ORGANIZATION = The FLOW Chart and AAAAAb
Organization can be so tricky…
It seems like almost every student that walks into the WC asks for help with “flow.” It’s becoming one of my favorite words. Sometimes the paper is choppy (or flow-less) because it lacks transitions; at other times ideas need to be reordered, or are missing entirely. Figuring out what the student means by “flow” is the real trick. It’s like a puzzle, really.
I usually save the discussion on organization for the end of the session. Because I’m a visual learner, I like to impose that on the students as well. We work together to decide what each paragraph is about—writing a one word explanation out in the margins. Then I’ll usually write out a flow chart of some sort on another piece of paper. It’s helpful to ask the student what each paragraph has to do with the next and previous paragraphs. Reorder them as needed, add in the transitions or connections that the student has offered, cut out what doesn’t relate whatsoever. I think this helps to give them an idea of how to order the next paper they have to write.
I love Dr. Rogers’ post-it note idea, especially because the papers are small, sticky, and fit on the desk. I’ve used a version of this idea with my own writing—using note cards rather than post-its. It has been very helpful, if not space consuming. Note cards for bigger papers won’t fit on a desk, and so I’ve gotten into the habit of spreading them out on the living room floor. (Like floor tiles…with me, crying, in the center.) Sometimes when a paper is just not working, it’s helpful to write out the outline to see if there are gaps or jumps. Perhaps this is why I adopted this method for tutoring.
Knowing where the different bits of a paper should go is difficult because there are so many options, and so many types of papers. We’ve talked in class about the A/B/A/B or A/A/B/B methods, but what’s wrong with ABBA? (Whoo! Dancing Queen! Rock that catbox!) Just because a student’s paper is not organized in the way I would have done it probably doesn’t mean that it’s wrong. For example, on Tuesday I tutored a student who brought in a geography paper. After reading the first seven pages, which consisted of LDS church history, I stopped to ask him what this history had to do with geography and the title of his paper. He winked at me. “Just hold on,” he said. “You’re going to find out.” Sure enough, the last five pages summed it up nicely. Not the way I would have organized it, sure—but effective nonetheless.
It seems like almost every student that walks into the WC asks for help with “flow.” It’s becoming one of my favorite words. Sometimes the paper is choppy (or flow-less) because it lacks transitions; at other times ideas need to be reordered, or are missing entirely. Figuring out what the student means by “flow” is the real trick. It’s like a puzzle, really.
I usually save the discussion on organization for the end of the session. Because I’m a visual learner, I like to impose that on the students as well. We work together to decide what each paragraph is about—writing a one word explanation out in the margins. Then I’ll usually write out a flow chart of some sort on another piece of paper. It’s helpful to ask the student what each paragraph has to do with the next and previous paragraphs. Reorder them as needed, add in the transitions or connections that the student has offered, cut out what doesn’t relate whatsoever. I think this helps to give them an idea of how to order the next paper they have to write.
I love Dr. Rogers’ post-it note idea, especially because the papers are small, sticky, and fit on the desk. I’ve used a version of this idea with my own writing—using note cards rather than post-its. It has been very helpful, if not space consuming. Note cards for bigger papers won’t fit on a desk, and so I’ve gotten into the habit of spreading them out on the living room floor. (Like floor tiles…with me, crying, in the center.) Sometimes when a paper is just not working, it’s helpful to write out the outline to see if there are gaps or jumps. Perhaps this is why I adopted this method for tutoring.
Knowing where the different bits of a paper should go is difficult because there are so many options, and so many types of papers. We’ve talked in class about the A/B/A/B or A/A/B/B methods, but what’s wrong with ABBA? (Whoo! Dancing Queen! Rock that catbox!) Just because a student’s paper is not organized in the way I would have done it probably doesn’t mean that it’s wrong. For example, on Tuesday I tutored a student who brought in a geography paper. After reading the first seven pages, which consisted of LDS church history, I stopped to ask him what this history had to do with geography and the title of his paper. He winked at me. “Just hold on,” he said. “You’re going to find out.” Sure enough, the last five pages summed it up nicely. Not the way I would have organized it, sure—but effective nonetheless.
posted by cheyney at 1:26 PM
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