Writing Center Observation: 2/08/2019
I went to observe the Writing Center on a Saturday, unfortunately, because my weekly schedule can barely afford me an hour break. I say “unfortunately” because Saturdays at the Writing Center, particularly because it is still the beginning of the semester, are not very busy, therefore, there was not a whole lot to observe. However, I think it was still beneficial to get an accurate representation of what working at the Writing Center would be like.
The session that was going on while I first came into my observation was going on in one of the back rooms, so I was unable to observe the actual tutoring that was happening. However, I think it’s good to acknowledge that they now have those spaces available now. Sometimes people aren’t as comfortable having tutoring sessions out in the open, but the back rooms give them the privacy they need to be comfortable. This can relate to chapter 2 of the Oxford Guide to Writing Tutors in the section “Expressivism: Each Writer Thinks Differently”, since this is an example of how certain writers require different circumstances to help them to be the best writer that they can be.
I also got to observe an instance that occurred where a writer was five minutes late for an appointment, so the tutor at the front desk had to call them to find out where they are. I personally don’t blame them; no one wants to be thinking about school on our highly valued weekend days. However, the Writing Center does have a policy about “no-shows” because it’s disrespectful to give no warning of cancellation. However, the writer did show up, so I was able to observe a tutoring session from up close. I noticed a lot of tutoring strategies that were very effective, such as lots of meaningful conversation about the writing. Also from The Oxford Guide to Writing Tutors, “Because there is no “one-size-fits-all” tutoring, then, tutors must be flexible, continuously adapting their tutoring strategies to the situation at hand.” (Fitzgerald, Ianetta 49) I really appreciated the way that the tutor asked the writer a lot of questions about the writing since it was a personal essay, and also gave her some time to write by herself. It’s sometimes difficult for some people to write when they’re being watched, so I think that is a good strategy to take note of.
I actually got to somewhat observe an unusual occurrence (as far as I know), which was where Andrea was sitting in one of the back rooms with two of the tutors to discuss their presentation for a Writing Center Conference. Since the door was closed, I couldn’t overhear everything, but I tried to listen in every once in a while (just to observe). Andrea even used the book that we’re reading for class, The Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors. Prior to taking this class, I had no idea that there were so many different journals and publications for research on writing centers! I suppose it makes sense, given that (hopefully) every college has a writing center. One of my last two years at college, I may even be interested in going to the Writing Center Conference.
Lastly, in the last hour that I was observing, I got the chance to observe an online appointment, which is much different than an in-person appointment. It’s much more difficult for the tutor and writer to connect over typing chats to each other than being able to sit down together and talk. However, the fact that some people still reach out for help for writing is meaningful, so I think having online appointments are very crucial as well. In addition, the writer was only there because it was a class requirement, so it’s possible that they did not fully have their heart in the session.
While I may have overcompensated and observed the writing center for three hours, opposed to the recommended one hour, I think that it was a very beneficial experience since I was able to make observations of three different types of sessions that can be expected for tutors: a private session with the door closed for the writers who need quiet, an actual observable session for the writers who don’t mind background noise, and the online sessions for writers who can’t physically make it to the center, but still make the effort of improvement. The writing center seems like a very welcoming space since no one seemed to mind that me, a random student, was just sitting there typing away my observations for three hours. I can’t wait to work there!
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, Lauren, and Melissa Ianetta. The Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors. Oxford UP, 2016.
Writing Center Session Observation: 03/27/2020
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the Writing Center has closed its physical location on campus, but viruses can’t keep our tutors down! I had a wonderful time in an online Writing Center appointment today to discuss my Flow submission. I made my appointment with Jess Z., who is a personal friend of mine, and I knew that she had done her Flow submission on a similar topic to mine, so I figured it’d be super helpful to have her perspective. We met on Friday, March 27th at noon, and I actually used up all 50 minutes for my session for the first time!
When I got back from Spring Break, I was hit with the unfortunate reality that I’d mostly forgotten everything about my classes. In my defense, our Spring Break was technically two weeks long, so I had extra time to let my memory fade. However, even prior to Spring Break, I’d felt like my thoughts on the research project and Flow submission were extremely jumbled up in my brain, and I’d never gotten a chance to solidify my thoughts. Jess was extremely helpful during my session, and I now feel more secure than I have all semester. Interestingly enough, I was even able to connect online sessions with my topic of identity by relating it to Chapter 7 of The Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors. When the authors discuss online tutoring sessions, they talk about the advantages and disadvantages, including: “In face-to-face sessions, especially with writers and tutors of the same cultural and linguistic backgrounds, there are more ways for both to ensure that they have communicated effectively.” (Fitzgerald & Ianetta 183) I hadn’t thought about how online sessions can actually make identities pose different barriers than they do during in-person sessions.
I was excited to schedule a writing center appointment with Jess, though I was a little worried that I’d be distracted by the fact that it was a friend who was tutoring me. I will say that I think Jess was extremely professional, and I don’t think she treated me any differently than any of her other appointments even though we are close in our personal lives. In addition, I think it helped that I was having a session with someone I knew personally. In the past, when I’ve gone to the writing center, I think it’s been more anxiety inducing due to the fact that I’ve had to have a social interaction to discuss my writing with a complete stranger. In addition, I think it helped having a friend be the one tutoring me because I’d never shared my scholarly writing with any of my friends before, and I had the thoughts in the back of my mind that I didn’t want to disappoint her or seem unintelligent to someone who usually thinks highly of me. The personal connection we have made it a more high-stakes appointment to me, and I think I definitely put in more effort to this session than I ever have in the past. This can also be connected to Chapter 7 when the writers bring up the point: “Given our usually limited knowledge about what the writer might be doing or feeling on the other end of an online session, she urges us to believe that the writer is interested.” (Fitzgerald & Ianetta 182) I was definitely interested, and I hope Jess could tell.
When it comes to the actual online structure of the session, I think it works very well. The chat didn’t feel too slow, which was a concern of mine. There was a feature where I could see Jess typing as she was doing it, so it felt much more conversational. People make real mistakes in conversations and have to start over, and I got the same feeling with this as well. There was a point where Jess wanted me to free write for a few minutes, which was much easier to do since even though I knew I was being watched, it wasn’t like I was able to see her watching me. I was able to push the fact that Jess was watching what I wrote to the back of my mind, and I was able to concentrate on free writing to the best of my ability. Overall, everything went really well, and I did not feel like the online structure made it any more difficult.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, Lauren, and Melissa Ianetta. The Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors. Oxford UP, 2016.
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