What Not to Wear

            I write this blog concerned for the happiness of my tutors.  I definitely believe that if there is one thing that we must do as tutors, besides help them become better writers, is to make them feel comfortable when doing that.  And I don’t mean that we must all be “fake nice” or even forcibly sweet and cordial, I believe that we must be compassionate, easy-going, and visibly relaxed.

            Imagine: if a writer comes in, stressed already, and finds her tutor guzzling down a large Redeye, pants dirty and shirt on inside out, what does this say about this person, and sadly, on the writing center in general?  Besides the necessity to be calm, understanding, and helpful, there is so much more to the overall presentation of the tutor.  In Leigh Ryan and Lisa Zimmerelli’s book The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors, they discuss the importance of the right kind of clothing: “be aware that your body language and clothing also express unspoken messages” (18).  If a tutor were to wear sloppy clothing, the student would not take the tutor seriously.  Alternatively, if the tutor were wearing a nice dress with pearls or a suit, the student could be overwhelmed, feel insecure of their clothing choice, and not focus on their own paper out of sheer discomfort.

            I express my belief that a tutor should be conscientious about what they’re wearing.  Of course I don’t want you to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe of simple tees and basic jeans with the want to “dress casually and comfortably,” but I would think to myself “how would this student perceive me?” while changing in the morning.

            It is the little things that make the student more comfortable, and why not focus on them?  The ending result is that the student leaves the writing center happy and motivated.  

The Editing Process: A Black Hole to Originality?

       Whenever a teacher, a tutor or a peer helps a writer strengthen their paper, is the act ever untainted by opinions from the editor? I believe that no matter what, if anyone looks at a paper and critiques it, the editor’s comments will never leave the mind of the writer, and thus ultimately effect the paper—but is there a way to allow the writer to originally fill in the gaps illuminated by the editor? Is the writer doomed with the task of writing a paper, giving it to the teacher, and changing the paper to accommodate the needs of the professor? I’d like the think that the writing center may avoid this: because the tutor is not the teacher, the consultation allows the writer to maintain most of his of her own independence in the paper.
       In Richard Straub’s article, “A Concept of Control in Teacher Response: Defining the Varieties of ‘Directive’ and ‘Facilitative’ Commentary’,” he speaks of the fine line that teachers face when editing papers. Straub suggests that teachers should edit the papers as if they were the “common reader” (Straub, 224). Also, each teacher must remind him or herself “not (to) take over” (Straub, 224). I see the validity in his statements; teachers should not overcome the reader’s opinions but rather help the student become a better reader. But I ask you: how far can we really believe this? Each teacher, just as each person, has his or her own opinion and bias; it is impossible not to pass these onto the paper when edited.
       No matter if the editor is “directive” (Straub, 234) or not, the writer will no doubt change a piece of their writing; the writing will no longer be simply the writer’s work, it will be tainted (not necessarily good or bad) by someone else’s pen. I agree that there are levels to the editor’s impression on the writer, as some may be specific changes and some broad general critiques. Once the red pen goes to paper, however, the piece is no longer the original writer’s piece and thus any form of editing serves a similar role. A teacher must decide how much they wish to change that original writer’s words, which is truly a hard decision to make.

My First Shadowing Experience

                Last week I was able to observe my first writing tutoring experience.  It was interesting to be on the outside, and quite a bit less stressful I would imagine.  But what I found, from this one experience, is that I do not need to stress as much as I first thought.  The girl asking for help was incredibly nice, bright, and talkative.  We spoke to each other even before the writing consultant came and she explained that she needed him to review her application for an internship this summer abroad.

                As soon as the writing tutor entered the room, he was casual but still professional.  He greeted her, asked what she needed, and then sat down to work with her.  The entire conversation lasted about twenty minutes, in which he read her article and then offered ideas to better convey her enthusiasm for the project.  Interestingly, one of the things that he spoke of was to delve right into the information; by stating upfront what she wanted to do with this programs, she would be bringing the reader in and not holding him or her at a distance.

                Richard Lanham, a professor at UCLA, speaks about the importance of making language “clear and concise.”  His fourth point in his “Paramedic Method” is to draw the reader in immediately, telling them clearly what is going on.  I believe he makes a great point here—even if it may take a while to accomplish this smoothly and is easier said than done. 

                The point here is that the writing consultant helped out the writer; he pointed to places that needed strength, that needed the dramatic pulling in of the reader, to set her application apart from the others on the table.  The writer left happy, refreshed, and able to set to work on her paper, one written by herself, and not by the writing tutor.

Where Did I Put That Assignment Sheet?

            I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the assignment sheet.  Everyone knows what happens when the teacher passes out the assignment sheet: it is usually a month before the essay is due and so we put it in the back of our binders, make a little note in our assignment books, and presently forget about it.  It remains there, out of sight, and out of mind, so that when we look to write our essay, we often start without reading the sheet, relying on mere memory or guessing.

            Not only is this tragic, but we seem to be shooting ourselves in the foot here: the assignment sheet is the easiest part of the assignment, as it tells us exactly what to do.  I must ask: why do we often neglect it?  It still confuses me, as I begin essays and then ask myself “Wait—what am I even trying to answer?”

            Anna Kendall writes in “The Assignment Sheet Mystery” that students often ignore the assignment and write their own versions “because they ‘like it better that way’. And it is often these same students who explain that ‘the teacher doesn’t get’ their writing” (Kendall, 5).  This statement infuriates me; yes, I am an advocate of originality, but it is often never the case in this situation.  These students that stress their “originality” often are simply lazy, unwilling to cooperate with the teacher or follow the rules.

            I have had an experience with this just last month when helping a child on his essay.  I made the mistake of letting him write three body paragraphs without looking at the assignment sheet.  When I read through the three body paragraphs and found that none of them connected and did not reach any sort of point, I asked him for the essay question.  After a hesitation, we spent ten minutes in search for the missing assignment sheet.  Stuck in the back of a binder, I found that in no way did the boy answer the question that was asked.  We sat down and he began to outline a new essay, working what he already had into a new form.

            That simple ten minutes we spent looking for the essay question was incredibly worth it; without the question, his teacher would have no doubt scored him much lower.  And even more so, because of the assignment sheet, we were able to work together to create a clearer thesis and a clearer body.  The assignment sheet was able to answer many of our questions and hopefully earn him a better grade.