Kelly+Robinson

Kelly's page!

__2-25-2010__

Unfortunately, I have not been able to have a session of my own or even shadow a session in the Writing Center. No one has come in during the six hours I have worked so far. Therefore, I am going to focus on how the reading, “The Writers You Tutor,” was very helpful to me in my writing. It gave me new and different ideas for how to go about writing my papers, such as using different color pens in order to group and structure your ideas and using sticky notes in order to move, connect, and organize your thoughts. These visual and interactive tools also make the writing process more enjoyable. I have experienced some writing anxiety before so I found the part about strategies for working with writers with writing anxiety very interesting. Breaking a paper, or any assignment, into manageable tasks so that the student is not overwhelmed has been the most useful course of action in my experience. This means time management and a reward system for motivation. Remembering that the first draft does not have to be perfect can help take off the pressure but for me it can also be detrimental because it can take off too much pressure. I need to have enough pressure to motivate me but not so much that I become overwhelmed and frustrated. The third major point that I took away from this reading was that encouraging students is the key to making them better writers. The only way a student will improve is if they feel motivated and confident enough to put in the effort. So, no matter how difficult a client is, the only chance of success is if the consultant can remain calm and asses what the best method is to motivate and help them. Question 1: If we judge that it is necessary, and there are not people waiting, can we take more time with a student who needs more help? Question 2: Are we allowed to let students use the Writing Center computers during a session if it will help them or are they just for consultant use?


 * COMMENTS:**

I just wanted to take a minute to respond to some of the questions that you had in this post. As far as taking more then 30 minutes to work with a student goes, I usually handle sessions by working until we're finished, but I don't like to take more than about 40 minutes for one session. We have talked in class about how if we constantly have sessions that are longer than 30 minutes, the client could become overdependent on us. But at the same time, if they come with lots of questions, I feel like I'd be doing them a disservice if I didn't help them with their questions. I'd take it on a case-by-case basis, and if they look like they're really benefiting from a session, I don't see why we can't take some extra time to help them. As for your computer question, I've let a student use it before during a session, so I don't know if that's something that we shouldn't be doing or if we're allowed to let them. The way I see it, if they need some guidance while they're using a computer for brainstorming or for writing part of their paper, they'd benefit from having a consultant there while they're working to answer questions. -Megan

I really like the visual strategies for organization too. I think organization is a visual concept. I think the sticky notes idea is better than the color pens. I have not tried it yet, but I want to use sticky notes to map out organization with a client. That seems like a really cool idea since it allows the client to play around with the order of their ideas. I think sticky notes could also help a client remember the organization we plan in a session. I fear that some clients might forget how we restructured their paper. I think the color pens, although useful, has less benefits compared to the sticky notes. A client cannot physically resort their ideas with the color pen strategy like he or she can with the sticky note strategy. To answer your two questions, I think it is fine to go over 30 minutes as long as there is not another student waiting for help. I have had 40 minute long sessions. I agree with Megan though in that you probably shouldn’t take more than 40 minutes. We don’t want students to come in expecting more than 30 minutes for a session. As for your computer question, I think it is fine to let clients use our computers. You just have to make sure the session stays on task. The computers in the Center can be really helpful, especially if a consultant is trying to show a web resource or a client has forgotten his or her assignment sheet.
 * - Michael McFarland**

__3-3-2010__

I finally had my first session today! Overall, everything went smoothly. I was friendly, I made positive comments, I practiced active listening, and I generally think I helped my client not only improve her paper but also learn about tone, organization, and punctuation in academic papers. I would love to say that I am perfect and there were no flaws in my first session whatsoever, but instead I will say there was at least one area that I can use as a learning opportunity. I had a little trouble closing my session on time. There were no other clients waiting so it was not a huge deal but after thirty minutes the session becomes less productive. In order to resolve this problem I asked the returning consultant how she closed sessions. She said that she just gave a ten minute warning. I have every confidence that this will work for me too but just in case I went back to Ryan’s “Inside the Tutoring Session” reading. The reading also suggested using a five to ten minute warning. Other session closing tips were jointly completing a session report, leaving the client to take notes while you write the report, and telling them they can come back in fifteen minutes for a second session if they need more help. With these tools I am sure that I will be able to close my next session within the thirty minute time frame. 1) Can we go over 30 minutes if there is no one waiting and our client has a learning disability that is slowing the process? 2) Do clients ever get mad that a session ends before they want it to? If so how is this handled?

=Comments:= I have some of the same problems with ending sessions! I've found that clients with really long papers tend to need more time than those who just come in with a page or two. Most of the time I simply lose track of time because I get really into what I'm doing and don't pay attention to my surroundings. I haven't been in the situation yet where clients are lined up waiting for a session, so most of the time this isn't a problem, but its definitely something I need to work on. I hate having to tell clients that their time is up and I can't help anymore, but I like the idea of having them come back for another session after a 15 minute break. It's frustrating when you feel like there is so much more to be done and not enough time to do it. -Wendy Warren

3-5-2010 I had another session during my Writing Center hours yesterday, I am proud to say I ended the session within thirty minutes. It was not very hard though. The client’s paper was only three pages and it was well written. She was a senior so her writing was already accomplished. She had come to the Writing Center just because she knew her professor liked seeing that they had gone. Still, we both were able to find and correct several small errors. These were all lower level concerns though because her paper’s overall focus, flow, and structure were good. She was not rude but she was definitely in a hurry to get through the session and go. This was helpful to me because it kept the session moving and got everything completed in less than thirty minutes. At first, I could not help but think back to the “Minimalist Tutoring” reading we did and the worst case scenario. This is when a client leaves a session and has not learned anything which makes them a better writer. I was worried that the client just wanted me to email her professor saying she had come to the Writing Center instead of wanting to learn and become a better writer. I was also worried that since I could not find higher level problems with her paper I was not fulfilling my role as a consultant. However, as the session went on I realized that the client was learning something valuable. She was learning that even though she is a good writer it can still be helpful to have someone, such as a Writing Center consultant, look over her papers to help correct lower level errors and explain what the paper’s strengths and weaknesses are. This is exactly what I did, and when the client left she had several corrections to improve her paper and I think she was happy that she had come. 1) What is the best way to motivate a student who only comes to the Writing Center because their teacher makes them? 2) What is the best way to tell if you have helped not just the paper, but the writer to improve?

__3-9-2010__ In my session today I was reminded of the “Freud in the Writing Center” reading. This may be due to overhearing psychology majors talking about a class paper in the library as I started writing this journal too. My client today was a freshman girl. Her paper was a Communications 101 paper and she seemed to need my reassurance more than anything else. She had only finished three pages so it did not take long to go through. She read the paper out loud, correcting as she went, and I mostly just agreed with her corrections or told her what I thought was good about her paper. When she was done I took some time talking to her about organization. I had noticed that some of her paragraphs needed to be moved and since she was not done I wanted to make sure she knew where she was going with her structure. I did this by stating the flow of the main ideas in her paper as I saw them, and then asking her to confirm if I was correct. Since she had not finished her paper we brainstormed some more ideas. Luckily I knew a little about the topic and could point her toward some useful resources. What struck me was how much tension lifted as we went over the paper. At first she seemed worried but as we made corrections and I gave encouragement she seemed to relax more and more. This is what made me think of the Freud reading that correlated consultants and therapists. My “vulnerable” client just needed reassurance to gain confidence in her paper and know which direction to take it in. 1) What are other similarities between therapists and writing consultants? 2) What should a consultant do if they feel like their client is losing confidence in their paper rather than gaining confidence during a session?

Commented on: Jillian’s Wall – 3/8/2010 Megan’s Wall- 3/8/2010

3-22-2010 There is a sheet in the writing center about comma usage. The other day it caught my eye and I decided to read it, because I often have trouble figuring out when to use commas. It turned out to be very useful, because shortly after I read it what I like to refer to as a “comma student” came in for a session. He was a very good writer who just wanted to go over his work with a fine tooth comb to double check for errors. He asked me at least five times if he needed a comma in whatever sentence he was on. I was able to answer most of these questions confidently but I had to refer back to the comma sheet handout twice just to make sure. He seemed happy about his paper when he left, and I gave him a comma sheet handout to refer to in his future writing. This experience points out the importance of not knowing every grammar rule but knowing where to look to find the answers to your or a clients grammar questions. There are many grammar sources in the Writing Center, and taking time to familiarize yourself with them may prove very beneficial. You can also refer to reliable grammar websites such as: http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/ or readings we have done in class such as Rafoth’s “Using Others’ Words: Quoting, Summarizing, and Documenting” or the blackboard readings we are doing for after spring break on grammar and citing sources. Also, when in doubt you can always ask other tutors in the Writing Center if they know the answer. 1) What do you think is the most useful grammar resource? 2) How much time do you spend getting to know the resources in the Writing Center?

3- 30-2010 I did not have any sessions today so I am going to look at a reading. I found the reading “Why is Grammar Important?” very helpful. Reading grammar questions that English teachers have and their answers is very helpful for writing center tutors because a central part of our job is to teach the English language to students. Therefore we have many of the same and similar questions. For example, one of the questions asks “what is the best way to approach teaching grammar.” The answer is to focus on a few major grammar points and to integrate grammar into the reading and writing they are doing. Both English teachers and writing center tutors can use this advice. We integrate grammar by applying it to student’s paper’s and to be most effective we should just focus on one or two major grammar issues that we see consistently coming up in a session. The ideas the article gives for exercises for teachers to give their students to improve grammar are useful. Some of these grammar improving exercises are combining sentences, recognizing parts of speech, recognizing phrases, finding subject and verb phrases, and substituting pronouns for subjects to check verb agreement. This article also touches on how English grammar is a large and complicated subject which almost no one knows completely by heart. The article affirms like other readings we have done that tutors, or teachers in this case, do not need to have all of the rules memorized but they should know where to find the answers. Of course grammar is just a lower level concern and upper level issues such as essay structure, following the assignment, and flow are more important to work on during sessions. 1) Why is grammar important? 2) Where should grammar come in on the spectrum of importance in a writing center session?

COMMENTS: In general, I believe that grammar should be, as it says on the sheets in the writing center, a 'lower order concern'. Even though the student may say they only want help on their grammar, most likely there will be larger concerns within the paper, such as having a solid thesis and clearly supporting it throughout the paper. However, if you notice that the poor grammar in hindering the ability to communicate an idea the way they want to communicate it than the grammar should be treated as a higher level concern. We should be especially wary of this in a session with an ESL student. Also, I know that some teachers take points off for bad grammar therefore in that situation grammar should also be important. Therefore, it really depends on the situation. - Jillian

4-5-2010 I like a lot of things about working at the writing center. My favorite thing is probably hearing about what other people are writing about. Every paper I have helped with contains some interesting aspect. There is always something new to learn about or a new perspective to see a subject through. I have learned about everything from religious and political freedoms, or the lack of them, in China, to goal plans on how to be healthier by eating right, and book reviews. This continual wealth of knowledge keeps me from becoming bored while tutoring. I also like teaching other Elon students something. In the Isabella Cannon Leadership program we are learning about the importance of creating a legacy to leave behind. By helping other students become better writers we are creating a powerful legacy. We are increasing the academic standing of Elon and Elon alumni entering the career world. This ability to improve the communities you live in is invaluable. I enjoy the laid back atmosphere of the Writing Center here at Elon. It is students helping students in the classic collaboration style that writing centers aim for. This also creates a community feel because we are all working together. This community of clients, ENG 319 students, and returning consultants all working together is what makes Elon’s writing center work. If the Writing Center was authoritarian it would not work because without the collaborative efforts of all writing center workers, students, and clients, no one would learn and the higher goal of becoming better writers would not be reached. 1) What is your favorite thing about the Writing Center? 2) Do you think the collaborative style of Elon’s Writing Center is integral to its success?

4/6/2010 I had a session today which reminded me of the importance of introduction and conclusion paragraphs. The majority of the session was spent on improving these two parts of my client’s paper. While doing this I realized that we have not done any readings which focus on introductions or conclusions in ENG 319. At this point, I am sure everyone in our class knows the importance of these parts of a paper but it could still be helpful to go over strategies for helping clients improve their thesis sentences and make stronger beginnings and closings in their papers. I have heard other tutors mention that they almost always have to work on improving introductions when doing sessions. A lot of times the thesis will not even make itself clear until the end of the essay. The first in class mock session we did gave us an example of a bad introduction and a thesis buried at the end of the paper. This helped prepare us for real sessions with these problems but it did not give us specific strategies to use for introduction and conclusion paragraphs. Therefore, I think a reading which focuses on how to teach clients to summarize the main points of their paper in a thesis sentence, and how to tie in important examples in their introductions and conclusions would be very useful. We have readings on everything from citations and grammar to emotional sessions and sessions with ESL students after all so why not tie in another aspect central to the writing process? 1) Do you typically have to help clients improve their introduction or conclusion paragraphs? 2) Do you think a reading with strategies for teaching clients how to write better introductions and conclusions would be helpful?

To answer your first question, I often have to help clients with introductions and conclusions. Introductions and conclusions are very hard to get. They are very different from the rest of a paper. Introductions have to have a thesis statement or argument and something to draw a reader in. Conclusions need to restate the thesis and other information without being repetitive. A mistake I see commonly with conclusions is a writer states that the conclusion is beginning. I’ve had clients who wrote, “In conclusion” to start off their final paragraph. I usually find there is someway, even if it is a small change, to improve a client’s introduction and conclusion.
 * Comments:**

I really like your idea of focusing more on introductions and conclusions. Those two topics are regular discussions in Writing Center sessions. Consultants should be aware of what teachers expect from an introduction and conclusion. Consultants, who know how to write good introductions and conclusions, might not have the best strategies for teaching those two topics. It would definitely be beneficial to have some readings on what makes a good introduction and conclusion and what strategies consultants can use to teach these two topics.
 * -Michael McFarland**

Kelly commented on: Emily’s Wall- 4/6/2010 Michael McFarland- 4/6/2010


 * Wiki 3**

April 13, 2010 After much brainstorming about legislation to arrest Joseph Kony and researching religious groups at Elon I decided on my topic. For my project I am researching the International Violence Against Women Act, or IVAWA. This act has just been reintroduced in Congress this year on February fourth. It has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for further review and a vote. The IVAWA was drafted in 2007 and was just introduced to Congress in 2009. However, this act did not come up to vote before Congress adjourned and therefore was not made law. I chose this option because it is something that I am passionate about and because I want to know more about it. I want to write an article to persuade people to contact their senators and try to get the IVAWA passed into law. I have not decided whether I want to write for a women’s magazine like Skirt! or if I want to write to an audience that includes men as well as women. The benefit of writing for a women’s magazine is that I will be more likely to inspire people to act. If I write for a different media outlet I will have to work harder to inspire my audience about my topic but my audience can be broadened to men and women. The difficulty with my topic is that I have to have my article published before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee votes on it and I have not been able to find out when that will be. So far I have five sources and most of them are news articles. 1) What audience do you think would be most effective for me to write to? Why? 2) What other sources could I use to make my research more well-rounded?

Kelly: I really like your project topic. I think it's great that you're focusing on a topic that both interests you and you want to learn more about! As far as your audience is concerned, I would continue planning on writing to Skirt! I think that if you feel you would have trouble making your argument that much stronger to write to both men and women, you should write to just a female audience first, for those really are the people that are going to be most affected by your words and passion for the subject. Additionally, you can always write to Skirt! first, and then focus on another form of publication that would reach both genders. As far as other sources, I don't know if you've considered interviews or not, but emailing those directly involved with your topic can provide useful, honest information about IVAWA, as well as provide you with clearly credible sources. Good luck! Emily Mooney

April 16, 2010 My research is going well I have found twelve sources. One of my sources is a letter from Senator Richard burr. This is very exciting for me because it really brings the International Violence Against Women Act to life. I sent an email to Richard Burr through a women’s rights organization called CARE a few weeks ago and he sent me a letter back. This letter is a good source because it defines the IVAWA, explains what process it is currently undergoing, and avoids coming out and agreeing to support the act in the way only a politician can. My other news sources have confirmed the information in Senator Burr’s letter so I think it is a reliable source. I also found the actual IVAWA itself. What could be a better source for a research project on an act than the act itself? It is forty-four pages long which is a little daunting but I believe it will make my research much stronger so I am going to use it. I am learning a lot of really interesting stuff about women’s rights. For example, did you know that according to the World Health Organization one of every three women worldwide are assaulted, coerced into sex, or abused during her lifetime? This is a staggering statistic and certainly shows justification for why I chose my topic. If this is not enough, I also found out that in some countries abuse rates reach seventy per cent. This proves the need for a law that protects women worldwide. IVAWA will provide legal protection, health care, economic opportunity, and education for women internationally. I know this is not a total solution but it is a step in the right direction. 1) What do you think about my topic so far? 2) What other information about the IVAWA would you like to have before you decide whether to contact your representative about it?


 * Comment from Megan:**

Kelly, I think you've chosen a great topic that hits close to home for many/most/all women. I can see from reading your posts that you're really getting into your research and your topic, and I'm glad this is something you seem to be so passionate about. Besides contacting our congressmen and women, is there anything you'd recommend that we do to help push the bill along? I can't wait to see your final product, even if you don't get it published before the bill goes before the committee!

April 19, 2010 Choosing an audience is still my biggest issue. I have not decided for sure who I want to write to. I am leaning toward Skirt! because its audience would be the most likely to contact their representative about the IVAWA. I also like that Skirt! is local, based in Charlotte. The calendar is helpful even though it is intimidating because I am supposed to be doing stuff for the Writing Center every day. Being able to visualize when things are due and where I am in my research helps me to manage my time though. I got behind during the week but I was able to do extra work and catch up over the weekend. Without the calendar I probably would not have put in extra time to do research for my WC project over the weekend. I have just started working on my bibliography. It is very important to remember to follow the right format. We have to summarize each source, assess the validity of each source, and reflect on how we can use each source. A couple of my sources are a little difficult to assess the validity of because I got them off of the internet and am not sure how accurate the particular site I got them from is. I may have to get some new sources that I know are reliable to replace them. I think I am going to try to find an article from a major newspaper like The New York Times or a youtube video from Fox or CNN because I know these would be reliable sources. 1) Do you know any other local women’s magazines that I could submit my article to? 2) How are you checking the validity of your sources? Can you suggest reliable sources I could use like The New York Times?

Hey Kelly! Choosing an audience is hard. I think that Ms. Magazine would be a good source to submit too - here's the webpage: []. I would check the validity of my sources by relating all of the information I found back to my most reliable source. For example, I am writing about animal rights; I found a valid source in PETA, so I have used PETA to check the validity of all of my other sources. Look for how sources either support or contradict each other, and this will help you with the credibility aspect. I hope that helps! - Kristin

4-27-2010 I really appreciate all of the feedback I have gotten so far. I think the ideas about trying to interview someone directly involved with the topic, and submitting my article to Ms. Magazine as well as Skirt! are great, and I will definitely try to follow through on both. As I read the argument reading that we have for tomorrow I realized that it was a perfect guideline for the article I am about to write. The purpose of my entire research project is to make a persuasive argument about IVAWA. If I do this well then hopefully it will be published and inspire people to take action to get IVAWA passed. Reading the argument assignment I started thinking of my article in terms of what type claim I am making, in this case I am making policy, value, and cause and effect claims. I also started thinking about how to narrow my thesis and make it debatable so that it is strong. The most useful part for me was probably the rhetorical strategies for persuasion. In order to be as persuasive as possible I have to appeal to people’s logos, ethos, and pathos. The list of logical fallacies is also a good tool for me to use just to make sure I do not make any mistakes in my argument. I will explain that by empowering women problems such as world poverty can be improved and even fixed to appeal to logos. For ethos I will explain how prevalent female abuse is to make people undeniably see that it is a problem (one in three women are abused at some point during their lifetime). Finally, I will give examples of abuse that all people should emotionally respond to. 1) What else could strengthen my argument? 2) Did you find the argument reading as helpful as I did? Can you use it for your project?

COMMENTS: I'm glad you found that reading useful. I also dedicated a post to the usefulness of that reading, in particular the segment about using evidence and research because I have been failing in the assessment aspect of my annotated bibliography. Therefore, yes, I can definately use that reading for my project. I also found the "Organizing Your Argument" part to be interesting, providing a great way to format points to ensure the strongest possible argument. I think that this sheet would be very good to have in the writing center. -Jillian

Comments on other posts: Emily’s wall 4-20-2010 Megan’s wall 4-28-2010