Final Self Reflection for Writing Center Theory & Practice

Which learning experiences associated with your participation in ENGL B5600 are most significant to you -- and why are they significant?

I really enjoyed doing the fieldwork for the Writing Center Research Report. I had never done fieldwork before and it was a great learning experience. I read the articles assigned (Beverly J. Moss' Ethnography and Composition: Studying Language at Home and Chapter 2 & 5 of Bonnie Stone Sunstein and Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater's Field Reading and Writing) and found them useful. I feel that the process of the assignment (visiting a center, taking notes, observing and then writing everything up) will be helpful to me as I continue my studies.

I also really liked hearing about the other centers, how they are similar and how they are different. It put all of the readings we have done this semester into perspective.

Before this class, I didn't know anything about writing centers. Now, I'm contemplating working at one. I feel like I finally understand what goes on and what should go on at the writing center. I understand the use of having them and how they can help students succeed in college.

Learning about Mina Shaughnessy made me feel very proud to be part of this program. I find her life and all of the work she did very inspiring. I'm looking forward next semester and to reading her book, Errors and Expectations.

Writing Center Theory #10

'Earth Aches by Midnight': Helping ESL Writers Clarify Their Intended Meaning by Amy Jo Minett

I really enjoyed this chapter and I just happened to read it after "correcting" a paper written by a Chinese GED student. He had saved his thesis for the conclusion as a surprise for the reader. Of course I told him that it was wrong, just because it felt so wrong to me, a person who has been taught that the thesis goes in the first paragraph of the essay. This chapter showed me that I was the one that made the mistake, not the student. Now I understand why he was trying to surprise the reader and what I could have done to help him clarify the main idea in his paper. His paper was not wrong, it just wasn't following the "rules" I grew up following. It is important that as writing teachers, we keep an open mind when reading papers written by ESL students and take the opportunity to understand what the students are trying to communicate in their writing.

Writing Center Theory #9

Responses to "The House That Mina Built"

I agree with Garri about this book depicting Mina Shaughnessy as a Mother Theresa figure. I think it shows how much Jane Maher truly admired Mina and all of the work she did for the SEEK students at CCNY.

Mina sounds like a fearless woman and a teacher who truly made the effort to listen to and understand her students. Maher says, "Mina believed that one way to discover what the students should be taught in the SEEK program was to discover what they would be expected to know when they took courses in other disciplines" (100). She wanted to prepare her students so that they could be successful in future classes. She believed in them.

I found this chapter inspirational and would love to read the rest of this biography.

Writing Center Theory #8

Peer Group Discussion

“Whispers of Coming and Going”: Lessons from Fannie by Anne Dipardo

I think that an important part of our discussion was explaining the Navajo culture to E. She didn't know what it was and it was difficult to explain because there really aren't any Navajo in NYC. At least not that I know of. Explaining the little Vika and I know about Navajo culture was a reminder of the great diversity of this country.

When a tutor encounters a tutee from a different culture, asking a few questions can be a great learning experience. Of course each situation is different and a student might feel that a tutor's questions are intrusive. Morgan definitely had opportunities to question Fannie about her culture and she just wasn't paying attention. This should remind us as teachers and tutors to pay attention to what our students/tutee say.

"Some members of our group shared their own challenging experiences of being bilingual and bicultural and could personally understand Fannie’s hesitations." This was another point we discussed in detail. All three of us speak more than one language and we have had experiences of learning in a different country. I think we all had great sympathy for Fannie.

Writing Center Theory #7

"Tutoring during Emotionally Charged Sessions" by Corinne Agostinelli, Helen Poch, and Elizabeth Santoro

I think it's important for current and prospective tutors to read articles like this in order to see the unpleasant/challenging side of tutoring. Not all tutoring sessions will be perfect. Not all students will be arrive at the writing center eager for criticism (or what they believe is a personal attack). The tutor won't always like what the tutee is writing about. In fact, the tutor may find the tutee completely inappropriate and offensive. This article provides plenty of ideas on how to deal with issues that may occur when tutoring. The main goal of the tutor is to focus on the writing and remain respectful. Tutees don't show up at the writing center to entertain tutors with delightful stories, they're there to talk about writing.

Writing Center Theory #6

Wynne Ferdinand's Class Visit on 10/27 & Her Writing Center Research Report

I found Wynne's visit to the class to be extremely helpful as we prepared to visit writing centers for our research. Having access to Wynne's research proposal and paper were useful to me as models while I prepared my own projects. What I found most interesting about Wynne's presentation was how much time she dedicated to the project. It made me want to push myself to get to know as much as possible about the writing center I chose as well. The more information you can gather when working on a project like this, the better. I'm very grateful for Wynne's visit to our class.

Mark McBeth's Lecture, 10/15/10

Last Friday, I attended Mark McBeth's lecture at the CUNY Graduate Center entitled, "Prompts, Props, Performativities: Enacting Education.

I found the entire lecture very entertaining. Prof. McBeth is a very lively speaker. He read his paper to us without sounding robotic and had a large screen behind him showing images as he spoke. He made me think of the classroom as a stage, where everyone plays a part. Props, such as a dunce cap, can have a different meaning, something positive and rewarding. Three interesting ideas he presented:

1) He compared students to drag queens. Hysterical idea! The lecture consisted of thinking of students as amateurs. Like drag queens, when they first start off, they're a little shaky and unsure of themselves. With experience, drag queens become divas who own the stage and capture their audience. This happens to all of us who have ever been students. Students are not dumb. They start off as amateurs and then become advanced amateurs. Even we, as teachers, can be advanced amateurs. This relates to what I was rambling about last week - we can learn from everyone!

2) The desk. Prof. McBeth talked about the classroom and how the desk gives the teacher "authority." It's not necessary. The teacher can be "dumb" and sit with the students, that way the teacher doesn't intimidate the students and welcomes more participation. Everyone has something to contribute. I guess the idea is that we're all in this together, so lets sit together. Standing behind a podium or sitting behind the desk creates divisions. Instead, lets all be amateurs together.

3) Ask the students to write 8 pages of crap. I love this idea!! You ask them to give you 8 pages full of the worst writing they could possibly think of. You give them permission to be advanced amateurs by doing this. He says that when you ask students to give you the worst writing they could think of, somehow, this works as reverse psychology and you're able to find "golden nuggets" within the writing. You highlight the "golden nuggets" and ask the students to elaborate upon these points. This assignment is graded. If you hand in 8 complete pages, you get an A. For anything less than 8 pages, the grade goes down. I can totally see this activity working with students who feel unsure about their writing skills because they won't feel so much pressure to hand in a perfect paper. 8 pages is a lot of writing, there's bound to be some really deep and interesting thinking somewhere in there. It's a starting point for better writing.

I really enjoyed the lecture and look forward to attending as many as I can this year. Always so much to learn. I love that Prof. McBeth offered us a bibliography of his research. I look forward to checking out some of the reading.