*This is Kevin* I'm still wondering if the dynamic of my group has to do with the way we chatted about random topics in the beginning or if it is just because we are all guys. I dunno, but this session went just as well, if not better, than the last ones.
I was a little concerned that 1.) I had only read one of the three assigned readings and 2.) I definitely don't have a good track record with sound prewriting techniques. But by the time I got to the class, I felt cool because I decided that it was a good thing that I wasn't familiar with the stories (that would keep me from directing the conversation too much) and I was impressed with how the clustering technique worked with the indian assignment in class. I figured it would work for us, so I decided to wing it and see what would happen.
All four guys came with me to the library so I could have a chalkboard to myself and I explained what the assignment was. Everyone read 2 of the 3 short stories, so we just dropped that third one. I wrote the title "Everyday Use" in the middle, then in each corner of the board, I wrote "Characters", "Society", "Symbols", and "Themes". My idea was the character section would be for the surface stuff, a way to get them warmed up by explaining the story and their opinions about the main character. Society was a way to get them to make some deeper assessments and associations by applying the characters to society. That is something that comes easily for anything because we may not know what to think about a character, but everyone has something to say about our society. I was going to move to symbols when they were going full gear and I ready to dig deep into the story and finally, we would finish with themes in order to really challenge them.
It turned out just like I hoped it would. One of the four guys didn't really grasp the story, so when I asked the others to refresh me and him on the story, it turned into a full blown coffee shop book of the month meeting. With a little steering, they touched on each subject and we filled the board up. It was really exciting to see them respond so deeply and genuinely to my questions and I was very careful to find the right word to apply to what they were trying to articulate without giving my opinion. For instance, they had a lot to say about how Dee was acting "fake as hell" when she came back home with her new man. So I suggested that what they were describing was an identity crisis and they readily agreed. Then I told them to help me decide where to place that term on the board and they debated for a while between the "theme" and "society" area. They ended up agreeing on "theme".
After everyone copied what was written, we moved onto "The Rich Brother". I took a deep breath and we got into. I had nothing to worry about, though. They were already going full speed and they dove right into the activity. It was a little different because I didn't know if they were on the right track with their opinions, so I just had to go with what sounded right. They all seemed to have a good grasp on the story, though so I felt comfortable. It was awesome to watch. At one point, they had a split decision about what to make of the rich brother. Two of the guys said that he wasn't a bad character because he got his money by working hard and his brother got poor because he was lazy and we shouldn't come down on the rich one because he didn't want to see his money be given away to some hitchhiker who could very well be a con-artist. The other two said that he was condescending to his brother and the hitchhiker and he seemed like he was too concerned about his money, while his poor brother concerned himself with people. Then I said that fiction stories are rarely written with the actual events being exactly what the author wants to talk about. There is a reason why we are talking about it in little Columbus, Georgia, so it has to mean something more...what do you think the author is saying? After a while, they applied the characters to more abstract thoughts. One of the guys who took the rich brother's side said that maybe people in society take so much interest in money and materialistic stuff that they forget the people around them. We put materialism under the society section.
After that we came back to "Everyday Use" and I could already see at least 5 potential papers, but the guys were a little slow to see them. But it was really cool to see them make the connection when we talked it out. I asked them which characters were alike from each story and a couple liked Dee to the rich brother, but one guy, one of the more analytical of the group, said that he saw Dee more as the poor brother. Before I could ask why, one of the guys asked, so I leaned back and listened. He said that the poor brother drifted around from place to place, even joining some weird farm cult before they kicked him out. He saw Dee going into college and forgetting where she came from and thinking that she had discovered herself when she met her boyfriend. I smiled and said, "Hmmm, that sounds familiar." Then one guy said, "Hey! I can see that. They are both having an identity crisis." Then I said, "Write that down."
We only got to talk about potential thesis statements for a little bit and only one had a decent one ready to go. He need to narrow it down a little, but I'm confident that he can when he sits down and works on it. I know everyone left with a lot of good ideas because they all came up with them and I'm was happy and surprised about how easily it unfolded. I thought about Emily's group from Hell and I found myself wanting to give them a try. But I shook that crazy thought out of my head quickly.
This session went really well for my group. I started by having the students write down a few of the pieces they read that interested them. I told them that if they wrote about literature they liked, they would be more likely to write better papers. Since this topic was SO broad, they had the opportunity to write about whatever literature they wanted...and the topics were endless. After the group had a few ideas on paper, I went through the first worksheet we did in P.W.C. last week. I first asked them about the assignment and the questions on the worksheet that related to the assignment. Since the students had no concrete assignment, only some suggested topics, we made a concrete assignment and clarified the assignment with the teacher. For example, we knew the paper was, in a broad sense, comparing or contrasting. But the students did not have any information about the length, number of works to use, etc. While getting a concrete assignment together, we were able to brainstorm as to how the students could organize their papers. In other words, how could the students make connections between the literature they had chosen for their papers. We got a really long list going, which later helped them focus in on a thesis. Some of the examples the students mentioned as far as connecting the literature were: themes, characters, common situations, common relationships, settings, and tone of voice of the speaker. I was really proud of their brainstorming during this part! We then continued the worksheet, discussing what the paper was and what sources were needed (ie research paper, personal reflections, etc.) It surprised me that the students took a long time to arrive at the answer that I was looking for...that this paper was primarily analytical, and would use at least two works but no other outside sources. Therefore, I was glad I addressed what seemed like an obvious question with the students. We went on with the worksheet, discussing significance of their topics, audience issues, etc. After completing these questions (I had the students write down all these answers as we discussed...I wanted them to have something concrete to refer to)we composed a model thesis together over one of the suggested topics. First I asked the students if they could tell me anything about thesis statements. We slowly came to the conclusion that a thesis should be in the introduction, mention the works you will be discussing, and contain your opinion about what the works are doing, or tell the reader the connection you made with the works...or both. We went over the "who is doing what, how, and why?" question commonly used to generate a good thesis. After we composed the thesis together, I gave the group time to narrow their topic choices down to one and attempt to form a thesis statement. I was pleasantly surprised with all of the thesis statements we shared at the end of the session...though some needed tweaking,each writer had a concrete statement and topic in mind by the end of the session.
I was a little apprehensive going in to this session because I have for the most part never used these nifty prewriting strategies. Yet again, the session proved to be not what I expected.
One big difference from last time was that five people were in my group: the original four, plus a new girl, “Claudia.” She wouldn’t talk at all until well into the session, and when she started, she was talking to the other students. Eventually she spoke directly to me, but it took a while. It was hard for me to gauge her writing abilities because of how taciturn she was. The division I observed the first time between my better writers (John and Sharyn) and those at a less-advanced level (Charlie and Sean) reappeared and Caudia fell in with the latter group. I don’t know if race could be part of it, but John and Sharyn are white and the others are either black or of mixed race. I guess it is as much of an inconclusive question as those wondering about the effects of gender in other groups.
Another big difference is that, this time, I did not do most of the talking. A big problem was that not all of the students had read all of the stories and poems (Ms. Williams listed several on the board besides the ones mentioned in the email). In fact, Claudia admitted only having read part of one of the stories (Everyday Use), and “falling asleep” in the middle of it. “But I read most of it,” she justified. These students were not at the point where circle diagrams and the like could be productive. John and Sharyn had read all but one of the stories, and just needed to review them a bit. I think John even read the one he missed during the session, because he included it in his tentative topic at the end. I don’t know how many Sean had read. I suggested listing key ideas, topics, themes, and relationships in each story or poem to the whole group as a good way of getting started, finding patterns, and identifying something that stands out to them that they might want to write about. I think they all tried it as we went along to some degree. John definitely was making a list. Sean seemed keen to note my advice, but I am unsure how well he will be able to incorporate it. Charlie also had not read much of the assigned material. Much of the session was spent with the students flipping through their books, reviewing or scanning the material, occasionally writing things down (I’m not quite sure what), and talking with each other about what they remembered from the stories. Sean said he knew what two poems he wanted to write about, and explained his choice as being motivated by the fact that those are the ones to which he most relates. I tried to explain (especially because of Ms. Williams statements about this sort of “personal essay” at the beginning of class) that he needed to use examples from the poems, not his own life, and analyze what he thinks the author or the characters believe, not what he believes himself. He seemed to have great difficulty with this concept. He had a strong inclination to use his own family as a reference point; I think he was drawn to “write what he knew.” Charlie and Claudia jumped in at this point, backing me up, but putting their admonishments a bit more brashly than I would have done. (“She [Ms. Williams] doesn’t care about your life” Claudia said, for example.) A jovial, teasing, atmosphere developed in their subgroup. I don’t know if it was a good thing (it got Claudia talking, and the students did much of my explaining for me), or not (fear of teasing may have caused Claudia and Sean not to say everything they might otherwise have done). Ultimately, they all had at least a general idea of what they wanted to write about, though the narrowness level of their foci varied. Claudia said she had a topic, but would not share it, probably because Charlie was teasingly asking her to do so. Nobody had a thesis statement.
Throughout, I remained smiling and pleasant, focusing on how to help them at the place where they were. But, the issue of their not reading the stories bugs me in a major way. This is probably about to become a rant; I just want you to know that I didn’t say any of the following in front of the students, and I tried hard not to think it during the session.
I simply do not understand why a person would bother paying for college if they are not going to do the work. I can understand procrastination; I can understand feeling overwhelmed midway through confusing material; I can understand honestly not knowing how to do what is required; I can even understand being overwhelmed by such time pressure, one reading falls by the wayside. I cannot understand how people in a literature class could simply decide not to read the material. These were short stories: not very long and not told in complicated language. Why do these people even want to come to college, since they obviously don’t want to contribute anything to it, or to allow it to contribute anything to them? Why did CSU let them in? Will CSU graduate them? How could they have graduated high school if these are their standards for acceptable behavior? I’ve stayed up all night while physically ill in order to do my homework because it is my duty, because this is what I signed up for when I entered college. Why do people pay for the privilege of taking up space in a classroom they don’t want to be in in the first place? I know my strong feelings are horrible things for a tutor, who is supposed to be nurturing and supportive, to be thinking. I decided not to censor them from this forum in the hope that I am not alone, and that there is some strategy I can apply to help me gain a more productive, less judgmental frame of mind. Dr. Lape, are there articles out there addressing my problem, written by tutors who felt the same way and overcame it? Have any senior tutors in our writing center successfully coped with this? I can understand the need to respect students of other religions and cultures. Has anyone figured out how to respect students whose lack of work ethic demonstrates that they do not respect their class, their teacher, their classmates, or the material itself?
*this is Kevin* Hey Jenny! I just wanted to hit on a couple of points that you made. I totally felt you throughout your experience, but I had a question. When you brought up the question of race, were you pondering the reason why the three non-white students were reluctant to talk or were you pondering your observation that the three non-white students were “less-advanced writers” than the other two because they are non-white? I read that section a bunch of times, but couldn’t really see what you meant. About the last part, I honestly feel you. I understand your frustration at having to guide the students down the river and they didn’t bring their paddles. But I think there is something that you are overlooking. When I look at you, I can see someone who cares deeply about her grades, who treats every subject with seriousness, and someone who takes pride in her work. But not everyone has the endurance that you possess. I am a professional writing major and I may as well have double majored in literature, having taken a boatload of those classes. I try (for the most part) my hardest in everything English-related and when I write something, I put as much effort as my normally lazy body can muster. But when it comes to Science and Math, I literally couldn’t care less. I like what I like and I hate what I hate and I hate those two subjects. For me, a C in those classes is gold. Try to think about it from their perspective. They are freshman. I will put money on the fact that less than 10% of them know what they want to do with their college careers and I will double that bet and dare you to find 5 of them that want to continue on in more English classes. I LOVE English and there have been quite a few assignments that I’ve brushed off. Your strong feelings are NOT horrible for a tutor; they are the reason why you were selected to become one. We are all over-achievers in some way. Why else would be have been chosen to help other students? Your feelings should reaffirm your presence in the class for Dr. Lape. But please don’t assume that because a person doesn’t have your will power or desire in English that they are shunning their gift to be in college. Everyone (except you, apparently) has had some class that they just had to endure or coast through. “Why would CSU let them in?” LOL have you seen their admission policy?! All jokes aside, yes, we could all take our duty as college students a little more seriously. God knows that I’ve heard it enough from my parents and fiancée. But just because a student doesn’t really want to read “Everyday Use” doesn’t mean that they don’t really want to pass Anatomy and Physiology to earn that Nursing degree or pass Trigonometry and get that Accounting degree.
Thanks for your perspective, Kevin! Actually, I have had classes I didn't particularly enjoy, but I still put a lot of effort into them. Sorry for not being clear on my race question. What I meant to say was that I wonder why the two groups formed themselves as they did and were hesitant to talk to each other; as far as I know, they could have been congregating to others they saw as like themselves in terms of either race or skill. I was trying to decide whether the students were less comfortable talking to their peers of another race, or if the skill-difference was the splitting factor. If I could figure out why they weren't talking to each other much, maybe I could help bridge the gap next time.
You offer a helpful way of thinking about this. I'll try harder in the future to give students the benefit of the doubt, to assume that they care about and try hard in other settings.
Yeah I was gonna suggest that theory, but I decided to wait for your response. I kinda agree with you. Actually, I'm sad to say that I've noticed that trend among young students, to only engage in conversation beyond the minimum with students of their same race. It's a very high school way of acting and I think that it ends up mattering less and less to them when they get older, you know? I wouldn't take it as a slight, it's just a matter of comfort, you know? On the other hand, your suggestion that they could be congregating with students of their same level could be correct, too. I think it might be a mix. Or they could just not want to talk to people who aren't of their race and then you are just stuck, lol.
Even though, it's a little late, maybe next time you can come up with some sort of trust building activity that requires a partner and you could pair up people of both groups. You know what? It sucks that we are talking about this now, but how about this? You pair them up like I said and play a sort literary Taboo game? You know that game where you have to get your partner to guess a word but they can't say certain taboo words? So if the category was Everyday Use and I had to get you to guess the word pretentious, I would say stuff about Dee, avoid the pre-chosen words...I dunno I'll explain that more in class, lol. I know we aren't teachers and whatnot, but I think it's important to have a trusting environment. The point is that it probably wouldn't be the deepest analysis for the works, but I guarantee you that they would bond at some level and be way more open to talk in the future. But like I said, it probably should have been done in the very beginning for you to enjoy the benefits.
It really sucks that they didn't read the material and it sucks even more that some are reluctant to talk to the others. But this adds to your experience and give you some character. When I had problems that took me time to realize, my grandpa always told me "Ahora usted sabe" which means "Now you know". So ahora usted sabe that group dynamics are just as important as talking about the thesis statements, so you will be able to address it before it becomes uncomfortable, you know? Well I'm done rambling. See you in class!
I must admit that I felt pretty confident about this session (in the beginning). Dr. Lape informed us about the plan for the day, and I knew exactly what to expect. I usually do quite well in the prewriting stage by making lists, diagrams, etc. On top of that, our class discussed several techniques on the handout and we did the “Indian” activity. So when I heard that we were to help them generate ideas, I thought that this session would be rewarding and productive.
Ms. Williams gave a handout about the assignment with a list of topics to help them generate ideas. I began by asking them what works or poems they enjoyed because sometimes it is much easier to write about something that you enjoyed reading or something that was interesting to you. One student immediately admitted that he had not read much of the material, and another student agreed with him. At this point I realized that the first two students (the two males) were not really prepared for a thorough discussion of the material. The female seemed to have more knowledge about the works and poems they read. She talked frequently, but this conversation was mainly between the two of us. The males seemed uninterested in any kind of discussion. She told me about her plans for the paper, and she started writing down some of her ideas. Meanwhile, one of the males was just sitting there doing nothing. He had a possible topic on his paper, but could not answer any of my leading questions because he had not read one of the works. The other male was just flipping through his book the entire time, trying to find out what he wanted to write about. I asked them to make a list of how the works or poems are related. The female wanted to write about parent child relationships, but then switched her topic to love and marriage. One of the males wanted to write about sibling relationships. The third student was still flipping through the book because he had no ideas whatsoever. At the end of the session, the female had a topic and a few points written, while one of the males had a topic and fewer points written. The third student did not have anything, not even two possible poems or works. He had one poem that he was thinking about using.
Needless to say, I left the class feeling like I did not help them at all. They did not even have a clear thesis statement, which was the ultimate goal. Dr. Lape made me feel better in class by reminding me that they were simply unprepared. I also think that they were just not in the mood and uninterested in the assignment. They would not say anything unless I asked them a question, and the answers were very short with no details. The second session went well, so I know that they are capable of a productive discussion. Maybe it just wasn’t a good day for them. Hopefully things will be better next time when they have a draft of the paper to share with the group.
For this next Writing Fellow’s excursion, I felt pretty prepared for the trial at hand. I had studied the handout that was given in class about pre-writing, so I felt good about having to explain it to the 1102 students. When I arrived, I found out that one of my group members had been changed, or rather, swaped with another member of the class. This time, I had a male member in my group. This added another dimension to the group discussion. It was enhanced by a male perspective! The assigment that was to be discussed was completely open-ended by preference of the students. The way I tackled this was having each member of my group think of a theme that they would like to focus on in their writing (i.e. family, love, parenting, school, etc). Two members chose love, and two members chose family. From there I asked each member to think (or browse through their literature books) and find at lease two items of literature in which to compare or contrast based on their common theme (family or love). This took some time, as most of the students in my group kept changing their minds. But, when their choices were solidified, I then asked the group if they felt comfortable with a free writing excercise based on their two (or three) literature selections. The group, surprisingly, felt excited by this. It gave them time to think through (writing) their topic and subconsiously write down a few angles by which they would like to tackle their topics. After this, I asked the members to share their ideas. They duiscussed among themselves their individual topics and the angles they had come up with through the free-writing excercise. I then asked each member to list a few key terms or phrases that could be applied to their topic. This was a fairly quick excersize. The students got a hang of this excersize and then asked if they could sort through their short stories or poems to find more quotes for their “topic” analysis. I was thrilled to hear this and said “Of course!” I then explained that having angles and points of arguments for their topic was a natural way of distinguishing topic points within a paper. So, by the end of the class period each of my group members had a topic, an angle by which to argue their topic, and a few key points of analysis. I was thrilled with the results of this Writing Fellow assignment. I felt like the writers in my group are getting the hang of the writing process by exploring the process together! –And a little with my guidance!
After the last session, I wasn’t sure how to feel coming to this one. I was somewhat relieved to hear that we were prewriting instead of reading drafts again. It’s a different activity and experience with another part of the writing process that I was glad to practice. Before class started, Ms. Williams gave us, the writing fellows, a sheet with themes to help facilitate conversation if needed. I decided to keep the paper to myself at first because I wanted the group to talk and think of their own ideas, instead of simply handing them the sheet and say pick one. Again, I had four people. Corbin, Nanette and Piera were from the original group. Talia was a new addition. Somehow, I think it helped the comfort level that the three girls seemed to be friends and Corbin sat beside them normally during class. Having some acquaintance allowed them to be open and willing to say ideas and pose questions to each other. Unfortunately, most of the students only partially read the stories. The beginning of the class was spent asking basic questions like “What is a comparison essay?” and “May I use both a poem and a short story?” Nanette began to finish one of the stories, while Piera and Talia figured out common themes between the stories. Corbin began to write down his own ideas and spoke up if he had a question or to present his own opinion on the conversation. On their own, the girls decided the theme between most of the works was family relationships. They began to discuss the sibling rivalry of one story, “The Rich Brother”. Nanette soon finished reading and joined the conversation. They all came up with ideas as to why the brothers were different and other topics to possibly write about in their papers. I didn’t want them to focus solely on one story since they needed ideas for a comparison paper. I asked them to talk about a different story that they found interesting and could connect to the other one. They continued with the short story, “Everyday Use.” After discussing the story, I asked them what similarities or differences they could draw between the two stories. They talked about sibling rivalry and the relationships between parents and children. I was pleased that they found their own ideas without using the sheet. I want to think the time spent was useful, since they talked about the stories and wrote down ideas that they could write about. One worry is that they will all write about the same thing, since we focused on only two stories. When the students, who haven’t read, finish reading, I think they will develop more specific topics, modeled after the ideas they wrote down.
This past session was a great experience for me. Also, I feel like the group welcomed the change of group members. I noticed that the intermixing of gender allowed for a healthier competition like setting for the once quiet males and the females enjoyed the joking nature of our already developed group. So, no trust bonds were broken in the dissection. The format I used in this session was to start brain storming within a web diagram. It was at the favored opinion of the group that we use this specific type of visual resource. So, the group discussed how to start the brainstorming process almost formulaicly deciding to put the various works in larger circles and branching from there. While the group work silently on their own diagram I went around and asked each person to discuss their ideas out loud. We did this three or four times which really became a great way to see their ideas develop. Also by doing this on paper they had ideas to take home and begin their paper with.
The only negative words about this session would be the lack of preparation by the students. Many were unable to think of stories from their text because they had not read the whole semester. Yet, they discussed the stories together and allowed themselves to gain an understanding of the stories and what they might like to write on.
This session went pretty well. I still only had the same two girls in my group, so we were all pretty comfortable and familiar with each other. However, they did feel a little like they were being "ganged up on" since I knew about the topic previously and they did not. I guess they just felt like they din't have time to prepare as they would for a normal writing fellows session. Since they had not even started the writing process, I asked them to go throught the stories/poems they had read and pick out a few that interested them. This took quite a while, because they had not read most of them in the first place. I spent alot of time asking them about the stories to try to get them to formulate some commonalities between them. After the girls had chosen a few stories they enjoyed, I asked them to write each name down in the form of a web diagram. They did a very good job of helping each other out in remembering the details of the stories. One of the students is a little more advanced, and she explained alot of things to the other student about what kinds of things they could compare. At the end of the session, they had both chosen two concrete stories to compare; they had full pages of ideas that they could use to start writing their papers.
so apparently mrs. flournoy did not get the memo because she switched us again so i had Tameka's original group. i guess the good part was that i got to sit with a new group. and they needed very little directiveness. they were all on point, they did not go off on tangents, they were all comfortable wit their topics and thesis statements. they had to do research for this paper. they had some questions about sources. one girl felt like she was being redundant, one boy started over last night so he did not have a lot to go on, but he had a good idea of what he wanted to do. they had to take a current issue and connect it to a short story and use sources to support their argument. they all had really interesting topics, and i was very impressed at how organized and put-together they all were. i had two girls and one boy in my group. the paper is due in a week, and they were pretty much where they needed to be. i told them about the writing center, and they seemed pretty interested in the hours and the procedure.
this was my easiest session. mrs. flournoy wanted us to talk about clear arguments in the thesis statements, good sources, and including sources in the paper. we had a loose, informal discussion for most of the session. they would talk to each other and give each other advice. i really liked that. also, i had them all read out loud and i tried to give them more one-on-one advice, specific to their paper. although, almost all i ended up saying applied to all of them, not they were having a lot of problems. it's just that they had similar issues, or had the potential to have the same issue as someone else. so i wanted to make a point that they all heard all the advice that was said, not just from me but from all of them.
it was my easiest session, and i do not complain about the group i got. she did let us pick which groups, unlike last time when she assigned us. still, i would have liked to have established a deeper rapport with my original group instead of these minor connections with three different groups...but there's nothing to be done about it now and i did learn a lot.
overall, i need to learn to think on my feet faster. juggling three, four, five people at once is really hard. this group made it easier because i was just guiding the conversation. they ran the show for the most part. i am always conscious of being too directive, so i try to ask a lot of leading questions. that is something i will certainly have to work on as i progress.
Mrs. Flournoy switched our peer review groups AGAIN!! It really isn’t dramatic as I just made it sound. She apparently thinks that as long as the student groups stay together, then switching the writing fellows is okay. Anyway, I digress; I had a group of four girls and one boy.
They said that their assignment was to use a piece of literature as a spring board to talk about a social issue that they had researched. They said that the literature should not be used throughout the paper, but rather, the issue should be the backbone of the paper.
Mrs. Flournoy wrote some notes on the board to tell us what to specifically work on in the groups. She wanted us to work on: 1). Making a conclusion about your topic – in your thesis. 2) Supporting your argument well with credible sources. 3). Integrating outside sources smoothly in your paper.
I asked them if they wanted to read their papers aloud or silently. They stated that it did not matter to them. The first writer had provided sufficient copies for everyone to read his paper together. I said that since he had enough copies, we could all just read his paper silently. Though I had the students introduce themselves in the beginning, I did not pick up on the first writer’s foreign accent. While reading his paper, I discovered that he was an ESL student. He apologized up front about the grammatical errors in his paper. I noticed that his paper had good organization and thought development. It just had those typical grammatical problems for ESL students that were mentioned in the film we watched. After everyone was done reading his paper and making comments, I asked what people would suggest for his paper. He stated that he would like to make his introduction more interesting. One student stated that he should probably use more quotes from the story in order to back up his point. I agreed with this writer and stated that maybe he could use some specific details from the story in his introduction and show how they relate to the issue he had researched. I also suggested that he use the quote sandwich (telling why the quote is important, quoting, and then writing what you think the quote said) to more smoothly introduce his quotes into the paper. The only feedback that this writer received from his peers was to tell him about some innocuous grammar mistakes that he had made. I tried to remind them what we were supposed to be concentrating on in analyzing the papers.
I further told him that the grammatical errors in his paper were a quick fix and that I could mark them if he wanted me to. I was nervous to do this, though, because I did not want him to get writing anxiety because of the marking of tons of errors. He let me know that it was okay if I marked them on his paper.
I told them that we could come back to his paper, as we were running out of time. The second writer had a fairly good paper. It was well-organized and lacked really any major errors. However, she had not included her researched material into the paper yet. She stated that most of her material was going from one or two sources. From the way she described it, it seemed like her research was going to form the backbone of her paper. I was a little concerned that once she did that her paper might have too much quoted material in it, but I could not tell for sure as she had not included this material yet.
The third writer also had a fairly well-organized and researched essay. She seemed to be a little resistant to feedback, but she had questions as to how she should cite some of her sources. I got the feeling that she considered herself to be an adequate writer and did not want any feedback from others. However, this really was not a problem as most of the students were not giving feedback anyway. They were simply saying, “That’s good,” or “I like that.” I tried to give them questions throughout to really make them look analytically at the papers. The last writer also had a well-developed paper, and it was easy to follow, even with her reading it aloud. I found that even I did not have a lot to say as far as feedback for many of these papers. They were really good papers.
After they were finished reading the papers aloud, I had them switch papers and read them individually so as to see if they would look more analytically at the paper one on one than they had when listening to them being read aloud.
They still did not make very many constructive comments.
I was very pleased with my last experience with Writing Fellows in Ms. Flournoy’s class. I felt so much more confident and capable in my abilities, and I felt I was able to make an impact on my peers as they had a positive impact on me.
I had three boys and one girl in my group. Everyone was pleasant and seemed eager to participate regardless of the time of the morning. Unlike my first session, where I went along with everyone’s request to read the papers quietly, I had each group member read his/her paper aloud and then provide feedback along with me. The papers were focused around arguments, and I became very interested in the topics presented in the discussion. In all actuality, there was little need for drastic revision in any of the papers. Mostly, I spent time encouraging my group members support their positions on their arguments with specific, relevant reasoning. Everyone had a few technical errors, but I explained that the nitty-gritty editing could be saved for later.
In a nutshell, everything turned out better than I could have ever imagined, and I am very thankful that I paid close attention in the hours I observed. I am also extremely glad that I went to go get tutored at the writing center for a speech that I had to write. In getting help with my paper, I not only obtained new ideas for my writing process, but I was also able to get a better idea of how to tutor, and how conduct a Writing Fellows session. Yesterday’s session was the last one, and I was thrilled that it turned out productive for my group members as well as for me.
To start it off the group I had was made up of two young ladies. Apparently a few were absent, but due to the size I’d have to say or discussions were a bit more in depth. I had never read any of the stories they were covering though the assignment was more so about finding one particular story and relating it to current events.
The way our study group worked seemed almost comical as one of the girls whom I’ll name Peep ended up helping the other girl, Red, with her paper a lot. I started off with basic introductions though the two girls were well acquainted with each other. I had a tough time getting them organized believe it or not because they both wanted the other one to read first. In the end I just asked Red to read first since she had a topic she was not planning to change. Her topic was all about domestic violence, specifically against women. At first I asked her if she knew where her thesis was and she could not reply, but Peep immediately directed our attention to the last sentence in the second paragraph. It was an awkward assignment to say the least since apparently Ms. Flournoy wanted the thesis in the second paragraph. After that we began going over the paper seeing if each paragraph consistently matched with the thesis. Overall the paper had little wrong though Red had apparently already revised previously and if anything was way ahead of the game. I briefly went over transition sentences with her though since the flow was a little choppy. Again, Peep helped out a lot as she began making suggestions on quote length, and gave good examples from her own paper on what a good transition sentence could look like. For a while I began to thin I wasn’t needed which was fine since that’s kind of what is supposed to happen, but once we got to Peep’s own paper things changed.
Peep wanted to change her paper completely even though she only had two days left to do so. I told her I did not doubt her abilities to do so, but I made sure she was serious since the due date was coming up. Again, I had Peep read her paper aloud to see what all the hubbub was about and could tell immediately she was not all too enthusiastic about her topic. She had chosen increasing violence in society which was somewhat a broader version of Red’s own paper. The biggest problem was narrowing her thesis for she used a lot of historical events to describe the increasing violence such as the Columbine Shooting. I told her it went from one extreme side of the spectrum to another for starters because before that she talked about bullies at school. In the end she had her mind set ad wished to talk about the economic stimulus plan instead.
I changed my strategies for this to help her create a thesis and a basic outline. I began asking the girls what they believed in the stimulus would help the economy since Peep wanted to focus on the positives. We began making a list of ideas and benefits. Once we got a few specifics I began asking about those as well so when she added them as body paragraphs she would already have a few sentences worked out for each topic. I made sure to steer Peep away from a thesis with three points in it of course. She was also full of questions which was very helpful at the time. She wanted to incorporate a sense of hope with the topics. For that I suggested that it wasn’t just stimulating people’s wallets, but there hearts as well which I than told them to shoot me for that corny line. Oddly enough, they thought it was something worth going further into. We than discussed possible interviews with how the stimulus made people feel, and not just what it was doing for the economy.
All in all we developed a decent outline, and she had a good idea by the end of it of what her thesis might be. Red, of course, was doing just fine, and overall it was a productive session. Though looking back on it now Peep’s questions may have tricked me into giving a few ideas. The sad thing is they found me to be a better tutor for it stating as such. Makes me wonder, and it’s even what I might write about for the final assignment…..what do students think makes a good writing tutor?
*This is Kevin*
ReplyDeleteI'm still wondering if the dynamic of my group has to do with the way we chatted about random topics in the beginning or if it is just because we are all guys. I dunno, but this session went just as well, if not better, than the last ones.
I was a little concerned that 1.) I had only read one of the three assigned readings and 2.) I definitely don't have a good track record with sound prewriting techniques. But by the time I got to the class, I felt cool because I decided that it was a good thing that I wasn't familiar with the stories (that would keep me from directing the conversation too much) and I was impressed with how the clustering technique worked with the indian assignment in class. I figured it would work for us, so I decided to wing it and see what would happen.
All four guys came with me to the library so I could have a chalkboard to myself and I explained what the assignment was. Everyone read 2 of the 3 short stories, so we just dropped that third one. I wrote the title "Everyday Use" in the middle, then in each corner of the board, I wrote "Characters", "Society", "Symbols", and "Themes". My idea was the character section would be for the surface stuff, a way to get them warmed up by explaining the story and their opinions about the main character. Society was a way to get them to make some deeper assessments and associations by applying the characters to society. That is something that comes easily for anything because we may not know what to think about a character, but everyone has something to say about our society. I was going to move to symbols when they were going full gear and I ready to dig deep into the story and finally, we would finish with themes in order to really challenge them.
It turned out just like I hoped it would. One of the four guys didn't really grasp the story, so when I asked the others to refresh me and him on the story, it turned into a full blown coffee shop book of the month meeting. With a little steering, they touched on each subject and we filled the board up. It was really exciting to see them respond so deeply and genuinely to my questions and I was very careful to find the right word to apply to what they were trying to articulate without giving my opinion. For instance, they had a lot to say about how Dee was acting "fake as hell" when she came back home with her new man. So I suggested that what they were describing was an identity crisis and they readily agreed. Then I told them to help me decide where to place that term on the board and they debated for a while between the "theme" and "society" area. They ended up agreeing on "theme".
After everyone copied what was written, we moved onto "The Rich Brother". I took a deep breath and we got into. I had nothing to worry about, though. They were already going full speed and they dove right into the activity. It was a little different because I didn't know if they were on the right track with their opinions, so I just had to go with what sounded right. They all seemed to have a good grasp on the story, though so I felt comfortable. It was awesome to watch. At one point, they had a split decision about what to make of the rich brother. Two of the guys said that he wasn't a bad character because he got his money by working hard and his brother got poor because he was lazy and we shouldn't come down on the rich one because he didn't want to see his money be given away to some hitchhiker who could very well be a con-artist. The other two said that he was condescending to his brother and the hitchhiker and he seemed like he was too concerned about his money, while his poor brother concerned himself with people. Then I said that fiction stories are rarely written with the actual events being exactly what the author wants to talk about. There is a reason why we are talking about it in little Columbus, Georgia, so it has to mean something more...what do you think the author is saying? After a while, they applied the characters to more abstract thoughts. One of the guys who took the rich brother's side said that maybe people in society take so much interest in money and materialistic stuff that they forget the people around them. We put materialism under the society section.
After that we came back to "Everyday Use" and I could already see at least 5 potential papers, but the guys were a little slow to see them. But it was really cool to see them make the connection when we talked it out. I asked them which characters were alike from each story and a couple liked Dee to the rich brother, but one guy, one of the more analytical of the group, said that he saw Dee more as the poor brother. Before I could ask why, one of the guys asked, so I leaned back and listened. He said that the poor brother drifted around from place to place, even joining some weird farm cult before they kicked him out. He saw Dee going into college and forgetting where she came from and thinking that she had discovered herself when she met her boyfriend. I smiled and said, "Hmmm, that sounds familiar." Then one guy said, "Hey! I can see that. They are both having an identity crisis." Then I said, "Write that down."
We only got to talk about potential thesis statements for a little bit and only one had a decent one ready to go. He need to narrow it down a little, but I'm confident that he can when he sits down and works on it. I know everyone left with a lot of good ideas because they all came up with them and I'm was happy and surprised about how easily it unfolded. I thought about Emily's group from Hell and I found myself wanting to give them a try. But I shook that crazy thought out of my head quickly.
This session went really well for my group. I started by having the students write down a few of the pieces they read that interested them. I told them that if they wrote about literature they liked, they would be more likely to write better papers. Since this topic was SO broad, they had the opportunity to write about whatever literature they wanted...and the topics were endless.
ReplyDeleteAfter the group had a few ideas on paper, I went through the first worksheet we did in P.W.C. last week.
I first asked them about the assignment and the questions on the worksheet that related to the assignment. Since the students had no concrete assignment, only some suggested topics, we made a concrete assignment and clarified the assignment with the teacher. For example, we knew the paper was, in a broad sense, comparing or contrasting. But the students did not have any information about the length, number of works to use, etc.
While getting a concrete assignment together, we were able to brainstorm as to how the students could organize their papers. In other words, how could the students make connections between the literature they had chosen for their papers. We got a really long list going, which later helped them focus in on a thesis. Some of the examples the students mentioned as far as connecting the literature were: themes, characters, common situations, common relationships, settings, and tone of voice of the speaker. I was really proud of their brainstorming during this part!
We then continued the worksheet, discussing what the paper was and what sources were needed (ie research paper, personal reflections, etc.) It surprised me that the students took a long time to arrive at the answer that I was looking for...that this paper was primarily analytical, and would use at least two works but no other outside sources. Therefore, I was glad I addressed what seemed like an obvious question with the students.
We went on with the worksheet, discussing significance of their topics, audience issues, etc.
After completing these questions (I had the students write down all these answers as we discussed...I wanted them to have something concrete to refer to)we composed a model thesis together over one of the suggested topics.
First I asked the students if they could tell me anything about thesis statements. We slowly came to the conclusion that a thesis should be in the introduction, mention the works you will be discussing, and contain your opinion about what the works are doing, or tell the reader the connection you made with the works...or both. We went over the "who is doing what, how, and why?" question commonly used to generate a good thesis.
After we composed the thesis together, I gave the group time to narrow their topic choices down to one and attempt to form a thesis statement. I was pleasantly surprised with all of the thesis statements we shared at the end of the session...though some needed tweaking,each writer had a concrete statement and topic in mind by the end of the session.
I was a little apprehensive going in to this session because I have for the most part never used these nifty prewriting strategies. Yet again, the session proved to be not what I expected.
ReplyDeleteOne big difference from last time was that five people were in my group: the original four, plus a new girl, “Claudia.” She wouldn’t talk at all until well into the session, and when she started, she was talking to the other students. Eventually she spoke directly to me, but it took a while. It was hard for me to gauge her writing abilities because of how taciturn she was. The division I observed the first time between my better writers (John and Sharyn) and those at a less-advanced level (Charlie and Sean) reappeared and Caudia fell in with the latter group. I don’t know if race could be part of it, but John and Sharyn are white and the others are either black or of mixed race. I guess it is as much of an inconclusive question as those wondering about the effects of gender in other groups.
Another big difference is that, this time, I did not do most of the talking. A big problem was that not all of the students had read all of the stories and poems (Ms. Williams listed several on the board besides the ones mentioned in the email). In fact, Claudia admitted only having read part of one of the stories (Everyday Use), and “falling asleep” in the middle of it. “But I read most of it,” she justified. These students were not at the point where circle diagrams and the like could be productive. John and Sharyn had read all but one of the stories, and just needed to review them a bit. I think John even read the one he missed during the session, because he included it in his tentative topic at the end. I don’t know how many Sean had read. I suggested listing key ideas, topics, themes, and relationships in each story or poem to the whole group as a good way of getting started, finding patterns, and identifying something that stands out to them that they might want to write about. I think they all tried it as we went along to some degree. John definitely was making a list. Sean seemed keen to note my advice, but I am unsure how well he will be able to incorporate it. Charlie also had not read much of the assigned material. Much of the session was spent with the students flipping through their books, reviewing or scanning the material, occasionally writing things down (I’m not quite sure what), and talking with each other about what they remembered from the stories. Sean said he knew what two poems he wanted to write about, and explained his choice as being motivated by the fact that those are the ones to which he most relates. I tried to explain (especially because of Ms. Williams statements about this sort of “personal essay” at the beginning of class) that he needed to use examples from the poems, not his own life, and analyze what he thinks the author or the characters believe, not what he believes himself. He seemed to have great difficulty with this concept. He had a strong inclination to use his own family as a reference point; I think he was drawn to “write what he knew.” Charlie and Claudia jumped in at this point, backing me up, but putting their admonishments a bit more brashly than I would have done. (“She [Ms. Williams] doesn’t care about your life” Claudia said, for example.) A jovial, teasing, atmosphere developed in their subgroup. I don’t know if it was a good thing (it got Claudia talking, and the students did much of my explaining for me), or not (fear of teasing may have caused Claudia and Sean not to say everything they might otherwise have done). Ultimately, they all had at least a general idea of what they wanted to write about, though the narrowness level of their foci varied. Claudia said she had a topic, but would not share it, probably because Charlie was teasingly asking her to do so. Nobody had a thesis statement.
Throughout, I remained smiling and pleasant, focusing on how to help them at the place where they were. But, the issue of their not reading the stories bugs me in a major way. This is probably about to become a rant; I just want you to know that I didn’t say any of the following in front of the students, and I tried hard not to think it during the session.
I simply do not understand why a person would bother paying for college if they are not going to do the work. I can understand procrastination; I can understand feeling overwhelmed midway through confusing material; I can understand honestly not knowing how to do what is required; I can even understand being overwhelmed by such time pressure, one reading falls by the wayside. I cannot understand how people in a literature class could simply decide not to read the material. These were short stories: not very long and not told in complicated language. Why do these people even want to come to college, since they obviously don’t want to contribute anything to it, or to allow it to contribute anything to them? Why did CSU let them in? Will CSU graduate them? How could they have graduated high school if these are their standards for acceptable behavior? I’ve stayed up all night while physically ill in order to do my homework because it is my duty, because this is what I signed up for when I entered college. Why do people pay for the privilege of taking up space in a classroom they don’t want to be in in the first place? I know my strong feelings are horrible things for a tutor, who is supposed to be nurturing and supportive, to be thinking. I decided not to censor them from this forum in the hope that I am not alone, and that there is some strategy I can apply to help me gain a more productive, less judgmental frame of mind. Dr. Lape, are there articles out there addressing my problem, written by tutors who felt the same way and overcame it? Have any senior tutors in our writing center successfully coped with this? I can understand the need to respect students of other religions and cultures. Has anyone figured out how to respect students whose lack of work ethic demonstrates that they do not respect their class, their teacher, their classmates, or the material itself?
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ReplyDelete*this is Kevin*
ReplyDeleteHey Jenny! I just wanted to hit on a couple of points that you made. I totally felt you throughout your experience, but I had a question. When you brought up the question of race, were you pondering the reason why the three non-white students were reluctant to talk or were you pondering your observation that the three non-white students were “less-advanced writers” than the other two because they are non-white? I read that section a bunch of times, but couldn’t really see what you meant.
About the last part, I honestly feel you. I understand your frustration at having to guide the students down the river and they didn’t bring their paddles. But I think there is something that you are overlooking. When I look at you, I can see someone who cares deeply about her grades, who treats every subject with seriousness, and someone who takes pride in her work. But not everyone has the endurance that you possess. I am a professional writing major and I may as well have double majored in literature, having taken a boatload of those classes. I try (for the most part) my hardest in everything English-related and when I write something, I put as much effort as my normally lazy body can muster. But when it comes to Science and Math, I literally couldn’t care less. I like what I like and I hate what I hate and I hate those two subjects. For me, a C in those classes is gold. Try to think about it from their perspective. They are freshman. I will put money on the fact that less than 10% of them know what they want to do with their college careers and I will double that bet and dare you to find 5 of them that want to continue on in more English classes. I LOVE English and there have been quite a few assignments that I’ve brushed off. Your strong feelings are NOT horrible for a tutor; they are the reason why you were selected to become one. We are all over-achievers in some way. Why else would be have been chosen to help other students? Your feelings should reaffirm your presence in the class for Dr. Lape. But please don’t assume that because a person doesn’t have your will power or desire in English that they are shunning their gift to be in college. Everyone (except you, apparently) has had some class that they just had to endure or coast through. “Why would CSU let them in?” LOL have you seen their admission policy?! All jokes aside, yes, we could all take our duty as college students a little more seriously. God knows that I’ve heard it enough from my parents and fiancée. But just because a student doesn’t really want to read “Everyday Use” doesn’t mean that they don’t really want to pass Anatomy and Physiology to earn that Nursing degree or pass Trigonometry and get that Accounting degree.
Thanks for your perspective, Kevin! Actually, I have had classes I didn't particularly enjoy, but I still put a lot of effort into them. Sorry for not being clear on my race question. What I meant to say was that I wonder why the two groups formed themselves as they did and were hesitant to talk to each other; as far as I know, they could have been congregating to others they saw as like themselves in terms of either race or skill. I was trying to decide whether the students were less comfortable talking to their peers of another race, or if the skill-difference was the splitting factor. If I could figure out why they weren't talking to each other much, maybe I could help bridge the gap next time.
ReplyDeleteYou offer a helpful way of thinking about this. I'll try harder in the future to give students the benefit of the doubt, to assume that they care about and try hard in other settings.
Yeah I was gonna suggest that theory, but I decided to wait for your response. I kinda agree with you. Actually, I'm sad to say that I've noticed that trend among young students, to only engage in conversation beyond the minimum with students of their same race. It's a very high school way of acting and I think that it ends up mattering less and less to them when they get older, you know? I wouldn't take it as a slight, it's just a matter of comfort, you know? On the other hand, your suggestion that they could be congregating with students of their same level could be correct, too. I think it might be a mix. Or they could just not want to talk to people who aren't of their race and then you are just stuck, lol.
ReplyDeleteEven though, it's a little late, maybe next time you can come up with some sort of trust building activity that requires a partner and you could pair up people of both groups. You know what? It sucks that we are talking about this now, but how about this? You pair them up like I said and play a sort literary Taboo game? You know that game where you have to get your partner to guess a word but they can't say certain taboo words? So if the category was Everyday Use and I had to get you to guess the word pretentious, I would say stuff about Dee, avoid the pre-chosen words...I dunno I'll explain that more in class, lol. I know we aren't teachers and whatnot, but I think it's important to have a trusting environment. The point is that it probably wouldn't be the deepest analysis for the works, but I guarantee you that they would bond at some level and be way more open to talk in the future. But like I said, it probably should have been done in the very beginning for you to enjoy the benefits.
It really sucks that they didn't read the material and it sucks even more that some are reluctant to talk to the others. But this adds to your experience and give you some character. When I had problems that took me time to realize, my grandpa always told me "Ahora usted sabe" which means "Now you know". So ahora usted sabe that group dynamics are just as important as talking about the thesis statements, so you will be able to address it before it becomes uncomfortable, you know? Well I'm done rambling. See you in class!
I must admit that I felt pretty confident about this session (in the beginning). Dr. Lape informed us about the plan for the day, and I knew exactly what to expect. I usually do quite well in the prewriting stage by making lists, diagrams, etc. On top of that, our class discussed several techniques on the handout and we did the “Indian” activity. So when I heard that we were to help them generate ideas, I thought that this session would be rewarding and productive.
ReplyDeleteMs. Williams gave a handout about the assignment with a list of topics to help them generate ideas. I began by asking them what works or poems they enjoyed because sometimes it is much easier to write about something that you enjoyed reading or something that was interesting to you. One student immediately admitted that he had not read much of the material, and another student agreed with him. At this point I realized that the first two students (the two males) were not really prepared for a thorough discussion of the material. The female seemed to have more knowledge about the works and poems they read. She talked frequently, but this conversation was mainly between the two of us. The males seemed uninterested in any kind of discussion. She told me about her plans for the paper, and she started writing down some of her ideas. Meanwhile, one of the males was just sitting there doing nothing. He had a possible topic on his paper, but could not answer any of my leading questions because he had not read one of the works. The other male was just flipping through his book the entire time, trying to find out what he wanted to write about. I asked them to make a list of how the works or poems are related. The female wanted to write about parent child relationships, but then switched her topic to love and marriage. One of the males wanted to write about sibling relationships. The third student was still flipping through the book because he had no ideas whatsoever. At the end of the session, the female had a topic and a few points written, while one of the males had a topic and fewer points written. The third student did not have anything, not even two possible poems or works. He had one poem that he was thinking about using.
Needless to say, I left the class feeling like I did not help them at all. They did not even have a clear thesis statement, which was the ultimate goal. Dr. Lape made me feel better in class by reminding me that they were simply unprepared. I also think that they were just not in the mood and uninterested in the assignment. They would not say anything unless I asked them a question, and the answers were very short with no details. The second session went well, so I know that they are capable of a productive discussion. Maybe it just wasn’t a good day for them. Hopefully things will be better next time when they have a draft of the paper to share with the group.
For this next Writing Fellow’s excursion, I felt pretty prepared for the trial at hand. I had studied the handout that was given in class about pre-writing, so I felt good about having to explain it to the 1102 students. When I arrived, I found out that one of my group members had been changed, or rather, swaped with another member of the class. This time, I had a male member in my group. This added another dimension to the group discussion. It was enhanced by a male perspective!
ReplyDeleteThe assigment that was to be discussed was completely open-ended by preference of the students. The way I tackled this was having each member of my group think of a theme that they would like to focus on in their writing (i.e. family, love, parenting, school, etc). Two members chose love, and two members chose family. From there I asked each member to think (or browse through their literature books) and find at lease two items of literature in which to compare or contrast based on their common theme (family or love). This took some time, as most of the students in my group kept changing their minds. But, when their choices were solidified, I then asked the group if they felt comfortable with a free writing excercise based on their two (or three) literature selections. The group, surprisingly, felt excited by this. It gave them time to think through (writing) their topic and subconsiously write down a few angles by which they would like to tackle their topics.
After this, I asked the members to share their ideas. They duiscussed among themselves their individual topics and the angles they had come up with through the free-writing excercise. I then asked each member to list a few key terms or phrases that could be applied to their topic. This was a fairly quick excersize. The students got a hang of this excersize and then asked if they could sort through their short stories or poems to find more quotes for their “topic” analysis. I was thrilled to hear this and said “Of course!”
I then explained that having angles and points of arguments for their topic was a natural way of distinguishing topic points within a paper. So, by the end of the class period each of my group members had a topic, an angle by which to argue their topic, and a few key points of analysis. I was thrilled with the results of this Writing Fellow assignment. I felt like the writers in my group are getting the hang of the writing process by exploring the process together! –And a little with my guidance!
After the last session, I wasn’t sure how to feel coming to this one. I was somewhat relieved to hear that we were prewriting instead of reading drafts again. It’s a different activity and experience with another part of the writing process that I was glad to practice. Before class started, Ms. Williams gave us, the writing fellows, a sheet with themes to help facilitate conversation if needed. I decided to keep the paper to myself at first because I wanted the group to talk and think of their own ideas, instead of simply handing them the sheet and say pick one.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I had four people. Corbin, Nanette and Piera were from the original group. Talia was a new addition. Somehow, I think it helped the comfort level that the three girls seemed to be friends and Corbin sat beside them normally during class. Having some acquaintance allowed them to be open and willing to say ideas and pose questions to each other.
Unfortunately, most of the students only partially read the stories. The beginning of the class was spent asking basic questions like “What is a comparison essay?” and “May I use both a poem and a short story?” Nanette began to finish one of the stories, while Piera and Talia figured out common themes between the stories. Corbin began to write down his own ideas and spoke up if he had a question or to present his own opinion on the conversation. On their own, the girls decided the theme between most of the works was family relationships. They began to discuss the sibling rivalry of one story, “The Rich Brother”. Nanette soon finished reading and joined the conversation. They all came up with ideas as to why the brothers were different and other topics to possibly write about in their papers. I didn’t want them to focus solely on one story since they needed ideas for a comparison paper. I asked them to talk about a different story that they found interesting and could connect to the other one. They continued with the short story, “Everyday Use.” After discussing the story, I asked them what similarities or differences they could draw between the two stories. They talked about sibling rivalry and the relationships between parents and children.
I was pleased that they found their own ideas without using the sheet. I want to think the time spent was useful, since they talked about the stories and wrote down ideas that they could write about. One worry is that they will all write about the same thing, since we focused on only two stories. When the students, who haven’t read, finish reading, I think they will develop more specific topics, modeled after the ideas they wrote down.
This past session was a great experience for me. Also, I feel like the group welcomed the change of group members. I noticed that the intermixing of gender allowed for a healthier competition like setting for the once quiet males and the females enjoyed the joking nature of our already developed group. So, no trust bonds were broken in the dissection.
ReplyDeleteThe format I used in this session was to start brain storming within a web diagram. It was at the favored opinion of the group that we use this specific type of visual resource. So, the group discussed how to start the brainstorming process almost formulaicly deciding to put the various works in larger circles and branching from there. While the group work silently on their own diagram I went around and asked each person to discuss their ideas out loud. We did this three or four times which really became a great way to see their ideas develop. Also by doing this on paper they had ideas to take home and begin their paper with.
The only negative words about this session would be the lack of preparation by the students. Many were unable to think of stories from their text because they had not read the whole semester. Yet, they discussed the stories together and allowed themselves to gain an understanding of the stories and what they might like to write on.
This session went pretty well. I still only had the same two girls in my group, so we were all pretty comfortable and familiar with each other. However, they did feel a little like they were being "ganged up on" since I knew about the topic previously and they did not. I guess they just felt like they din't have time to prepare as they would for a normal writing fellows session. Since they had not even started the writing process, I asked them to go throught the stories/poems they had read and pick out a few that interested them. This took quite a while, because they had not read most of them in the first place. I spent alot of time asking them about the stories to try to get them to formulate some commonalities between them. After the girls had chosen a few stories they enjoyed, I asked them to write each name down in the form of a web diagram. They did a very good job of helping each other out in remembering the details of the stories. One of the students is a little more advanced, and she explained alot of things to the other student about what kinds of things they could compare. At the end of the session, they had both chosen two concrete stories to compare; they had full pages of ideas that they could use to start writing their papers.
ReplyDeleteso apparently mrs. flournoy did not get the memo because she switched us again so i had Tameka's original group. i guess the good part was that i got to sit with a new group. and they needed very little directiveness. they were all on point, they did not go off on tangents, they were all comfortable wit their topics and thesis statements. they had to do research for this paper. they had some questions about sources. one girl felt like she was being redundant, one boy started over last night so he did not have a lot to go on, but he had a good idea of what he wanted to do. they had to take a current issue and connect it to a short story and use sources to support their argument. they all had really interesting topics, and i was very impressed at how organized and put-together they all were. i had two girls and one boy in my group. the paper is due in a week, and they were pretty much where they needed to be. i told them about the writing center, and they seemed pretty interested in the hours and the procedure.
ReplyDeletethis was my easiest session. mrs. flournoy wanted us to talk about clear arguments in the thesis statements, good sources, and including sources in the paper. we had a loose, informal discussion for most of the session. they would talk to each other and give each other advice. i really liked that. also, i had them all read out loud and i tried to give them more one-on-one advice, specific to their paper. although, almost all i ended up saying applied to all of them, not they were having a lot of problems. it's just that they had similar issues, or had the potential to have the same issue as someone else. so i wanted to make a point that they all heard all the advice that was said, not just from me but from all of them.
it was my easiest session, and i do not complain about the group i got. she did let us pick which groups, unlike last time when she assigned us. still, i would have liked to have established a deeper rapport with my original group instead of these minor connections with three different groups...but there's nothing to be done about it now and i did learn a lot.
overall, i need to learn to think on my feet faster. juggling three, four, five people at once is really hard. this group made it easier because i was just guiding the conversation. they ran the show for the most part. i am always conscious of being too directive, so i try to ask a lot of leading questions. that is something i will certainly have to work on as i progress.
Mrs. Flournoy switched our peer review groups AGAIN!! It really isn’t dramatic as I just made it sound. She apparently thinks that as long as the student groups stay together, then switching the writing fellows is okay. Anyway, I digress; I had a group of four girls and one boy.
ReplyDeleteThey said that their assignment was to use a piece of literature as a spring board to talk about a social issue that they had researched. They said that the literature should not be used throughout the paper, but rather, the issue should be the backbone of the paper.
Mrs. Flournoy wrote some notes on the board to tell us what to specifically work on in the groups. She wanted us to work on: 1). Making a conclusion about your topic – in your thesis. 2) Supporting your argument well with credible sources. 3). Integrating outside sources smoothly in your paper.
I asked them if they wanted to read their papers aloud or silently. They stated that it did not matter to them. The first writer had provided sufficient copies for everyone to read his paper together. I said that since he had enough copies, we could all just read his paper silently. Though I had the students introduce themselves in the beginning, I did not pick up on the first writer’s foreign accent. While reading his paper, I discovered that he was an ESL student. He apologized up front about the grammatical errors in his paper. I noticed that his paper had good organization and thought development. It just had those typical grammatical problems for ESL students that were mentioned in the film we watched. After everyone was done reading his paper and making comments, I asked what people would suggest for his paper. He stated that he would like to make his introduction more interesting. One student stated that he should probably use more quotes from the story in order to back up his point. I agreed with this writer and stated that maybe he could use some specific details from the story in his introduction and show how they relate to the issue he had researched. I also suggested that he use the quote sandwich (telling why the quote is important, quoting, and then writing what you think the quote said) to more smoothly introduce his quotes into the paper. The only feedback that this writer received from his peers was to tell him about some innocuous grammar mistakes that he had made. I tried to remind them what we were supposed to be concentrating on in analyzing the papers.
I further told him that the grammatical errors in his paper were a quick fix and that I could mark them if he wanted me to. I was nervous to do this, though, because I did not want him to get writing anxiety because of the marking of tons of errors. He let me know that it was okay if I marked them on his paper.
I told them that we could come back to his paper, as we were running out of time. The second writer had a fairly good paper. It was well-organized and lacked really any major errors. However, she had not included her researched material into the paper yet. She stated that most of her material was going from one or two sources. From the way she described it, it seemed like her research was going to form the backbone of her paper. I was a little concerned that once she did that her paper might have too much quoted material in it, but I could not tell for sure as she had not included this material yet.
The third writer also had a fairly well-organized and researched essay. She seemed to be a little resistant to feedback, but she had questions as to how she should cite some of her sources. I got the feeling that she considered herself to be an adequate writer and did not want any feedback from others. However, this really was not a problem as most of the students were not giving feedback anyway. They were simply saying, “That’s good,” or “I like that.” I tried to give them questions throughout to really make them look analytically at the papers.
The last writer also had a well-developed paper, and it was easy to follow, even with her reading it aloud. I found that even I did not have a lot to say as far as feedback for many of these papers. They were really good papers.
After they were finished reading the papers aloud, I had them switch papers and read them individually so as to see if they would look more analytically at the paper one on one than they had when listening to them being read aloud.
They still did not make very many constructive comments.
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ReplyDeleteI was very pleased with my last experience with Writing Fellows in Ms. Flournoy’s class. I felt so much more confident and capable in my abilities, and I felt I was able to make an impact on my peers as they had a positive impact on me.
ReplyDeleteI had three boys and one girl in my group. Everyone was pleasant and seemed eager to participate regardless of the time of the morning. Unlike my first session, where I went along with everyone’s request to read the papers quietly, I had each group member read his/her paper aloud and then provide feedback along with me. The papers were focused around arguments, and I became very interested in the topics presented in the discussion. In all actuality, there was little need for drastic revision in any of the papers. Mostly, I spent time encouraging my group members support their positions on their arguments with specific, relevant reasoning. Everyone had a few technical errors, but I explained that the nitty-gritty editing could be saved for later.
In a nutshell, everything turned out better than I could have ever imagined, and I am very thankful that I paid close attention in the hours I observed. I am also extremely glad that I went to go get tutored at the writing center for a speech that I had to write. In getting help with my paper, I not only obtained new ideas for my writing process, but I was also able to get a better idea of how to tutor, and how conduct a Writing Fellows session. Yesterday’s session was the last one, and I was thrilled that it turned out productive for my group members as well as for me.
To start it off the group I had was made up of two young ladies. Apparently a few were absent, but due to the size I’d have to say or discussions were a bit more in depth. I had never read any of the stories they were covering though the assignment was more so about finding one particular story and relating it to current events.
ReplyDeleteThe way our study group worked seemed almost comical as one of the girls whom I’ll name Peep ended up helping the other girl, Red, with her paper a lot. I started off with basic introductions though the two girls were well acquainted with each other. I had a tough time getting them organized believe it or not because they both wanted the other one to read first. In the end I just asked Red to read first since she had a topic she was not planning to change. Her topic was all about domestic violence, specifically against women. At first I asked her if she knew where her thesis was and she could not reply, but Peep immediately directed our attention to the last sentence in the second paragraph. It was an awkward assignment to say the least since apparently Ms. Flournoy wanted the thesis in the second paragraph. After that we began going over the paper seeing if each paragraph consistently matched with the thesis. Overall the paper had little wrong though Red had apparently already revised previously and if anything was way ahead of the game. I briefly went over transition sentences with her though since the flow was a little choppy. Again, Peep helped out a lot as she began making suggestions on quote length, and gave good examples from her own paper on what a good transition sentence could look like. For a while I began to thin I wasn’t needed which was fine since that’s kind of what is supposed to happen, but once we got to Peep’s own paper things changed.
Peep wanted to change her paper completely even though she only had two days left to do so. I told her I did not doubt her abilities to do so, but I made sure she was serious since the due date was coming up. Again, I had Peep read her paper aloud to see what all the hubbub was about and could tell immediately she was not all too enthusiastic about her topic. She had chosen increasing violence in society which was somewhat a broader version of Red’s own paper. The biggest problem was narrowing her thesis for she used a lot of historical events to describe the increasing violence such as the Columbine Shooting. I told her it went from one extreme side of the spectrum to another for starters because before that she talked about bullies at school. In the end she had her mind set ad wished to talk about the economic stimulus plan instead.
I changed my strategies for this to help her create a thesis and a basic outline. I began asking the girls what they believed in the stimulus would help the economy since Peep wanted to focus on the positives. We began making a list of ideas and benefits. Once we got a few specifics I began asking about those as well so when she added them as body paragraphs she would already have a few sentences worked out for each topic. I made sure to steer Peep away from a thesis with three points in it of course. She was also full of questions which was very helpful at the time. She wanted to incorporate a sense of hope with the topics. For that I suggested that it wasn’t just stimulating people’s wallets, but there hearts as well which I than told them to shoot me for that corny line. Oddly enough, they thought it was something worth going further into. We than discussed possible interviews with how the stimulus made people feel, and not just what it was doing for the economy.
All in all we developed a decent outline, and she had a good idea by the end of it of what her thesis might be. Red, of course, was doing just fine, and overall it was a productive session. Though looking back on it now Peep’s questions may have tricked me into giving a few ideas. The sad thing is they found me to be a better tutor for it stating as such. Makes me wonder, and it’s even what I might write about for the final assignment…..what do students think makes a good writing tutor?