Different People, Different Techniques
I have not yet found anyone to be so indifferent that they were totally silent. As far as my understanding goes I don't think that I have had any students that were completely upset with me. I have however had some students with misconceptions about what the writing center does.
One student came in and said that he wanted his paper looked over. He handed the paper to me and immediately began texting on his phone. I sat in silence staring at his phone until he closed it, put it in his pocket, and acknowledged me. Then I asked him if it was okay if I could read the paper out loud while he followed along. He cooperated and the session went fine from there.
Obviously that particular student came into the writing center expecting us to correct the grammar errors and maybe a write a few helpful suggestions on his paper, without him doing much of anything. We talked about it in class a little bit, and I agree that the vast majority of the student body, and possibly some of the faculty, think of us as some type of proofreading machine. You bring your rough draft in, and no matter what shape it is in, we are expected to fix all the errors, smooth the "flow," and otherwise perfect the paper. With incorrect preconceptions like that, it is no wonder a student might come in a little disengaged at first.
Speaking as someone who lacks much experience in helping hostile and disengaged students, I think the best any of us can do is to find what works for us. For example, we talked about how Michael uses the minimalist approach, and how it always works for him. Some of us commented that we could never do that. So those of us who would not feel comfortable with that kind of approach need to find another technique that will work for them. Harris suggested that tutors evaluate themselves after each session for a little bit and figure out what worked well and what did not. By doing this a tutor will be constantly improving, and figuring out techniques that work for them in helping disengaged writers become engaged.
Each writer is different so there is not going to be a cure all for everyone. If we give our best efforts to focus a writer's attention to their paper and fail, we can not beat ourselves up. Just like each writer is different, each tutor is different so everyone needs to come up with techniques that work for them.
One student came in and said that he wanted his paper looked over. He handed the paper to me and immediately began texting on his phone. I sat in silence staring at his phone until he closed it, put it in his pocket, and acknowledged me. Then I asked him if it was okay if I could read the paper out loud while he followed along. He cooperated and the session went fine from there.
Obviously that particular student came into the writing center expecting us to correct the grammar errors and maybe a write a few helpful suggestions on his paper, without him doing much of anything. We talked about it in class a little bit, and I agree that the vast majority of the student body, and possibly some of the faculty, think of us as some type of proofreading machine. You bring your rough draft in, and no matter what shape it is in, we are expected to fix all the errors, smooth the "flow," and otherwise perfect the paper. With incorrect preconceptions like that, it is no wonder a student might come in a little disengaged at first.
Speaking as someone who lacks much experience in helping hostile and disengaged students, I think the best any of us can do is to find what works for us. For example, we talked about how Michael uses the minimalist approach, and how it always works for him. Some of us commented that we could never do that. So those of us who would not feel comfortable with that kind of approach need to find another technique that will work for them. Harris suggested that tutors evaluate themselves after each session for a little bit and figure out what worked well and what did not. By doing this a tutor will be constantly improving, and figuring out techniques that work for them in helping disengaged writers become engaged.
Each writer is different so there is not going to be a cure all for everyone. If we give our best efforts to focus a writer's attention to their paper and fail, we can not beat ourselves up. Just like each writer is different, each tutor is different so everyone needs to come up with techniques that work for them.
posted by Bob at 6:13 PM
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