Consultation shadowing & Collaboration

Tonight's consultation shadowing was a little different in terms of environment because the session took place within the actual Writing Center room, whereas we usually meet in an office down the hall since another writing consultant has appointments at the same time. In addition, I was never introduced as a shadow this time so it led me to wonder whether or not that had any particular impact on the situation of the actual session. I think I've mentioned this in another blog post earlier in the year, but I have learned in my psychology about concept called the person-situation controversy which is basically concept that a particular situation has substantial influence in our reactions and interactions. This leads me to wonder—do various factors that are unique to each consultation session affect the outcome for the student? I think that this idea also ties into a lot of our class discussions and numerous readings on the atmosphere of the writing center being best when it is interpersonal and collaborative. I have come to see that this word, "collaborative", is a fundamental word in the rhetoric on writing centers. More specifically, our University's Writing Center is established on producing better writers, not better papers by consultant executing this technique of active conversation. Is active conversation a key component to interpersonal and collaborative environment of writing centers? I certainly think so because it requires individuals to collaborate with one another to strengthen and clarify ideas and knowledge. 

Furthermore on the note on collaboration, tonight's session definitely classifies as a collaborative effort. This evening, TWO students came in together to work on a research paper for their first-year seminar class. To be honest, I thought it was rather odd to assign a research paper to pairs of students. Through everything I have learned via the readings (specifically the Hull article if I remember correctly), class discussions, and shadowing a variety of different consultations, I am all in support of collaboration when it is done under the right circumstances. Nevertheless, the two students that sought the help of the writing center tonight had each written different sections of the paper and wanted to ensure they'd effectively merged the individual sections together. One thing that the writing consultant suggested was that their thesis was rather weak—perhaps (and most likely) due to the fact that they had written different parts separately. The writing consultant suggested they talk about it aloud in order to clarify and indicate a stronger, more concrete thesis. Another thing I have observed from this session is that with a research paper, there is more focus on making sure the information is being presented in clear and straightforward as well as carry significance. I also noticed an apparent struggle with research papers (as well as other types of papers) aiming to be informative to the reader without boring them with excessive summary. This also caused the two students to have issues with their paper being too long and which adjusting was actually more difficult than it would seem to be. On a final note, these two students were in their first semester of college and the writing consultant suggested that they try and eliminate areas where they tried to sound academic because it actually makes the sentences more vague and wordy. As soon as she said that, I could immediately relate because that was a major struggle for me when I first got to college and it continues to be. (Which is almost ironic that I include that in this blog because I'm sure some of my posts come across as unclear and confusing to a reader.)

Upon the focus of collaboration, I think there is definitely a correlation to the notion of community literacy. My blog post from November 3rd, titled "Tina article & the topic of Literacy" covers one of the readings about literacy. With these two major concepts at hand and the observations of this specific consultation session, I think another major question arises as to what degree can collaboration enhance literacy? Continuing with this idea, what is the most effective way of utilizing collaboration to improve literacy in the realm of education? The work we did at the Boys & Girls Club and the College Mentoring Program have both yielded different effects yet nonetheless at the core of both of these community projects is the use of collaboration as means of enhancing the literacy of others. Some researching on the University of Richmond's Library website lead me to the article "Helping Diverse Struggling Readers through Reflective Teaching and Coaching" which summarizes the work of improving students' poor literacy skills, highlighting coaching (in other words, a form of communication) as the main strategy used. This article is insightful but it's framework still prompts the question of how to use collaborative processes in their more effective and efficient ways. As writing consultants, it's crucial to broaden our knowledge of one of the fundamental practices of the Writing Center (collaboration)

consultation shadowing: hard copy or no copy?

This evening I observed a Writing Center consultation in which a senior student came to the Writing Center to work on a 5-page paper for her a history class, more specifically wanting help with her sentence structure, phrasing, grammar, ect. She had e-mailed a copy of her paper to the writing consultant earlier but had since made changes. She also failed to bring a printed copy of her paper with her so they were forced to view it on a laptop computer. I can see where being a writing consultant can be rather frustrating when the student is less than prepared for the meeting because it does invest a great deal of time out of the session for the consultant to go back through and catch up with where the writer is. And from observing the given situation, I also think it can sort of make the session a bit awkward when the consultant is reading and reviewing for some amount of time while the student just sits there bored staring while they wait. A few weeks ago, I posted about how a student had come into the Writing Center to go over an outline that was on her computer and I mentioned that perhaps this is more useful than having a hard copy so that there is less of a distraction to hinder open conversation. However, after shadowing this specific instance where a student came to review a full-written paper without an actual copy of the paper, I have come to add to my opinion on the situation: I think that when it comes to brainstorming (or being in the very beginning stages of writing), it is more beneficial to not have a sheet of paper (such as an outline, ect.) to stare down at and force rigid structure which can inhibit the flow of new ideas. Thus, being able to have more open discussion to the get ideas flowing (writing or listing as you go so that they can be remembered later when it comes time to put the pieces of the puzzle together).

The writing consultant immediately handled the situation with her strategy of using the document-editing feature on Microsoft word.

Consultation shadowing #4 (but really #2)

So last night was my 4th time going to the writing center to shadow but only my 2nd time actually shadowing a real consultation.

The student that came in was seeking help for a thesis paper she was to write for an International Studies class. Unlike the last consultation I shadowed, this student didn't have a written paper--she came in with a very organized outline and a proposed thesis. She really had a lot of strong ideas but she wanted help to formulate her ideas into a cohesive argument. Pulling a Cazort, I think I'll mention in every consulting post that the consultant started the session by having fill out the pre-consultation worksheet since that seems to be heavily emphasized by the Writing Center. Following this, the consultant asked the other student a lot of questions and the two engaged in conversation about the paper in order for the student to organize her thoughts and clarify what she wanted to write about. One thing I particularly noted was that neither the student nor the consultant had a paper copy of the outline--it was pulled up on the student's laptop. Except for the occasion notes jotted down on the worksheet by the consultant or things added to the document by the student, this session was almost all conversion. I think perhaps the fact that they had the outline on the computer allowed them to have a more natural conversation without a paper, concrete distraction to look down at and pinpoint. Mid-consultation, I also took note to how the writing consultant suggested the student take the time and actually write out some of her ideas (like more detailed explanations) before finalizing a thesis. This particular student had too large of a range of ideas to work from so she really needed to decided which to implement and which to throw out. At the end of the session, the student expressed how helpful the the session was for her to just talk about her ideas before writing.

This student also repetitively referred back to what her "professor wanted". I think that of course, meeting a professors expectations influences the outcome of a paper. But this made me think further about if the presence of my "shadow" sitting there and blatantly observing their session would in some way take away from the consultation. I think there a certain intimacy between the student and the consultant and by having a 3rd party sitting there and taking notes, maybe the student might feel a bit of the spotlight effect and become less hesitant to open up in discussion about her paper. Just a thought.

Apparently, 3rd time really is a charm...

With two initial fails at shadowing an actual consultation at the Writing Center, my third attempt was finally a success.

Before the student arrived, the consultant told me that the student had e-mailed the essays to her earlier (which is usually not a consistent thing). When the student arrived, the consultant had the student fill out the pre-consultation worksheet. The student was an international student and English was not her first language. She came to the writing center to work on a response paper about an assigned article. The paper already had side-comments from the professor but the student informed the consultant that her professor still wanted her to utilize the Writing Center as a resource.

While doing my observations, I definitely saw how the consultant practiced the technique of asking many question in order to get the student to talk about what they were really trying to say. Looking the student in the eye with her hand placed in the middle of the paper, the consultant first asked the student to define what they felt the biggest struggle in writing the paper was. The student immediately replied that she needed her "writing to be more critical". I think if the consultant was looking down at the paper and asked the same question, the student would probably have taken a few moments and tried to find something from the paper. But by doing this, both the student and consultant initially established the main goal of meeting.

The entire consultation was not this broad. This was only the way it began. The session methodically progressed into the consultant asking more specific questions. For example, she asked the student to pinpoint a place in the essay where their summary of the reading stopped and their analysis began. The consultant would also make statements like "from what I understand by reading this is that...., is that correct?".  When doing an essay that integrates other sources, I never really realized how common of an issue it is to clearly decipher ideas and content of the source with the ideas and arguments of the writer. We often come across this issue doing the paper draft reviews in class and perhaps this is something I need to start paying more attention to in my own writing.

At one point, I actually noted how the student would talk about her paper and say the words "what I was trying to say". After all, this sort of characterized a role of the Writing Center and consultation session--to help a student bridge the gap between their ideas and their actual writing of those ideas--what they are trying to say.

I think next time I shadow, it may be more helpful to pay closer attention to the marks the consultant actually puts on the student's paper because I know that is also an important technique utilized by the writing consultant to help the student.

Another epic fail in shadowing..

So this past Wednesday, I was unable to shadow an actual consultation for the second week in a row-- however, this time it was due to my own obliviousness. To be honest, I actually feel pretty stupid because when I opened the door to the Writing Center, I failed to notice the big, bright yellow note on the door stating in big, black, capital letters that my consultant would be doing her session a study room at the library.

Oh the flip side, I was able to get more insight about the “writing consultation process” because another consultant (along with a student from our class) was in the Writing Center and did not have a scheduled appointment. Despite having yet to shadow a real consultation, it was still helpful to get another perspective from a different consultant.

Something he mentioned that had never been brought to my attention before was the issue with patience. I never really thought it would be an issue, but this consultant mentioned how sometimes other students can get frustrated when working on certain parts of their paper. I can understand how many students come to the Writing Center in the first place because they are seeking to revolve some sort of struggle with a given writing assignment. Also, as any Richmond student deals with, time is usually of the essence. The consultant mentioned various ways he deals with a “consultee” who gets discouraged. Interestingly, he mentioned that sometimes the best thing to do is just move on and work on other issues that student needs help with.

It was good hearing how his styles both overlapped and differed from those of the consult I normally will be shadowing. I think perhaps, switching consultants partially through the semester would be really beneficial so that we are not just learning to mimic the tactics of one consultant—but rather, integrate many observed tactics to create a style of our own to help enhance and encourage fellow students as writers.  

Oh, and just to finish this post off, I’ll add that I finally noticed the yellow sign on the door—as I was leaving…clearly this has not been the best week for me!

1st Consultation Shadow

So I'm not sure if I'll have much to say about my first experience shadowing the Writing Center considering my writing consultant did not have an appointment during the hour I was there! However, the consultant I was to be shadowing kindly offered to just talk to me about the writing center and it's basic functions. First, Jessie mentioned a few procedural points, like the important of the worksheet that the student fills out when they arrive so that the report can be done as accurately as possible. She also showed me the rack of handouts readily available to both consultants and consulantees that are basically print-outs from the Richmond Writers Web website.

As far as some insight that Jessie offered about the session itself, she strongly emphasized the tactic of getting the other person to do a lot of the talking. Having a draft of the paper to review prior to the session makes a huge difference but nevertheless, asking many questions opens up the gates for the student to then work on correcting structure, argument, clarity, or whatever other issue they have sought the help of the Writing Center for. She explained how this strategy gets the person to talk about their paper the way they want to talk about it, thus helping them clarify their ideas they way they want them clarified. The main point I got out of this was that discussing the topic in a conservational tone rather then in an "academic bullshit" tone, really helps the other student get alot out of the session.

The brief conversation really gave me a strong foundation for some other things to be aware of when there is an actually consultation to observe.