestions for educational practice.
One of the main themes of the tutor training literature is that successful tutoring depends on tutors acting as peer’s vis-à-vis their tutees-supportive, interested readers-rather than on tutors as authoritative instructors. However this stance is problematic for at least three reasons: First ethnographic studies of tutoring have demonstrated that, in practice, tutors take on a multiplicity of roles from more to less authoritative . In an article Cultural Conflicts in the Writing Center: Expectations and Assumptions of ESL Students, Muriel Harris states that writing tutors and ESL students have different expectations about the routines of a writing session. Tutors are trained to be collaborators, and ESL students come to a tutor for answers and solutions. ESL students may struggle with typical open-ended questions tutors ask because finding their own answers is a foreign exercise. She explains that these different expectations will indeed create a conflict, or a loss which in my case refers to why tutors may have to take a more directive approach to his or her writing session. Harris also writes that ESL students respond positively to a tutor who is sympathetic or understanding about the challenges that come with learning English.
1. Method
Case study injury was used to investigate student/tutor pairs because I was interested in analyzing when there is an ESL student who sets the agenda and who takes the control of the coaching, The questions that I have considered when evaluating a sessions were the following questions:
• Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students?
• Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor?
• Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda?
• What is said by the tutor and what is said by the student?
• What did the student need to work on?
• How prepared is the student?
• Is there a balance between talking between the tutor and the student?
• What subject matter does the student need help in such as what kind of paper was it for such as an English class and etc…
1.1. Context for the study
Tutors for the study were both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a Peer Tutoring Writing Class held at Kean University. One of the course requirements was to tutor students enrolled in various courses such as an English composition class.
ESL students were enrolled in either various sections of freshman composition. The course instructor had assigned asked each student to focus on a particular aspect that he or she wanted to focus on during designated times that the students have signed up for.
Before the tutoring began, both the undergraduate and graduate students in the class took a test and had to pass it before moving forward to earn a certification in order to move forward and be able to collect data.
To document and collect data tutors were to observe what happened in the section after the tutoring center and when it was time to observe other students in the writing center we were to have a checklist, and observation forms. Tutors/writing coaches were expected to keep a progress on how their sessions were going by writing on our blogs that each individual have created for class.
Finally at the end of the semester, each student was asked to write a paper summarizing their experience as tutors and the collections that each student was focusing on. Graduate students have to write a longer paper and undergraduate students have to write an eight page paper and have sources to back up the data that he or she is collecting.
Data analysis
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow. So after going through her paper, I asked her did she know what a run on sentence was and she did not. So I said let's look at what a run on sentence is. So we read the definition out loud to me saying what a run on sentence and after reading what is was she was able to summarize it in one sentence.
Lida was able to adjust he paper because she was focused. Lida seemed to have been comfortable with the tutor's approach. She came in and I welcomed her. Sometimes we as tutors have to transition from the student/tutor role and sometimes incorporate a teacher /tutoring session based on what the student needs to accomplish.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Data analysis
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow. So after going through her paper, I asked her did she know what a run on sentence was and she did not. So I said let's look at what a run on sentence is. So we read the definition out loud to me saying what a run on sentence and after reading what is was she was able to summarize it in one sentence.
Lida was able to adjust he paper because she was focused. Lida seemed to have been comfortable with the tutor's approach. She came in and I welcomed her. Sometimes we as tutors have to transition from the student/tutor role and sometimes incorporate a teacher /tutoring session based on what the student needs to accomplish.
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow. So after going through her paper, I asked her did she know what a run on sentence was and she did not. So I said let's look at what a run on sentence is. So we read the definition out loud to me saying what a run on sentence and after reading what is was she was able to summarize it in one sentence.
Lida was able to adjust he paper because she was focused. Lida seemed to have been comfortable with the tutor's approach. She came in and I welcomed her. Sometimes we as tutors have to transition from the student/tutor role and sometimes incorporate a teacher /tutoring session based on what the student needs to accomplish.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Blog # 19
Literature Review:
Sara Cushing Weigle and Gayle Newton state that the role of a tutor plays is highly dependent upon context and is negotiated with every tutorial. In order for successful tutoring sessions, tutors have to find and provide a suitable role as a tutor and sometimes act as teacher in a way especially if the student is not familiar with a category such as grammar techniques etc… They also argue that specifies the contextual factors that influence this negotiation of the tutor role contributes to the perceived negotiation and how the negotiation of the tutor roles contributes to the perceived success of a tutoring sessions.
Successful roles can vary on how a particular session went. However, interactions within tutorial systems can affect each session based on variables such as gender personality and language background can affect interactions within tutorial systems, but these are only a few of the many potential variables that could influence how tutors and tutees perceive the tutor’s role. However, successful sessions varying based on sometimes the location of where the tutoring actually takes place.
Method
Over the course of about approximately four weeks, I have observed various session and various case studies used to investigate student/tutor pairs because I was interested in analyzing when there is an ESL student who sets the agenda and who takes the control of the coaching. When I had tutored students as a tutor some of the questions that I had considered when preparing my data were the following questions: Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students? Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor? Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda? What is said by the tutor and what is said by the student? What did the student need to work on? How prepared is the student? Is there a balance between talking between the tutor and the student? What subject matter does the student need help in such as what kind of paper was it for such as an English class etc…?
The sessions were held about an hour long. The students that I have tutored were considered to be speakers who were not familiar with the English language. Out of my five sessions, I have documented various instances where I taken notice about where I the tutor had to take a little control of the session because the student did not know where to begin. I have had previous experience tutoring students and they came from various backgrounds where I have tutored people who were enrolled in developmental courses at Union County College. I was able to tutor five students for my research and I hope to prove that through my research that I indicate that in my research. Due to lack of a lot of cancelled appointments I was only able to tutor five people.1.1. Context for the studyTutors for the study were both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a Peer Tutoring Writing Class held at Kean University. One of the course requirements was to tutor students enrolled in various courses such as an English composition class.ESL students were enrolled in either various sections of freshman composition. The course instructor had assigned asked each student to focus on a particular aspect that he or she wanted to focus on during designated times that the students have signed up for.Before the tutoring began, both the undergraduate and graduate students in the class took a test and had to pass it before moving forward to earn a certification in order to move forward and be able to collect data.To document and collect data tutors were to observe what happened in the section after the tutoring center and when it was time to observe other students in the writing center we were to have a checklist, and observation forms. Tutors/writing coaches were expected to keep a progress on how their sessions were going by writing on our blogs that each individual have created for class. Finally, at the end of the semester, each student was asked to write a paper summarizing his or her experience as tutors and the collections that each student was focusing on. Graduate students have to write a longer paper and undergraduate students have to write an eight-page paper and have sources to back up the data that he or she is collecting.
Data analysis
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow.
Sara Cushing Weigle and Gayle Newton state that the role of a tutor plays is highly dependent upon context and is negotiated with every tutorial. In order for successful tutoring sessions, tutors have to find and provide a suitable role as a tutor and sometimes act as teacher in a way especially if the student is not familiar with a category such as grammar techniques etc… They also argue that specifies the contextual factors that influence this negotiation of the tutor role contributes to the perceived negotiation and how the negotiation of the tutor roles contributes to the perceived success of a tutoring sessions.
Successful roles can vary on how a particular session went. However, interactions within tutorial systems can affect each session based on variables such as gender personality and language background can affect interactions within tutorial systems, but these are only a few of the many potential variables that could influence how tutors and tutees perceive the tutor’s role. However, successful sessions varying based on sometimes the location of where the tutoring actually takes place.
Method
Over the course of about approximately four weeks, I have observed various session and various case studies used to investigate student/tutor pairs because I was interested in analyzing when there is an ESL student who sets the agenda and who takes the control of the coaching. When I had tutored students as a tutor some of the questions that I had considered when preparing my data were the following questions: Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students? Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor? Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda? What is said by the tutor and what is said by the student? What did the student need to work on? How prepared is the student? Is there a balance between talking between the tutor and the student? What subject matter does the student need help in such as what kind of paper was it for such as an English class etc…?
The sessions were held about an hour long. The students that I have tutored were considered to be speakers who were not familiar with the English language. Out of my five sessions, I have documented various instances where I taken notice about where I the tutor had to take a little control of the session because the student did not know where to begin. I have had previous experience tutoring students and they came from various backgrounds where I have tutored people who were enrolled in developmental courses at Union County College. I was able to tutor five students for my research and I hope to prove that through my research that I indicate that in my research. Due to lack of a lot of cancelled appointments I was only able to tutor five people.1.1. Context for the studyTutors for the study were both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a Peer Tutoring Writing Class held at Kean University. One of the course requirements was to tutor students enrolled in various courses such as an English composition class.ESL students were enrolled in either various sections of freshman composition. The course instructor had assigned asked each student to focus on a particular aspect that he or she wanted to focus on during designated times that the students have signed up for.Before the tutoring began, both the undergraduate and graduate students in the class took a test and had to pass it before moving forward to earn a certification in order to move forward and be able to collect data.To document and collect data tutors were to observe what happened in the section after the tutoring center and when it was time to observe other students in the writing center we were to have a checklist, and observation forms. Tutors/writing coaches were expected to keep a progress on how their sessions were going by writing on our blogs that each individual have created for class. Finally, at the end of the semester, each student was asked to write a paper summarizing his or her experience as tutors and the collections that each student was focusing on. Graduate students have to write a longer paper and undergraduate students have to write an eight-page paper and have sources to back up the data that he or she is collecting.
Data analysis
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Final research plan
Statement: When there is an ESL Student who takes control of the coaching and how does that affect both the student and the tutor in an undergraduate writing center?Detailed statement of your research question?The key to tutoring ESL students - or anyone else - remains respecting the student, meeting their needs, and providing a solid structure for their lessons. I have found that using a set text, developing a known routine, and combining conversation, vocabulary and writing skills makes for a successful and satisfying experience. Sometimes people who are ESL students come to the writing center for the tutor to proofread their paper because many of them have trouble with sentence structure. Sometimes the tutor has to start off with maybe a question to get the student to work on their paper themselves. The tutor is there to support and encourage the students to do their best.
For example, in the essay by Judith Powers the author states that collaborative approaches that tutors use to good effect with native writers often fail when applied to ESL writers, who bring to the writing center different culture values, needs, rhetorical strategies, and attitudes toward the tutor-student relationship (pg 368 of Blummer and Barrnett). I agree with this statement because every relationship and situation differs because it depends on the individual as I hope to show through out my data. Sometimes the tutor has to set the agenda where at others times some students set the agenda themselves by coming into the writing center with a purpose.
One of the articles that I am using is “Are we encouraging patchwriting? Reconsidering the role of the pedagogical context in ESL student writers’ transgressive intertextuality by Ali R. Abasi and Nahal Akbari. This article speaks about how students have trouble meeting the needs of what Esl Students need. This research focuses on the range of cognitive and social reasons behinds ESL students’ transgressive textual appropriation.
Another article that I have found that is relevant to my research is an article Novice Tutors and their ESL tutees: This article speaks about three case studies of three /tutor and this research focuses on the negotiation of tutor roles over a semester as part of a course requirement for Matesol candidates. I will be comparing my results to this and it will be based on undergraduate students.
Another article that I have looked at is The writer center and second language writers by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino. A statement that I found from this article is that many writers want and expect their tutors to take an authoritative role or at least respond to the learners needs” (Williams, J).
However, I‘ve had the opportunity to tutor some wonderful students who have very high expectations. I feel that if the students could focus some more on their paper then he or she would benefit from the session. I admire their honesty and I appreciate those who have let me observe them while they were tutoring. However, in order to make my research more effective, I feel that I could tutor some more students and observe some more sessions. Thank you Dr. Chandler for guiding me in the right direction to start my paper. Thank you to Danny for letting me observes her sessions. Thank you to everyone who has played a part in this ongoing research.
For example, in the essay by Judith Powers the author states that collaborative approaches that tutors use to good effect with native writers often fail when applied to ESL writers, who bring to the writing center different culture values, needs, rhetorical strategies, and attitudes toward the tutor-student relationship (pg 368 of Blummer and Barrnett). I agree with this statement because every relationship and situation differs because it depends on the individual as I hope to show through out my data. Sometimes the tutor has to set the agenda where at others times some students set the agenda themselves by coming into the writing center with a purpose.
One of the articles that I am using is “Are we encouraging patchwriting? Reconsidering the role of the pedagogical context in ESL student writers’ transgressive intertextuality by Ali R. Abasi and Nahal Akbari. This article speaks about how students have trouble meeting the needs of what Esl Students need. This research focuses on the range of cognitive and social reasons behinds ESL students’ transgressive textual appropriation.
Another article that I have found that is relevant to my research is an article Novice Tutors and their ESL tutees: This article speaks about three case studies of three /tutor and this research focuses on the negotiation of tutor roles over a semester as part of a course requirement for Matesol candidates. I will be comparing my results to this and it will be based on undergraduate students.
Another article that I have looked at is The writer center and second language writers by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino. A statement that I found from this article is that many writers want and expect their tutors to take an authoritative role or at least respond to the learners needs” (Williams, J).
However, I‘ve had the opportunity to tutor some wonderful students who have very high expectations. I feel that if the students could focus some more on their paper then he or she would benefit from the session. I admire their honesty and I appreciate those who have let me observe them while they were tutoring. However, in order to make my research more effective, I feel that I could tutor some more students and observe some more sessions. Thank you Dr. Chandler for guiding me in the right direction to start my paper. Thank you to Danny for letting me observes her sessions. Thank you to everyone who has played a part in this ongoing research.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Blog # 17
Statement: When there is an ESL Student who takes control of the coaching and how does that affect both the student and the tutor in an undergraduate writing center?
Detailed statement of your research question?
The key to tutoring ESL students - or anyone else - remains respecting the student, meeting their needs, and providing a solid structure for their lessons. I have found that using a set text, developing a known routine, and combining conversation, vocabulary and writing skills makes for a successful and satisfying experience. Sometimes people who are ESL students come to the writing center for the tutor to proofread their paper because many of them have trouble with sentence structure. Sometimes the tutor has to start off with maybe a question to get the student to work on their paper themselves. The tutor is there to support and encourage the students to do their best.
List of the information you need to gather (or have gathered already).
Since many ESL students do not understand the English language, I would first have to see how the tutor and the student interact in the beginning of the session, the middle and at the end of the session. I would have to indicate whether the student is an ESL student and is English their second language. I would also have to note what kind of approach I am taking. I would also have to note whether the tutor grasp what the tutor is saying. I would also have to watch their body language such as how they come into the tutoring center and how their body language affected the session.
Patience is a necessary thing to have when tutoring. For example, out of the students that I have tutored two students came in with papers due a couple of hours later. It can take a while for a student to understand what a run on sentence is. I tutored a student the other day and when she came in we talked for roughly ten minutes and then we went through her paper together. It took at least seven times to grasp what a run on sentence was but at the end of the session the student was able to grasp what she need to work on. It can take a while for an ESL student to progress.
Communication is also a crucial in a tutoring center as well for both the student and the tutor. I try to speak in a clear effective manner with students.
Outline for paper:
Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students?
Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor?
Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda?
What was said by the student and by the tutor?
What did the student need to work on?
How prepared is the student?
Is there a balance between taking between the tutor and the student?
Preliminary list of resources :
Judith Powers essay on ESL students
Articles from Science Direct
Novice tutors and their ESL tutees: Three case studies of tutor roles and perceptions of Tutorial Success by Sara Cushing Weigle and Gayle L. Nelson
Are we encouraging patchwriting? Reconsidering the role of the pedagogical context in ESL student writers’ transgresive intertextuality by Ali R. Abasi and Nahal Akbari
The Writing Center and second language writers by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino
Tutoring and revision: Second language writers in the writing center by Jessica Williams
Plan for gathering information
I feel that most of the research I have obtained will contribute a lot to my paper. I will continue researching and see if there is any additional information that I may have overlooked. I will need to gather so more information such as observing some more sections. I also need to narrow my sources because I need four sources as a reference so I need to pick the most useful articles for my paper. I would aslo need people to take accurate notes on me.
Detailed statement of your research question?
The key to tutoring ESL students - or anyone else - remains respecting the student, meeting their needs, and providing a solid structure for their lessons. I have found that using a set text, developing a known routine, and combining conversation, vocabulary and writing skills makes for a successful and satisfying experience. Sometimes people who are ESL students come to the writing center for the tutor to proofread their paper because many of them have trouble with sentence structure. Sometimes the tutor has to start off with maybe a question to get the student to work on their paper themselves. The tutor is there to support and encourage the students to do their best.
List of the information you need to gather (or have gathered already).
Since many ESL students do not understand the English language, I would first have to see how the tutor and the student interact in the beginning of the session, the middle and at the end of the session. I would have to indicate whether the student is an ESL student and is English their second language. I would also have to note what kind of approach I am taking. I would also have to note whether the tutor grasp what the tutor is saying. I would also have to watch their body language such as how they come into the tutoring center and how their body language affected the session.
Patience is a necessary thing to have when tutoring. For example, out of the students that I have tutored two students came in with papers due a couple of hours later. It can take a while for a student to understand what a run on sentence is. I tutored a student the other day and when she came in we talked for roughly ten minutes and then we went through her paper together. It took at least seven times to grasp what a run on sentence was but at the end of the session the student was able to grasp what she need to work on. It can take a while for an ESL student to progress.
Communication is also a crucial in a tutoring center as well for both the student and the tutor. I try to speak in a clear effective manner with students.
Outline for paper:
Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students?
Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor?
Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda?
What was said by the student and by the tutor?
What did the student need to work on?
How prepared is the student?
Is there a balance between taking between the tutor and the student?
Preliminary list of resources :
Judith Powers essay on ESL students
Articles from Science Direct
Novice tutors and their ESL tutees: Three case studies of tutor roles and perceptions of Tutorial Success by Sara Cushing Weigle and Gayle L. Nelson
Are we encouraging patchwriting? Reconsidering the role of the pedagogical context in ESL student writers’ transgresive intertextuality by Ali R. Abasi and Nahal Akbari
The Writing Center and second language writers by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino
Tutoring and revision: Second language writers in the writing center by Jessica Williams
Plan for gathering information
I feel that most of the research I have obtained will contribute a lot to my paper. I will continue researching and see if there is any additional information that I may have overlooked. I will need to gather so more information such as observing some more sections. I also need to narrow my sources because I need four sources as a reference so I need to pick the most useful articles for my paper. I would aslo need people to take accurate notes on me.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Blog # 16
I feel that Monday night's class help me come to a better understanding of my paper in terms of the question that I will be focusing on and how to work with ESl students when he or she is struggle with grammar. The question that I am looking at in my observation is With an ESL student who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor. Wiht the sessions that I have had so far there are many things that have happened.
Student #1
Student came into the writing center and I introduced myself and she was anxious to see me. I could tell that she was ready to get started becasue she came into the writing center with a big smile on her face. The student was in a previous class of mine. She had pulled out her laptop and have showed me her paper right away. Since she had showed me her paper right away I asked her do she mind reading the assignment sheet. She had pulled out the assignment sheet and she had read what the assignment sheet had said. After that she was in hurry to work on the paper. Sometimes I felt like I could not get her to understand what I was saying becasue she was in a hurry to get her work done. After she read her paper outloud she was not able to catch what was wrong in the sentence, since she had no idea I had her read her paper sentence by sentence so she could her what was wrong more clearly. After several attemps at pointing out the problem I felt that she was getting the point becasue she had started realizing that she is the one who has to work on the paper. She wanted me to tell her what to write instead of working on the paper. Therefore, I am not sure how she did in the session but she did say that she was coming back. I feel that sometimes the tutor has to take control exspecially when the student is in very anxious and uptight. Therefore, I feel that if she was not in a hurry to get the paper done I felt that I could have been more helpful if she had more time.
After toginight's session, I realized that with Esl students the tutors need to have patience especially when dealing with ESL students. Sometimes a tutor might have to start using low indications and then work their way up to using high indications. Tutors and students should have an equal balance in who takes control but sometimes it depends on the student and the situation. Many students who are esl students have trouble sometimes comprehending the understanding of the english language. I learned that after tognight's c;lass we should keep the students name private.
Student #1
Student came into the writing center and I introduced myself and she was anxious to see me. I could tell that she was ready to get started becasue she came into the writing center with a big smile on her face. The student was in a previous class of mine. She had pulled out her laptop and have showed me her paper right away. Since she had showed me her paper right away I asked her do she mind reading the assignment sheet. She had pulled out the assignment sheet and she had read what the assignment sheet had said. After that she was in hurry to work on the paper. Sometimes I felt like I could not get her to understand what I was saying becasue she was in a hurry to get her work done. After she read her paper outloud she was not able to catch what was wrong in the sentence, since she had no idea I had her read her paper sentence by sentence so she could her what was wrong more clearly. After several attemps at pointing out the problem I felt that she was getting the point becasue she had started realizing that she is the one who has to work on the paper. She wanted me to tell her what to write instead of working on the paper. Therefore, I am not sure how she did in the session but she did say that she was coming back. I feel that sometimes the tutor has to take control exspecially when the student is in very anxious and uptight. Therefore, I feel that if she was not in a hurry to get the paper done I felt that I could have been more helpful if she had more time.
After toginight's session, I realized that with Esl students the tutors need to have patience especially when dealing with ESL students. Sometimes a tutor might have to start using low indications and then work their way up to using high indications. Tutors and students should have an equal balance in who takes control but sometimes it depends on the student and the situation. Many students who are esl students have trouble sometimes comprehending the understanding of the english language. I learned that after tognight's c;lass we should keep the students name private.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Blog # 15:
As I was observing on Wednesday, I was surprised to see how anxious students are when they are in a hurry to get their paper done especially when the paper is due like the next day or later on in the evening. I have had the chance to observe Danny and I feel that she has done an amazing job by being able to talk in two languages back and forth. However, I noticed that the role of a writing center tutor changes when an international students comes in for help with writing. Many ESL students who come into the writing center come from different backgrounds. For example, I have had the opportunity to tutor two students and they both had high expectations of the tutor because the tutor was a native speaker of the English language. Although I am a speaker of the native language I still have trouble comprehending the English language. The first student who had came in was very excited as she came in because she was eagered to get started on her paper. However, I found it easy to work with the individual in the beginning because she had an assignment sheet. The assignment sheet looked liked it was clear and that she understood what was going on. So after the student took out the sheet she had showed me her paper. Since she had showed me her paper I asked her could she read it to me and she was willing to read the paper to me which was a good thing. She read the paper aloud and she was not able to hear what was wrong in the paper. So I tried to go sentence by sentence so the student could get a better understanding and that method worked for her. I felt that she was in a panic to understand everything becasue the paper was due the next day.
The second student that I have observed was also a native speaker. He came in and he was excited about coming in as well but at the same time the expression on his face was that he was worried about making his paper so perfect. He was trying to squeeze everything in at one time. He also need help with grammar. The words was in the wrong order of the sentence. Since the student was very soft spoken I tried repeating what he was saying. As I was repeating what he was saying he was nodding in argreement. The one thing that I was upset about was that he did not have an assignment sheet so he had to rely off of his memory. I understand students who come into the writing center needs help but sometimes students question the tutor a lot by saying "Is this the right way to say it". Since he kept asking this question I have asked him was there a specfic kind of resume that he had to write. Both of the students felt comfortable in the writing center in the sense that they both nodded a lot. I think maybe if the assignment was not due the next day that they might not have been in a rush.
The second student that I have observed was also a native speaker. He came in and he was excited about coming in as well but at the same time the expression on his face was that he was worried about making his paper so perfect. He was trying to squeeze everything in at one time. He also need help with grammar. The words was in the wrong order of the sentence. Since the student was very soft spoken I tried repeating what he was saying. As I was repeating what he was saying he was nodding in argreement. The one thing that I was upset about was that he did not have an assignment sheet so he had to rely off of his memory. I understand students who come into the writing center needs help but sometimes students question the tutor a lot by saying "Is this the right way to say it". Since he kept asking this question I have asked him was there a specfic kind of resume that he had to write. Both of the students felt comfortable in the writing center in the sense that they both nodded a lot. I think maybe if the assignment was not due the next day that they might not have been in a rush.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Blog # 14
As I was observing many sessions, I have noticed a lot of things that go on during my session especially when tutoring students who are ESL students. When ESL students come into a writing session it seems to me that he or she is looking for the tutor to do all of the work. For example, in general students who undergo training to work at a Writing Center are often introduced first to the collaborative method of tutoring.
In Power's essay the author draws a conversation about the strategies to approach ESL students. Although she begins with the usual Socratic methods that many tutors use with most students , she later talks about the element of the "Need of Intervention". Powers then discusses the differences in ESL students and the possibility to move away from Socratic methods to more of a
diclactic approach. In order to analyze how this method truly fails with ESL students, I would have to ask myself the following questions:
In Power's essay the author draws a conversation about the strategies to approach ESL students. Although she begins with the usual Socratic methods that many tutors use with most students , she later talks about the element of the "Need of Intervention". Powers then discusses the differences in ESL students and the possibility to move away from Socratic methods to more of a
diclactic approach. In order to analyze how this method truly fails with ESL students, I would have to ask myself the following questions:
- Does the tutor use low order concerns so the students.
- Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor.
I am not sure wheter I will be able to observe everything in my tutoring sessions because fiorst of all it depends on the individual. Every indivual responds to things differently.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Blog 13: Preparing to work on the research prohect
I would like to explore the the advantages of having a peer tutor especially for students with ADHD. In order to do this I could explore several different angles in a tutoring session such as to see how if the students are engaged in the session. I feel that it is important that the social context be examined between the tutor and the students. Sometimes when a student leans it it could mean several different things especially for a student who has ADHD. In order for a tutor to work with someone who has ADHD I feel that the tutor should have at least some background knowledge about this disorder if possible.Teaching in a home isn't easy, but teaching a teenager with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can be daunting. Disorganization, lack of focus and defiance can make what should be a simple lesson into a power struggle to many becasue writing coaches need to have a lot of patience when working with someone who has this disorder.
I can also analyze to see wheter the student and the writing coach have completed and see if he or she is sastifised after the session. In order to do this, I would have to evualte the type of language that is explored in the begginning, the middle and at the end of a session. I could also see if eye contact was used. I would also have to watch his or her body language to see if the student moves a lot during his or her session. Students who have ADHD sometimes move around in different types. I could also evaluate to see if students need the writing coach use lower level student indiation.
I can also analyze to see wheter the student and the writing coach have completed and see if he or she is sastifised after the session. In order to do this, I would have to evualte the type of language that is explored in the begginning, the middle and at the end of a session. I could also see if eye contact was used. I would also have to watch his or her body language to see if the student moves a lot during his or her session. Students who have ADHD sometimes move around in different types. I could also evaluate to see if students need the writing coach use lower level student indiation.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Blog # 12:
One topic that stood out to me is that I could explore some topics such as dealing with students who have a disability such as people who have dyslexia or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The questions that I can phrase is what are the advantages of having a long-term tutor. I could analyze the communication between both the tutor and the writer. I could also look at the body language and may be analyze how long do they need the tutors to sit with them. I could also factor in whet er the students use non direct language or direct language as well as the tutor.In order to do this I would have to see how the student and tutor act in the beginning of the session and then later on in the end of a session to evaluate the process.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Blog # 11 Moving up
As, I was observing Dr. Chandler and Sam yesterday at the writing center, I have noticed that there was a lot of positive feedback and the encouragement was positive. The tutor and the student talked was easy to talk to. As I was sitting down one of the topics that came into my mind was that I could analyze the description between 1). What are the characteristics of a good peer tutor? In an effective writing center I feel that the tutor and the writer must work together. A peer student and tutor relationship is important because both the student and the tutor have to bring relevant information to the table in order to succeed. As tutors we are there to help the student become a better writer. Yesterday in our peer observing session I have learned that the tutor was helping the writer build up her confidence.
2). Another topic that would be to analyze the importance of different writing styles. For example, since the writing center does reflect society and there are different forms of communication that can be used. For example, sometimes you have to work with students who are death and students who's first language is not English.
3). I would like to analyze the difference in male and female such as the body language. I would like to do this because I would like to see how they act in a writer center. For example, if the student is a female and the tutor is a male their body language may differ between both and there might also be some similarities.
2). Another topic that would be to analyze the importance of different writing styles. For example, since the writing center does reflect society and there are different forms of communication that can be used. For example, sometimes you have to work with students who are death and students who's first language is not English.
3). I would like to analyze the difference in male and female such as the body language. I would like to do this because I would like to see how they act in a writer center. For example, if the student is a female and the tutor is a male their body language may differ between both and there might also be some similarities.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Blog # 10
I am really nervous about tutoring other people. My strengths are that I am able to get the students to pre-write especially when he or she is stuck on the topic. Another strength that I have is that I am patient. I feel that in order to work in a writing center is that the main thing that one must have is patience because everyone learns and work at his or her own pace. My weakness I am not sure of yet because I am still trying to figure that one out. I am really looking excited to working in the writing lab and then on the other hand I am really nervous on how the students may respond to working with me. Some students will probably have nasty attitude while other students will be looking forward to coming to the writing center. When I used to tutor before it was a lot to deal with especially when you have ten people at the table to tutor. I look forward to tutoring in the writing center because it will be a challenge and in the long run tutoring someone can be rewarding at the same time.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Blog # 9
Some of the topics that I am interested in exploring are:
1).ESL students and how they deal with interacting with the English language
2).Main stream students such as students who have dyslexia, cerebral palsy
3).How the writer and tutor interacts in the writing center
4).How the writing center has an advantage in motivation students to become engaged in the material
5).I could try and analyze the difference between students in the writing center and see if there are any similarities between students who may have a disability
6).I could analyze the difference of how men and women responds in different scenarios in the writing center such as watching their body language and etc....
The one topic that stands out to me right now is number two. I am interested in number two because I can sort of relate to number two. I have a twin sister who was born with Cerebral Palsy and the way that she learned to do things was so productive. Even though it took her a long time to learn she was persistent and never gave up on learning how to read or write.
Students who have disabilities are human beings who learn at his or her own pace. I am open to almost every possible topic that is available because I like to challenge myself and explore other options when it comes to writing research papers.
1).ESL students and how they deal with interacting with the English language
2).Main stream students such as students who have dyslexia, cerebral palsy
3).How the writer and tutor interacts in the writing center
4).How the writing center has an advantage in motivation students to become engaged in the material
5).I could try and analyze the difference between students in the writing center and see if there are any similarities between students who may have a disability
6).I could analyze the difference of how men and women responds in different scenarios in the writing center such as watching their body language and etc....
The one topic that stands out to me right now is number two. I am interested in number two because I can sort of relate to number two. I have a twin sister who was born with Cerebral Palsy and the way that she learned to do things was so productive. Even though it took her a long time to learn she was persistent and never gave up on learning how to read or write.
Students who have disabilities are human beings who learn at his or her own pace. I am open to almost every possible topic that is available because I like to challenge myself and explore other options when it comes to writing research papers.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
class notes on a Critique of Peer Tutoring
-active participation
-too much tutor talk = dependency
tutor not expert
Socratic questions
on the same level both the tutor and writer
authoritative in tensive product oriented = editing approach skill level
coaches knowledge of writer
when model is needed-initial questions, wrong format, understand material
expertise development, cognitive development, social development, academic literacy
new subject postitions
-too much tutor talk = dependency
tutor not expert
Socratic questions
on the same level both the tutor and writer
authoritative in tensive product oriented = editing approach skill level
coaches knowledge of writer
when model is needed-initial questions, wrong format, understand material
expertise development, cognitive development, social development, academic literacy
new subject postitions
Monday, October 12, 2009
Blog # 8
Tutor________ Date: _________
Writer_______
Which of the following best describes you?
-I begin Kean University right after high school
-I transferred from another institution
-I am returning to school to get a degree
-I am attending class for personal enrichment
2. What is your curriculum?
-Math
-Education
-Nursing
-Bussiness Management
-Other Please specify
3). What type of assignment do you have?
-short paper
-response paper
-research paper
4) Who set the goals?
5). Coach strategy
a. What work
b. What didn´t work
c. Student's learning style
d. What was said by who.
6). Student attitude
a. At the beginning of the session
b. During the session
c. At the end of the session
7). Coach effectiveness
a). Student response to the work
b. What was accomplished
c. Student say
d.Evaluation
Writer_______
Which of the following best describes you?
-I begin Kean University right after high school
-I transferred from another institution
-I am returning to school to get a degree
-I am attending class for personal enrichment
2. What is your curriculum?
-Math
-Education
-Nursing
-Bussiness Management
-Other Please specify
3). What type of assignment do you have?
-short paper
-response paper
-research paper
4) Who set the goals?
5). Coach strategy
a. What work
b. What didn´t work
c. Student's learning style
d. What was said by who.
6). Student attitude
a. At the beginning of the session
b. During the session
c. At the end of the session
7). Coach effectiveness
a). Student response to the work
b. What was accomplished
c. Student say
d.Evaluation
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Blog # 7
When I was taking notes, I have noticed the way the tutor and the student was reacting to one another. The tutor was engaged in what the student had to say. In my observation I have noticed that it is important to have good eye contact with the tutor. The student was sitting side by side. The tutor helped clarify the student's assignment. The student was phrasing what North had said which is a good thing. The tutor asked questions to the student. The most important thing to write down in a writing sessions is your summary of your main idea and how the students and tutors respond in different scenarios based on one's learning style.
There was a lot of talking going on and so much going on at once. Since there was so much talking going on it was hard for me to keep up. My notes was a mess becasue I kept scribbling
That tells me I need some type of shorthand or code words.My writing was sloppy, so that I will attribute to not having a system in place to handle the speed at which I was required to write the notes.I had the urge to talk, yes it was hard to remain silent and just observe without actually saying "Try this....or maybe you should do it this way"practice listening skillsI like absorbing two differing perspectives on tutoring and being tutored. You actually get to pick up pointers as if you were being tutored, and its a valuable coaching opportunity for when you actually tutor someone else. Its just like being a "fly on the wall." It takes you out of the picture while you get an objective view of everything taking place during the session
There was a lot of talking going on and so much going on at once. Since there was so much talking going on it was hard for me to keep up. My notes was a mess becasue I kept scribbling
That tells me I need some type of shorthand or code words.My writing was sloppy, so that I will attribute to not having a system in place to handle the speed at which I was required to write the notes.I had the urge to talk, yes it was hard to remain silent and just observe without actually saying "Try this....or maybe you should do it this way"practice listening skillsI like absorbing two differing perspectives on tutoring and being tutored. You actually get to pick up pointers as if you were being tutored, and its a valuable coaching opportunity for when you actually tutor someone else. Its just like being a "fly on the wall." It takes you out of the picture while you get an objective view of everything taking place during the session
Friday, October 2, 2009
Blog # 6
Welcome to the writing center. We here at the writing center would like to extend a warm welcome to you for stopping by the writing center. I am currently serving as the director of this writing center. We here at the writing center do not discriminate anyone. We are a writing center that will be offered seven days a week. If you are unable to meet in person we are available to chat online at certain days and certain times.
This writing center will focus on all the different types of writing styles. We will have stations set up based on each learning style. The center will be adaptable towards everyone. If we do not have a station for someones learning style we will do our best to serve you. At my writing center we would have grammar self-assessments sheets. If students need help with something we will provide various examples and practice sheets such as dealing with present/past future, and various other sheets designate to help one succeed in writing.
My writing center will be called "Stepping Up through Writing". The writing center will be a place where the writing coaches will conduct various workshops for students and the teachers to attend.
The writing center purpose is to make sure everyone feels is designed to help foster the community of scholarship and shared leadership through peer consulting, a form of collaborative learning which involves students in each other’s intellectual and academic development. understand the material to be written; plan, organize, revise, and edit papers; design oral presentations; overcome writer’s block, and develop critical thinking skills. Students create a committed and caring writer’s community which helps them achieve excellence in their writing both in and out of class. We also would help people who are writers, teachers, and educators. Anyone is welcomed to attend the writing center. Right now we are in the process of trying to have the center open to the whole community. People come to the Writing Center because all writers can improve their writing through feedback. We can help you to brainstorm, plan, edit, revise and proofread your texts. In short, we can collaborate with you on any work in progress. For example, some writers think that visiting a tutor will guarantee them a higher grade. You need to let them know you can help them learn to recognize and improve upon their writing challenges, but you cannot promise them a good grade. They must earn their grades on their own!This is one thing that people look for when entering a writing center. If the students need help with an assignment or is unclear about the assignment we will direct them to the teacher if necessary. We would like to establish positive student/teacher relations and also tutor/students relationships so everyone can benefit from one another in a productive environment.
This writing center will focus on all the different types of writing styles. We will have stations set up based on each learning style. The center will be adaptable towards everyone. If we do not have a station for someones learning style we will do our best to serve you. At my writing center we would have grammar self-assessments sheets. If students need help with something we will provide various examples and practice sheets such as dealing with present/past future, and various other sheets designate to help one succeed in writing.
My writing center will be called "Stepping Up through Writing". The writing center will be a place where the writing coaches will conduct various workshops for students and the teachers to attend.
The writing center purpose is to make sure everyone feels is designed to help foster the community of scholarship and shared leadership through peer consulting, a form of collaborative learning which involves students in each other’s intellectual and academic development. understand the material to be written; plan, organize, revise, and edit papers; design oral presentations; overcome writer’s block, and develop critical thinking skills. Students create a committed and caring writer’s community which helps them achieve excellence in their writing both in and out of class. We also would help people who are writers, teachers, and educators. Anyone is welcomed to attend the writing center. Right now we are in the process of trying to have the center open to the whole community. People come to the Writing Center because all writers can improve their writing through feedback. We can help you to brainstorm, plan, edit, revise and proofread your texts. In short, we can collaborate with you on any work in progress. For example, some writers think that visiting a tutor will guarantee them a higher grade. You need to let them know you can help them learn to recognize and improve upon their writing challenges, but you cannot promise them a good grade. They must earn their grades on their own!This is one thing that people look for when entering a writing center. If the students need help with an assignment or is unclear about the assignment we will direct them to the teacher if necessary. We would like to establish positive student/teacher relations and also tutor/students relationships so everyone can benefit from one another in a productive environment.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
class notes 9/30/09 The Idea of a Writing Center
perception of Writing Center
Students go to the writing center to get "errors" fixed
who goes to writing center
why they go there
what happens when they go there
a student is someone who is in need of an enlightment
writers go to writing center
what are readers expectations
the wrong expectations of students are that they have to fix there paper, teachers send struggling students, special
They go to become better writers. They go because they care about being good writers.
The coach watches and makes descisions about what to do.e
relationships between WC , tutor and teachers: It is the students reponblity to communicate with the teachers and don't second guess assignments. Writing Centers advocates its own pedagogy.
Students go to the writing center to get "errors" fixed
who goes to writing center
why they go there
what happens when they go there
a student is someone who is in need of an enlightment
writers go to writing center
what are readers expectations
the wrong expectations of students are that they have to fix there paper, teachers send struggling students, special
They go to become better writers. They go because they care about being good writers.
The coach watches and makes descisions about what to do.e
relationships between WC , tutor and teachers: It is the students reponblity to communicate with the teachers and don't second guess assignments. Writing Centers advocates its own pedagogy.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Blog # 5
For our second practice section, I coached Ryan on his writing. Ryan was the student who came to the writing center because his professor made him. When Ryan first entered the writing center, I had asked him to look at the assignment sheet and to read it carefully and thoroughly. Ryan had explained to me what he had written down. Ryan knew what he was talking about so I had him read me his response paper and found out that his summary of his paper was similar to what he has written down. Ryan was focused on his assignment and that is a good thing.
When I was the student and Ryan was the tutor I had learned a lot. Ryan had asked me questions like "Did I have the assignment sheet". I was able to pull up the assignment sheet online within a couple of minutes. It is easy to be able to have a computer in front of you because sometimes you need a computer to be able to edit and rearrange your work. Ryan had me read the paper out loud. After I read aloud I was able to see where I could give examples to support my ideas by focusing on the text itself. In order to do that Ryan had me do some free exercises that would encourage my writing. He stepped out of the room and had me write. When he came back into the room I was able to come up with a statement based on the text.
Being a writing center coach can be hard to adjust too at times. It can be hard to adjust two because the tutor has to be flexible and be understanding that sometimes students who come into the center are not going to feel like being there. Also, a tutor has to be able to use all of the different types of methods in the writing center. Storehouse Centers, Garret Center and Burkean Palor all display important methods based on his or her own style of writing.
I am learning how to become a more effective student and I am beginning to notice the type of writing style that I have. I would like more time working one on one with each other. I found it to be very helpful. When you read your paper out loud you are able to see where you could improve. I like when writing coaches guide you into the right direction without saying what your mistakes are.
When I was the student and Ryan was the tutor I had learned a lot. Ryan had asked me questions like "Did I have the assignment sheet". I was able to pull up the assignment sheet online within a couple of minutes. It is easy to be able to have a computer in front of you because sometimes you need a computer to be able to edit and rearrange your work. Ryan had me read the paper out loud. After I read aloud I was able to see where I could give examples to support my ideas by focusing on the text itself. In order to do that Ryan had me do some free exercises that would encourage my writing. He stepped out of the room and had me write. When he came back into the room I was able to come up with a statement based on the text.
Being a writing center coach can be hard to adjust too at times. It can be hard to adjust two because the tutor has to be flexible and be understanding that sometimes students who come into the center are not going to feel like being there. Also, a tutor has to be able to use all of the different types of methods in the writing center. Storehouse Centers, Garret Center and Burkean Palor all display important methods based on his or her own style of writing.
I am learning how to become a more effective student and I am beginning to notice the type of writing style that I have. I would like more time working one on one with each other. I found it to be very helpful. When you read your paper out loud you are able to see where you could improve. I like when writing coaches guide you into the right direction without saying what your mistakes are.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Blog # 4
My experience as a tutor and student was exciting. I was eagered to see what both individuals were able to see what both the student and tutor could offer. When I was the tutor the student came in without a draft. Since the student came in without a draft, the student and the tutor had looked over what the assignment was about and then the student was able to come up with ideas. The student was off to a great start because even though he or she did not have a draft the student had some ideas that were brought forward. I had encouraged the student to elaborate more on some of the ideas that were mentioned. The student was able to find examples to support the main argument.
I feel that both the student and tutor talked equally because at the same time we as tutors and as students sometimes need feedback. I feel that my session went well. As a student, I learned that sometimes we as students need to interact more with the tutor to clarify information. Both the student and the tutor was focused on the assignment sheet which is important as well. I feel that the session did reflect my writing philosphy in various ways because the student had asked questions and was able to refer back to the text.
I feel that both the student and tutor talked equally because at the same time we as tutors and as students sometimes need feedback. I feel that my session went well. As a student, I learned that sometimes we as students need to interact more with the tutor to clarify information. Both the student and the tutor was focused on the assignment sheet which is important as well. I feel that the session did reflect my writing philosphy in various ways because the student had asked questions and was able to refer back to the text.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Blog #3
Welcome to the writing center. I hope you all are having a very productive semester. My name is Talisha Robinson. I will be your tutor during this current time of the semester. I hope you will enjoy your pursuit of the discipline and find it rewarding in many ways. Here are a few ways of succeeding in the writing center. First you should come to the writing center with an open mind knowing that we as tutors are here to assist you with your writing or help you prepare a draft for your assignment so that you are ready to write a whole paper. Here are a few suggestions:
- Do the assigned reading that is required for your paper. It is important to fully understand the writing assignment that has been assigned so that you will not go off topic and write about something that your professor does not approve of.
- Consider the context Approaching each text or assignment when writing, you should keep in mind the audience such as who you are writing for.
- Take your time Carefully look at your assignment and think about how you would want to accomplish your writing. If you rush to write your paper, then it may not turn out so well. Encourage your self to slow down and engage in the writing assignment by trying to relate the assignment to you life.
- Be prepared
- Ask questions It is always proper to ask for clarification of the meaning of something that has already been said
- Omit the unnecessary Include in your written work only what is related to your topic after the first draft.
- Write clearly and use concrete language
- A writer center should be full of resource aids such as a writing manual, a dictionary, a thesaurus, pencils, pens and etc...
- I believe that knowledge is stored in both the student and the tutor. Everyone has the right to say what they want to say about the apsects of knowledge because everyone has his or own perception of what knowledge is.
- Learner's gain knowledge through the insight of other, books and the media
- I am still undecided on weather knowledge is subjective or fixed. Knowledge might be considered a lit bit of everything from everything that we hear.
- Tutors and students should sit side by side
- The student should be the one during the work themselves
- Tutors are the ones who assist and encourage the student along the way.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Collaboration, Control, and the idea of a Writing Center Blog #2
Collaboration is very important in a writing center because it helps shape the way people write. For example, some of the main points that were described in the chapter is that
- Collaboration aids in problem finding as well as problem solving
- It helps people learn in a different way
- Collaboration allows people to think
- Collaboration allows people to sharpen their ideas
- It leads to higher achievement
- Collaboration engages the student and it allows active learning
I feel that collaboration does engage the student in a way because sometimes working together allows he or she to succeed. I feel that these ideas work because it combines reading, talking, writing, thinking all in one process. Sometimes two minds are better then one. Sometimes collaboration can sometimes be a bad thing. So in order to get groups to work well in the writing center, we as tutors should be effective as we can.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Blog # 1
This is my first time writing a blog. Today's assignment is to write about what I have learned so far. I learned that tutors do not do do the work for the students. I learned that tutors are not therapists. From reading the chapters that we had to read. One of the most important things that I have read was that peer tutoring allows both the student and the tutor to show personal involvement, become self-initiated and show self-evaluation. It is important that both the student and the tutor engage with one another. Sometimes it helps when students get one on one interaction because he or she can benefit from one another. I like how the book provides examples on what and how a tutor should act. Tutors should act in a professional manner. I used to tutor a lot of different people for different subjects. It is hard to tutor people when people have an attitude.I feel that everyone should be treated with respect. Tutoring is not easy as it looks but it takes a lot of patience to be an effective tutor. I am looking forward to learning about everything that the class has to offer.
I also learned that writing centers do a lot more than just tutor. I look forward to working with my classmates and the people that I will be tutoring.
I also learned that writing centers do a lot more than just tutor. I look forward to working with my classmates and the people that I will be tutoring.
Monday, September 14, 2009
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