Conference Number 2
I recently went to the Florida Regional Writing Center Conference, where I had the opportunity of meeting the director of the Florida International University Writing Center, Ms. Char Eberly. I attended her dynamic session, and afterward spoke briefly with her about my visit to the FIU writing center. She said that she only has two Hispanic tutors on the staff, and that as far as she knew, they did not use Spanish in the sessions. She asked if I was able to gain anything from my observations at the writing center. I told her that although I did not observe any Spanish being used in the session, that the opportunity was not directly presented because the students were not Hispanic. Ms. Eberly laughed and extended the opportunity to visit the center whenever I wanted if I needed more research.
Article Reflection 2
In the article “Hispanics travel rough road to higher education:
Ethnic group is the fastest growing, but the least likely to enroll in college” Jeannie Kever, the author, addresses the issue of the great disparity in the ratio of Hispanic population and college enrollment.
“Most of our students are the first in their family to go to college,” Trevino said. “They need people they can relate to.” Basically, Hispanics need people they can relate to. However, it is important to remember that they need to develop their academic endeavors successfully. As a Hispanic student, I believe the biggest challenge for Hispanic students is language. So if a Hispanic student is needing assistance in his/her language usage, and (s)he needs someone to relate to, then attending a multicultural writing center would be perfect!
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6359209.html
Ethnic group is the fastest growing, but the least likely to enroll in college” Jeannie Kever, the author, addresses the issue of the great disparity in the ratio of Hispanic population and college enrollment.
“Most of our students are the first in their family to go to college,” Trevino said. “They need people they can relate to.” Basically, Hispanics need people they can relate to. However, it is important to remember that they need to develop their academic endeavors successfully. As a Hispanic student, I believe the biggest challenge for Hispanic students is language. So if a Hispanic student is needing assistance in his/her language usage, and (s)he needs someone to relate to, then attending a multicultural writing center would be perfect!
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6359209.html
Article Reflection
After reading the article by Lydia Sanchez, entitles “Tutoring Non-Native Speakers” touched on a topic I can personally identify with. I am a Non Native English Speaker and at times, I do have to work extra hard at proving my credibility as an English writing tutor. This anxiety felt when having to prove myself is often felt by tutees when working in a language that is not their first.
Once a tutor and tutee make a cultural acknowledgment and connection with each other, some of the tension and anxieties both parties have will be eased. Cultural acknowledgement and connections are the best ice breakers. One of the best ways to make a solid cultural connection is by recruiting tutors with different cultural backgrounds.
http://ulc.psu.edu/Dangling_Modifier/Spring%2008/Spring-2008_web_Sanchez.htm
Once a tutor and tutee make a cultural acknowledgment and connection with each other, some of the tension and anxieties both parties have will be eased. Cultural acknowledgement and connections are the best ice breakers. One of the best ways to make a solid cultural connection is by recruiting tutors with different cultural backgrounds.
http://ulc.psu.edu/Dangling_Modifier/Spring%2008/Spring-2008_web_Sanchez.htm
Island of the Cicones
I just finished typing my interview draft. I already have some of my observations set up. I am currently looking for more articles to read. I'm trying to collect more research before the first draft of the research paper is due.
I need to finish fixing my survey questions. I would like to have them prepared by Thursday afternoon. I hope to use it in Nova on Friday. That's all. It's 1:20 am, and I am tired.
I need to finish fixing my survey questions. I would like to have them prepared by Thursday afternoon. I hope to use it in Nova on Friday. That's all. It's 1:20 am, and I am tired.
Observation Notes
I walked passed Ken 456* and saw Professor X**. Curious as to how his classes are, I pushed Karen to the open door. She walked inside and quietly asked Professor X if we could sit in and observe the class. He agreed. We walked into the quiet room.
We sat in the middle row on the chairs at the farthest left. I chose that seat because there were none in the back and since the professor was more towards the right side of the room, I could conspicuously observe the other students while it would seem I was looking at the professor.
This observation was objective in the sense that I did not affect my observation. I sat like any other student in that class and took notes, only not on what the professor was talking about, but on what was happening.
I only brought a pen and paper because that is what most people bring to class, and it was the only thing I had with me at the time. I used a sheet of paper and pen to record my notes. I sat just like everyone else, focusing on my paper and pen, just like the others. I wanted to blend in with the other students so that my presence wouldn’t be as obvious.
I first focused on the students’ expression while we walked in “late” and sat down. Some didn’t notice because they were using their phone. Others just glanced up at us. As soon as I sat down, the professor began calling out names of the students so that they could pick up their exams. He emphasized an Italian sounding last name and smiled. The student took his test from the professor’s hand and said “figures.” It was quite audible so I thought it was interesting to hear a student complain so loudly.
When the professor expressed that the entire class did poorly on the exam because they did not have their books, the students looked around, trying not to make eye contact. Some glanced at their phones. Next, students began turning in papers due. One guy in a blue shirt and a pink hat bowed at the professor as he turned it in.
The classroom was fairly warm, however the desks were cold, which felt good. A phone buzzed. The professor walked around the room, making eye contact with the students. There was one student in particular who kept texting. When the professor would stand next to him, he would stop texting. However when the professor was on the other side of the room, although he was looking at that student, the student kept on texting. Another student kept scratching his ears. All students were taking notes. All you could hear is the squeaking of chairs and the turning of pages. The professor’s right hand was twitching as he walked back and forth. Once we stood up to leave the class, the professor smiled as we mouthed thank you.
My observations gave me what I wanted. It gave me insight as to how the professor runs his class and how students respond in this environment. I found that the professor changes his tone according to what he is saying. It lowered for more sensitive areas and became stronger when emphasizing an injustice or a point. The students gave him attention with the exception of one or two students.
*Room number has been changed.
**Name has been changed.
We sat in the middle row on the chairs at the farthest left. I chose that seat because there were none in the back and since the professor was more towards the right side of the room, I could conspicuously observe the other students while it would seem I was looking at the professor.
This observation was objective in the sense that I did not affect my observation. I sat like any other student in that class and took notes, only not on what the professor was talking about, but on what was happening.
I only brought a pen and paper because that is what most people bring to class, and it was the only thing I had with me at the time. I used a sheet of paper and pen to record my notes. I sat just like everyone else, focusing on my paper and pen, just like the others. I wanted to blend in with the other students so that my presence wouldn’t be as obvious.
I first focused on the students’ expression while we walked in “late” and sat down. Some didn’t notice because they were using their phone. Others just glanced up at us. As soon as I sat down, the professor began calling out names of the students so that they could pick up their exams. He emphasized an Italian sounding last name and smiled. The student took his test from the professor’s hand and said “figures.” It was quite audible so I thought it was interesting to hear a student complain so loudly.
When the professor expressed that the entire class did poorly on the exam because they did not have their books, the students looked around, trying not to make eye contact. Some glanced at their phones. Next, students began turning in papers due. One guy in a blue shirt and a pink hat bowed at the professor as he turned it in.
The classroom was fairly warm, however the desks were cold, which felt good. A phone buzzed. The professor walked around the room, making eye contact with the students. There was one student in particular who kept texting. When the professor would stand next to him, he would stop texting. However when the professor was on the other side of the room, although he was looking at that student, the student kept on texting. Another student kept scratching his ears. All students were taking notes. All you could hear is the squeaking of chairs and the turning of pages. The professor’s right hand was twitching as he walked back and forth. Once we stood up to leave the class, the professor smiled as we mouthed thank you.
My observations gave me what I wanted. It gave me insight as to how the professor runs his class and how students respond in this environment. I found that the professor changes his tone according to what he is saying. It lowered for more sensitive areas and became stronger when emphasizing an injustice or a point. The students gave him attention with the exception of one or two students.
*Room number has been changed.
**Name has been changed.
Back home
I conducted my first interview at the SouthEastern Writing Center Association in North Carolina. Dr. Beth Burmester agreed to take the time to speak with me. She shared some of her experiences as a tutor. I plan on interviewing some tutors as well as directors. I finished my survey drafts for the tutees and tutors. I hope to get some feedback and finalize the survey before sending it out. That's all for now. I will post soon!
Boarding the ship to Ithaca
I was doing some research on writing center websites and I decided to go back to FIU's website. It was upgraded. Now it has more pictures, set dates for workshops. They are evidently trying to improve their writing center publication.
Anyway, I am in the process of producing some questions for an (hopeful) interview with the directors of different writing centers. I would like to observe their sessions. Once I finish up the draft of questions, I will post them in hopes that you will provide feedback.
So far I have been researching ESOL tutoring techniques. I have not found any information regarding using Spanish in sessions that are for writing in English. I want to continue to research methodology in ESOL so I can see if and how incorporating Spanish into the session will change the technique on a deeper level.
Anyway, I am in the process of producing some questions for an (hopeful) interview with the directors of different writing centers. I would like to observe their sessions. Once I finish up the draft of questions, I will post them in hopes that you will provide feedback.
So far I have been researching ESOL tutoring techniques. I have not found any information regarding using Spanish in sessions that are for writing in English. I want to continue to research methodology in ESOL so I can see if and how incorporating Spanish into the session will change the technique on a deeper level.
Interview
My interview with QWERTYUIOP began with a conversation about QWERTYUIOP’s activity prior to getting to the interview. QWERTYUIOP explained the fact that QWERTYUIOP teaches children. After speaking to QWERTYUIOP for a few minutes, the interview really began.
QWERTYUIOP explained QWERTYUIOP’s childhood. QWERTYUIOP grew up in a Mexican Rancho. However this was no ordinary Rancho. The particular Rancho had the population of about a high school. There is no running water. Any mere wind can blow out the power. There were no jobs other than plowing your own field. Schooling is only until elementary and it is not mandated. Basically, QWERTYUIOP grew up in a place that is completely different to what QWERTYUIOP experiences now, living in Miami.
Due to QWERTYUIOP’s upbringing, QWERTYUIOP has a different, more elevated, character. Far from materialistic, QWERTYUIOP has a humble, nature oriented outlook on life. Superseding the average person from the small town, QWERTYUIOP is inspirational. Having overcome so many obstacles: poverty, immigration, and acclimating to a new country are some of the many things QWERTYUIOP has overcome. “I do not consider my town as being poor. It is all that they are used to.” Different morals were instilled upon QWERTYUIOP because of the place QWERTYUIOP grew up and QWERTYUIOP’s trials getting away from that birthplace. QWERTYUIOP visited the birthplace at the age of 18 after being in America for 14 years, for a while of mountain climbing, horseback riding, etc.
Throughout the conversation, QWERTYUIOP’s passion and appreciation for life is made evident. QWERTYUIOP taught me about (him/her) self and helped me to appreciate a humility that is often lost in the daily turmoil of life.
QWERTYUIOP explained QWERTYUIOP’s childhood. QWERTYUIOP grew up in a Mexican Rancho. However this was no ordinary Rancho. The particular Rancho had the population of about a high school. There is no running water. Any mere wind can blow out the power. There were no jobs other than plowing your own field. Schooling is only until elementary and it is not mandated. Basically, QWERTYUIOP grew up in a place that is completely different to what QWERTYUIOP experiences now, living in Miami.
Due to QWERTYUIOP’s upbringing, QWERTYUIOP has a different, more elevated, character. Far from materialistic, QWERTYUIOP has a humble, nature oriented outlook on life. Superseding the average person from the small town, QWERTYUIOP is inspirational. Having overcome so many obstacles: poverty, immigration, and acclimating to a new country are some of the many things QWERTYUIOP has overcome. “I do not consider my town as being poor. It is all that they are used to.” Different morals were instilled upon QWERTYUIOP because of the place QWERTYUIOP grew up and QWERTYUIOP’s trials getting away from that birthplace. QWERTYUIOP visited the birthplace at the age of 18 after being in America for 14 years, for a while of mountain climbing, horseback riding, etc.
Throughout the conversation, QWERTYUIOP’s passion and appreciation for life is made evident. QWERTYUIOP taught me about (him/her) self and helped me to appreciate a humility that is often lost in the daily turmoil of life.
Clairity
I found that STU has a retention rate of 68% for full time students and 50% for part time students. I searched other universities in Miami for comparison. FIU rates of retention are at 83.5%. University of Miami has a retention rate of 89.2%. I plan on analyzing the methodology of tutoring in university writing centers. Does the use of Spanish in the university writing center aid in retention in Hispanic serving institutions?
The Beginning of My Odyssey
I am finally posting my researching progress so this post will be a compilation of everything that happened until today! I was indecisive when it came to actually choosing an issue. All I knew was that I wanted to do something Writing Center based. I originally decided on the comparison of STU's UWC teaching methods and other UWCs. I wanted to find out if effective teaching, or should I say tutoring methods, would change and/or vary according to situation. STU has a lot of ESOL students. I wanted to compare UWCs that do not have a large percentage of ESOL students to STU.
However, this topic was too large. I kept on brainstorming and came up with the question: do UWCs affect retention? Once again, this topic was too broad and I had to narrow it down. Now I am in this state of brain stagnancy. I have many ideas that lead to no particular direction. I thought researching retention would help me find a more specific area to focus my multi-genre research paper on.
I went to a few websites and used the search engine for retention. I found a few books that might be of use. I have to get them from the library. One of the sites I went to explain the key factors influencing retention: academic assistance, mentoring, developing friendships and other peer relationships. The UWC would fall under the category of academic assistance but maybe under mentoring, and friendships as well. I want to get information on what the freshman think. The UNI students and ENG 100s would be good to interview. Also, I want to get the STU retention rates. Maybe compare it to other schools? I think if I compare STU UWC with a non UWC containing school and look at the retention rates, it would give some information. Maybe look into FIU and their new UWC. Why did they build it? Is it helping? Interview some students to see if they go, if they find it beneficial, etc. ENG 101 people would be good too. Maybe they had ENG 100 last year.
http://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter/abstracts/
http://writinglabnewsletter.org/archives/v22/22-2.htm
I have to check out these books:
Griswold, G. (2003, December 22). Writing centers: The student retention connection. Academic
Exchange Quarterly, pp. 1-8.
Poziwilko, L. (1997, October). Writing centers, retention, and the institution: A fortuitous nexus.The Writing Lab Newsletter, 22(2), 1-4.
Simpson, J. (1991). The role of writing centers in student retention programs. In R. Wallace & J. Simpson (Eds.), The writing center: New directions (pp. 102-109). New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.
However, this topic was too large. I kept on brainstorming and came up with the question: do UWCs affect retention? Once again, this topic was too broad and I had to narrow it down. Now I am in this state of brain stagnancy. I have many ideas that lead to no particular direction. I thought researching retention would help me find a more specific area to focus my multi-genre research paper on.
I went to a few websites and used the search engine for retention. I found a few books that might be of use. I have to get them from the library. One of the sites I went to explain the key factors influencing retention: academic assistance, mentoring, developing friendships and other peer relationships. The UWC would fall under the category of academic assistance but maybe under mentoring, and friendships as well. I want to get information on what the freshman think. The UNI students and ENG 100s would be good to interview. Also, I want to get the STU retention rates. Maybe compare it to other schools? I think if I compare STU UWC with a non UWC containing school and look at the retention rates, it would give some information. Maybe look into FIU and their new UWC. Why did they build it? Is it helping? Interview some students to see if they go, if they find it beneficial, etc. ENG 101 people would be good too. Maybe they had ENG 100 last year.
http://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter/abstracts/
http://writinglabnewsletter.org/archives/v22/22-2.htm
I have to check out these books:
Griswold, G. (2003, December 22). Writing centers: The student retention connection. Academic
Exchange Quarterly, pp. 1-8.
Poziwilko, L. (1997, October). Writing centers, retention, and the institution: A fortuitous nexus.The Writing Lab Newsletter, 22(2), 1-4.
Simpson, J. (1991). The role of writing centers in student retention programs. In R. Wallace & J. Simpson (Eds.), The writing center: New directions (pp. 102-109). New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.
Fulkerson Reaction
Fulkerson gets on a realistic level when writing about research projects. One thing that specifically caught my attention was when he explained that a research paper should make an argument instead of having one. Also, the superficial sources section of this piece made me ashamed for not putting more effort into my previous works. Fulkerson gives not only tips on how to do a successful research paper but warns us to steer clear of common pitfalls. The fact that he even stated that he took two months to compose this piece of writing proves even the best writers really need to focus and give attention and dedication to their writing.
Reaction to the Nelson Reading
I found myself offended by Nelson's writing. I felt as if he knew a dirty little secret, I am Beth. I find myself doing the same things that she did: procrastinating, repeating information, etc. In my case, I giving a lot of facts is what I was taught needed to be in a research paper. I also think it is the safe way to do a research paper. The person writing it does not really have to worry about their developmental process in regards to their reaction and/or interpretation of the information he or she found. If one merely sticks to writing facts and giving a one paragraph conclusion of everything and (maybe) inserting at the end, one's own opinion, its easier and there can be no argument. However, the paper is boring at that point! I think practice in the process of actually writing the paper AFTER doing research and formulating a strong thought is the best and most effective, not to mention beneficial strategy for writing a research paper.
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