To Professor Gleason

ENGL B5600 has provided me invaluable insight into the various teaching pedagogies that exists in the field of Basic Writing, College Composition, and Writing Centers.  Coming in, I was a bit apprehensive about my ability to fit into the program, and handle the workload.  I must say that I worried in vain.  The structure of the course allows for any student who is genuinely interested in learning, to succeed.  I enjoyed the camaraderie developed with my peers, the class discussions, the group assignments, and the opportunity to learn more about teaching adult learners.

The readings allowed for reflective and analytical responses through our course blog and class discussions.  Prior to taking this course I had not given much thought to the fact that adult learners faced many of the same problems that child learners face. I learned much about early movement to improve the teaching of college composition from reading and discussing Mina Shaughnessy.  While most of the theorists we read brought to the fore several topics beneficial to my teaching philosophy, the readings about ESL students had the greatest impact.  Tutoring at the Samuel Rudin Writing Center here at City College, I see over 15 ESL students each week and the "errors" in their writing are aligned to the errors discussed by Matsuda and Cox, Severino, Linville, and others.  Learning to recognize, and in a way "accept" or perhaps "work around" these problems to find meaning in ESL students' texts is perhaps the most significant advice that I will take from this course.

In terms of assignments and applying the knowledge of theory into practice, the ethnographic research that I conducted at Baruch College remains a high point of this course.  Taking the knowledge learned about early Writing Center pioneers such as Kenneth Bruffee, Andrea Lunsford, and Steven North, as well as theories about working with students by Jeff Brooks, Kristin Walker, Muriel Harris and others, and then translating this knowledge into a real writing center operation was a major undertaking.  This final assignment, though time consuming, gave me the unique opportunity to observe how a writing center is designed to meet the specific needs of the college in which it is located.

The knowledge gained through participation in this course will serve me (not only as a tutor but teacher of English) long after I graduate this program.  The new peer relationships developed will also assist me in my journey through this program as we continue to collaborate and interact as a community of learners. 

Finally, Professor Gleason, learning from you and working under your tutelage has been a very rewarding experience.  Your expectations are high, as they should be, but this only made me strive to produce a better quality of work and develop even greater confidence in myself as a writer, speaker, and teacher of the English language. 

Information Literacy Workshop in the Cohen Library

I missed the Information Literacy Workshop presentation given by Professor Gibbons at the Cohen Library but was able to attend one conducted by Cohen Library archivist Sydney Van Nort at the new Ruderman Architecture Library. I found the experience to be quite educational and informative. The librarian was able to clear up several misconceptions that I held about the CCNY Library system. She also provided me with the necessary information about the various databases the library houses and how I might access them all.

After the presentation I was convinced that many students at CCNY (myself included) have not made use of the resources available to us at the library. Students should appreciate that this much information is available to them - and free of cost- and not take it for granted. I must also add that City College is on the right track offering these tutorials not only to students but instructors as well.

Learning how to "properly" access information was very useful to me (this is the age of technology). Although I have used Jstor, EBSCOhost and a few other databases via the library website, I usually conduct my research via the New York Public Library or the Queens Library. Professor Van Nort made process of searching the database of books in circulation seem less daunting.

Lisa Williams

The Task: A Guide for Instructors in the Rutgers Writing Center

An interesting video! As a writing center tutor I think that the director's expectations/assumptions might be a bit flawed but his intentions are on point. As he says of Rutger's Writing Center, the goal is to improve the student's writing over the course of the semester. I believe that this should be the goal of all writing centers, however tutors are desperately trying assist a majority of students who are lacking a solid foundation in English grammar.

From my observations, more than half of the students who visit the City College Writing Center need instruction in basic grammar. My question is: "Are we really helping students by working on the process of writing when they have deficiencies in grammar and other basic areas of English? "Scaffolding" is a term in education that explains how children learn or educators should teach, by teaching smaller concepts and building upon them with larger as the student's capacity to learn increases. This is what I think is the "missing link" between what students learn in college classes and what they do at the writing center.

This is the problem that I think prevents writing centers to be as effective as planned when first conceptualized. Many hope that tutors are working with students whose writing abilities are reflective of at least high school level grammar. However the obvious difference between the expectations of students who visit centers and tutors who serve them is that a majority need grammar instruction before they can complete their assignments.

Lisa Williams

October 5, 2010 1:59 PM

Waiting for Superman

I think that the issues about American public education that Davis Guggenheim raised in this documentary have been discussed consistently for years. It is true that no education system will be as perfect as educators, parents, legislators and even students expect, however many schools are failing the students who sit in their classrooms. With so much focus on passing tests, teachers are "short changing" their students in various fundamentals of education.

In fact, from conducting fieldwork observations and student teaching as a Childhood Education major I would say that may of the theories and concepts that I learned in my courses are not being used in some NYC classrooms. Teachers that I observed appeared ill-prepared to competently teach mathematics, science, social studies and literacy. Thus, it was not a surprise that many of the 5th grade students that I observed at one school wrote and read below the level of most of the 3rd grade students that I taught previously in St. Kitts.

In terms of the issue of teachers failing students in Literacy, two authors/educators who have spoken and published texts that highlight this problem are Jonathon Kozol and Lisa Del Pit. Both authors investigate and criticize the way children (especially in minority and urban areas) are taught and how the education given to them affect their ability to progress as learners.

Lisa Williams

October 5, 2010 1:30 PM

History of Writing Centers

Robert Moore does a great job at explaining why Writing Centers are not only feared, but hated. If a student thinks of a place as a laboratory or clinic where writing problems can be diagnosed, why would he or she seek assistance there? While reading his article I pictured a room filled with cold metal chairs and tables, filled with men wearing white coats, and holding magnifying glasses while taking notes on clipboards. Why would I ever think of visiting such as place? This is quite different to my existing knowledge of a writing center- plush comfortable chairs, soft bright lights, computers, and an endless supply of coffee or tea.

As someone who has never sought assistance with writing, the idea of a 'Writing Center' was alien to me when I got to college. The concept of the "Writing Center is not one that exists in my home country (St. Kitts). Students are taught how to write well but there is no assistance in school geared specifically to help students who are struggling with writing. In fact before I came to the US I never dissected an essay into parts. A thesis statement was foreign to me because in St. Kitts I was taught to write the whole essay; not look at parts. Citing sources; drafting, editing and revision; transitioning between sentences and paragraphs; I recognized their importance while working at a writing center.

Consequently, I quickly recognized the value of teaching students to focus on and strengthen specific parts of an essay. Tutoring has also allowed me to approach the writing process differently. If I, (someone who sees herself as a "good" writer) was able to learn so much as a tutor/writing consultant, think of how much students who are actively seeking help can learn. Clearly, not only seeking assistance but also working for these institutions provides those who come into contact with college Writing Centers with meaningful experiences.

October 14, 2010 3:15 PM

Stephen North's "The Idea of a Writing Center"

"The essence of the writing center method, then, is talking." (75)

Conversations between a writing consultant and a student is an essential aspect of the tutoring session. I think that the sharing of ideas, experiences, concerns, and goals helps in fostering a good rapport between both parties. This "talking" often goes beyond the strictures of the student's assignment. Many students want to air their grievances, seek advice about courses, vent about their personal life; the list is endless. The important thing that writing consultants should remember is to focus the content of the session in a way that best assists the student.

I think that talking allows the consultant to express new ideas that might add to a student's essay; get the student thinking/viewing the assignment in a different way; clarify vague or unexplained text; and engage the student in joining/adding to the conversation. The student benefits from the conversation because he or she gains a better understanding of the content discussed, learns about the writing process and grammar, and is able to revise errors.

Clearly, both consultant and tutor benefit from "talking" during writing center sessions. Yet the problem often lies in getting the conversation started.

Lisa

October 14, 2010 2:48 PM

Tutoring Writing-The Right Way

This tutoring session was much improved as the student and tutoring had more of a 'conversation'. The tutor viewed the student's assignment; questioned his thesis; highlighted the fact that he had no thesis; identified that he had not correctly addressed the assignment; and discussed possible steps to improve his paper. None of this was done in the previous tutoring video.

In addition, there was more input by the student who spoke about the assignment, recognized his errors, revised the essay, and returned to the session with another draft. The tutor, although pointing out some of his errors, was not directing or rewriting the essay. The session seemed more helpful to the student who left the session with a better understanding of thesis statements, correct comma usage, and the importance of topic sentences (min-thesis) in body paragraphs.
Lisa

October 19, 2010 2:34 PM