Blog Post #4: The Writers We Tutor

I really appreciated this week's readings, and enjoyed the specific and easily transferrable approaches from the Bedford Guide. It's quite easy to get caught up in my own dominant mode of thinking/seeing (reading/writing), and lose sight of the fact that students are coming from different backgrounds, modes, and areas of strength. I can see ways to check in with my enrollment students about their modes during one of our sessions, but I wonder about what sorts of questions I might ask a one-off student who maybe hasn't thought about these ideas before.

I also really enjoyed the grouping of student concerns -- these are all things that 'float' above conversations in the Writing Center, but it's great to be able to think about them as separate, individual concepts, and to see the case studies of the specific types of writers. Since I have just my two enrollment students, I haven't encountered any of these types yet, but I did sit in on a session with an adult learner and what I would describe as an anxious writer, so it was great to see how an experienced tutor navigated these two situations with care and guidance.

I thought the various types provided a great segue for Carol's case study -- I really appreciated the 'landscaping' of the writing center studies field, and would love to talk further about David Bartholomae's work as this was really fundamental for me in understanding the depth and complexity of the work we were asked to take on in my previous writing center of filtering the larger expectations and presumptions of the academy as a whole in our work with writers from various backgrounds. I'm also curious to continue exploring the question presented on page 171 about considering the richness that a case study can offer vs. the importance of larger scale surveys. What can and should we ultimately take away?

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 19, 2018 at 12:49 PM

    Yasmin, I had a similar question about how to ask students about their best modes of tutoring. When working with a student who comes in for a one-time appointment, it definitely is harder to get a read on their habits/best responses/etc. than it is for students I see once or twice a week. The question I sometimes default to is, “What would help you the most right now?” or “What are you most concerned about [in terms of this project]?” Sometimes that doesn’t work because maybe they aren’t sure either, but even in those cases, it’s a way to get them to start thinking of what will help.

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    1. UnknownSeptember 26, 2018 at 10:59 AM

      I don't really have anything of substance to add here, just that I am also curious about how to have honest, open conversations with students about what works best for *them*. I really appreciate the questions you ask your students, Brittany, and will try to use them going forward.

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