Blog 8: Bad Grammar?

I learned some grammar superstitions throughout my schooling. The first one was that I couldn't use I in my writing. This was interesting, because the second rule was that I should write how I talk. This is all true. I was taught that my “voice should be distinct,” which is a good thing to understand, but this is a concept vastly different than writing how I talk. Also, I understand that these first two rules are very contradictory. But let’s not dwell on these. More than incorrect rules, I think I came out of my grade-school years with a general lack of understanding. I could tell you what a noun and a verb was, but there was no way I was going to find a subject and a verb in a remotely complex sentence. Commas were for natural pauses. Prepositional phrases were mythical and elusive creatures. This is all funny because, after attending my first university English class, all of these were cleared up for me, and I realized that I had already a working knowledge of these concepts but that I had been taught them in an insufficient manner.

I see these types of superstitions cropping up in tutoring sessions. Students have been told so many conflicting things that it becomes impossible to make sense of any of them. What really bothers me, though, is the teaching of incorrect “rules” to cater to a high-school teacher’s preference. Say you don’t like seeing ego-centrism in papers. Don’t do away with “I”. Do away with ego-centrism by incorporating a larger audience into your paper. The public institutions are really doing students a disservice when they send them to university full of false ideas on what it means to be literate and articulate, and I’m seeing that much has not changed from when I was treating prepositional phrases as if they were unicorns.

Blog 9

My first English class at the university was English 1010. I, as a non-traditional student, had been away from school for about five years and I was entirely unsure how what to expect from any class at Weber, let alone an English class. I remember our first assignment well. We were to write about “anything” from our lives, particularly an event that had changed us somehow. Now, my professor was nice enough to not explain what he was looking for in the assignment. It was more like his attempt to test the waters, to see where we were all at. What he wanted was for us to relate our experience and answer the “so what” question. He wanted a clear thesis statement. What I gave him was a story: the story of my motorcycle accident. I remember vividly when he placed my paper under the projector’s lens and proclaimed that it was a “good try” but that it was ultimately an example of what not to do.

Luckily, having survived the motorcycle accident and my bout of embarrassment, I was able to learn from this experience and grow. I feel that it was this experience that helps me as a tutor. I can relate to those who are currently enrolled in English 1010. I can sympathize with their complaints while helping them understand why professors do the strange things they do. My writing was poor at the beginning of my freshman year. It was sub-par, unacceptable, and not in line with regular academic writing. But, at the start of the class, that didn't matter. What mattered was that I could write clearly enough to tell my story. I find that this experience and understanding has guided my efforts when dealing with students from 955 and 1010 classes.

So, I guess I would say that my early English courses helped my writing, even if they just helped me to understand what I was doing wrong. And, with this information, I am more prepared to help others become better writers. When I look back at how bad my writing was before, it helps me realize that many of us are good writers in the making waiting for someone to teach us how to do it correctly.

Women and Men: The International Edition

          By the time international students have attained a level of fluency where they can use services at the Writing Center, they should be acculturated enough to American society that they can accept help from any tutor, regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity. “Should” leaves a lot of wiggle room, for international and local students.

            While working with sheltered, International English 1010 classes for a couple of semesters, I did not encounter any male students who directly said “I will not learn from a woman.” On the other hand, Dr. Byrd, in the education department, tells a story about a female professor at another university who had a belligerent male student from another country in her class. The conflict reached the highest level of the university. What I have discovered, similar to the experiences of other female tutors / teachers with international men, is more passive disrespect, inattention, and active, though not confrontational, detachment (young men looking at their phones, or chatting with friends).  

     Sometimes, behavior may be subtle and an innate reaction to cultural conditioning, such as not using the left hand in some Middle Eastern cultures. These sorts of actions might never be overcome, and might always linger without unduly compromising the student’s ability to function fully in American society.

            I find that confrontational behavior is the exception rather than the rule. When I have directly asked young men from countries that isolate women from men, most say that it is okay to work with a woman. I try to remain at more of a discrete distance from these students and not force my physical presence on them. At the Writing Center, we are cognizant of some of the cultural beliefs regarding interaction between the genders, and actively work to be respectful without compromising our own personal and cultural beliefs. We work as cultural translators, informing newcomers of cultural expectations that may differ greatly from heritage beliefs. Sometimes we encounter students who are still in the process of acculturation, or those who refuse to acculturate.

            I see more of a concern when female international students need to work with male tutors. Often, these women will be in classes alongside other women, and men, from their home culture. If the culture forbids interaction between men and women, these women may resist working in mixed groups during class time. Likewise, they may be extremely uncomfortable with a one on one tutoring session with a male. The women, even though they are living here, are sometimes still expected by the men in their community to follow the cultural norms of the home country. During the day, some female students may spend a few hours on campus, but then go home at night to a culture that may still be highly traditional. I have also discovered that it is not unusual for students in some ethnic student groups to be related. Brothers, sisters, cousins may all be watching one another for slippage from traditional roles. Most women become more culturally skilled at American behavior the longer they are here, and some international women are already well versed in cultural behavior when they arrive here.

            We do not need to make accommodations for international male students who come into the Writing Center. Some of them may not like working with a woman, but women in the United States expect to be treated with respect, as equals. Women may have to be firm in culturally educating some international students, which may be uncomfortable and downright wearying for the female tutor / teacher. However, a female tutor / teacher needs to be able to stop a session and call a supervisor if the student becomes openly combative. We should take greater thought with assigning female international students to male tutors. I would not ask a female student if she prefers a tutor of the same gender, but if she asks for a woman tutor, I would tend to honor the request because of possible consequences that student may face at home in the less populated, but strongly influential culture of others from her home country.

Comfort and Respect

Hello Blog!

 This week’s topic is about if we think there is an inconsistency between international students’ expectations of women and racism/sexism. I think there is inconsistency in the ideas, mainly because the ideas are looked at differently by the two groups being discussed: international students and students native to the U.S. My ideas about racism/sexism can certainly be different than someone else’s perception of racism/sexism, especially if that person was raised in a different culture where these topics are treated differently.

In terms of one being tutored by someone that looks like you (as in the scenario of a U.S. black man being tutored by a British black man), I definitely think that the tutee would feel more comfortable with a person that is of the same race/gender. This has something to do with our need to relate to each other and build rapport with each other. If a tutee is an Asian female, then she may relate to an Asian female tutor more than a white male solely based on the fact that the tutor is an Asian female. The tutee may think, “If this person is of the same gender/race, then she knows what it is like to be an Asian and a female, and maybe has even grown up around some of the same circumstances.” I think this concept applies to both race and gender.

 I think a relationship built off of being comfortable and a relationship built off of mutual respect are two different things. However, this may be a cultural, biased view as well. As I see it, comfort can come from a person’s demeanor or looks, whereas respect is something that is earned. I suspect that this is different in other countries because I have experienced the disrespect of a male international student. I felt that he was being sexist towards me because I was a woman and he deserved to be tutored by a man. During the entire session, he did not act as though he wanted to learn how to correctly write English. Rather, he wanted to do everything by himself. He barely even allowed me to speak. If I made a mark, he immediately wrote me off and tried to do his own thing. I was not allowed to explain why I made a mark on his paper or what I had seen that might have been incorrect. This may have been because of customs in his country rather than anything I did or said. Perhaps the culture in which he was raised gave men automatic respect concerning gender and treated women in a way that would indicate that women are beneath men. I did not appreciate the degradation, but who am I to judge one’s culture.

 On the other hand, where do I draw the line when trying to respect another’s cultural values and morals? Tutees certainly have the right to be uncomfortable, especially if we, as Americans, are breaking their cultural norms, but I think enough is enough when the tutor feels so uncomfortable with the way he or she is being treated that the tutor cannot fulfill the duties of the tutoring role. The Writing Center is our home field, and if we feel extremely uncomfortable due to discrimination, something is wrong. In that case, I would just need to take myself out of the situation and perhaps get another tutor to fulfill my duties.

 Feeling comfortable and respected is important, but sometimes international students from other cultures have a different interpretation of who makes them comfortable or uncomfortable and who deserves respect. Even though we may not always look alike, sound alike, or dress alike, it is still our job in the Writing Center to make students feel as comfortable and respected as possible, even if we do not receive the same courtesy.
  

English Composition in the Dark Ages

I seem to be missing a couple of blogs, and I think I skipped the one about reminiscing about our own English 1010 experience because, let's be honest. I don't remember much of it. 

When I wrote my 1010 paper, but I think it was 201 at anther university because I tested out of the 101, we were still using electric typewriters. Students had to ask if it was okay to use a computer for writing.  However, as I recall, the professor taught very much in the manner we are taught today. Class was structured around smaller assignments, but we did not write every day. We had to complete a 12-page paper, where citations and references were strongly suggested, but no strict style (MLA, APA) was followed. In my entire undergraduate career, in two majors, references and citations were, shall we say, lackadaisical at best. A lot of plagiarism went on, and I’m glad to see that proper citation is now actively taught across the disciplines here at Weber.

Looking back, I was probably fortunate to encounter a professor who let us discuss writing, and who looked to engage us as active learners. So many other, lower-level classes at this time were massive, auditorium filled classes (100-300 students), where we scribbled notes, and then took tests. Essays and papers took too long to grade, and besides, what could an undergraduate possibly have to say?

Almost all of the classes I have encountered at Weber (outside of math and the hard sciences), at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, emphasize thinking, discussion, and writing. I see the undergraduate writing classes as an improvement in pedagogy, where students are part of the learning. I believe there is more writing, and more feedback than when I was a starry-eyed freshman.Tutoring and writing centers are now widely and readily available which was not the case when I got my bachelor’s degrees. Technology has also improved and helps students in ways once unimaginable. (A machine that corrects your spelling?! I don't believe it!) Computers are universally utilized, and available to everyone. We even have cheap, reliable printers, and not the old dot-matrix printers.

In short, teaching methods and technology have changed since I took my first English Composition course. What hasn’t changed, however, is the need for good teachers / tutors who know how to work, compassionately and effectively, with students of varying levels of expertise. So, yay for us as tutors and the work we do. It really does help students.

Reluctant or Hostile?

Years ago, I was working with a 6 year-old, first grade child. He had no desire whatsoever to learn to read, write, count, or do much of anything. "I don't need to learn," he told me. "When I grow up, I'll sit in the chair, watch T.V. and my wife will bring me beer." While adult learners, who are spending someone's hard-earned money to come to college, may not be as direct as this child, nonetheless tutors / teachers have ample experience with reluctant, or downright hostile, students.

The most openly hostile student I encountered was a man in his late 30's, who had started college for the first time this past summer semester. We chatted a bit, and he informed me that he was taking 15 credit hours, including English 1010 and Math 1010, along with some other academic classes. To me, it appeared the class load was frustrating, and more work than he anticipated.

This student complained about the amount of writing in 1010, and I attempted to explain that the assignments are meant as smaller steps to a larger project, and a better understanding of university level writing. He scoffed at this concept, complaining that the small assignments were too frequent to be of any educational value. Basically, he came in with a negative attitude.

As our session progressed, he argued every point I made, every slight error I pointed out, every hint and tip I tried to give him. Run-on sentences were okay, in his mind, simply because they were long. Sentence fragments were okay. Subject / verb errors, mysterious pronouns with missing antecedents,  its and it's, he had a reason why every word he had written was correct, and he refused to make notes or changes. He seemed to think that the more loudly he made his argument, the more correct his belief, and the more I would respect him. We made it through the session, with me making suggestions, him countering my instructions, and me nodding my head and saying, "Are you sure you don't want to make a note of this for later," and making similar other non-threatening, generalized comments.

This student came in, already overburdened, frustrated, and angry that the teacher was forcing the student through, in the student's eyes, one more pointless exercise. I realized that the student wasn't going to learn anything I taught because, like the first grader, he had already made up his mind that he didn't need this. Students who close their minds to learning are impossible to teach. If they don't want to learn, they won't. After half an hour, the student and I agreed to end the session and I filled out his brown paper. Really, they should be gold-colored as they seem as valuable as gold.

In any event, the session was not effective, but I didn't take it personally. I know I might handle other hostile or aggressive students differently. As we all know, each tutoring session is individual and has its own flavor. All we can do is use the best tools we have to teach and manage difficult learning situations.

"Only here for the brown slip."

I have encountered a few disengaged students in the past few weeks. Just this past week, I had a girl come in, sit down and say "I don't know if this is rude, but I have to leave ten minutes and I am really here to just get the brown slip." I felt uncomfortable, because I was put in a difficult position. I wanted to actually help her with her assignment, not just give the paper away. I offered her a proposal. I said "we can certainly take the ten minutes to look over your essays, find areas where you may need some work, and I recommend you come back in another day you have time, or provide yourself enough time for the next essay." For the next ten minutes I tried my best to focus on the places she was having issue, mainly with punctuation, and provided her the tools to correct the rest of her work efficiently. Luckily, despite her rush and seeming impatience, she was receptive to the things that I taught her.

On a separate occasion, I had a girl interrupt me about 10 minutes into the session, saying that she needed a brown slip. Needless to say, I was a bit irritated. It seemed as though she was "shushing" me and making it clear that obtaining the brown slip was her main objective for the session. I politely said "Oh no problem, I have one of those for you at the end of the session." I tried my best to engage her in the learning process, but her mind seemed to be somewhere else. I am sure she must have had other events going on in her life that were distracting, so I was not offended. I covered a lot of ground during the session, and although she was not personally engaged, she was responsive to my critiques. I provided her with the coveted brown slip and suggested that she come in another time. I let her know that this is a place where she can come anytime and feel comfortable in the environment. I wanted her to be assured that I was a peer and not an authority figure, to ease her reservations about coming back. Her attitude lightened. She seemed grateful and informed me that she would be back with her next essay.

Now is the Essay of Our Discontent...(Blog 10)

I believe I discussed this particular student in either a previous blog post or a response/reflection paper. However, she is the one student that sticks out in my mind as having been reluctant and resistant to the tutoring process. 

The student, who shall remain nameless, was in English 955 and required to attend tutoring at least twice for the essay assignment on Night by Elie Wiesel. The first visit required by the instructor was for a brainstorming session in which the student would talk through topics and potential theses with a tutor before deciding on the direction of his or her paper. She brought in her packet of prompts and was quite fixated on the one prompt she wanted to address.

Usually, a student with this much gusto would be impressive but this particular girl was aggressive towards me when I asked her questions about why she chose this prompt and how the novel connected to the questions given by the instructor in the prompt itself. As I began asking her what sections of the novel she would reference as textual support, she began to shut down. As tutor training taught me, I took a step back from the session and asked her if she was alright. She proceeded to angrily explain that she hated tutoring and the process of writing this paper was counter to her preferred style. Where the professor was implementing a very linear approach to writing (e.g. brainstorming, researching, outlining, drafting, etc.), she observed a more amorphous approach where she engaged in free writing until her thesis revealed itself. Therefore, the required brainstorming session irritated her because she felt forced to decide on a thesis/topic before she really knew what she wanted to explore within the prompt.

While I engage in the linear approach to writing, I can understand the frustration from feeling forced to write in a style that is not your own. As this was much earlier in the semester, I was not fully prepared to engage a student with this level of reluctance. She stated very plainly that she did not want to come to the Writing Center and she would rather spend her time doing more productive tasks. I admit I did not handle the situation with the agility of a seasoned tutor. I explained to her that we are here to aid students in the college writing process which typically involves the linear approach outlined by her professor. After explaining to me her view on tutoring, I attempted to reengage her in the tutoring session to no avail. She quietly sat through the session, answered questions with little detail or explanation, and requested her brown slip. I admit I felt quite defeated after the session but needed to remind myself that she likely felt the same way if not worse.

I have not seen this girl since that one day in the writing center. However, I hope that the second required session lifted her writing confidence and enabled her to see the benefits of tutoring and other Writing Center services. While I have yet to encounter another student with her level of resistance, I feel that I am now better equipped to deal with these types of students in the future. 

Vive la Resistance!

Oh man, tutoring resistant students, what a treat!  There are the kinds of resistant students who just don't think they need tutoring.  They typically are forced to come in to the writing center by a professor.  I had one of these this semester.  She was civil but mentioned how she thought it was a waste of her time to come in.  I was cordial and polite.  I told her we'd make the session as painless as possible for her.  By the end, she was thanking me for how useful I was and said she would definitely be coming back in for more help.  Sometimes, we just need to prove to these students that we are there to help.

Another session that comes to mind was a few semesters ago with a non-traditional student. I know that's our class discussion soon, so I won't talk about it too much here.  She was insistent that she A) knew everything already and B) was incapable of learning "new tricks."  I found the best way to handle the session was to focus on what she needed without trying to overdo it.  I didn't think it was worth my time and effort to convince her on every individual error.  She was reluctant to make any changes I suggested, so I didn't see a purpose in struggling with her.  I read through her paper and talked about what I saw.  She ignored me, and we ended the session.  As much as I want to believe that everyone is able to be helped, occasionally I find someone who may be beyond my help.

2010 once, 2010 twice!

I tested out of 1010, so I never had to take it.  I took 2010 at the University of Utah.  I enrolled in it one semester, but because of a scheduling conflict with work and a problem with the instructor (who was not a native English speaker and I found him hard to understand), I had to drop it.  I enrolled in it the next semester when work allowed and took it from a Master's-degree-seeking student who was really fun to work with.  We did all sorts of assignments, but she told us early on that we would have to pick a topic that would interest us for the semester. This scared me because I knew it would be hard to find something I could care about for the next 3 months.

I picked how technology, specifically cell phones, is ruining interpersonal communication skills.  I enjoyed doing research on that, especially when it came to aspects of the brian and the differences in communication centers between genders.  We did annotated bibliographies and research evaluations, all sorts of smaller assignments that built up to one big paper.  I believe the paper was 12-15 pages.  Doing smaller assignments to lead up to the larger one made the shock of doing a 12-15 page paper as a sophomore not as dramatic as it could have been.

The Resistance

Hello, blog!
One of the topics in class this week was "reluctant students." Most tutees are really good at coming in and being polite about getting peer tutoring. They know that it will help them become better writers. Ironically, this week, which was the week we talked about reluctant students, was a week in which I had two openly reluctant students.

The first was a male ESL student. He came in with his paper and we sat down. He said someone already looked over the first part, so we started in the middle. As we began to read through, I made marks and circles and dots on his paper. When we went back to look at the things I marked, I tried to explain why, but he was very aggressive in his manner of inserting himself into the conversation and wanted things done his way. If I made a suggestion, he just shook his head and said what he had written was fine and he did not want to change it. It is really hard to compromise with a student that does not want to change his work to help him get better at writing, especially an ESL student. My reaction to this out-and-out resistance to change was to keep going through the paper. Eventually, he seemed to come around and he changed the places that I told him needed work, but at that point he had taken himself out of the paper and just did what I said. He no longer wanted any involvement in the paper. He did not want to learn.

The second instance of a reluctant student that I had this week was a student that came in and the first thing out of his mouth was “I just need to come in here for a brown slip.” The second thing out of his mouth was “My paper is finished. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.” I explained to him that we should look over his paper to make sure. As I began to read, I truly did only find a few problems, but his whole attitude was really negative the entire time. He slouched and acted disinterested. At one point he accidentally shot his pen across the table, but it was because he was deliberately slamming his hand down and acting disinterested. Whenever I wanted to explain a pattern of error, he said that he already knew about it. Few sessions irk me as much as that one did. Because Matt had said in class that sometimes it is good to address the issue directly, I bluntly told him about his negative attitude throughout the session and asked him why his professor made him come into the Writing Center. His first answer was the brown slip, but then he thought about it for a second and told me that he also thought it was because it is good for someone to look at his work and get a second opinion so that he could become a better writer. Bingo. I felt like I seemed rude by being so direct, but it did make him think about why he was there.

Neither of my reactions to reluctant students was very good. It is hard to tutor students that do not want to be in the Writing Center and think that we are the enemy. They think they are better than we are. The truth is that we are students too and we need others to look over our writing too. None of us are perfect in our writing abilities, not even professors at the top of their fields. I only hope that I can convey that to the tutees that I work with and let them know that I just want to help them become better writers.   

Blog 10: Egos and Errors

You would think people would be grateful to have access to other people that are capable of helping them be successful when for FREE when the professors they actually PAY for do not. I was one of those people who were reluctant. This was probably because I was never told I had to be tutored. I was always the one who helped others, so receiving or asking for help has always been a struggle for me. It was not until I took ENGL 1010 that I was required to see a tutor, and I learned a lot from the tutor, but I still did not see a reason to go back. It honestly was not until I took ENGL 2010 and had to come back again that I saw the value of the Writing Center. I learned that I was not the perfect writer, and I needed help with my grammar (especially pronoun and antecedent agreement!) Once, I started working in the WC, I dealt with students, who were reluctant and resistant to being tutored. However, many of them were not as open-minded to change as I was.

I remember one experience last week with a guy a few years younger than me that was taking an art class and was required to come to us for a paper he was writing. He pretty much had to write a short paper about the paintings he saw and use the vocabulary from the text to do so. We talked for a bit about the assignment and how he felt about it, and of course, he hated it but wrote he loved and appreciated the paintings because his professor’s friend, the artist’s paintings he had to critique, was going to be viewing these papers.

Anyway, throughout the whole session, he was honestly a jerk. Of course, he came in with his friend, who was working on the same paper, and they kept making gestures to each other during the session, and he would frequently zone out. My patience is already thin with people over the age of twelve, but he just REALLY irked my nerves because he was so disengaged but needed the help. Almost every time I would point out an error he had, he would make me repeat it because he would not pay attention when we would have literally just went over the concept. And, if he did actually stay on task for those few seconds, he would just seem really arrogant to me by his facial expressions and posture; although, he did write down my suggestions. We spent over the thirty minutes going through his paper because I know he badly needed the tutoring, but it was a waste of his time because he did not learn anything.

I wanted to tell him how I felt, but I figured he would not care, so I wrote his brown form and called it a day. Reflecting back on this session, he was probably trying to look cool and nonchalant in front of his friend and did not want to seem stupid (he literally almost had an error every sentence). I think if he had come alone, he would have taken the session more seriously.

Resistant to change

I have had many opportunities to tutor students who are resistant to change. students often come to us because they are required to do so by their teachers. Oftentimes the students who are the most resistant are the ones who believe their writing is already good enough to get the grade they want. Others, however, feel like the Writing Center environment is an insult to their intelligence, as if they are being told to go to the Writing Center  because they are not as smart as some of their peers. Other times students are just unaware of our role as tutors or of the role of the Writing Center as a whole. Because of these scenarios, it becomes necessary for tutors to gain some strategy in order to deal with resistant tutees.

One of the main strategies I employ When dealing with a resistant to tutee is to show empathy. The students who benefit from this are usually those who are unsure why they need to go to the writing center or those who don't quite understand what the Writing Center can do to help them. For these two cases, I generally use words such as "when I was in my composition classes, it felt tedious for me to come to the Writing Center as well. However, after seeing that I could benefit from the Writing Center, it became easier for me to continue coming. " While my actual words depended on the situation, the basic sentiment is here. I can reassure the student that they are not alone and what they're doing. Even the tutor they're working with has been in the same situation. By empathizing with a student, I was able to reassure the student and help him or her to understand the benefits that can come from being tutored at the Writing Center.

But what do we do when students are familiar with the writing center but resent that Hey are meeting required to get heir papers tutored?  These students are often argumentative,  and they resist changes to the paper, having excuses for the errors in their paper along the lines of stylistic choice or personal preference.  In these situations, I find that it is necessary to adjust the way I explain certain concepts.  Instead of asking a student if he or she would like to fix an error,  I encourage the student to jot down a note.  Also, I make it a point to emphasize that my comments are suggestions only,  that I am a peer giving advice rather than an authority figure passing judgment. In this way,  I ensure that I put myself on the same level as the tutee, creating a more positive learning environment.

From these two examples, we see some strategies I have used that can help tutors deal with a resistant studant. In both cases, it took effirt on my part to prove to the student that I was aperson, and a student myself, rather than just a representative of the university. Practicing these strategies has helped me to combat unproductive sessions and has helped me to teach students who had no intention of being taught,  who Street resistant to change.