A Tutor Named Tim

Reflection

2009-12-14T13:24:00.000-08:00

1. What did you notice about your writing process during this course? I began to not only write but think scholarly; meaning I developed my ideas before I began writing. It has become more of a process for me now instead of something to purge anf fix later.

Did your writing process change? If so, how? Yes. I have created more of an emphasis on creating an arugment you want to make and developing that main idea/focus.

If your writing process changed, what course assignments/interactions supported that change? My argument style has changed. I talk and write similarly in the sense that sometimes I leave out crucial details while including superfluous information that does not help develop my ideas.

2. What have you noticed about your finished essays? How essays in different genres vary immensely from each other. You have to think like a writer in whatever form someone is writing in. This class you have to think like a tutor, in CNF you have the freedom to think more creatively.

Did the quality of your essays change as a result of this course? If so how? I'm sure my future essays will get better but I haven't had enough time to really develop my ideas. I think next semester will show me how much I have improved.

If your final products changed, what do you think led to those changes? Class interaction and colloboration.

3. What did you notice about the way you coach writing students? I think I coached someone the way I would have wanted to coach me. Everything is spelled out, but the student still does the majority of the work. Simplistically Challenging is how I would describe it.

Did your approach to coaching change during the term? If so, how? Not really, because I felt it was working (hopefully I wasn't wrong).

Were any course assignments/interactions useful in facilitating this learning? Practice, practice, practice. Practice and consistancy is what really helped me develop these skills. doing it often made me feel more comfortable with my surroundings.

4. What have your experiences coaching writng students shown you about effective strategies for talking/communicating to others? That it really works, but only if you have a student that wants to be there and wants to work. Otherwise there will be a dead end where a student is only receptive to admirations--which doesn't help them at all.

5. How has your work coaching writing students changed the way you learn? I think from now whe I'll write I keep my audience in the back of my mind. Also I'll be writing from a tutor's perspective so thinking in terms of focus, description, arguments, hypothesis etc, with aspects outside of writing. I know how a tutor would break down an essay so I write with the intensions of answering questions an someone might ask during a tutoring session.

Were any course assignments/interactions useful in facilitating this learning? Describe.

WC Philosophy

2009-12-11T17:06:00.001-08:00

To say that my WC philosophy has changed since my first description of it in September would be an understatement.

A WC should be a functional and welcoming place where students are invited to visit, without apprehension or fear that their papers will get torn to shreds by a tutor who is perceived as all-knowing professional writer.

A WC should be organized and prepared to accommodate all students seeking help from on any subject matter. The workers their should include students from the University so they can practice tutoring real people other than just reading about how to tutor.

It should also be a place that is advertised across the campus heavily, by the center itself, and also professors that promote their students, especially their freshman.

In terms of the methods that should be used...all of them. There is no right method for tutoring someone. It's a game of trial and error. What needs to be done is to have as many intelligent people taking many different approaches for helping students write better. However, there is a wrong method for tutoring, and this isn't what a WC should consist of: stuck up tutors who put down writings, a place that is cold and unwelcoming, dysfunctional, disorganized, where only one method is used and forced, i.e. garret, minimalist, etc.

Draft Research Essay

2009-12-05T06:57:00.000-08:00

The blog homepage states methods "a section does not include findings, though it does explain your logic, and present your context. It should provide enough information so a reader could do what you did, and so s/he understands why you did your study the way you did it."

I'm not sure if I have provided enough information that explains my logic in why I chose to select particular methods. For the methods section, is my message clear in what I observed and how I interpreted my findings? Also, is this cohesive or just jargon.

Confidence, Control, and Perceptions within a Tutoring Session

introduction
From my collection of six tutoring sessions, four of them have been incorporated in this essay. Two, which present the most significance, are discussed in detail. Through my observations I noted the distinctions of students who were unsure how to complete an essay and other students who understood their assignment and knew what they wanted to work on in their paper. I focused on the intentions of both student and tutor and attributed the control of the session to whoever expressed more confidence. The factors contributing to my data collection were who spoke more and often, vocal characteristics, body movement, and comprehension of the English language.
The significance of my findings allows students to perceive writing centers as a welcoming place to attain informative writing techniques. I argue against the misconception that tutors are as educated and intimidating as teachers and that they represent the evaluative ambience of an educated person. It is true that tutors are required to have an extensive knowledge on writing and communication, but when a student seeks a tutor to help write an essay, it is the student’s job to be able to teach subject matter unfamiliar to the tutor. In retrospect, the student is giving more information than they actually receive.

review of the literature:
Charles Greenwood and his colleagues compared the effects of instructional arrangements that varied in: teacher versus peer mediators, methods used, levels of student academic responding generated, and content taught and tested in their article Teacher-Versus Peer-Mediated Instruction: An Ecobehavioral Analysis of Achievement Outcomes. This explains that these instructional arrangements (i.e., tasks, structure, tutor position and behavior) and students' levels of academic responding were measured by the amount of confidence when the student was both prepared and underprepared for their assignment. However they did not explore the tutor’s reaction and level of confidence throughout these observations. Writing Across the Curriculum: A Guide to Developing Programs is a collection of essays that defines terms, presents helpful suggestions, and provides models for conducting tutoring sessions. This article explains students' developing independence as writers but lacks in describing the role of a tutor and their own developing independence. My observations examined the ability of a tutor from a peer’s perspective. It also presents a relationship that permits honest dialogue and openness between the two individuals. Novice Tutors and Their ESL Tutees: Three Case Studies of Tutor Roles and Perceptions of Tutorial Success is study designed to investigate the negotiation between tutors and nonnative English speaking tutees in a particular setting. Lastly, Talking in the middle: Why Writers Need Writing Tutors focuses on the tutorial function of writing centers. It describes the uniqueness of the tutor/student relationship and claims that that relationship makes knowledge about writing possible in an institutionalized setting.

methods:
Throughout my observations of identifying the relationship between control/authority and confidence I collected data using several methods. These observations were collected from the beginning of October through the end of November 2009. I identified who initiates the control and if they retain it throughout the session. This was classified by whoever spoke lucid and with certainty. I also noted what it meant to have and lack control because non-verbal and verbal cues were given from the student and tutor when either participant knew what was being asked or when they were at a loss. These cues include the amount of body movement, eye contact, and the volume of the voices of both tutor and student. These methods correlate to the amount of confidence experienced by both people during the session.
My observations were equally distributed between each person in the session. When I observed both tutor and student I noted their physical characteristics, their proximity to each other, and how often each of them spoke—both when they were confident and when they were unsure of what they were saying. Observing how loud or quite both tutor and student were throughout the session varied depending on the level of confidence of each. I sought to determine that whoever expressed the most confidence, retains the control in the session; this was done by recording who talked more and if what was said was understood by the person receiving the comments.

A significant method was the recording of verbal and non-verbal cues from both participants. For example, when the tutor knew what to say they showed confidence that the student can accomplish what they asked the student to do, i.e. smiling, relaxed body posture, and gave clear directions. However, when the tutor didn’t know what to say they lacked assurance that their student comprehended their tutoring method. The tutor began stuttering, clear their throat more, and kept readjusting they way they sat. Also incorporated in my recordings were cues from the student when they had and were out of ideas for writing when they didn’t have a draft.

What I looked for during my observations is how the tutor reacted when the student set the agenda and when the student expected the tutor to do all the work. Taken into account was the student’s educational level and understanding of the English language. These sessions were conducted through one-on-one interactions.

Data analysis: There were four sessions I observed that proved to be the most significant. Two of which consisted of apprehensive ESL students, one named “Jasmine.” The other two presented students who knew how they wanted to revise a nearly completed essay. One of these confident students was named “Mary.”

When I observed if the tutor and Mary started off in the right direction, her confidence set the pace of the session. At the initial interaction, the control was attributed to whoever presented greater confidence, in this case Mary, a senior. When she brought in a finalized paper seeking advisement to fine-tune it, she set the agenda by stating what she had completed at the point and what she wanted to further develop. The findings in the session relate to the student’s confidence. My findings showed some parallels to Charles Greenwoods results in Teacher-Versus Peer-Mediated Instruction: An Ecobehavioral Analysis of Achievement Outcomes. “The results of this investigation confirmed with minor exception that peer tutoring, compared to instructional procedures typically developed by teachers, produced superior weekly achievement affects,” Greenwood, Teacher-Versus 536). Even though Mary was an older student and knew what she want to work on she still needed that extra help from a tutor because her professor was not completely clear on the requirements of the paper. With aid from the tutor she made it clear that she knew what she was talking about and how she wanted the tutor to proceed in helping her make a good paper better. In this case, the student was focused on making sure the paper was cohesive. Throughout the session, the paper was in front of both Mary and the tutor the entire time. While the tutor read it through Mary moved very little. She sat there intently and did not fidget nearly as much as students who had less confidence or ill-prepared.

For example, an ESL student who does not have a lucid comprehension of the English language, much in the same way Weigel and Nelson take into account numerous factors of the ESL student, I emphasize two relevant factors: the tutee’s oral proficiency and the tutor’s background and training. The student’s confidence might be undermined if they do not recognize the true role of the tutor.
“Tutors, because they function in a non-evaluative, supportive environment, offer writers the opportunity to write, think, and talk with someone who through this collaborative talk and questioning helps the writer use language to develop ideas, to test possibilities, to re-see and rethink in the light of feedback from the tutor,” (Harris Chap 10, Writing Center).
This is important because in order for a student to allow the tutor to help, the student cannot look at the tutor as a professor.
Since Jasmine had such a hard time understanding was the tutor was trying to tell her, her face turned red and she became warm as she took off her light jacket she was wearing. Also, Jasmine’s voice was barely audible when asking or answering a question. The tutor showed similar signs of discomfort because she was a tutor in training and could not use the methods that she learned in class. In the tutor’s case, she repeated questions to Jasmine that remained unanswered, took deep heavy breaths often, and paused to collect her thoughts when she was at a loss for what to say. Again, lower confidence affected the tutor’s voice as it remained monotone and littered with stuttering.

The volume of the student’s voice correlates with the amount of confidence they present. When a confident student speaks, they speak with a louder volume. It also determines the student’s comprehension of a question, confidence in their paper, and how well the tutor thinks they are guiding the student in the right direction. This confidence is reassuring to the tutor because they know, or at least appear to know what they are talking about. However, the tutor can easily recognize when the student is ill prepared for a session when the tutee speaks in an uncertain or attenuated voice. This may result from a lack of confidence in their paper or that they didn’t completely comprehend their teacher’s assignment. Muriel Harris investigated this dilemma in her essay, Why Writers Need Writing Tutors. “Students’ difficulties in understanding teacher comments are partly a difference in vocabulary, but there is also a problem of students’ perception of teacher intent behind the comments,” (Harris, Why 38). She continued, “They (students) skip down to the grade and wander into the writing center assuming that the teacher didn’t like their writing,” (Harris, Why 38). In my observations the students who were confident did not take into consideration their teacher’s opinion on how they write. Whether it was because they knew how to write or because they were upperclassmen and knew not to think that way, the more confident student knows what they want to do before entering the writing center. However, the underclassmen were the students that constantly put the blame on their professors for not explaining the assignment fully, and as a result, not allowing them to complete a well written paper.

Realizing this insecurity, the tutor assessed the situation to better understand why the student felt as unsure about the assignment as they did. The tutor presented having control when the student had a basic understanding of the assignment, hadn’t started working on their paper, and when the tutee is an ESL student. In the case of an ESL student the tutor must acknowledge the student’s comprehension of the English language.
“It follows from this problem of different languages that students often don’t understand their assignments…Misunderstanding the assignment happens with such astonishing regularity that we ought more properly to view it as part of the educational process—learning the language of academic communities, learning how to understand that language, and learning our to act on that understanding,” (Harris, Why 39).

The previously mentioned three factors give the tutor the ability to show authority because they were in complete control of the session. For example, in asking questions, understanding the student’s complications, and when helping an ESL student, the better comprehension of speaking and understanding the language. In the latter example, the tutor’s authority expands from them having the title of tutor to having more control over the language in general because there were native English speakers. The students reacted to this by adhering to any and all of the tutor’s comments and suggestions.
A combination of factors contributes to a successful tutoring session. (1) Even though it is the tutor’s job to guide them, students must come prepared to discuss their assignments fully and with the intent of expanding on the ideas they bring. (2) Tutors should recognize the level of education of their students, as to either intensity the session for senior who’s about to graduate or simplify the discussion or a nervous freshman. From my observations, the tutors seemed to have more confidence only when they were in control and the student was self-assured in their paper. However, when the students were apprehensive, their feelings were transferred to the tutor because the bulk of the work was landing on the tutor’s shoulders.

discussion

In the session with the ESL student, it was clear that Jasmine had difficulties understanding the language, so the tutor felt limited in terms of what could have been done to improve the paper. There was equal apprehension present in both subjects. An important case study conducted by Weigle and Nelson, exams the novice tutors identity crisis in a situation as confining as the one previously mentioned. In their case, “Its primary purpose is to provide a better understanding of how novice tutors construct/negotiate their identities as tutors in a speciﬁc setting,” (Weigle, Nelson. Novice Tutors 205). ESL students aside, the general consensus among students is that writing centers are frightening because asking for help can be daunting—especially for students whose first language is not English. Therefore, if writing centers were promoted more students could have a better understanding of what is expected of them during a session. This may result in students better preparing themselves for writing an essay and when they visit a writing center they won’t be as hesitant about asking for help.
The generalization made from these observations is that the more confident student is also the one that had better prepared him or herself. This confidence may come from being an upperclassmen or understanding their assignment, but it was clear that they knew what they wanted to do with their paper. It can be argued that if students better prepare themselves for writing an essay (doing the research, following class guidelines, attending class), then when they need help to make a good essay better, the hard work will already be done and the student will only need guidance from a tutor to write an “A” paper.
I was limited in the sense that the amount of observations I accumulated was not large enough. My studies are a mere sample of a much larger selection. What I concluded in both Jasmine’s and my other apprehensive student’s case does not necessarily speak for all students who feel uncomfortable working within the writing center. It could be true that a student who comes to the writing center prepared, might not be have the easiest of times conveying what the tutor asks of them once they leave the session. Also, some students could be nervous, especially freshman, when first arriving at the center. This could lead the tutor (and an observer) to think that the student is unsure as how to complete their assignment—when in actuality they know exactly what to work on but have a hard time expressing it.

conclusions
What I found was that students who were upperclassmen tended to be better prepared and understood the concept and purpose of a tutoring session. My observations made it clear that these students had been to writing center before and knew what was expected from both themselves and the tutor. The students who seemed more frazzled were underclassmen and were nervous either because they needed to rush to get the paper finished or because they didn’t speak English as their first language. In either case, the confidence and anxiety of the students was attributed only to how they acted during the session. Continued research of the students I observed might result in further information that was not accumulated during the sessions, i.e. the real reasons for a student’s nervousness/confidence, how a student interacts with another tutor, and also, research into how often certain students visit the writing center.

Data Analysis con't (blog 20)

2009-12-02T06:02:00.001-08:00

Data analysis: There were four sessions I observed that proved to be the most significant. Two of which consisted of apprehensive ESL students, one named “Jasmine.” The other two presented students who knew how they wanted to revise a nearly completed essay. One of these confident students was named “Mary.”

When I observed if the tutor and Mary started off in the right direction, her confidence set the pace of the session. At the initial interaction, the control was attributed to whoever presented greater confidence, in this case Mary, a senior. When she brought in a finalized paper seeking advisement to fine-tune it, she set the agenda by stating what she had completed at the point and what she wanted to further develop. The findings in the session relate to the student’s confidence. My findings showed some parallels to Charles Greenwoods results in Teacher-Versus Peer-Mediated Instruction: An Ecobehavioral Analysis of Achievement Outcomes. “The results of this investigation confirmed with minor exception that peer tutoring, compared to instructional procedures typically developed by teachers, produced superior weekly achievement affects,” Greenwood, Teacher-Versus 536). Even though Mary was an older student and knew what she want to work on she still needed that extra help from a tutor because her professor was not completely clear on the requirements of the paper. With aid from the tutor she made it clear that she knew what she was talking about and how she wanted the tutor to proceed in helping her make a good paper better. In this case, the student was focused on making sure the paper was cohesive. Throughout the session, the paper was in front of both Mary and the tutor the entire time. While the tutor read it through Mary moved very little. She sat there intently and did not fidget nearly as much as students who had less confidence or ill-prepared.

For example, an ESL student who does not have a lucid comprehension of the English language, much in the same way Weigel and Nelson take into account numerous factors of the ESL student, I emphasize two relevant factors: the tutee’s oral proficiency and the tutor’s background and training. The student’s confidence might be undermined if they do not recognize the true role of the tutor.
“Tutors, because they function in a non-evaluative, supportive environment, offer writers the opportunity to write, think, and talk with someone who through this collaborative talk and questioning helps the writer use language to develop ideas, to test possibilities, to re-see and rethink in the light of feedback from the tutor,” (Harris Chap 10, Writing Center).
This is important because in order for a student to allow the tutor to help, the student cannot look at the tutor as a professor.
It was clear that Jasmine had difficulties understanding the language, so the tutor felt limited in terms of what could have been done to improve the paper. There was equal apprehension present in both subjects. Since Jasmine had such a hard time understanding was the tutor was trying to tell her, her face turned red and she became warm as she took off her light jacket she was wearing. An important case study conducted by Weigle and Nelson, exam the novice tutors identity crisis in a situation as confining as the one previously mentioned. In their case, “Its primary purpose is to provide a better understanding of how novice tutors construct/negotiate their identities as tutors in a speciﬁc setting.,” (Weigle, Nelson Novie Tutors 205).
Also, Jasmine’s voice was barely audible when asking or answering a question. The tutor showed similar signs of discomfort because she was a tutor in training and could not use the methods that she learned in class. In the tutor’s case, she repeated questions to Jasmine that remained unanswered, took deep heavy breaths often, and paused to collect her thoughts when she was at a loss for what to say. Again, lower confidence affected the tutor’s voice as it remained monotone and littered with stuttering.

The volume of the student’s voice correlates with the amount of confidence they present. When a confident student speaks, they speak with a louder volume. It also determines the student’s comprehension of a question, confidence in their paper, and how well the tutor thinks they are guiding the student in the right direction. This confidence is reassuring to the tutor because they know, or at least appear to know what they are talking about. However, the tutor can easily recognize when the student is ill prepared for a session when the tutee speaks in an uncertain or attenuated voice. This may result from a lack of confidence in their paper or that they didn’t completely comprehend their teacher’s assignment. Muriel Harris investigated this dilemma in her essay, Why Writers Need Writing Tutors. “Students’ difficulties in understanding teacher comments are partly a difference in vocabulary, but there is also a problem of students’ perception of teacher intent behind the comments,” (Harris, Why 38). She continued, “They (students) skip down to the grade and wander into the writing center assuming that the teacher didn’t like their writing,” (Harris, Why 38). In my observations the students who were confident did not take into consideration their teacher’s opinion on how they write. Whether it was because they knew how to write or because they were upperclassmen and knew not to think that way, the more confident student knows what they want to do before entering the writing center. However, the underclassmen were the students that constantly put the blame on their professors for not explaining the assignment fully, and as a result, not allowing them to complete a well written paper.

Realizing this insecurity, the tutor assessed the situation to better understand why the student felt as unsure about the assignment as they did. The tutor presented having control when the student had a basic understanding of the assignment, hadn’t started working on their paper, and when the tutee is an ESL student. In the case of an ESL student the tutor must acknowledge the student’s comprehension of the English language.
“It follows from this problem of different languages that students often don’t understand their assignments…Misunderstanding the assignment happens with such astonishing regularity that we ought more properly to view it as part of the educational process—learning the language of academic communities, learning how to understand that language, and learning our to act on that understanding,” (Harris, Why 39).

The previously mentioned three factors give the tutor the ability to show authority because they were in complete control of the session. For example, in asking questions, understanding the student’s complications, and when helping an ESL student, the better comprehension of speaking and understanding the language. In the latter example, the tutor’s authority expands from them having the title of tutor to having more control over the language in general because there were native English speakers. The students reacted to this by adhering to any and all of the tutor’s comments and suggestions.
A combination of factors contributes to a successful tutoring session. (1) Even though it is the tutor’s job to guide them, students must come prepared to discuss their assignments fully and with the intent of expanding on the ideas they bring. (2) Tutors should recognize the level of education of their students, as to either intensity the session for senior who’s about to graduate or simplify the discussion or a nervous freshman. From my observations, the tutors seemed to have more confidence only when they were in control and the student was self-assured in their paper. However, when the students were apprehensive, their feelings were transferred to the tutor because the bulk of the work was landing on the tutor’s shoulders.

So far...(blog 19)

2009-11-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

review of the literature:
• Teacher- versus peer-mediated instruction: an ecobehavioral analysis of achievement outcomes. In three experiments, they compared the effects of instructional arrangements that varied in: teacher versus peer mediators, methods used, levels of student academic responding generated, and content taught and tested. Instructional arrangements (i.e., tasks, structure, teacher position, teacher behavior) and students' levels of academic responding were measured by an observation system, which served as an index of the independent variables.
• Writing Across the Curriculum: A Guide to Developing Programs. This collection of essays on Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) defines terms, presents helpful suggestions, and provides models for useful documents (everything from workshop evaluation forms to contracts for visiting consultants).
• Novice Tutors and Their ESL Tutees: Three Case Studies of Tutor Roles and Perceptions of Tutorial Success: This study was designed to investigate the negotiation between tutors and nonnative English speaking tutees in this particular setting.
• Talking in the middle: Why writers need writing tutors. Focuses on the tutorial function of writing centers. Describes the uniqueness of the tutorial relationship. Claims that this relationship makes possible knowledge about writing unavailable in more institutionalized settings. Analyzes extensive excerpts from student comments concerning tutorial experiences.

methods:
Throughout my observations of identifying the relationship between control/authority and confidence I collected data using several methods. I identified who initiates the control and if they retain it throughout the session, what it means to have control using non-verbal and verbal cues given from the student and tutor, the amount of body movement, as well as, the volume of the voices of both tutor and student. These methods correlate to the amount of confidence experienced by both people during the session.

Confidence is transferable from each participant; one feeds the other. My observations were equally distributed between each person in the session. When I observed both tutor and student I noted their physical characteristics, their proximity to each other, and how often each of them spoke—both when they were confident and when they were unsure of what they were saying. Observing how loud or quite both tutor and student were throughout the session varied depending on the level of confidence of each.
I sought to determine that whoever expresses the most authority, presents the most confidence. This was done by recording who talked more and if what was said was understood by the person receiving the comments.

A significant method was the recording of verbal and non verbal cues from both participants. For example, when the tutor knows what to say they show confidence that the student can accomplish what they are being asked of, i.e. smiling, relaxed body posture, and gave clear directions. However, when the tutor doesn’t know what to say they lack assurance that their student comprehended their tutoring method. Also incorporated in my recordings were cues from the student when they had and were out of ideas for writing when they didn’t have a draft.

What I looked for during my observations is how the tutor reacted when the student set the agenda and when the student expected the tutor to do all the work. Taken into account was the student’s educational level and understanding of the English language. These sessions were conducted through one-on-one interactions.

Data analysis: Two of the sessions I observed that were the most significant was one with an apprehensive ESL student (Jasmine) and another where the student wanted revision on a nearly completed essay (Mary).

When I observed if the tutor and Mary started off in the right direction, her confidence set the pace of the session. At the initial interaction, the control was attributed to whoever presented greater confidence, in this case Mary. When she brought in a finalized paper seeking advisement to fine tune it, she set the agenda by stating what she had completed at the point and what she wanted to further develop. The findings in the session relate to the student’s confidence. Mary made it clear she knew what she was talking about and how she wanted the tutor to proceed in helping her make a good paper better. In this case, the student was focused on making sure the paper was cohesive. Throughout the session, the paper was in front of both Mary and the tutor the entire time. While the tutor read it through Mary moved very little. She sat there intently and did not fidget nearly as much as students who had less confidence or ill-prepared.

For example, an ESL student who does not have a lucid comprehension of the English language, much in the same way Weigel and Nelson take into account numerous factors of the ESL student, I emphasize two relevant factors: the tutee’s oral proficiency and the tutor’s background and training.

It was clear that Jasmine had difficulties understanding the language, so the tutor felt limited in terms of what could have been done to improve the paper. There was equal apprehension present in both subjects. Since Jasmine had such a hard time understanding was the tutor was trying to tell her, her face turned red and she became warm as she took off her light jacket she was wearing. Also, Jasmine’s voice was barely audible when asking or answering a question. The tutor showed similar signs of discomfort because she was a tutor in training and could not use the methods that she learned in class. In the tutor’s case, she repeated questions to Jasmine that remained unanswered, took deep heavy breaths often, and paused to collect her thoughts when she was at a loss for what to say. Again, lower confidence effected the tutor’s voice as it remained monotone and littered with stuttering.

The volume of the student’s voice correlates with the amount of confidence they present. When a confident student speaks, they speak with a louder volume. It also determines the student’s comprehension of a question, confidence in their paper, and how well the tutor thinks they are guiding the student in the right direction. This confidence is reassuring to the tutor because they know, or at least appear to know what they are talking about. However, the tutor can easily recognize when the student is ill prepared for a session when the tutee speaks in an uncertain or attenuated voice.

Realizing this insecurity, the tutor assessed the situation to better understand why the student felt as unsure about the assignment as they did. The tutor presented having control when the student had a basic understanding of the assignment, hadn’t started working on their paper, and when the tutee is an ESL student. These three factors give the tutor the freedom the show authority and control. The tutor’s authority expands from them having the title of tutor to having more control over the language in general because there were native English speakers.

Research Plan

2009-11-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

What I have conducted through my research of articles and observing tutoring sessions so far, is the role of authority correlating with the level of confidence in both student and tutor.

My observations and research has showed me that whoever exudes more confidence takes control of the session, and the one that is more apprehensive and unsure is less commanding.

The readings that have helped me further develop my ideas are

The Writing Center and Tutoring in WAC Programs: Muriel Harris

Talking In the Middle: Why Writers Need Writing Tutors: Muriel Harris

A Community Volunteer Tutorial that Works: Marcia Invernizzi, Connie Juel, Catherine A Rosemary and

Novice Tutors and their ESL tutees: Three case studies of tutor roles and perceptions
of tutorial success: Sara Cushing Weigle, Gayle L. Nelson

Using the findings in these readings as a guide to either support or dissuade my claims, I conducted my observations by taking into account who controlled each session. I did so while referring to the methods of tutoring and the student's response that was developed in my articles.

In Muriel Harris essay The Writing Center...WAC programs she states, "Tutors, because they function in a non-evaluative, supportive environment, offer writers the opportunity to write, think, and talk with someone who through this collaborative talk and questioning helps the writer use language to develop ideas, to test possibilities, to re-see and rethink in the light of feedback from the tutor." I used this as a starting point in my observations. For example, did the tutors I observed conduct their sessions as Harris described they should? Also, did the students come into the sessions thinking that a tutor is not a professor?-- that they're not here to evaluate me?

From these initial findings I recorded the confidence in both student and tutor. When the tutor took control it was often because of the lack of confidence/comprehension of the student. When the student did emit confidence, it was when they had a nearly finished essay, and just wanted to work on fine tuning it.

Draft (blog 17)

2009-11-11T18:28:00.001-08:00

Statement
To identify the factors, relating to authority, that gives students the confidence to take themselves seriously as writers?

Detailed statement of your research question
Is the tutor's authority established by the tutor's own confidence or because the student expects them to have all the answers?
-How is this confidence expressed by each?

In respect to the educational level of the student seeking advice, most students seeking help assume the tutor has most, if not all, of the answers.

List of the information you need to gather (or have gathered already)
What is most significant in authority and confidence is the language barrier. ESL students do not have a complete understanding of English and rely solely on the tutor's knowledge to help them create a better paper. They often say I don't understand the assignment, what does this mean (referring to something there professor said/wrote), in addition to not fully comprehending the tutor.

Communication is crucial to a progressive session. An example of clear communication was done by a tutor and a deaf student. What made communication effective was the tutor writing everything down that needed to be conveyed to the deaf student. Because of this form of communication there was no misinterpretation. The confidence of both tutor and student were high because every detail of the session was lucid and clear.

Initial findings:
• Does the tutor and student start off in the right direction?
• What was said by tutor—presents having control by asking how they
• Student’s response to tutor’s opening remarks—clear understanding of what the tutor is asking of them
• Level of education, gender, race/ethnicity of student—these are obvious observations
• How prepared is the student

Cues from both participants
• Cues from tutor when they know what to say—confident in their “demands”
• Cues from tutor when don’t know what to say—stuttering, apprehensive, uncertainty
• Cues from writer when they have ideas—repetitious head nodding, saying I understand, clear understanding of the assignment at hand
• Cues from writer when they are out of ideas—they say they don’t know or if they are in need of further explanation from their professor

The conversing between tutor and writer
• Writer reads their paper aloud (no draft = reading assignment aloud)
• Writer/Tutor have a balance between the amount of talking

Preliminary list of sources
The Role of Authority and the Authority of Roles in Peer Writing Tutorials.
http://library.kean.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,url,cpid&custid=keaninf&db=eric&AN=EJ492619&site=ehost-live

Novice Tutors and Their ESL Tutees: Three Case Studies of Tutor Roles and Perceptions of Tutorial Success
http://library.kean.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,url,cpid&custid=keaninf&db=eric&AN=EJ730651&site=ehost-live

Also, our textbook. Judith Powers essay on ESL students

Triangulation in the Writing Center: Tutor, Tutee, and Instructor's Percpetions of the Tutor's Role.
http://web.mit.edu/nlerner/Public/WCJ/ThonusTriangulation.pdf

Plan for gathering information
I think most of the research I have obtained thus far will contribute as the nucleus of my paper. It’s not so much “gathering information” for me now, but more of sifting through the information I have already. I have made numerous observations, though I am not saying I am done doing research, I’m continuing to research my topic and figure out the more significant pieces of the research I have so far. From there I will further observe those details in further sessions.

Additional Class Reflections

2009-11-10T13:35:00.001-08:00

What I have observed throughout my sessions--in regards to my research paper--this far relate confidence with authority.

In respect to the educational level of the student seeking advice, these assume the tutor has most of the answers, if not all, for which they are seeking. The students are not confident in themselves (or papers) and instead have confidence in the tutor to fix their problems.

What is most significant in authority and confidence is the language barrier. ESL students do not have a complete understanding of English and rely solely on the tutor's knowledge to help them create a better paper. They often say I don't understand the assignment, what does this mean (referring to something there professor said/wrote), in addition to not fully comprehending the tutor.

I was able to correlate confidence (or lack of) with body movement. When a student moves in their chair less, it typically means they are focused on understanding what the tutor wants them to do or finding connections between their essay and the text of their book. This minimal movement means they are confident in what they are doing. They understand the task at hand and are searching for answers. The paper is in front of them, pen in hand, and asking questions only after they accomplish whatever the tutor asked of them.

However, lack of movement from the tutor means lack of confidence (strictly from tutoring an ESL student). The tutor may have a hard time getting the student to comprehend not only their assignment i general, but what the writing tasks they are asking the students to accomplish. The tutor is at a loss for where to start because the student may have several mistakes in the paper and may not understand what the tutor whats him/her to do. The tutor remains still has low confidence due to the enormous amount of corrections they could incorporate onto the essay.

Communication is crucial to a progressive session. An example of clear communication was done by a tutor and a deaf student. What made communication effective was the tutor writing everything down that needed to be conveyed to the deaf student. Because of this form of communication there was no misinterpretation. The confidence of both tutor and student were high because every detail of the session was lucid and clear.

Here both tutor and student had much body movement: talking with hands, more nodding, pointing to the paper, and varying body postures.

Class Reflections

2009-11-05T05:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight was helpful and informative. What we discussed brought to my attention how important the perception of authority is. The person who has more authority is the one who creates the persona of posessing more knowledge. From the tutor's perspective this might be a better knowledge of the English language in general, or holding the title as being a tutor. Authority could also come from the student when the topic isn't familiar to the tutor, or if the student challenges the tutor's credentials.

Authority then is dereived from two factors: how much the tutor thinks he/she has, that is, how much they assign to themselves and a student actively assessing that authority. Therefore, a question I will address (and try to answer) in my paper is, "does perceptions of authority influence how a tutoring session will go?" A follow up that I will prove using references and my observations is,"Whether a sessions ends positivly or negativly will depend upon a student's perception as to how much authority a tutor presents.

*Side Note.
Students are there becasue they need help writing. In asking for help, they "assume" the person helping is qualified. However, though it is not there right to know the credentials of the tutor, they do have the right to question the tutor and be skeptical of the tutor. But if they are, why are they asking for help in the first place.

Revised Focus (blog 14)

2009-11-03T05:54:00.000-08:00

After discussing that my previous focus might not be effective if no one incorporates the minimalist tutoring strategy, I have revised it to now be "is the student's confidence effected by them doing the work themselves or are they put off by a tutor who instructs them instead of acts for them?"

It still has a hint of minimalist tutoring in it (students do work themselves) but this will be true for most tutoring sessions. Although the tutors I observe will not be using minimalist tutoring completely, they will be pushing them to take risks to take the responsibility of the paper.

Here are the three major aspects of what I will be observing.
1.) Who initiates and retains authority?--and how that affects both tutor and student
2.) Deference: In regards to how well/poorly the student recieves the tutor's advice
3.) Body language will show the true emotions (whether they're open or closed off) of both tutor and student when the session is going poorly. Also, body language could also be the cause of why a session when awry.

Hopefully I 'll able to observe everything (or most) of what I plan to use for my paper.

Tenative Focus (blog 13)

2009-10-31T05:13:00.000-07:00

(Tentative Focus)

Does minimalist tutoring allow writers to take themselves seriously because they’re doing all the work or are they put off by the tutors who merely guide them, instead of delegating their writing process?

What I have been researching:

Rutgers Plangere Writing Center (text and video)
This discusses the methodology of the Rutgers Writing Center. They incorporate minimalist tutoring and explain why it's effective and how they make it effective.

The Writing Lab News Letter: very broad look at tutoring in general. I haven't read about the newsletter in depth, but what I have glanced at so far has put me in the right direction
http://writinglabnewsletter.org/sphider/search.php?query=minimalist&search=1

Jeff Brooks: Minimalist Tutoring, (more in depth look than in class). From the textbook for our class. I went back and read his essay to get a better understanding of what he means, and also to see if I can incorporate his methods into my own tutoring

Continued Writing for Data Collection

2009-10-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

The focus of my research paper will be how minimalist tutoring effects the progress of the writer. What I will be looking at are the demographics (which races/ethnicities are effected), gender (male v. female reactions), education level, and how well the writers come prepared.

Before I began analyzing how well the students are collaborating with the tutor, I will analyze the introduction of the two subjects to understand the direction in which the tutor will help and the amount of information the student has on their assignment. Immediate impressions is what will be counted for first, then a deeper observation will follow.

The types of writers I am taking into consideration will also be evaluated by their body language

Immediate reaction to doing all the work
Body gestures when the tutor asks, "Well, what do you think?"
Posture throughout entire session (upright and attentive or slumped and disinterested)

Once enough of the body language is recorded, I will also take into account the amount of information the student is retaining. Are they able to repeat back the advice of the tutor, are they able to repeat back their own advice or are they just feeding the tutor what he/she wants to hear.

More Ideas (blog 11)

2009-10-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

Three ideas taken from an earlier blog are the effects of directive tutoring, the study of the students body language, and the effects of minimalist tutoring.

The complicated part of studying the effects of directive/minimalist tutoring is that I can only observe that style if someone else uses that technique. I would have to get lucky during my observation hours and hope that whomever I am watching would implement it. When that does occur I would want to play close attention to see if the tutor's active participation really helps the student with more and/or different ideas. I would also have to take note during my own sessions and find out what works for some student and what doesn't work for others.

I think body language, although a general topic right now, will be an interesting case study. As opposed to the previous research topics, studying body language would be much easier because the students will always have a reaction--you would have to hope like you would for the tutoring methods. Here, I would pay meticulous attention to every reaction of the student. Not only how or why they reacted a certain way, but from what statement given by the tutor that would make them act the way they did. Every question will have a reaction and every reaction should have an explanation.

Final Coaching Strategy Thoughts

2009-10-21T07:12:00.001-07:00

My most important factor of my checklist is getting off on the right foot. I don't want to rush into the session without properly informing my student of how I'll be conducting our meeting or feel rushed into anything. I'm sure I'll be nervous the closer I get to actually tutoring someone, but right now I don't feel the jitters. Once I do get those sweaty palms, I want to keep my nerves under control so that I can best help both the student as he/she learns and myself as a tutor.

I really think that if I start off smoothly by handing out the forms, get to know them, and spend some time just talking before we get to work, I will feel at complete ease and the rest of the session will follow as such. However, it's imperative I don't become anxious about being with a "human subject", but should remain eager that I am doing something outside of my comfort zone because it will be a way for me to accomplish something I haven't had that much experience in.

If I get a student, I will do my best to try and be the tutor I've planned out in my head during class. If not, then I have more time to prepare for my session by looking at other tutors work.

Research Ideas/Topics

2009-10-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

Well I don't want to cop-out and use the excuse of lack of experience in a writing center to hinder my ability to conjure ideas for a research paper. That would be easy and unproductive. But what I will attempt to do is to find the most appealing subject; a topic that contains a large amount on information, as well as, one that gives me the most opportunity to write a well write paper.

The topics that I have acquired (from class and from further readings not covered in class) consist of:
--the effects of directive tutoring. (Does active participation from writers really help the writer in need? and the follow up, the effects when a tutor talks too much during a session. i.e. dependency)

--From Rob Barnett's Redefining our Existence, the two commitments included in the goals of the writing center that should help convince the administration that it deserves a promising future: student retention and collaboration with faculty and staff. I can also relate this argument to Kean's writing center fiasco by promoting its promising future using Barnett's essay and the facts I gain in my research throughout my tutoring sessions.

--The effects of minimalist tutoring. I will discuss the consensus among students when the tutor's message to the student is "the less we do to the paper, the better," and that "our primary object in the writing center session is not the paper, but the student." I want to focus on how students, who are in the center for both the right and wrong reason, react to doing their work for their paper because it is their assignment.

Initially these are the my ideas for my writing assignment, but they might change if I need to focus my ideas from general to specific or from too specific to more general.

Checklist

2009-10-10T08:55:00.001-07:00

In establishing an "introduction" for my sessions I will make it clear that I am helping the student become a better writer and to help them make a better paper. This will be done before any work is done on the paper, or even we officially meet each other and exchange names.

Then:
-we will get to know each other
-I'll ask why they are there (if they want to be)
-establish an opinion on student (who said what, what was said by who, and attitude)

Next:
-proceed to fully understand assignment
-ask them where they are in the assignment
-what they want to get out of it?

After:
-how was I perceived by student (how did student perceive me)
-did they gain any new knowledge?
-did they do most of the work?

Overall:
Did I remain friendly enough to not act like a professor, yet retained the scholarly attitude to present myself as educated and made sure they did the work?

Taking Notes Observation

2009-10-07T04:39:00.000-07:00

What I noticed most in the observation of our writing center role playing, are all the things that I might do but never notice because I'm never observing myself. Throughout my observation, whenever I saw good eye contact, fidgeting, good communication, and the overall process of tutoring, I asked myself if I did those things--both good and bad.

Also, the communicative rhythm is different among most people. I wrote down the approaches that I wouldn't have thought of using, to remember them in hopes that if I get stumped by a student with the questions I'm asking, I could use another tutors ideas and perspectives for formulating ideas.

I think what's most important to be recorded is what works best for the student. What I mean by that is, if something the tutor says makes a light go off in the student's head, the observer should recognize that as "something that works" and to be later used in their own session of tutoring. However, what works best for a student should not be the only important thing to be recorded because knowing what not to do could be just as effective.

A New Writing Center Philosophy (blog 6)

2009-10-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

What I would make I've completed before I start operating a writing center, is to make clear the focus of it. I think it's important to realize what a WC isn't as opposed to what it is. First and foremost, it is not a center where students go to have their papers written for them. The work is for them to complete while the tutor guides their direction. My center will not focus on the needs of the "writer" but to establish guild lines for all who com, students and professors alike. Lastly, I will not be tutoring just to help create a better paper, but with the goal in creating a better writer.

My main points:

students come to work
students, faculty, tutors, writers, etc will all be helped
more than spelling/grammar corrections

My center will be divided into varying segments. One area will be for students who are not writers and need help writing a paper on a subject they are unfamiliar, but have a clear comprehension of their assignment. This area will allow the tutor to run a session with a group of students who will give feedback to each other on how to progress with their task. Basically, the paper is written just be written--which is the tutor's job to convey that message by teaching them why their assignment is important.

Another part will consist of tutoring the writer student. Students, who know how to write but need help on making a better paper, will be given the chance to review drafts or uncompleted papers. If they need help to either branch off from initial ideas or narrow down from general ones, the tutor--and other writers present--will offer advice. The tutor's main objective is to observe the writer work once they've established what the writer needs to work on.

Another segment of the center will pertain to the tutors who need help with papers, graduate students with dissertations, and rookie faculty members who might need help writing lesson plans or assignments. More faculty members, or established writing tutors, will be present here.

By dividing up the degrees of expertise in writing, I hope to expand the scope of the WC facade. It shouldn't be a place where students feel intimidated to go, or where professors can't go because of the lack of resources and colleagues.

With all these different genres working together in the same place, it will be hard for the tutors to step on the professors toes when a student doesn't understand an assignment. Also, the relationship between the the professors and tutors, and even the tutors and the institution will be more balanced because everyone will be a participant within certain contextual that are able to respond to that particular situation

Learning in a Practice Writing Center (blog 5)

2009-09-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

Laura and myself did a great job of collaborating as to how we should move on from our draft.

We decided that for my paper, I needed to expand on the ideas I created by giving examples as to why writing centers work best by using collaboration. I had plenty of ideas (more than enough) but not enough information or interpretations to back up those ideas. Without proving why collaboration is what makes a writing center work, all I really had was a paper full of good ideas but no execution.

Laura establsihed that her paper was lacking a personal response. I asked her why she had a hard time responding and she said she didn't like working in groups. From there we differentiated the meanings of working with a group and working as a group. Creating that definition helped becasue she was then able to create a more involved opinion pertaining to why collaboration is useful.

As the class proclaimed their different methods of not only as the tutor but also as the student, I realized that there were multiple issues concerning everyone's first draft. This led me to believe that although my problem was only needing to expand, in the future I need to be conscience of all the other problems the rest of the class had. Other approaches inlcuded answering to the topic question, free writing/talking/thinking, and other methods that came from last weeks reading.

Experiences as a Tutor and Student

2009-09-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

It is becoming easier in role playing as a student/tutor in class. Perhaps because I am better comprehending the mission of the tutor. Our previous class meeting continued to help me understand what is discussed in writing centers, and what exactly is done within a writing center.

Daniela and I worked together. I think we brought different perspectives on how to be a tutor, but we ultimately aimed our varied methods toward a common goal; collaboration is what makes writing centers possible.

When she was tutor I felt that she talked more about the directions for my assignment. I told her I needed help to write a response paper about Lunsford's essay and Daniela asked me if I knew what is a response paper. I was intrigued because I would not have thought to ask a student that question. After we pondered the question, and collectively came up with a definition, thinking about what exactly is a "response" paper made it easier for me to get started.

Daniela was more focused on defining what was my assignment when she was the tutor. When we switched roles, I asked more questions about what she was able to comprehend and retain from reading Lunford's essay. Here we discussed what she knew about the reading that would help her complete her assignment, and, more importantly, what she didn't know that would benefit her response paper.

At the end we both felt that working together by taking different methods and collaborating to acquire our answers is what worked best. We also concluded that even though we are trying our best to prepare for a real writing center, we are sure that practicing with classmates in a classroom will pale in comparison to the real thing.

The Writing Center Philsophy (blog 3)

2009-09-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

Having never been involved with a writing center (either tutoring someone or needing the tutoring) I am sure my idea of a writing center now will differ as the semester progresses and/or when I start working in one. However, with my basic knowledge of a writing center, I am confident that I am able to surmise a personal philosophy that would benefit the students I aid and help myself become a better tutor.

After our previous class discussed the three types of writing centers (Storehouse, Garret, and Burkean). I felt that combining at least two of those methods would result in a balanced writing center. Each tutoring session will not be the same, so adjusting to the different environments would benefit myself as a "teacher" and the students who need the help, in that if different students will need varying tutoring methods, I would be able to adhere to their differences.

My first method is if I am helping a group of students working on the same paper. For this I would use a combination of the Garret and Burkean method. Together I would help the students ascertain the information they've already learned in class by using a communal environment where their peers, collectively, make realizations.

If this method does not work for some students, and personal attention is needed rather than group work, then a combination of Storehouse and Garret would be most beneficial. Here, the student's knowledge of the subject their paper is about and my knowledge on how to help them get their ideas onto paper is how I would approach aiding them. Whether they have the information or not, it is my job to form their ideas, or lack thereof, into the building blocks of a structured paper.

I will repeat that this is a basic idea of what I think would work best based on my fundamental idea of how a writing center works. Hopefully I am headed in the right direction.

Lunsford and I Collaborate (blog 2)

2009-09-19T05:13:00.000-07:00

The first points Lunsford conveys are the different types of collaborations that threaten her way of teaching:

1.) The Center as Storehouse--knowledge as exterior to us and as directly accessible. Acting as information station.
2.)Garret Centers--informed by the deep seated beliefs in the individual genius. Knowledge is interior.

From there Lunsford researches the effects of collaboration and lists her findings:

1.) collaboration aids in the problem finding/solving
2.) collaboration aids in learning abstractions
3.) collaboration aids in transfer and assimilation
4.) collaboration leads to critical thinking and deeper understanding of others
5.) leads to higher achievement
6.) it promoted excellence
7.)it engages the whole student

She then explains why collaboration should be used with caution as the key term in a writing center:

1.) Creating a collaborative environment and truly collaborative tasks is damnably difficult
2.) A collaborative environment must be one in which goals are clearly defined and in which the jobs at hand engage everyone fairly equally
3.) We must recognize that collaboration is hardly monolith (inflexible quality or power)

She concluded with her thought of a successful collaboration method:

Burkean Parlor Centers--collaboration that is attuned to diversity. This type of center speaks directly to the notion of knowledge as always contextually bound, as always socially constructed.

2009-09-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Although I have a basic understanding of what writing centers do, common sense and logical thinking insists that it aids students in accomplishing a particular writing assignment. However, it does not hold the same stature as one-on-one conferences between students and teachers. The people assisting these students are students themselves, but they are trained in tutoring writing.

This idea of students helping students in a communal way allows them not only to write but think with ease and greater creativity. This is so because the level of anxiety within a student that persists when being corrected by a professor is lessened because it's not the teacher who is helping.

Many times students understand how a teacher writes or thinks so they in turn mimic that style. This can be affective, but once the student does not allow their voice to be on the page, it is merely an imitation of their professor and the student will not progress. This is the central focus of writing centers; the students ask for help and do not feel embarrassed that they asked for or overwhelmed by their assignment.

Tutors are not there to write an essay
The tutors don't become engrossed with grammatical errors
Students should realize they'll have to do the work
Communication (student/student--student/tutor)
Discipline from both sides/patience

First Blog Tutoring Writing

2009-09-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

First blog...hello to all.