An Alternative?

Well, I think that Cynthia did a great job. It really isn’t our responsibility to know everything. We don’t even know much about writing, let alone the million other topics out there. When someone comes to the writing center that is obviously pretty intelligent, and their structure is good, then we can try and help them with the things we always wish we could help the other students with. For example, we can look at topic sentences, specific word choices, find passive and aggressive sentences and make sure they function properly where they are in the paper, etc. In the event that they know more about writing then we do, then we can tell them that. “You seem to know a lot about writing, your structure is good and I really like your way of writing. At the very least I can be a second set of eyes and make sure we catch all of your typos.”

This topic of people coming to the writing center who already understand writing actually leads into what I have been thinking about as a topic for my Bibliographic Essay. I am not sure if it is valid but I will explain my personal view here. What if the writing center had an editing branch? When I say that, I mean a student who is primarily an editor would be available through the writing center. I can think of a million reasons why this would be effective, but at the same time I am pessimistic because the idea has not been addressed in any of the essays I have looked at regarding writing centers and tutoring issues. While I will not delve into the idea very deeply, I would like to explain how this would have helped me personally.

Before I went to Ecuador I purposefully only took English 1010 so that when I came back I would be able to take 2010 and ease back into writing. I was aware of the writing center, and Sylvia even came to my class and did a presentation. I promised myself that if I didn’t get an A on my paper, I would go to the writing center for help. I received an A on my paper, but it was still plagued with typos and small little errors. Most people argue that they would not come to an editing service because they can have their friends edit their papers. Well, I had just come home from Ecuador. Most of the people that I would trust to edit my papers had disappeared or were busy with their own school work at other universities in the United States. I guess I could have turned to my roommates, a 30 year old physical therapist, a cowboy from Tremonton, a 26 year old senior (probably the most reliable of the five), a studying automotive technician, or a college freshman who was not currently going to school. Each of my roommates are really good people, but would you trust them with your paper’s? Anyway, why not try an editing program? I would have gone to the writing center had I known that someone would have peer edited or proofread my paper for me. Leave me a comment; do you think it would be effective to have an editing system?

Just a thought on that is all…

Dumb as Rocks

I had a paper recently where the author was far above my knowledge and expertise, so I can certainly relate and I am secretly hoping that someone will give some good incite that I can learn from. I certainly understood what Cynthia meant when she said, “I felt like a blubbering idiot by the time we made it through the paper.” because that is exactly how I felt. I explained to the student that I did not know a lot about his subject but that I would do the best I could to help his organization and writing. (Here is where I ask the question,” Did I do the right thing in admitting my lack of knowledge or does my confession cause the student to immediately lose confidence in my ability to tutor him or her and make the task even harder?”) To some degree my lack of knowledge helped us because I could help him make his paper a little easier for the layman to understand, but I had to concentrate really hard to try to follow all of his lines of logic because I really didn’t even have a lot of the vocabulary necessary to help make complete sense of things, so I am not sure if I missed anything major or not.

Considering the situation I think I did not do too badly, but I cannot say that someone with more knowledge in the subject could not have helped this student much much more then I did. When I left my head hurt and I felt about as smart as a rock. I at least I can say the only real damage that was done was the damage done to my ego. I tried to play it safe and did not attempt to change anything that I was not absolutely sure about as a tutor. In other words, like Cynthia I concentrated mainly on thesis, conclusion, and grammar stuff.

I suppose that in theory we can tutor these exceptional people just as well as we can tutor someone in English 960 because the basic writing rules are the same, the only exception being it is a bit harder to find some logic problems. In practice tutoring these people feels like hell.

Besides the questions typed above, my question for everyone is (as aspired by Ammon) do you find that because you are reading bad papers all day long you find that your personal writing is better, worse, or does it remain the same? They say to become a good writer you need to read good writing. Is the opposite true? Does the fact that we are correcting bad writing rather than just plain reading it carry any weight?

Dumb as Rocks

I had a paper recently where the author was far above my knowledge and expertise, so I can certainly relate and I am secretly hoping that someone will give some good incite that I can learn from. I certainly understood what Cynthia meant when she said, “I felt like a blubbering idiot by the time we made it through the paper.” because that is exactly how I felt. I explained to the student that I did not know a lot about his subject but that I would do the best I could to help his organization and writing. (Here is where I ask the question,” Did I do the right thing in admitting my lack of knowledge or does my confession cause the student to immediately lose confidence in my ability to tutor him or her and make the task even harder?”) To some degree my lack of knowledge helped us because I could help him make his paper a little easier for the layman to understand, but I had to concentrate really hard to try to follow all of his lines of logic because I really didn’t even have a lot of the vocabulary necessary to help make complete sense of things, so I am not sure if I missed anything major or not.

Considering the situation I think I did not do too badly, but I cannot say that someone with more knowledge in the subject could not have helped this student much much more then I did. When I left my head hurt and I felt about as smart as a rock. I at least I can say the only real damage that was done was the damage done to my ego. I tried to play it safe and did not attempt to change anything that I was not absolutely sure about as a tutor. In other words, like Cynthia I concentrated mainly on thesis, conclusion, and grammar stuff.

I suppose that in theory we can tutor these exceptional people just as well as we can tutor someone in English 960 because the basic writing rules are the same, the only exception being it is a bit harder to find some logic problems. In practice tutoring these people feels like hell.

Besides the questions typed above, my question for everyone is (as aspired by Ammon) do you find that because you are reading bad papers all day long you find that your personal writing is better, worse, or does it remain the same? They say to become a good writer you need to read good writing. Is the opposite true? Does the fact that we are correcting bad writing rather than just plain reading it carry any weight?

Smart Students

A few days ago, Cynthia asked an excellent question:

What if we ever have a student that comes in who is so far above our level of knowledge and expertise? I’d like to think that even with my pithy little brain I could make intelligent suggestions on the writing. Just a few days ago I had a tutee that was working on some science paper and I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out what was going on. I, of course, made sure the thesis matched the conclusion and all those other things we’re supposed to do, but I felt like a blubbering idiot by the time we made it through the paper.

What do you all think?

Cover Letters, Resumes, and Personal Statements

Here I am again. Last week, I attended a wonderful workshop on cover letters, resumes, and personal statements that was given by our own Sylvia. I thought that I would share some of the things I learned.

I’ll first start with cover letters. Whenever you are applying for a job you should always have a cover letter. A cover letter allows you to mention things in greater detail than your resume will allow and also lets you suck up to your prospective employer. Your cover letter should be specific to the particular job that you are applying for. Never use the same cover letter for more than one job that you are applying to. The employer will notice and they won’t like it. If possible, try to find out the name of the person you should include in the salutation. This will give you extra brownie points. Many times it is hard to find out this information. If this is the case use a salutation such as Dear Search Committee, Dear Hiring committee or To Whom It May Concern. Never use Mr. or Ms. Try to learn as much about your potential employer as possible. This will allow you to expand on your past experiences that are relevant to the position. If you are not familiar with particular terms that the job ad describes, find out what they are. Even if you haven’t had any experience with a term used in an ad you will look good to the employer if you put the extra effort into learning what it is. Some visual elements that should be involved in a cover letter are pretty self-explanatory. Use a standard font that is readable. Don’t use a cutesy font like Comic Sans; Times New Roman will work just fine. Also use your space well. Don’t leave a bunch of white space. If you leave space the employer will think that you don’t have anything to say. Even if you don’t have anything to say you don’t want the employer to know this. Remember that sometimes employers read more than 30 letters and resumes. Try to make it as easy as possible for them.

The next thing you should focus on is your resume. Although it is ok to make a mass resume for many different jobs, it’s a nice touch if you make each resume particular to the job. One of the most important things when writing a resume is to give the employer what they want. If they ask for five references, give them five references. If they don’t ask for something don’t give it to them. Try to keep your resume to one page, unless the position you are seeking requires extensive experience. Be selective in your work experience. It isn’t necessary to list 20 jobs if only 5 are relevant to the job you are seeking, unless they ask for it. Another nice touch for students who haven’t had a lot of professional experience is to include a section called “relevant coursework”. Maybe you have never worked as a technical writer, but you did take a class. You should include this in your resume.

A personal statement, often used for grad school’s, are similar, but different than a cover letter. Often you will be asked to say what is impressive and unique about yourself. Think about something that makes you stand out! You’re creative. So what! Explain why you are. Avoid vague abstractions. There is a lot more to talk about, but I think that this is enough for now.

I was sure I posted this...

October 24, 2004

I am so happy! I went in to check, and found a blog topic to which I can relate. That is to say, eclectic.
I notice my blogs are getting farther apart. I’d better crack a whip over myself.

So. Baseball. Don’t care. I’m un-American and I know it. I don’t like apple pie, either, unless it’s hot and served with pecan pralines ice cream.

The election? I voted once. I did so by absentee ballot, because I had no transportation and lived in the highest crime-rate town in California. Walking wasn’t advisable. I was watching T.V., keeping an eye on results, and they were announcing the winners before my vote could even have been counted. At the time, I didn’t understand about electoral votes and all that. I decided I’d never bother again, and I never did. Then I got this Social Studies professor who believes that voting is the single most important right we have as Americans, and does so with such conviction that I’m registered. I’m a little concerned about it. There are a couple issues and a couple candidates about which/whom I know enough to make an informed decision, but a lot I know nothing about, and I don’t think I’m qualified in those cases. I suppose it’s permissible to abstain? But if I abstain, am I misusing my very important right to vote?

Winter is an evil thing that should only happen to bad people. I arrived in Utah (from California) on Easter Sunday, 1988. I thought if I arrived in the spring, then I would have time to acclimatize before winter. I’m still waiting. I’m not a skier because:
A. It would require me to voluntarily venture outdoors in the snow, and
B. People who slide down mountains at breakneck speed on sticks without brakes, if they aren’t already a little cracked, will certainly end up that way. (You know what the tree said to Sonny, don’t you?)

If it doesn’t stop raining soon, I’m going to need to double my Prozac. I HATE being wet. I hate being cold, I hate not seeing the sun, I hate mud, I hate having to wear shoes, and I hate trying to drive at night in the rain with 30-foot reflections coming off of every source of light. The dead guy in the yard is lucky he’s dead. Otherwise, he’d be drowning. The gravestones are all soggy…the place couldn’t scare a three-year-old. Ugh. I do sleep very well with the sound of the rain, but a recording works just as well. If California weren’t such an expensive, crime-infested garbage pit, I’d go back.

Wow! That was a lot of complaining! I sound like, well, never mind. I’d better shut up before someone nominates me to the gripe and moan club. So, on the bright side, the roof doesn’t leak, the heater works, I have a car and so many winter coats that I had the privilege of giving some of them away, and I sleep with an electric blanky and two cats, so I will probably not freeze to death. Being shut up in the house gives me nothing better to do than study and watch movies and spend time with my birds. I s’pose it beats having a lit cigar shoved up my nose…

What else am I thinking about? Nothing. My head is now completely empty. Oh! In case you didn’t know what the tree said to Sonny: “I got you, babe!” Ar-ar!

Power!

I just made an amazing tutoring connection so I’m feeling particularly brilliant at the moment! It’s not even Friday, but I thought I better get this down before it disappears like so many of my great epiphanies.

Right after my brother Searls died (I know you are sick of hearing about this, but bear with me) I watched as my brother, Ernest, had a complete temper-tantrum because his pen wouldn’t work. It was a silly, insignificant thing, but he made it huge. He threw the thing across the room and used "colorful metaphors" (thank you Star Trek). He then stomped out of the room and snapped at his kid. A few minutes later I could hear him fighting with his wife in the hallway. All over a pen? Obviously, the problem wasn’t really the pen, but it was easier to be upset about a pen than to face the reality of a death in the family. After all, he could do something about the pen. He could cuss and stomp around, then go find/buy another pen that would work. Cussing and stomping around wouldn’t change the reality of death and he certainly couldn’t fix the situation, so it was fruitless to react.

Similarly, we have students who come into the writing center overly concerned with grammar issues. All they want to know is if they have a comma splice, run on sentences or the like. They say over and over "is my grammar okay?" ("Does it flow?") Perhaps (I may be making a big leap here, but it made sense to me) they are reacting the same way my brother did. They subconsciously know that there are big problems with their paper (missing thesis, disorganization, lack of evidence or support, etc.) but they don’t feel that they have any control over that. They are feeling helpless. They don’t think they can change the major flaws, so they focus on something they can change easily: grammar.

So, the question is how to make students feel like they have control over their papers. We’ve been discussing various strategies throughout the semester that relate directly to this, but not quite in these terms. Having a student write on their paper makes THEM in control of the paper. Asking questions instead of giving answers gives them a feeling of power/control. All along we’ve been talking about how to make students feel equal with the tutor and not condescended to, but maybe it’s all about power. We all know American’s are huge on power. ;) This is where Layne’s "you’re the god of this paper" comes in.

Right now my boy is sitting on my lap fussing over his Lego engineered dog. It won’t stay together and he’s really mad about it. Now, we all know that the real problem is that he is so tired he can’t see straight, but his mom is typing rather than putting him to bed. I’m feeling frustrated because he won’t let me write. Catch-22? Who has the power in this relationship? (Very stupid question.)

Yes, Dr. Rogers, I just made that two point connection, too.

Visual Learner

Cynthia’s blog about learning styles gave me a good idea for my blog. I always thought that I was an auditory learner, but recently I’ve discovered that I am a visual learner. I’ve always hated when teachers had cutesy posters and table decorations. I thought this was what a visual learner was, some who liked things that were appealing to the eye. I never realized that there was more to a visual learner. In our CRLA training class we participated in a little activity that involved the three main different learning styles: visual, auditory, and tactile. The head honcho of the CRLA training, I can’t remember her name, showed us symbols for a new international language. For example, the letter a was a face with a frown, e was a circle and c was a heart. She first had the letters and the symbols visible on an overhead projector. We had about 30 seconds to look over the letters and symbols. Then she told us a word and we were supposed to translate the word into the new language. When I was able to see the symbols drawn on the overhead I was able to remember a whole lot better than when she just vocally told the class what letter was what symbol. Finding out what type of learner I am will help me in the writing center with students who are different learners than myself.

All hail mighty Webster!

Open-ended posts aren't nice at all. I'm one of those kids who colors inside the lines. Blank pages make me nervous. That said, I'll try to give myself some parameters. I will write in English, even though someone has abandoned a Spanish-English dictionary next to the keyboard. I will try to write about tutoring and tutoring-related experiences. Also, a little about ducks.

Lately I've found myself playing the role of tutor in the home environment more and more often. In reality, I'm probably not doing it any more than I ever have; I'm just noticing it. For the most part, this means I have an increased amount of patience. Last night I spent 20 minutes discussing entropy with my physics nerd sweetie pie. The fact that he has made it this far without a firm grasp of the concept made me want to smash my head against the wall, but I didn't. As a matter of fact, I didn't even bite my lip or pull on my hair. I surprised myself by being perfectly calm and collected, even when the conversation ended without the slightest bit of useful progress. The same was true when I explained linear equations to my little sister (though she eventually got it). This improvement in interpersonal skills is awesome. If I keep it up, I might even be able to raise a sane child someday. That comment was due to the fact that Cynthia may or may not currently be pregnant. Little help?

I have a funny Writing Center story to share. Last week an ESL student came in trying to understand the meaning of the word context. We talked about it for a bit, then I suggested we look it up in the dictionary, to which she replied, "That book is genius, and the man who wrote it is a prophet." I'm still chuckling about that.

There was an email in the daily bulletin about the duck pond. They are winterizing the fountain and it should not affect the ducks' quality of life. That's what they said, anyway. It better be true, or Lori and I will have to set things right.

Running the spell check feature automatically takes out the extra space after each period. Technical writing is taking over, bit by bit. Bwahaha!

Blog for Blog's Sake

Since there has been no directive on what we should write about, I would like let you all know that I'm recovering from the sorrow for my team's demise in the American League Championship Series. They should have won it. They could have won it. They would have won it had Kenny Lofton been in the lineup instead of Ruben Sierra in Game 5...but that's not the point. The point is they lost. They lost fair and square to a good team. Although I hate the Red Sox more than I hate snow...yes, we've had both- the Red Sox in the World Series and snow on our lawns and streets and cars.

Anyway, we live in a cynical world...okay, I'm stealing that line from Jerry Maguire. Why do people say that "Show me the money!" and "You had me at hello" are the best lines in that movie? It's a great movie with lots of classics. The best of which I cannot post here because this is a family blog. I highly recommend watching that movie if you never have. If you have seen Jerry Maguire, I recommend watching it again because it brings much joy to the soul.

Here are a few other movies I'd like to recommend:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: I didn't think Charlie Kaufman could outdo the creativity he showed in 'Adaptation' but he did. Jim Carrey should get an Oscar for his performance in this movie and Kate Winslet should at least be nominated. This is the best movie of the year so far.

Boondock Saints: If you're offended by violence and swearing (okay, and nudity..but just for a couple seconds) you should not watch this movie...oh yeah, it has some drug use and drinking...and a cat gets shot and blown to pieces...other than that it's one of the funniest, wittiest movies you'll ever see. Willem Dafoe is absolutely hilarious as a gay FBI investigator.

Band of Brothers: How can you go wrong with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks as executive directors of a movie adaptation of a book written by Stephen A. Ambrose? You can't, that's how. This is a ten-hour mini-series that has the cinematic quality of Saving Private Ryan. The action and acting are FANTASTIC!!

Now, here are my recommendations for albums:

Smashing Pumpkins-Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: This is the greatest album by the greatest band since the Beatles. A double album...28 songs of sheer delight, love, anger, and angst.

Radiohead- Kid A: Although OK Computer is probably their greatest album, this album was nominated for the Grammy for album of the year in 2000. It's a very deep, melancholic album.

Now, here are my recommendations for television shows:

Arrested Development: I am a big Seinfeld fan, but even I have to admit that this is the funniest show ever to be on television. The characters, the situations, the writing are second to none. This show airs on Sunday nights at 7:30 on Fox (Channel 13).

The Shield: This is the hardest hitting, most realistic cop show on TV. This ain't your daddy's cop show...they actually are able to say some naughty words. You must watch....the season starts next February, I think, and it's on Tuesday nights on FX (Channel 23). You can also watch Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD.

I hope I have been helpful here. Hope I didn't take up too much cyberspace!

What to say?

learning styles

Twice this week we’ve talked about learning styles. When I thought I wanted to be a teacher (a semester of substituting cured me) I took my required education classes. Instead of the three or four learning styles we talked about this week we learned about "the seven intelligences." Since I don’t have the text book from way back when, I can’t remember exactly what they were or how it was different from what we discussed this week. I do remember that when I took the test my scores were almost identical in every category. My professor was rather flabbergasted since we were supposed to be radically dominant in one area and perhaps subdominant in one other. This week in CRLA I scored identical in only two of the three categories. I’m slipping. (Some people say pregnancy kills brain cells.)

My husband and I just finished watching "Little Man Tate," about an seven year old who is in the 200 IQ range. It made me feel pretty stupid since I can’t even fathom the brain power needed to understand half of what this kid was supposed to be doing. One of the questions was along the lines of "if you take the fourth square of this number and divide it by the fifth square, then subtract 40 and 45, the remainder is 0." The kid, of course, comes up with the correct answer, but I can’t understand the question. I know when I was a bit younger my brain seemed to work much better than it does now. Perhaps it’s just hitting the big 3-0 this year? More likely, it’s the lack of challenge I’ve given myself over the years.

So, to tie this together– learning styles and people that are genius without trying. In the writing center we have a short time to sit down with a student and perform a prescribed routine. We have the students read their papers out loud and then we help them decided on changes that can strengthen the paper. On Friday, I had a girl who honestly couldn’t hear that she was reading the paper different than what she’d written. Does this put her in the audio-nonverbal category? Or in the kinesthetics? Both times we’ve talked about learning styles they’ve been divided and labeled differently. What if we ever have a student that comes in who is so far above our level of knowledge and expertise? I’d like to think that even with my pithy little brain I could make intelligent suggestions on the writing. Just a few days ago I had a tutee that was working on some science paper and I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out what was going on. I, of course, made sure the thesis matched the conclusion and all those other things we’re supposed to do, but I felt like a blubbering idiot by the time we made it through the paper.
I’m not quite sure where I’m going with this. It’s just after midnight and I have a fussing three year old on my lap. This is just something to think about. Perhaps ya’ll have some insights on this?

My Band Sucks

ohhh gosh. Boston is up in the fourth and I just remembered I have to write this blog before tomorrow. So I'm going to dowrite it now so that I'll finish in time to watch the end of the game.

My mind is pretty simple; there has not been much on it except for that I wish I wasn't male, middle class and white. School is expensive for those of us that fall under that category.

Most of you probably know that I am in a band. Maybe I'll talk about that for a bit. About a year ago I met a kid who said he'd been playing the drums for eight years and after he listened to some songs I wrote, he wondered if I wanted to start a band with him and his brother. I thought it sounded cool so I said okay. Well, we've been playing for over a year now and he still plays the drums as if he's only been playing for a few months. He's not that good. It gets kind of frustrating. But it's okay I guess; he's really good at making people think we rock. I can't lie to you guys, the truth is we kind of suck. But don't tell him that.

However, I am excited because on the 30th we're playing at a coffee shop in Sunset called Cup of Smiles. There are going to be a bunch of local bands there and the owner of the shop is giving away a bunch of prizes. It should be a pretty cool Halloween party. We're all gunna dress up and, as he said, "play as fu##ing loud as we want." That's cool he said that, but I don't think we'll get to play too loud; the people who work at the animal shelter next door always complain about how loud we play. Oh well.

Here are some facts ya'll may not know about me: I have an identical twin brother named Marshall. So if you ever think you see me on campus and I walk by you without saying hi, it's probably him. Please don't get offended. Let's see.....OH yea, he's engaged to a girl from Colorado; they'll be getting married in June. My oldest brother is a Marine and is expecting his first kid. That's pretty exciting. And I am an Aquarius; my birthday is the 26th of January. Last bit of info, it's been more than three weeks since I've tutored someone! Needless to say, I don't think I am getting much better at this tutoring thing.