This reading was amazing! It was wonderful to get a to do list of how to run a session. After reading North's article last week I've been hoping to get specifics upon what to do during a consultation before starting work next week. And now Brooks has given me a great starting point.
While brief this article was full of information, I felt the need to read it more then once in order to ingrain the ideas into my brain. Brooks starts with the basics, ideas on how to motivate the student to take charge of their own paper. This is a principle I hadn't fully thought of before. Even after North's article I was still picturing a session similar to the worst case scenario session he uses at the beginning of his article. He used this worst example in the best way, to teach us exactly what we must avoid.
In our goal to help our clients become better writers directing them to take ownership of their own paper is essential. The moment we take a pencil or pen in our hands and begin to edit their paper, we have lost some of our power. The power that we have to guide our clients toward becoming better writers lies in forcing them into paper ownership. They must care about their writing in order to be able to become a better writer in the future.
We must not sacrifice their long term needs of becoming a better learner for their short term needs of getting a better grade. Ideally each time we meet with the same writer, they have gotten better because we guided them towards better writing methods and practices. I have seen this first hand in myself when I worked with consultants throughout my first semester at CWI. I wasn't fully prepared for all my sessions, so they did not all go as I planned that they would, but I became a better writer because I was willing and eager to learn how to be a better writer. Sadly not all our clients will feel the same way. Which is when we should act as Brooks suggest and use body language and blatant honesty about what our clients and consultants goals are during writing consultations.
One of my favorite ideas presented by Brooks was having the writer read the paper aloud. Not all clients will agree to this, but perhaps even offering to read it out-loud in their stead, with the paper in front of them, will help them to hear and correct when necessary on their own. We will still be there to compliment and guide them as Brooks recommends. There was so much that Brooks offers future writing center consultants to think about I believe I will need to read this article again, especially before my first scheduled consultation.
Thanks for bringing up the “worst case scenario” that Brooks uses to begin his article. It really helps hammer home the idea that our goal is NOT to help the students get A's on their papers. Our goal is far more complex and sophisticated: to help them become better writers (and maybe even learn to enjoy writing!). Our clients may not "feel good" when they leave, but will they feel empowered? And isn't that a more worthwhile goal?
ReplyDeleteWow, Rachel, I swear I didn't read your post before writing my own! Our last paragraph sounds so similar, doesn't it? I guess that shows how powerful that suggestion is.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your experience on the student side of tutoring. I'd like to hear more about how it went if that's okay with you. I haven't been to a writing center session personally, except for the two I overheard a couple snippets from. Hearing from the student's perspective would be really helpful, I think.
I also loved your summation. It's perfectly written: "We must not sacrifice their long term needs of becoming a better learner for their short term needs of getting a better grade." I think keeping that in mind together with Brooks's suggestions is a great idea.
Well, each time I came in the tutor got to know me briefly before diving in. Sometimes I had a paper to review, sometimes I was having trouble with the different writing stages I was at. Such as too much research, planning for the project, determining my thesis. Each time the tutor was careful to make it all about me and what my needs were. I never felt steamrolled or bombarded with information. Having a balance of helpful information, and remembering to cover only what was most important in each session made a difference for my overall experiences at the writing center. I appreciated that they focused on the biggest problems first, and by the end of the semester there was less and less that they could find to help me on. That really built my confidence as a student and as a writer. I look forward to using all that I learned when I am on the 'other side' of the tutoring experience.
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