PeerCentered

Ah--another semester completed. It is quiet in the Writng Center. The lights are out. The door is shut. I miss the bustle.

I know I haven't posted anything in a long time, but I would like to respond to the question regarding plagiarism. Occasionally at our meetings, we talk about the issue of plagiarism. We usually talk about plagiarism in a tutorial if parts of the paper seem different from the rest or if the student asks for help with quoting and/or citing sources. It's definitely a delicate issue when it comes to identifying plagiarism and whether the tutor should mention possible plagiarism to the professor. I'd also love to hear any additional comments, ideas, etc. about dealing with plagiarism. Anne, undergrad tutor, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Hi, Sherri here, from Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, WA. (I believe this is my first post--I just already goofed and lost some text....) Andrea's post on paraphrasing and quoting reminds me of a topic I'm curious to hear from others about. During sessions, do you talk about plagiarism much? The tutors here in our Writing Center say they don't really think or talk about it too often, maybe just when the writer has mentioned it. But I've found that when I read a passage that doesn't sound like the rest of a paper and I say something about that, the writer and I will often have a really interesting conversation about plagiarism and quoting. ( The most recent interesting conversation I had was with a student in a speech class--he was thinking there were different "rules" for quoting in speeches--and maybe there are?) Just curious.

Sure sounds like you had a good season there, Andrea--more than just a little. I wonder why we worry so much about the effects of our sessions? Do lawyers put this much investment into their discussions with clients? Doctors? Now on to other business, I was thinking of adding a comment feature to the blog. What do you all think?

Writing Center Journal-November 18, 2002 Sometimes some writing center sessions are just extremely difficult. I have recently had one of these such sessions. An older man came in with a paper on MRI machines. He had quoted everything and wanted to know about paraphrasing. I explained to him the differences, and suggested that he have only a few quotes. I worried that I had not gotten through to him. A few days later, I saw another tutor was helping him with his paper. After the session ended, I asked her about his quotation problems. She said that his paper looked great, and he just had some documentation problems. Something I suggested must have helped him at least a little.

Your post brings to mind the recent "Why we live in the WC" thread on WCenter, Clint. Hope things keep humming along nicely for you. Liz

I am amazed that it is November already. Things are humming along nicely in the WC; there haven't been that many stressed-out students, but I'm sure that some will begin to pop up now that we are closing in on the end of the term. It started to snow the other day, and we all gathered by the window, student writers, peer consultants, faculty, and myself and watched. It was nice to think of the metaphor of a writing center as a warm, inviting place, in the heart of a storm.

Hi Neal, Your wrote, "But isn't it sorta unfortunate that the medium itself makes us have to try that much harder?" I couldn't agree more. More later, Liz

In response to Clint's message about "paperlessness" on October 22nd, I am one of those students who emails their pepers rather than turn in a paper copy! I think it's great, since I can send it as soon as I finish it, rather than print it out and leave it on the printer or the coffee table when I leave for class. As far as physical writing centers and how this will affect our work therein, I can see a future of tutors sequestered in cubicles, each with it's own computer; physical tutoring will be so uncommon that it will actually take place in the lounge instead of the cubes where we now work. Good or bad? It's really anyone's guess.

Hi, all and thanks to Clint for getting things up and blogging. I'm Neal Lerner, and I've logged on to this site because I'm currently not in a writing center (either directing or tutoring), and I miss it! So I thought I'd get some vicarious thrills by reading about your experiences and contributing my occasional two cents. What I am currently doing is working in a WAC program at MIT; I teach a course on writing in biology and work with students in a management course who are writing a required paper (this is all part of MIT's new Communications-Intensive course requirement). At any rate, I just finished responding to lots of those management papers, and it really reminded me of on-line tutoring. I had little context for what students were writing, the assignment was vague, and my sole means of interactions was through written feedback on the students' texts. It wasn't particularly satisfying (and, yes, I did invite each and every one of them to meet ...

Hello Again, Andrea, we've had the same experience at DePaul, and I agree it is especially challenging to work online with a student who does not seem to understand the assignment. We work online with entire classes, in one of our services, which enables us to have access to a copy of the assignment handout. We ask students to use a form on our web site to send us their drafts, which includes a field where they must explain their assignment. Although these explanations can be too abbreviated or otherwise unhelpful, when those students are part of the online class link-up, we can compare the students' versions with the instructor's handout (an interesting exercise in compare-contrast, sometimes!). I think one of our next sets of challenges is to find ways to engage students in an online discussion about their work. Like their in-person counterparts, online "clients" often wait until the last minute to contact us, so an online discussion might be impossi...

October 28, 2002 Today, (at the Weber State University Writing Center) I did several "onlines" (corrected papers sent by E-mail). Many of the students were writing papers about civil disobedience, but they did not seem to understand what it really is. Many of the examples the students gave were of violent ways to solve a problem. It can be particularly difficult to help students with online papers, who do not seem to understand their own assignments. As tutors, we understand the assignment even less than they do. We are not in the class, and we are not able to talk to the tutees in person. However, in this case, since we had several students submitting papers from the same class and for the same assignment, I got a general view about what was expected of each student.

I've been thinking a lot lately about "paperlessness." In the long run, it would seem that student writers are going to be submitting their writing for their classes electronically instead of the traditional paper route. In the classes I teach, a good percentage of the students do this already. In all I think we as writing center folk need to be ready for such work, and equip ourselves to be able to respond to it. While I think the physical writing center will always exist, I think that even it will change as physical artifacts disappear.

I love the "let's pause for the cause" phrase. You'll have to tell me where you got that, Liz. Anyway, I think "shut up and listen" is one of the better pieces of advice that I've received too. In fact, a couple of tutors from DePaul's Writing Center were talking about how long we're supposed to shut up and listen in our sessions. We read an article by Muriel Harris that suggests a 15-second rule, but we all agreed that 15 seconds really wasn't long enough. I've found that if I wait a little longer, I'm often rewarded by a surprisingly insightful or dead-on response from my student, and I think waiting for those moments are worth it. They build that student's confidence in her ability to come up with the answer herself. -- Faith

Hi, I thought I would throw out a question as well. At Truman State University Writing Center I am on the planning commitee and we recently decided to do workshops on topics such as Grammar & Mechanics, Turabian style, etc. We are having a slow time getting off the ground and I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for aspects such as how to publicize the workshops, how often to hold them (1 a week? 2? 3?) and other related information. If anyone has more experience with workshops I would appreciate the info. Thanks, Abigail

I just wrapped up an unbearably slow week at the University of Houston Writing Center - but I did manage to get caught up on all of my assignments! I work M-Th in the evenings, so I can't really speak for the midday tutors, but my shift has been very quiet as of late. However, I have noticed that the same faces keep showing up each week to work on new assignments; I find this very encouraging because it shows a willingness and desire for improvement on the part of these students. It also shows, I think, that our efforts are valued by the student body (or at least by a select portion of the student body).

Hello All, I'm Liz Coughlin, assistant director of DePaul University's Writing Centers (hi Faith). I look foward to being a part of this community. Thank you, Clint, for setting it up. The "best advice" that you cite for Faith is one I'd second. Those "Let's pause for the cause" moments are often the most productive, and they're worth reaching for. I'm afraid I have to sign off now -- I have way too many meetings these days -- but will look in on our blog and post something again as soon as I can. Liz

Hello, My name is Andrea Carter, and I am a new blogger from Weber State University. This is my second year working at the writing center. I am a history teaching major and English teaching minor at WSU. I look forward to joining your group. --Andrea

We had a communal meeting between the Student Writing Center consultants and the Community Writing Center Writing Assistants. The Community Writing Center is one of SLCC's outreach programs. It is basically designed for all out-of-school adults. Although one-to-one writing consultations is a part of their service, they deal mostly with things like workshops etc. In any case the one-to-one service has started to pick up down there. The topic was "Help." In the discussion the folks explored what is too much and too little help. I tried to keep quiet during the meeting in order to let others talk. (As you might guess I am big into fostering peer tutor/consultant voices.) The discussion was healthy and honest, I think, and I think folks came away having learned a great deal about their practice. In all the meeting was pretty productive, and it is good to see that the Community Writing Center folks are still on the same page as us eventhough they deal with a vast...

A big howdy to all the new bloggerians. The most valuable piece of advice about tutoring I've received? Duck and cover! OK just kidding, but I couldn't resist being a smart alek. I have to think back to when I was a quasi-peer tutor (I was working in a WC as a grad student), and the best bit of advice came from a student I was working with. I was talking a lot to the student and she said "Hang on a second. I need to think about this." What it boils down to is knowing when to shut up and let some write.

I thought I might toss a question out to the list and see if we could get a conversation going. This is my first quarter as a tutor at DePaul University's Writing Center in Chicago, so I'm still a bit of a neophyte, but I'm eager to pick up new tips and tricks to use in my sessions. In that spirit, what's the most valuable piece of advice about tutuoring that you've received? -- Faith

I too work at Weber State University, but I am not nearly as pretty or perky as Jen. :) My name is Melissa and I am an English major and an Asian Studies minor. This is my second year as a tutor, and I really enjoy the work. I hope to apply the things I am learning here to the things I do in the future. Unfortunately, I don't know what those things will be yet, but I'm sure they'll be good. I am working on a project this year that facillitates writing groups on campus. Does anyone have any ideas of how I can get more people interested in joining extra-curricular writing groups?

Hey, I am a tutor at the writing center at Weber State University. I am a graduating English major with an emphasis in technical writing. My minor is dance. This is my second year tutoring. My favorite part about tutoring is working with someone who is willing to think about my suggestions and maybe actually throw some of them out. I love it when the students think for themselves. --Jen

Hello Everybody, I thought I'd take a stab at introductions as well. I am a writing consultant at the Truman State University Writing Center, one of about 14 (I think). I am a graduating senior with English major (creative writing emphasis) and una concentracion menor de Espanol. This is my third semester as a consultant. I think this will be a fun way to finish off my experience at the Center. --Abigail

Hello Bloggers, This is just a brief message to introduce myself. I am the Undergraduate Tutor coordinator for the Purdue University Writing Lab. Currently, I'm a junior studying English Education. In the lab, I work with six other undergrads, tutoring primarily freshmen in introductory composition courses. This is my second year of tutoring, and I'm always looking for new ideas and strategies. I'm looking forward to learning more about tutoring from all of you. -Anne : )

Sounds like a plan, but I think I might have to invite them first. Just have them email me.

Hi Bloggers, We're just two weeks into our school year with a mostly new staff of writing assistants. I'd like to offer them the opportunity to blog with us. May I just post the invitation you all sent me to our bulletin board site, or is there a better way to get folks signed up?

All is quiet on the writing center front.

We are lucky enough to get a fall break at my College. I think it was well-needed since the consultants were being overrun with writers. I could see the pressure getting to them. Right now, while equally busy, it seems that people are more relaxed. I know I am. I spent the 4 days wandering the wilds. A highlight was finally finding Smithon's Spiral Jetty . For those unfamiliar with grand-scale earthworks, the Spiral Jetty is out in the hinterland of Utah on the Great Salt Lake. It has been covered in water nearly since it was completed in 1971 (Smithson died not long after in a plane crash), and this is the first time it has broken the water level. The quiet and the serene order of something primordial was amazing out there. I come back to the Center--centered.

I'll take a second to shoot a quick introduction out now. I'm Derek Brown, a first-time peer tutor at the University of Houston-Downtown. I expect to receive a B.S. in Professional Writing this December, then it's off to grad school for me. I'm working in the Writing Center to fulfill an internship requirement for my degree program and I am enjoying myself immensely thus far. Although we are only five weeks into the semester, I've already noticed a general deficiency with subject-verb agreements and thesis sentence construction from my peers. I'm amazed at the consistency with which these problems appear in the writing of first- and second-year students. Final note: as part of my internship requirement, I am keeping a journal of my experiences in the Writing Center. from time to time I may choose to post one of these brief entries for your review. Who knows, you might even get a kick out of some of my stories!

Well, I suppose I'll go ahead and introduce myself. I'm a second year graduate student, but this is my first semester as a tutor. I've been on the job two weeks now. At first, I'll admit that I was apprehensive about peer tutoring (is peer tutoring really peer tutoring, etc.), but the handful of sessions that I've had so far have been enormously enjoyable and rewarding. I think I'm sold. Still, I haven't a vast knowledge of writing center practice or theory yet. I know I'll learn more as the quarter progresses and even more from my actual tutoring sessions. Right now I'm focusing on such basics as listening and learning how to ask the right questions. Of course, neither of these skills are "basic," but they are skills I've long taken for granted--until now. -- FNH

Last Spring Kathleen Shine Caine gave the keynote address at the Rocky Mountain Peer Tutoring Conference that we had the honor of hosting. In the address she talked about stories as a valid means of sharing and devleoping our work. Her point was that, yes, we do need more structured studies that give hard numbers, but we cannot ignore the annecdotal in our quest to become more respectable in academia. Until somebody else starts sharing here, I'm going to keep going on and on about how great that sharing can be. I think people might be blocked. I made coffee for everyone this morning. It disappeared fast. Fall is definitely here.

Cat got everyone's collective tounge? That image is disturbing.

Hey folks. I guess I'll break the ice so that Clint will hear something besides his own echo. We're in our second week of operation, and in this, our writing center's third year, we seem to have some early-semester traffic that we didn't have in previous semesters. Obviously, I'm excited about this fact. Currently, I'm struggling with issues of staff training. We have a small staff (4 students, a volunteer from the English faculty, and myself), and this is the second semester I've been unable to schedule any sort of staff meeting/training time. The individual schedules of our staff members simply didn't allow for it. Thus, I'm trying to figure out how to handle the challenge of training staff members individually without sacrificing either a desire for community or an inordinant amount of time within my own schedule. Fortunately, at this point, while business is greater than it has been in the past, there are still plenty of opportunities fo...

It looks like we finally have some members of the blog besides me. In all I was thinking about what one could post here. Ultimately it could be anything to do with writing center work such as experiences, practices, things we learn etc. I would of course suggest that we adhere to a policy of not mentioning names since that violates a writer's privacy. So with that in mind--the writing center has reached its first big rush for the semester. I always feel better when were busy since we aren't very busy at the beginning of the term--at least with meeting students one-on-one. Right now there is a murmur of work coming through the room to my office in the corner. I should make coffee for everyone.

Originally, Peer Centered was a real-time discussion. Since those conversations never took off, we decided to shift the emphasis away from real-time discussion to the web board. The web board, however, had only limited success. For this reason we decided to move to a blog format since many writing centers already keep their own shared journal, and might be a more apt way to share. Elizabeth Boquet in Noise from the Writing Center devotes part of the penultimate chapter to exploring the surprising ways writing consultants/tutors wrote in their local Writing Center Journal. My hope is that we will be surprised, entertained, and educated by the latest incarnation of Peer Centered.