How to Approach Conferences

     Last week, I had my essay draft reviewed by three students. It was interesting to be on the side of the person being reviewed. While I knew this essay was not my "best" work and I certainly left room for improvement, I felt myself surprisingly sensitive to the remarks of other students. I don't think this is because I had especial pride in the work (while the essay was important, it's not like I poured my heart and soul into this two-page essay). Instead, I think we are naturally prone to sensitivity when it comes to being reviewed, especially in a setting where there is so clearly one person being reviewed and one person reviewing. This idea of "power," by itself, helps shape conferences and also molds attitudes for the person being consulted. This is problematic because it has nothing to do with the person's writing, ideas, or writing process.
     To help alleviate some of the constrains imposed by the "power struggle" naturally presented by a writing conference, I think we should be sure to do all the things we talked about in class. Greet the student and make small talk, make a connection with him or her, and make recommendations in a facilitative way in which the writer is left with significant power over his or her work. In a word, be nice.

The Consultant's Role

     A few hours ago I had a shadowing session, which I found to be my most fulfilling thus far. The student brought in a work of creative nonfiction for her English 103 class. The ideas presented in the paper were fairly solid, in my opinion. She needed help with grammar and needed to be more specific in numerous ways. She seemed to take our advice well. However, at the end of the session, she was fairly honest with us and expressed that she was probably more stressed about the paper after leaving. I don't think she was motivated to write, but saw our comments and ideas for improvement as demands for additional work and time spent on a paper she probably doesn't care that much about. I imagine, for her, this paper and all the other assignments in the class need to be completed as well as possibly, but in the scheme of things, they are not that important for a person taking four science and math classes, and one English class. And if this is what she's thinking, I think she's correct. Writing is obviously important, but the style of writing that is demanded of her will probably not be needed to great extent in her life. Thus, as writing consultants, I think we should not only accept but embrace the students trying to "get through" the work. As an English major, when I approach a math or science class that is difficult for me, I don't need academic resentment from people who think these are the most important classes. I'm sure they are - for other students and professors. Embracing the array of academic interests and not promoting an agenda are necessary, in my estimation. We are helping students grapple with academic arguments, not pursuing to make the students we consult with love our subject.

Digital Stories

    Last week, we watched everyone's digital stories in class. I thought they were great. Everyone in the class produced a working product, in my estimation, that reflected a professor's writing process in an interesting way. Thus, my opinion of the assignment was admittedly heightened after seeing the final products. I especially enjoyed to see how people made an interview into a story. Most of the projects were fairly straightforward considering how they dealt with the narrative aspects of making the digital story, while others used a bit of creativity to convey the writing process in such a way. It was especially interesting to see which stories used special animation and / or music to enhance a particular aspect or concept they were attempting to convey. Based on class discussion, it seemed that the majority of the class wanted or expected to hear music or placed emphasis on using special effects or some other sort of technology. In my opinion, the stories that did not use these features were generally prepared equally well - they were simply different stories, which is a good thing; this variety further enhances understanding of both the logistical aspects of the assignment and encourages a deeper understanding of the writing process.
     In terms of tutoring students, I am a bit nervous in terms of teaching others how to use (or how to struggle with) technology, but I am fairly confident I can encourage students to develop ideas about their topic and translate these ideas into what might be realized in digital form.

Shadowing Tonight...

     So I just got done shadowing... AND writing a blog post, but it got deleted when I was spell checking. So this is blog post #2 for tonight's shadowing experience. Anyways, after waiting approx. 11 minutes for our student to arrive, we found a plethora of grammatical errors and instead of focusing on global issues, we had to point out individual grammatical errors. Yes, this runs the risk of creating a lazy writer who thinks he or she can book appointments at the writing center and have us "proofread," but at a certain point, we must consider what is in the best interest of the writer.
     This student was writing for an FYS, something to do with science. The writing reflected this, and I found this to be refreshing in a number of ways. It seemed like we didn't have to focus on the facts - we trusted that the writer of the paper was correct. With an English paper, it seems like the analysis is more prone to subjectivity and therefore us consultants must keep a watchful eye for weaker assertions. Then, we must let the writer down in the gentlest of ways...saying things like... "consider...." and "why don't you possibly think about maybe possibly slightly changing..." It's nice to be able to take a piece of writing at face value for once. To me, this demonstrated the bare bones of what it's like to be a consultant in terms of considering how writing functions and the messages being conveyed. But again, for this paper, we had to focus on grammatical issues, mostly.

Digital Story: Complete

     So I finally finished the digital story. It was... well, how should I say.... more of a pain than it needed to be? It was, in the end, not that bad. Some of the technology was frustrating when using it for the first time, and the project did involve a bit of work. However, in the end I found that it really only took a few hours of intense labor. Now honestly, my project is not that amazing...I really only focused on the narrative and finding photos that I thought enhanced the story. My issue is with how the project was presented to us in class. We heard about this for the first time in an email we got over the summer, before class even began. Later, the project would be mentioned once in a while, and really just sounded like a pile of work that lied ahead. Essentially, we as a class made too big of a deal on this assignment. It was not worthy of the stress I think a lot of us went through, mostly because there was probably more discussion about the project than time spent doing the project (and I'm not including learning about how to use the technology, etc. I mean time we spent talking about deadlines, points, etc.). To me, this just became excessive. We could have done this as effectively in two weeks.
     Anyways, I feel the experience of making a digital story, was, in all honesty, similar to making a powerpoint. It was indeed educational, but I wonder if we could have gotten more out of the assignment by writing a paper. I know we did the project in part to teach the technology to younger kids. But again, I wonder if they would gain more out of the experience of writing. Asserting that the advent of modern technology is important is a good thing - to say it can replace writing (as we are essentially saying, I think) runs a risky line. I think whatever one's technological capabilities are, the fundamentals remain most important - writing, that is. It's great if students from the city of Richmond can make digital stories. But i hope their writing is emphasized to a greater extent.
    On a final note, I have a quick question about the digital story, if any of you guys have the answer. Is the project worth 40 points (like it says on the main page of blackboard), or is it out of 100 (like the rubric indicates)?
 

Consulting with a Grad Student

     Yesterday, I had my first legitimate shadowing session (as last week there was some scheduling confusion). We worked in a study room in B2 in the library - which I thought was an appropriately intimate setting. I was a bit surprised when the student walked in - she was a graduate student, probably old enough to be my mother. I was a bit intimidated. I was even more intimidated when she told us the paper she brought in is one she plans to submit for publishing, if things go well, she says. Within moments, though, I was relaxed by her conversational attitude and relatable complaints and ideas about university curriculum. As we went through he paper, we mostly focused on grammatical errors and basic structural issues. Her professor had already gone over the paper and highlighted areas that needed to be considered for some formal aspect. Her research was clearly done with much attention, but likely because she may have been out of school for some time, her grammar was not completely correct. She was very receptive to all the recommendations we made. While Chris, the consultant I am shadowing,did most of the talking, I was told to "chime in" whenever I had something to add. The student was also very engaging to us both. After she left, Chris told me that graduate students must be treated a bit differently. They are here completely of their own volition, and therefore, what they want is essentially what Chris recommends we give them. Overall, it was a very rewarding experience.