Confession
What I wish I'd known..........................? Well, I see no need for beating around the bush, so I am just going to come out and say it. I always thought, even after my interview for the job and right up until our first staff meeting, that the Writing Center was mainly there for PROOFREADING. Okay, now that I am 100% sure I am going to lose my job and all my new friends, let me explain.
I had never been required by a professor to go visit the Writing Center. I knew it existed, but I obviously had no idea why. In most of my classes I found the feedback on global issues from my peers and professors enough to teach me the basics of good writing. About a year ago I took a Political Science class and my professor said of my final report something like, "Mark, you are an excellent writer. I found very few grammatical errors in your paper." I thought, "Wow, I heard the Writing Center is hiring. I'm gunna apply for a job. I got a B in 2010; I am qualified to tutor." I wish I had known I was wrong. Then again maybe I don't. Had I known the Writing Center was all about "global" and that I knew squat about tutoring, I might not have applied for the job and then I would not have learned tons this semester.
I, like Ammon, (maybe its the x-Mormon missionary in us) also had a vision of learning a skill and then practicing it in mock tutor sessions. So when I went to the first day of class and found out about all the reading and writing we would be doing, I was surprised and a little disappointed that my semester was going to be that much more work. But I guess not telling the new tutors about all that is the best way to get them to accept and start their jobs. So maybe we should let all new tutors come to class with their own expectations so we don't scare them away before the semester even starts.
Another Idea for change: I think the writing center class should take an approach similar to that the Marines do to the new guys at boot camp. Though I found out pretty fast that I was not that qualified to be a tutor, it would have been awesome to see Scott and Sylvia, and especially Andrea yelling, screaming, cussing, and spitting all over the class. That would have motivated any of us to get better as fast as possible. Let's try this technique out on the next newbies.
I had never been required by a professor to go visit the Writing Center. I knew it existed, but I obviously had no idea why. In most of my classes I found the feedback on global issues from my peers and professors enough to teach me the basics of good writing. About a year ago I took a Political Science class and my professor said of my final report something like, "Mark, you are an excellent writer. I found very few grammatical errors in your paper." I thought, "Wow, I heard the Writing Center is hiring. I'm gunna apply for a job. I got a B in 2010; I am qualified to tutor." I wish I had known I was wrong. Then again maybe I don't. Had I known the Writing Center was all about "global" and that I knew squat about tutoring, I might not have applied for the job and then I would not have learned tons this semester.
I, like Ammon, (maybe its the x-Mormon missionary in us) also had a vision of learning a skill and then practicing it in mock tutor sessions. So when I went to the first day of class and found out about all the reading and writing we would be doing, I was surprised and a little disappointed that my semester was going to be that much more work. But I guess not telling the new tutors about all that is the best way to get them to accept and start their jobs. So maybe we should let all new tutors come to class with their own expectations so we don't scare them away before the semester even starts.
Another Idea for change: I think the writing center class should take an approach similar to that the Marines do to the new guys at boot camp. Though I found out pretty fast that I was not that qualified to be a tutor, it would have been awesome to see Scott and Sylvia, and especially Andrea yelling, screaming, cussing, and spitting all over the class. That would have motivated any of us to get better as fast as possible. Let's try this technique out on the next newbies.
posted by Anonymous at 10:45 AM
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