Ooops....

Do you ever have those moments where you do something, and then you just want to kick yourself because you made an obvious, stupid mistake that shouldn't have happened? I accidentally opened an old post, and edited over it to make this one. I did have a very nice post on Prepositions and how I wish I could explain them, but it has been erased and replaced with this one...

Here's what I really meant to have.

Flow Charts are my Friend

I love flow charts. The logical portion of my brain enjoys the idea of a well-planned, perfectly executed tutoring session. But there are a few problems with flow charts. When people are concerned, flow charts are not specific enough to suit me, but they cannot be more specific because humans aren't like computers. Computers are logical and very predictable. Humans...not so much. However, there are still a few basic steps that can be followed to create a successful tutoring session.

1. Establish a rapport with the student. Don't just begin to talk. Introduce yourself. Say hi! Learn the student's name, and try to use that name 3-5 times within the first minute. That helps you remember their name, and makes the student more comfortable, as humans enjoy hearing their name spoken.

2. Ask the Student why they came to tutoring and what they hope to get from the session. The student came for a specific reason. Perhaps they wanted someone to proofread their paper. Maybe their teacher made it a requirement. Whatever the reason, the student has certain expectations and would be very disappointed if a tutor ignores what's important to them.

3. Ask what the assignment is. This can be the biggest question, because it decides how the rest of the session continues. If it's a grammar assignment, you'll probably end up working through examples and clarifying things. If it's an essay on the use of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos by President Obama in his recent health care speech, the process will be completely different. Let's assume that this is the essay that will be discussed in the session.

4. Look for a thesis. This is very important. Look for the thesis, and help the student refine it. If the paper would be better with a different thesis, help the student change it to match the rest of the assignment.

5. Explain anything the student is confused about. In the example of the our Obama paper, make sure that the student understands Ethos, Logos and Pathos. Make sure that the student is using factual examples.

6. Correct any last errors, and make sure that the student's expectations have been met. The student usually expects grammar, punctuation, and spelling to be addressed, at least partially. They want formatting help, as well as Citations 101.

7. Before parting ways, plan for the next session. Invite the student back to tutoring. Suggest scheduling a weekly appointment. Let the student know about other services available through the university.

8. Thank the student for Coming to tutoring. Thank taking advantage of the tutoring. Compliment them on their efforts already exerted. Remind them what they need to do to improve their assignment.

As for Bartholeme, I found he was very difficult to follow. It was interesting to talk about the way that students "invent" the vernacular that they have to use, but I'm not sure I agree completely. Professors cause a lot of the problem as well. My own English 1010 and 2010 professors asked the students to use professional language. I found myself stressing about sounding "academic" and I read essay after essay, trying to analyze the way he spoke. I wanted to get the different discourse feel. I hope that I've improved in that, but the way that he describes it, and the way we described it in class, it's almost impossible for students to achieve the correct style of discourse because there are no formally written rules. I can only try, and keep trying, until I get enough authority and/or experience to write my own rules.

Discourse communities have been a struggle for me throughout my college existence. No…wait…I take that back. It’s been a struggle ever since I begin schooling. The most recent examples come from my college life, but I’m sure that with some deep soul searching and remembering aides I’d be able to recall experiences from my younger days.

Bartholomae wrote about how difficult it can be for students to learn and understand these discourse communities and how awkward it can be for them to “invent the university.”

The most current example comes from my Zoology classes. I cannot recall having a class that has been so difficult for me to understand what is going on. The terminology and ways things are explained baffled me at the beginning and still can cause me much pain and irritation. I remember the questions posed by instructors and the way tests were worded. I just didn’t understand what the crap was going on. It took a lot of time and studying. I had to spend hours in the library reading the textbook and going online just to try and figure out what was going on.
And that does not include all of the labs. I remember my first few times in the labs. I didn’t know what to do or how to do it. It wasn’t because the instructors didn’t’ explain, it was because I wasn’t a “member” of the discourse community and I had an extremely difficult time trying to gain my “membership.”

I mostly dealt with English and math in school. Biology and those subjects never really interested me in high school. When I got to college, I became very interested in those fields and have had a hard time keeping up ever since.

I can relate to the students who Bartholomae used as examples in his writing. I remember trying to use the jargon and lingo of the discourse community, and often I fell on my face and felt like a complete idiot. It took time, but gradually I became more comfortable with it. As time has gone on, I still face the challenge of learning to assimilate into this community, but I’ve learned to just do my best and try even if I make a fool of myself every once in a while.

School isn’t the only place I have had to learn a new discourse. When I lived in Hawaii I had to learn a new discourse. Everyone spoke differently and I felt like the most out of place haole (the Hawaiian way of referring to a Caucasian) in the world. It took a while before I felt comfortable with the culture and like I was beginning to fit in (even though people as white as me have a hard time being inconspicuous). The point is that it can be very difficult to dive into the middle of something you have no knowledge about. These discourse communities require a lot out of the newcomers. I have found that the only way to “belong” is to learn by experience, which requires falling on your face every once in a while.

Flow Chart to Figure Out Bartholomae

Flow Chart

I finally sat down and figured out my tutoring session flow chart. I hope you enjoyed the little visual aid. Here is what I usually do when working in the Writing Center:

1. “Hi! I’m Gabrielle.” I have to resist the impulse to say, “…your waitress for today.”

2. “Go ahead and find a place where you feel comfortable and I’ll join you in a minute.” No, I’m not giving a massage.

3. I write the pertinent information in my folder, and then I sit by the student at the table.

4. “Okay. What assignment are you working on?” If I see the assignment in print I let out a sigh of relief. I don’t want them to work for hours on something that doesn’t fulfill the teacher’s requirements.

5. “How do you feel about the paper? Is there anything in it that worries you?” Sometimes they will point to a possible problem in the paper.

6. “What can I do to help you?” I need to know what they expect from the tutoring session.

7. “Reading out loud can help us find problems in the essay.…” I want them to know that I use this technique on my own papers. Well, now I do. I haven’t always read my essays out loud: it was too embarrassing. Now I know it is worth it. My children would probably benefit from learning the technique as well.

8. I watch for a problem to teach them about, something that seems to happen a lot in the paper. I explain it then show them how to fix it. Later, when I see the problem again, I point it out: “There, it happened again, like up there.” Eventually the writer sees the problems themselves, and knows how to fix them.

9. We finish the read through, and I reassure the writer. No matter how good a paper is, no matter how experienced the writer may be, everyone seems to want me to tell them their paper is okay. I make sure to tell them the strengths of their essays. Then I review what I taught them.

10. “Come back anytime!” I want to make sure I don’t scare anyone away. I try to make sure I let them know their visit to the Writing Center was time well spent.

Bartholomae Essay

I finally conquered Bartholomae! I had to work so hard on this essay. I had trouble understanding what he was saying. It took me days just to get through.

At first I hated the paper. He seemed to be describing a “social caste system” for writers, one where he was at the top and “basic writers” were at the bottom. When I finally figured it out, I have to admit I liked what he was saying. He took ideas from the extremes of Freire and Murray and created a balance somewhere in the middle. He noted that writing students need information about the discourses they are heading for. They also need to practice writing, even if the results aren’t that good. As long as they move out of their comfort zone, their commonplace, and set out towards the target discourse, they are headed in the right direction.

It took a lot of work to find where he actually said it, but I’m glad I found his message.

Flow chart

This is the basic flow chart I created. It is by no means comprehensive or probably all that good. It is simply a general guide that I have found works for much of the tutoring that I have done so far.

Feel free to rip it to shreds. I'm not all that proud of it.

Here are a couple of others that I found on the web.

The New Humanities

Quad-A Tutoring

I hope that this helps someone. Then again, that's what I hope every time I tutor so...

The Art of the Flowchart

The infamous flowchart, an unorganized mind’s best friend. Seeing as I don’t know how to do anything fancy with word processors, I’m just going to write down all the steps in a nice, long paragraph. You can use your imagination to visualize what it looks like.

First and foremost, I think the smiling is in order. This may even happen before you the tutee comes in. I think smiling is important because it shows the student that you want to help. If the tutee saw the tutor frowning and looking rather unpleasant, I think the tutee would be more standoffish than if the tutor was smiling. It shows that you’re happy to help them. When they see that you’re happy and willing to help, the session can be much more productive.

Second, greet them and introduce yourself. This makes it a little more personal and the student will feel more comfortable around you. The more comfortable they are, the easier it will be to get them to express their ideas and explain their struggles with the paper.

Next, find out what the assignment is about and what the student wants help with. Doing this allows you to get a feel for where the session is going to go. Developing an understanding of these things will help you as you make a “map” for the session, which is the next step.

Having a map shows both you and the tutee where the session is going to go. If you get off track, you can use the map to get back on course and accomplish what you wanted to in the first place (yes, I know that sometimes the map needs to be disregarded or that it may end up being of no use in the end, but that is another blog for another day).

The next step that I would suggest would be to decide “how” the session is going to proceed. By this I mean decide who will read and all those “little” things. The tutor does not always have to read the paper. Sometimes it can be more beneficial to the student if he or she reads the paper.

After this, proceed.

It is also important to recognize that these steps can change depending on the student. Last semester I was in a tutoring session and I was the one reading the paper. As I read, I noticed that most of what the student needed in his paper wasn’t discussed in our “pre-meeting.” He had told me what he wanted to focus on and as we read I realized that there were other things, bigger things, that we needed to work on. So, I stopped we discussed these points. He was mostly concerned at first with organization, but his paper was organized just fine, it was commas, grammar, and whatnot that he struggled with. So, I asked him if he would like to read the paper instead of me, because I felt this would help him learn more. He did and the session ended up being very productive for the both of us!

This list of ideas has helped me quite a bit and I hope it can be of service to others.

going with the flow...

I really like lists, so we’re going to have this flow-chart be in list form.
1) Greet the tutee.
2) Ask what class it’s for, who the professor is, and what assignment their working on.
a. If they have a sheet with the assignment requirements on it, review it to make sure you understand the assignment as well.
3) Review the assignment and explain things as needed.
4) Ask the tutee if they have any other questions for you.
5) Part ways and give an encouraging comment. (“Have a good day,” “Good luck on your paper,” etc.)
That’s basically what I do when in a session. Of course it changes depending on what the student needs. Sometimes they’ll not have even started the paper yet and need to brainstorm or create an outline. In those cases, I usually feel less necessary and more like a person they need to bounce ideas off of or talk out loud to. That is one thing, I think, that we are effective in doing. Some people just need a place to write or to be thinking of writing, and that is what we need to help them do.
Concerning Bartholomae…I honestly did not know what he was talking about half the time. I was usually close to getting his points while I was reading, but then he would define what he was talking about with words or phrases that I did not know the meanings of. Other than that, I liked his points about having the student learning about writing through writing as best they can. I understand the dilemma about trying to understand the discourse used in a certain field pretty well. When I entered my Anthropology 100 class on the first day of my first semester, I had the hardest time figuring out some of the words my professor was using. She explained most things very well, but would then throw in a word that, though I’m sure it felt natural to her to use, was completely foreign to me. Luckily there weren’t many papers I had to write for that class, but bending the way I thought about it took a little work. I did not feel quite as stressed or frustrated with the way I was supposed to write in that class as I have in others…Like my Creative Nonfiction class…I still have dark memories of that class (not just because it was held in a corner classroom in the basement of the Social Science Building).
Anyway, all past frustrations aside, I think now that I have been at school for four years, I can work my way around writing in ways that certain professors want. I am no expert at it yet, but I think, and hope, that I am getting better. Or I have created a beautiful alternate reality for myself in which I am an amazing writer and can overcome whatever assignments come my way…riiiiiiiiiiight…

new discourses

Have I ever had to learn a new discourse?
Well, as a grad student I have to learn a new one for every paper I write and for everything I read. Writing about Henry James is not the same as writing about Cormac McCarthy, which is also different than writing about Bartholomae. However, I never questioned this. I just also assumed that was what college consisted of. We invent new discourses based on our professors, our classes and our level of work. I am presenting at RMMLA (Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association) in a couple of weeks and I'll have to invent a new discourse then, too.
Is learning a new discourse scary?
In a word, yes. In two words, hell yes. Every time I invent a discourse or try on a new discourse, I am afraid it's the wrong discourse. Occasionally with some professors it is the wrong discourse and I end up having to re-do an assignment. Every time I submit that paper a part of me is terrified that everyone will discover I am truly an idiot and just pretending to know what I am doing and by connection, the discourse I have been using is faulty and I have to come up with a new one. This adds to the terror because it is a cycle. What if this new discourse doesn't work either?
Because of this, I can see why many students hate English and writing. If every time they tried on a new discourse they failed or were rejected, they probably want to stop trying. I do sometimes, particularly if I'm already nervous about the new discourse to begin with.
For example, I recently took a Shakespeare class. I was very uncomfortable with the first paper I wrote because I am used to a discourse that mainly involves twentieth century American, world and British novels, short stories and some poems. Plays are rare, and when they are there, at least the language makes sense. However, after I wrote my first paper and did well with it, I realized (unconsciously) that I had a comfortable enough grip on academic discourse that I could translate my 20th century skills to the Renaissance.
This is, in part, why I always tell my tutees that writing is like any other skill – practice makes you better. By writing and trying on different discourses we are more able to handle new ones as they come along.
I don’t believe that I’ll ever get over much of the anxiety that comes with every new class and discourse, but then again, maybe I’m just an anxious person. However, by understanding what goes into academic discourse and what is appropriate for each kind of paper or assignment, I am able to manage my fear and hopefully to help my tutees manage theirs.
This whole class had to undergo a discourse modification when Dr. Rogers explained what he wanted in the connections section of our reading responses. We have all had to modify our discourse, myself included.

Flowchart Away!

Flowcharts. When I think of a flowchart, a picture of bubbles with other bubbles branching off come to mind, sine I have no clue how to do that on a computer I will list out the steps. Step 1. Upon entering the Writing Center I would cheerfully greet the student. Step 2. I would then ask the student how I could help them. After listening to their reply I would proceed to step 3. Step 3 would consist of using the Socratic Method to find out their personal information and log them into the computer. Step 4, by far the most important of the steps, I would ask the students to find a place at which they are comfortable sitting. In step 5 I would again utilize the Socratic Method to determine the assignment and the best way to go about working on the paper. Step 6 is the actual working over of the paper, whether grammatically, syntactically, topically, or constructionally, it does not matter. Step 7. I would ask the student if they had any questions or concerns. If the student did have questions I would proceed to step 7a, answering the questions and concerns to the best of my ability. If the student did not have any questions it would be straight to step 8. The final step, step 8, is to say goodbye and wish them luck in all their doings.

Bartholomae sure likes the word discourse. I have had to integrate myself into different educational discourses. The main one was the discourse of Weber State University. Every professor had their own way they wanted me to write, and I had mine. I had to learn quickly what each professor wanted from me, so I did not get awful grades. Frustrating would be a very good word to use to describe learning the new discourses. One week I would have a paper due on some random topic that I could care less about, which I would have to write to the best of my ability while trying to be creative and write the style my professor wanted. The next week in some other class I would have to do it all over again with a different professor. Both professors wanted it unique and to their specifications. The problem was that their specifications and what they would consider unique were not the same. Sometimes they were not even clear what they would consider unique and what their specifications were. Not only did I have to try to decipherer what the professor wanted in my writing, I had to do it twice, completely different each time. Fun.

At first I found Bartholomae’s ideas a little annoying, thinking he was on his high horse and did not care about teaching writing. After letting the article settle in and talking about in class has help me come to an understanding of why he said these ideas. It also helped me to sympathize with the students and their writing they bring in. Hopefully I will be able to apply it, and help the students cope. I still believe Bartholomae was preaching from his high horse though.

my Boggart would be a comma

It looks like most people area little scared of grammar. I am too. Through my wonderful journey called school, Grammar has not always been my best bud. One glorious day in English 1010 I was supposed to be working on a paper. My professor came over and asked why I was not working, my response was, “I don’t got any ideas.” She then hit me over the head with a stack of papers. I think my grammar has improved since I took 1010. I was mostly joking around when I said that anyway.

I would say that I have come to an understanding with Grammar and we now get along all right. Through reading at least fifty pages of my own choosing everyday for the past three years I have come to a better understanding of the English language. Once I even choose on my own to read As I Lay Dying for fun, mostly due to the fact that one of my favorite bands share that name. This better understanding of the English language has in turn improved my grammar. My problem and scaredness comes from the fact that I only know what looks and sounds right. I can change it and make it correct. I just do not really know how to explain the whys and hows of grammar. Working in the writing center for a measly three weeks has already improved my being able to articulate grammar principles to the nth degree.

Of course I can always improve my grammar knowledge. I am not perfect, nor do not think I ever will be as far as grammar is concerned. I can continually work to improve my grammatical skills, and will always do so.

Another concept that scares the willies out of me is commas. Again this fear seems to be a common one among my peers. The fear of commas, or commaphobia, is again because I do not know how to explain them. I learned the hard way where a comma goes. It took both 1010 and 2010 to get rid of all my comma splices in my papers. I had a lot. Red ink was all over my papers. I had enough of bad grades n my papers, so I decided to quite using comma splices as a writing strategy. I did this by not using commas at all except where absolutely crucial. Then once I got out of the habit of using commas all the time I started using them again, just correctly. I tutored a student yesterday that had a major problem with commas. She used commas so much, almost every other word. Not really, but it was bad. I had a hard time just comprehending the meaning of her sentences. It was a bunch of thoughts linked together with commas. Her paper was full of run on sentences. I did my best to describe the proper use of commas. I think I did an OK job. She seemed to understand and towards the end was fixing her own comma errors. Looks like I am coming down from my commaphobia.

Hippy Patchwork Comma Splice?

The worst grammar thing in my world is…terminology. I know my stuff, but I forget what to call it. I learned the rules of grammar a long time ago. I like using them. Combining words in pleasant and understandable ways brings me joy. It has always been that way.

But that is also the problem. I learned the rules so long ago that I don’t remember how to put them into words. When someone in our class mentioned comma splices last week my anxiety level shot up. “What is a comma splice? Have I been using one?” Then someone told me a comma splice was when someone uses a comma incorrectly to connect two complete thoughts (I know…independent clauses). “Well, duh!” I knew that. Why didn’t anyone just say so?

I don’t have difficulty using “people words” to explain grammar in a tutoring session. “See that sentence? It is really two sentences stuck together. Is there a place where you can cut them apart?” I used those “people words” in two tutoring sessions today. Go ahead and yell at me. I was raised and educated with “hippy clap trap.”

I will admit, though, that I do use the correct terminology when I remember it. I try especially hard to use the accepted terms with the ESL/LEAP students. They seem to understand “article” and “comma splice” better than native speakers anyway, so they usually know what I’m saying.

A few of my fellow tutors have mentioned the many difficulties of the language we speak. Yes, English is a strange tongue. It is a crazy patchwork hybrid made up of almost all of the other languages in this crazy patchwork world. The one grammar rule that I remember most clearly is this: “For every rule there is an exception.” (I sometimes still wonder what rule is the exception to that one.) It is no wonder that so many of us struggle to remember the rules and all of their exceptions.

I have been around long enough for some of the rules to actually change. When I was little, a series of words was punctuated like this:“I like bananas, coconuts and grapes.”Now people put in an “extra” comma after that second-to-last word in the series. When did that happen? It makes me wonder what else changed while I was busy changing diapers.

To make up for my “youth deficit disorder,” I try to review grammar information whenever and wherever I find it. I love the little purple grammar handouts on the tables in the Writing Center. They help me remember what got lost somewhere in my long-term memory.

The grammar discussions in class have been helpful, too. Seeing articles, nouns and prepositions written on the board somehow brings back those dusty old memories. Watching as independent clauses line up correctly and connect with dependent clauses seems to help my neural pathways line up as well. I need more. Bring them on!

Prompt

Let's make this a two-prompt week, folks:

1) No one came up with a flowchart/step-by-step for running a session. Claire and I think this could be a very useful thing for future tutors, so we'd really like to see how you would all advise a nervous tutor to go about running a session.

2) I'd like to hear what you all think about Bartholomae's notion of discourse communities. What are your experiences with having to learn a new discourse? What was it? Was it frustrating?

Perhaps Colons/Semi-colons?

It’s hard for me to pick a grammar concept that I find most difficult. It might be because I don’t really know what the concepts are called, or it might be because I find them all equally difficult… Well, I can do capitalization pretty well and punctuation is ok with me, but beyond these boundaries I just am not up to date with my explanations.

I spoke with Claire this morning about one point I have noticed when I have tutored. I have often read a part of a student’s paper and heard something that did not sound right. So, I would say, “This does not sound quite right.” Then, I would make suggestions by saying, “I think that…” or “Maybe I would do…” In both cases, I would usually explain what I might do and then add something like, “What do you think?” or “Does that sound better to you?” Well, the point that I was concerned about is whether or not there was an actual grammatical error when I would make a suggestion or if it was just me.

When to use or not use colons and semi-colons is an example of one concept that I might be able to repair. But, I don’t know if it is just because I want it to sound the way I would write it, or if I am correcting a mistake that does not follow the rules. I knew the rules at several points in my educational career but I have never failed to forget what those rules are even though I have continued writing. This kind of makes me wonder if I actually use them correctly myself; perhaps I do not.

All in all, it is a good thing that I’ll be giving a presentation next month on colons and semi-colons because once again I shall learn the rules. Perhaps I will become a colon/semi-colon expert and all will flow to me just to access my great knowledge on the subject. And perhaps, maybe, I will not find myself forgetting the rules again.