Adapt Not Abandon

After I read Lauren’s blog post about whether or not our accepting of the new forms of literacies will detract from the old literacies we have always been taught, I realized that we shouldn’t have to sacrifice one for the other. Classics like Shakespeare, Socrates, and other great thinkers and writers of the past have lived on for so long and maintained this longevity is because society has reinforced their importance to each new generation. Some of the books that we had to read in core really annoyed me and were hard to understand but once we discussed them some of information I learned was truly astounding. We consider ourselves to be so advanced (I mean we are) with all of our touch screens and cars and even plumbing compared to centuries ago; but if you make it black and white and compare the ideas of some of these writers, they surpass us in some aspects. Their ideas extend far beyond anything I could have ever imagined during their lifetimes. I think it is necessary that we continue to instill in future generations the brilliance of writers past but also those we don’t try and hold on to the past and allow the future to pass by us. We must adapt to the changing times and embrace new literacies and technologies, but we cannot forget the foundations on which we have been established by abandoning them.

High School to College

For the College Application project I opted to help consult one of my friends from home who is a senior this year. She recently began looking at schools and once she had chosen a few she began writing her college essays. The first time I consulted her she was writing to an in state school and the prompt wanted prospective students to write an essay describing a time in their life that had a significant impact on their life and what was the lasting affect of the moment. Since this was not necessarily a formal essay she was a little apprehensive on how to begin her paper. Also she wanted to choose a topic that was meaningful and original without the cliché after affects that most application essays had. She really wanted to wow the review board and standout. Since we were starting from scratch and the first stage of the writing process, I advised her first list all the significant moments in her life even if they did not seem that important. It’s better to start with a lot of material so that we would be able to sift through it all and have options rather than have meager pickings and have to improvise. After some intense brainstorming she finally decided on and event. Once that was done I told her to think of the impact it had on her and all the emotions and feelings attached to that memory. I wanted her to be able to delineate exactly what she had felt. I told her that she wanted to be able to paint a picture for her audience and through her words give the essay life. Having read excerpts from the Bedford Guide about voice, audience, etc, I told her now that she had a basis for getting started on her essay she now needed to focus on her audience, voice, organization, and content. Now that she finally has a foundation for her paper focusing on the major areas will help guide her in the right direction.

Consultants in the Libs

http://www.gonzaga.edu/Academics/Colleges-and-Schools/College-of-Arts-and-Sciences/English/writing-center/

The main focus of this article is the location of the writing center. It’s located “just inside the main entrance of Foley Center Library, in the glassed-in area adjacent to the 24-hour Study Lounge. Come in for a visit!” The point I want to focus on is that the Writing Center itself is located in such an optimal locality. I feel as though writing and libraries go hand in hand. On one hand you have books and in the other hand you have writing. I posted this because it helps tie into my vision for my final project and how having consultants in the library would be ideal for any school but especially one the size of UofR. Obviously at larger institutions this is less ideal because of the monolithic size of some universities (Penn State, Texas A&M, etc). At Richmond however, the library is the main hub of student activity as far as studying. I know I spend the majority of my time here so why would it not make sense to have at least a few on call writing consultants that can assist and aid students in an area with such a vast amount of resources. Now the consultants would not be able to give full on consultations but they can offer tidbits of information or quick words of wisdom. These easy-access consultants are not meant to be quick fixes that tell students what to write in order to achieve the optimal grade. The idea is not perfect by any means but it's a starting point to help students and to provide a little more advertising for the Writing Center in order to encourage student traffic. I am not proposing moving the writing center inside the library but I am suggesting that at least a few consultants relocate here as their work area to help the many students that: need help, have minor questions that they cannot really get through websites or the front desk, have no idea where the writing center is located, reluctant students, etc. What do you think?

Essay Aid Software??

http://www.suite101.com/content/should-students-use-essay-writing-software-a292411

I mean wow the world has become advanced! I initially stumbled upon this article as I was researching another topic concerning writing consultants and writers, but as I googled it this intriguing article presented itself to me. The title was quite captivating and naturally seeing it I clicked away. Before even reading it my natural assumption was that it was some rinky-dink rip off software where students could type in the topic and a scroll list of criteria would emerge; and through careful filtration of already written scholarly essays the program would produce a wrapped and sealed essay to the student with little to no effort on their part. I thought it was a classier version of buying essays online, it only gave you the idea that you had actually done work but still tried to purport the document as your own hard work. Well after reading the article I realized that the idea and the program itself was a little brilliant. It offered students the same help and advice they would receive had they had an actual tutor helping them only it was a software program. Honestly after reading everything it does and does not do I give it the star of approval (not that my say has any real merit). All of the work is the student’s own so there is no plagiarism (at least on the program’s part) and it is essentially and aids just a technological one. So here’s the question: Thumbs up or Thumbs down??

Censoring

Censoring is an interesting topic as it pertains to the writing center. The first example given of the boy who, in a predominantly female-based course, decided to go through with writing his paper with sexist ideals is a great paradigm for not only censoring but helping students as well. As writing consultants students we strive to help students voice their thoughts and opinions through their writing; however, when their ideas contradict with societal standards (writing sexist, racist, etc remarks) we are conflicted in deciding whether or not to euphemize their papers or to continue to help them. If we advise them to alter their thoughts so as not to seem offensive then we are, whether we know or not or like it or not, censoring them. So if presented with a paper and a student like the one mentioned in the article do we: continue to help them despite the fact that they may receive a lower grade and lose any respect they may have obtained, or do we unfortunately censor them in hopes of trying to save them?

My personal opinion? I would help them.
Whether or not I like what they are saying I will only try and help them make valid arguments using sound logic because I am not the one grading them.

Final Boys’ and Girls’ Club Visit

This is the final visit to the Boys’ and Girls’ Club and surprisingly enough it’s a bitter sweet feeling. Even though we have only spent a short amount of time with our own mentees, all of the kids will be missed. I am hoping today that we can help our mentee finalize the beginning portion of her digital story so that all she will have left to do is gather pictures and chose music. I understand that this is a comprehensive learning assignment designed to teach the kids about their community, technology, and other necessary information but I want my mentee to win. It’s supposed to be a fun activity but from the conversations that Lauren and I have had with her, she has more than enough information and creativity to win. I am hoping all of our advice to her was duly noted and will be used and if she has any other concerns or questions we will cover them today so that she is fully prepared by herself.

GO BIG OR GO HOME.

Project Proposal

For the upcoming final for our class we have the choice of either doing a project or an FAQ. I am going to do the project because I had an epiphany earlier which I thought was genius, but I don't know whether it was better in theory or if it could work in reality. My project proposal is a plan to help promote the writing center and offer students with more opportunities to receive help. Most students have no idea where the writing center is and once they learn that it is in Weinstein then that alone is enough to deter them. I mean I am too lazy to walk from my room to the post office (then again the writing center is important and the free-tanning coupons I get in the mail definitely aren't). Either way I will propose having writing consultants scattered across campus in the major study areas where student traffic is always heavy. There are already writing consultants who work in study hall specifically for athletes, so why not have a few in the library as well?? It would make sense for the writing center to reserve one of the study rooms and have a few consultants in there taking walk-ins helping out students who need help. I think it is a win-win situation because the writing center gets promoted an d students receive the necessary help that will entice them to actually go to the writing center next time. Also possibly writing consultants specializing in the sciences may work in Gottwald, psychology in Richmond Hall, etc. I have no idea how many writing consultants there are nor when they work so this may not be feasible if personnel is low. However, if this is indeed a manageable feat then it should at least be given a trial period and then traffic flow to the writing center should be assessed. I think that if my idea were given a shot it would definitely encourage students to make appointments and help their writing.

My First Time…

My First Time…


Writing an actual essay was in 3rd grade. This may seem early but for some reason I feel as though it’s a little late. Don’t get me wrong it was by no means an in depth analysis on a Judy Blume book; the prompts were more like write about a family vacation, but it was a structured paper with a point, beginning, and end. My teacher (whom I’ll never forget), Mrs. Swebjka always made us write as our first exercise for the day. She would hand us papers with houses on them. The house would take up the entire page. It had a roof: for the intro. Three columns in the middle: 3 paragraphs for each column. Inside each column would be the numbers 1-4 and under each number we would write a sentence, these would eventually become our paragraph. Underneath everything was the base of the house which represented our conclusion. In retrospect it was a pretty neat, crafty, efficient way to not only learn how to write an essay but also how to teach students to write as well.

Everyday we would write. I guess this is one of my few memories of why I love writing and English so much. From an early age I was taught how to write so I didn’t grow up struggling like some people when it comes to writing. Although as I reflect, I can say this is probably what made me such a formulaic writer especially the standard 5 paragraph essay: 1 intro, 3 bodies, and 1 conclusion. Still, I am thankful for the strong foundation I was given because it has unknowingly benefited me tremendously.

Thank you, Mrs. Swebjka

ESL Students: Arabic & Japanese vs. English

ESL Students: Arabic & Japanese vs. English

Since it was my week to review one of the articles for class I decided to focus my blog on my own article because I looked more closely at my articles than the others. I agreed with the major points of the article, but one that sort of puzzled me was the idea that consultants should have prior knowledge of the languages with which they will be handling. In theory, this idea is great! I mean it would be easier for consultants and students to connect and concentrate more on the paper rather than structural differences between their language and English. On the other hand consultants are not linguists. It would be very cumbersome for them to try and understand, learn, and familiarize themselves with problems common to certain languages. For starters, there are multiple languages and it would be ignorant to focus only on common ones like Spanish, French, etc. What about Tagalong, Lebanese, Portuguese, Serbian, etc and other less common languages. Also each year new students and new consultants filter in and out of the writing center so the process would be never ending. The majority of consultants (at least from what I know at Richmond) are students who have hectic lives, booked social calendars, athletics, and other equally important obligations. That being said they have time to familiarize themselves with the mistakes ESL Arabic students make when trying to write English essays. If I were to consult an ESL Portuguese student, knowing some of the common mistakes that occur would definitely behoove me for the session but the opportunity cost of doing so would be too high a price to pay.


Article: Moujtahid, B. "Influence of Cultural and Linguistic Backgrounds on the writing of Arabic and Japanese Students of English." Writing Lab Newsletter 21.3 (Nov. 1996): 1-5.

Boy’s and Girl’s Club

Today will be our first trip to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club to help the students create their digital stories. I am hoping whomever I am helping has already done their interview so I can help them make it into a story. If not then we can talk about whom they will interview and the questions they will ask and that sort of thing. We can begin with getting to know one anther so when they create their digital story I can help them incorporate their personality into the project.

I am excited for this experience because it kind of takes me back home. Although my family is blessed I know other families aren’t as fortunate. My high school was compromised of a vast majority of children from lower income families; also my mother teaches students who are in the same situation. I feel as though I will be able to connect with the students in more ways than one and I am hoping to leave a positive lasting impression.