working with writers: uic writing center handbook
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Working With Writers:
UIC Writing Center Handbook
Vainis Aleksa, Kim O'Neil, Rita Sacay, & Charitianne Williams
Acknowledgments
We thank all students who use the Writing Center. Our hope is that we can help make writing a more meaningful and productive process for everyone on campus. But peer tutoring is not only about supporting others. It is a dialogue in which both tutor and writer have an opportunity to learn from each other. As we get to know you, we get better at helping you become the writer you want to be. Thank you for using the Writing Center.
We thank all the instructors, especially the FYW lecturers, who bring their classes for group work, require their students to make individual appointments, and talk to us about the goals they have for their students. Thank you, Marc Baez, Gregor Baszak, Jessica Berger, Kate Boulay, Kevin Carey, John Casey, Matthew Corey, Ginger Costello, Nikki Cox, Angela Dancey, Heather Doble, Jim Drown, Aaron Finley, William Ford, Gina Gemmel, Chris Girman, Chris Glomski, Elvira Godek-Kiryluk, Hannah Green, Scott Grunow, Mary Hibbeler, Phil Jenks, Aaron Krall, Katya Kulik, Andrea Leavey, Jennifer Lewis, Mary Ann Lyons, Dave Marincik, Russell Mayo, Scott McFarland, Mike Newirth, Sein Oh, Mary Ellen O'Hara, Katherine Parr, Robin Petrovic, Nadya Pittendrigh, Robert Romeo, Mimi Rosenbush, Sarah Rutter, Neri Sandoval-Villa, Jay Shearer, Todd Sherfinski, Courtney Sloey, Trevor Strunk, Marla Weeg, and Andy Young.
Administrative leadership at UIC has been courageous, insightful, and enthusiastic about peer tutoring. A special thanks thanks to Astrida Tantillo, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Walter Benn Michaels, Head of English, Nikos Varelas Associate Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Amy Liu, Assistant to the Head of English. And for the generosity and foresight of your guidance as Director of First Year Writing, we thank you, Mark Bennett. We thank Kevin Kumashiro and Karen Su, leaders of UIC's Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions Initiative, whose support has allowed us to create high impact practices for serving students learning English. This handbook is built on the pioneering work of writing center frontrunners, Aneeka Henderson, Lindsay Marshall, Lydia Saravia, Tyrell Stewart-Harris, and Alex Wulff. We think of you and your impact on our work each day. Thank you Nikki Paley Cox for the clarity of your vision and an understanding of what it means to collaborate and keep moving forward as we shaped the new handbook. Tutors – you know fellow students, their efforts, their concerns, and their accomplishments in a way that can only come from working side by side with them. Your input amounts to an extraordinary body of knowledge that the academic community will be able to learn from for many years to come. You help us better understand the writing process, find new directions in writing instruction, and refresh our hope in education.
Vainis Aleksa, Kim O’Neil Rita Sacay, Charitianne Williams
Preface
This handbook is a new version of an earlier handbook written in 2008 by the Writing Center directorial staff. This handbook maintains the central idea of the earlier work: that peer tutoring is most effective when tutors understand the ways tutoring can be inadvertently oppressive and that successful tutoring is based on the tutor's responsibility to create respectful relationships with fellow students. The changes were made to stay abreast of the way tutors have responded to the handbook as they thoughtfully, conscientiously, and imaginatively sought to put theory into practice.
Copyright © 2015
Table of Contents
Introduction: Guiding Principles for Successful Tutoring ...................................................................... 1
Who Uses the Writing Center? ........................................................................................................... 3
Levels of Familiarity with Peer Tutoring ................................................................................................... 4
Students asking us to acknowledge their Visit to their Instructor ............................................................ 4
Academic Experience ................................................................................................................................ 4
Course Assignments .................................................................................................................................. 5
Writing Topics ........................................................................................................................................... 6
The Role of Theory ............................................................................................................................. 7
Race at the Writing Center........................................................................................................................ 9
Feminist Pedagogy at the Writing Center ............................................................................................... 11
Queer Theory and LGBQT Writers at the Writing Center ....................................................................... 12
Grammar and Linguistics......................................................................................................................... 14
Building Tutoring Practices ............................................................................................................... 17
Your First Tutoring Session ..................................................................................................................... 17
Types of Sessions: A Universal Design Approach .................................................................................... 20
Interactive Reading and the Tutoring Process ........................................................................................ 25
Group Work ............................................................................................................................................. 26
The Writing Partners Program: Multiple-session visitors ....................................................................... 31
Writer & Tutor Rights and Responsibilities ........................................................................................ 33
References ....................................................................................................................................... 35
Appendices ...................................................................................................................................... 36
Informational Flier about the Writing Center for Students: Appendix A ................................................ 36
Conference Form that Writers Fill Out at the Beginning of Each Individual Session: Appendix B ......... 37
Feedback Form Students Fill Out after Every Tutoring Session: Appendix C .......................................... 37
Group Work Format #1: Beginning a Task: Appendix D ......................................................................... 38
Group Work Format #2: Developing a Thesis: Appendix E ..................................................................... 41
Introductory Presentation to Visiting Classes: Appendix F ..................................................................... 42
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Introduction: Guiding Principles for Successful Tutoring
The goal of peer tutoring is to create helpful conversations about writing with fellow students. The tutor is a resource for questions and concerns about writing, of course. But what makes peer tutoring distinct from other educational methods is its emphasis on the tutor's responsibility to create "peerness" -- that is, respectful relationships with other students and opportunities for those students to participate in a conversation about their writing. These fundamental ideas – helping with writing, building working relationships with fellow students, and creating opportunities for writers to actively participate in their learning – are the ideas we use when we think about whether a session is successful.
For example, let's say that we answered all the questions that a writer had in a tutoring session and offered explanations that were clear and accessible. This would be an accomplishment, of course, but in assessing the session, we'd also ask how the tutor succeeded in relating to the writer. Did the writer feel that the tutor was interested? Did the writer
feel that they could express concerns without being judged? Could the writer trust that the tutor was working in their best interest? Does the writer feel welcome to return in the future? Did the writer experience what it means to be a part of the academic community?
An emphasis on tutoring as a relationship is part of a broader understanding about how we develop as academic writers. Improving writing takes time. A single hour of tutoring will not have as much impact as several sessions. We can help writers more if they feel we are their partners in the writing process. Writers who come often should see that we value their hard work and that their continual visits are a way of working fruitfully on their writing development.
Even a single hour can be very productive if a tutor is able to establish a good working relationship with a writer. Writing successfully at the college level requires a broad range of skills -- advanced reading strategies, an understanding of the multiple purposes of writing assignments, and the ability to
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generate new ideas. It would be hard for writers to learn if they did not feel they could ask honest questions or approach new challenges without some level of confidence. To help tutors create the supportive atmosphere needed for writing development, this handbook emphasizes an educational approach called “anti-oppressive.” In this approach, we try to be aware of the inadvertent ways education can be biased. Anti-oppressive approaches are especially important in writing education, where writers are more likely to see someone's response as judgmental.
In addition to helping with writing and building partnerships with writers, the tutor has the responsibility of creating opportunities for the writer to participate. Learning has more impact when students are active in making choices about their writing. In assessing the session, we would also, therefore, look at how the writer was given opportunities to be involved in making decisions. When the writer offered input, how did we respond? How did we acknowledge and value the writer's questions? When could we have listened more instead of speaking?
Some students are quick to take advantage of the opportunity tutoring offers. But many need more than one session to warm up before they learn to participate. This is understandable, of course. We are all used to getting our writing evaluated or commented on, but participating in a conversation about it is less common. Tutors, therefore, should not expect participation to be instant. Rather, tutors should expect that they will need to provide numerous opportunities through small steps that help writers become more involved. For example, good tutoring practice includes taking pauses to ask writers how they feel the session is going. You will learn other ways of making it easier for writers to become more involved. What the strategies will all have in common is that the tutor does not force participation, but continually invites it.
Tutoring at the Writing Center involves two of the most complex activities that humans engage in: writing and relationships. For this reason, experienced tutors will tell you that tutoring is an
ongoing learning process. Each session has both strengths and moments during which the tutor could have offered a response that was clearer, more empathetic, more meaningful, more respectful, more productive, and so forth. Tutors have the difficult but worthy task of looking at sessions not exclusively through their own eyes – but also, as much as possible, through the eyes of the writer.
The tutor-training course is founded on the idea that it is the tutor’s responsibility to analyze each session and to focus on ways that they, rather than the writer, could improve it. Seeking continual growth is challenging, of course, but in the end, we hope that you will find your tutoring experience an exceptional opportunity for your own growth as a writer, communicator, and leader.
As you can see, peer tutoring is based on three obligations:
•creating relationships with writers based on respect;
•creating conversations in which both writer and tutor participate;
•being an ongoing learner who reflects on and analyzes tutoring, even when it seems to be going well.
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Who Uses the Writing Center?
Part of our mission is to promote peer
conversations about writing to all students. When
we reach out to students and faculty about the
Writing Center, we say that we can be helpful both
to students who excel in writing as well as those
who do not. This is grounded in our praxis, in which
we aim to respond to others beyond focusing only
on what is wrong with writing. Whether a student
needs help with sentence level concerns or making
an already excellent personal statement even more
competitive, we know that our part is not simply to
meet so-called “needs,” but to foster a
conversation that makes the process of writing
more valuable and meaningful.
Of course, we should not take any short cuts
towards this ideal: we should always offer useful
responses to requests for help with grammar,
quoting, reading, or taking a first step with an
assignment. But every tutoring conversation also
offers opportunities to expand the conversation on
writing – moments for the tutor to take interest the
writer’s content, effort, and aspirations.
We have to be careful when thinking about
categories of writers. Our message that we serve
all students resonates with both faculty and
students. As a result, we have more and a greater
variety of students using the Writing Center –
students who come for credit and students who
come on their own initiative; students just starting
out in college and students who are at a graduate
level; students who feel prepared and confident
about college and students who feel alienated or
are reluctant to ask for help.
Thinking about categories can be helpful as long as
we keep in mind that no one category defines any
of us. It is part of our job to seek what is different
about each conversation and to resist assumptions
about what students might need based on a
category. For example, some students are required
to make a visit as part of credit for class. Some of
these students have seemed resentful about
getting tutored. It would be all too easy to
generalize that all students who are required to
come will be resentful. Even if a student shows
resentment in the initial minutes of a tutoring
conversation, many tutors have reported that their
effort to offer a positive and motivating response
changed the mood of the session and helped the
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writer leave the Center with a new perspective on
writing and peer tutoring.
Levels of Familiarity with Peer Tutoring
Here are some general trends about students who
use the Center. The most important one is about
the level of familiarity students have about peer
tutoring. Even with good information about the
Writing Center, students simply will not have an
opportunity to be as familiar with it as those of us
who discuss it in classes like English 222 or 482.
Most students need to experience peer tutoring,
often several times, before they can develop
practical expectations about the session and learn
to value its fuller potential for growth.
About 25% of sessions are with students who are
using the Writing Center for the first time and
about 65% are with students who use us two or
three times per year. (The remaining 10% use it
very frequently, even weekly.)
If a student is here for the first time, we need to
offer brief explanations about things like using the
conference form, making use of our computers, or
making future appointments. But even students
who are not coming for the first time are not nearly
as familiar with our environment as we are. To
students who are not familiar with us, it can be
easy to perceive the Center as an exclusive
community, where the space is for tutors more
than it is for writers. Being welcoming to writers
begins by always trying to imagine what it is like to
be coming into an unfamiliar environment.
Students asking us to acknowledge their Visit to
their Instructor
The number of sessions in which students ask that
we report their visit back to the instructor is about
40%. For some of these students, the visit is not
technically a requirement – rather, they want their
professor to know about the effort they are making
to work on their writing. Other students are taking
a class in which the students are given extra credit
for using the Writing Center. Among the students
who are required to come, there may be a few who
are resentful. If by chance (and this is rare) a
student is openly confrontational, do not be
confrontational in return. Rather, politely tell the
writer that it seems you won’t be able to help.
Then say you will get a supervisor who can suggest
helpful alternatives to peer tutoring.
It is not common to have a writer who is blatantly
uncooperative for an entire session. We have to be
cautious about being too quick to judge a writer’s
lack of participation. Most often, the reluctance to
participate in a conversation comes from negative
experiences with classroom peer work in the past
or simply a lack of experience at our Center. If a
tutor uses the opening five minutes of a session to
discuss an agenda and is willing to try alternative
approaches to helping the student participate,
most students will appreciate your effort and learn
how to be involved in a tutoring conversation.
Academic Experience
About half our writers are first year students,
either in a First Year Writing or a General Education
course. In addition to learning about the
assignment itself, most of these students are new
to academic culture and might benefit from a
conversation about the purpose of the assignment
and how it relates to the kinds of interests
professors have as academic researchers.
The other half are working on advanced writing,
either for an upper level course, graduate research,
or an application to a scholarship or graduate
school. There are some upper level courses that
require students to visit, but more often, these
students make their own choice to come. Although
these students seek to improve their assignments,
they ordinarily have more knowledge of their
subject and the assignment's expectations.
The art of tutoring an advanced writer is creating a
conversation that balances recognition of the
writer's experience and the writer's requests,
sometimes basic, about their writing. You will need
to appeal to the writer’s expertise about the
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subject matter and the demands of the
assignment. Working with advanced writes also
requires you to be open-minded about a
professor's expectations, which can be unique to
the course. Be prepared to see differences
between what you have learned in your own
advanced classes and what a student is expected to
write in their course.
Often, tutors feel that they could do better if they
were more familiar with a course's content. But
peer tutoring does not seek to take on the role of
the professor, who is indeed an expert in subject
matter. Rather, the peer tutor offers the writer an
opportunity to be engaged by a more general
academic audience. This audience is, in fact, one
that most scholarly communities eventually seek:
researchers want their findings and insights to be
known beyond the relatively small group of experts
in their field.
The tutor has a kind of expertise to offer, but one
that is different. Peer tutors train to think about
general expectations for academic writing and soon
learn from seeing different assignments and talking
to many different writers. Nearly all academic
writing is expected to have introductory sections,
not only in the beginning of a piece of writing, but
throughout, such as in topic sentences. We can also
rely on our awareness that academic language is
expected to be clear, precise, and, compared to
editorials or other opinion-driven genres, relatively
neutral in tone. Finally, we can expect that claims
need to be based on evidence. Because evidence is
particularly valued in the academic community,
using research is a likely topic for a tutoring
conversation.
When you notice from the conference form that
you are working with an advanced writer, the first
step is to adapt the “first five minutes” of a
tutoring session. As you and the writer set the
agenda for the session, acknowledge to the writer
that you recognize the experience they already
have in their discipline and that throughout the
session you might be asking some brief questions
that will help both of you review and clarify the
expectations of the assignment.
At the same time, do not diminish your own role. It
may dishearten the writer if you say that you know
nothing about the subject or if after looking at the
writing you say that the writing looks OK and does
not need any more development. Rather let the
writer know that you will provide him or her with
an opportunity to focus on how the ideas in the
writing are being communicated clearly.
Course Assignments
Writers coming to work on First Year Writing
Assignments constitute about 36% of our sessions.
The second biggest group of sessions, 18%, are
with writers working on assignments in the social
sciences. Most of these assignments are expected
to use the APA citation style. Because APA is also
used in disciplines other than the social sciences,
(for example, sometimes in fields like Business,
Education, or Urban Planning), you can expect to
see features of the APA style relatively often.
About 15% of our sessions are with writers working
in health or science-related fields. These students
have a greater variety of assignments than
students working in the humanities or social
sciences. Sometimes they are asked to conduct
research that shares features of the APA style, but
frequently, students are expected to write
assignments that prepare them for their
professions as well. For example, Nurses or Social
Workers might be asked to write proposals, case
studies, reports, or notes on field work.
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About 5% of our sessions are for students writing
personal statements. Personal statements offer a
special challenge for writers and tutors. Compared
to other academic writing tasks, personal
statements for competitive positions can never be
guaranteed to be successful. Adding to the
challenge is that though statements have general
guidelines, it is more difficult to assess what
preferences an anonymous reader will have. These
unknowns may be the reason why the tips you can
find online for writing personal statements are
often contradictory – some saying, for example,
that you should have an attention-grabbing
opening, while others saying that it is better to
start more formally. There are some general
guidelines that are universally applicable: for
example, personal statements should not
summarize a resume, but illuminate it by focusing
on specific instances. Most administrators also
expect the personal statement to emphasize an
applicant’s individual character and bring out the
ways the applicant’s experience is unique. Finally, a
tried and true approach is to steer away from
descriptions of what the applicant did and lean
toward explanations of what a particular
experience has helped them learn.
There are some students, often in history, science,
and anthropology, who are given assignments that
use citations systems other than MLA or APA. One
more common system that is substantially different
from MLA and APA makes use of the Chicago
Manual of Style (sometimes referred to as the
Turabian Style). The Chicago Style uses numbered
footnotes at the bottom of each page or the end of
the paper. Footnotes can also appear in science
writing, which often uses guidelines recommended
by the Council of Science Editors. We have also
seen students using other systems that are very
close to the APA – citation systems such as the ASA
(American Sociological Association) or the AAA
(American Anthropological Association).
For any citation system, the best tutoring strategy
is to say to the writer that it would be useful to
have the rules in front of you as you talk about
them, and then to open a website online that both
of you can refer to. As is often the case, the Purdue
Owl offers practical and accessible reference
material. We also have handouts at the Writing
Center that compare MLA, APA, and the Chicago
styles. Feel free to offer copies of these handouts
to the writers.
If you have not had previous exposure to these
other styles, before you start tutoring, go to the
Purdue Owl, both to practice looking up material
and to get at least some familiarity with the variety
of citation methods.
Writing Topics
When students check in at the front desk, they are
given a “conference form” to fill out. On the form,
there is a check list of topics that are commonly
requested by writers:
getting started on an assignment
supporting a thesis or developing ideas
creating organization and transitions
responding to feedback from instructor
thinking about audience expectations
working on editing skills
quoting, citing, or other research practices
Nearly half the writers check “working on editing skills” as one of their choices. But only 5% of our users check this as the only category. In other words, when students check “editing,” they are also interested in the other topics listed above as well. 30% of the time, students check “creating organization and transitions” or “supporting a thesis or developing ideas.” 20% of the time, “getting started on an assignment” or “quoting, citing, or other research practices.” And lastly, at about a 10% rate, “responding to feedback from instructor” or “thinking about audience expectations.”
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Students tend to check “editing” for a variety of reasons. In our records we noticed that the students who check editing as their only topic of interest are also among the students who are required to come. It is likely, therefore, that the instructor has suggested that the student work on editing. We have also noticed that students ask for editing because comments on editing concerns are generally most frequent on student papers. It is understandable, therefore, that students go to the Writing Center to address an issue that seems to be most prevalent. Over time, students who become more familiar with peer tutoring begin to see how useful it can be to talk about some of the other topics on our conference form checklist.
After responding to the topics that the writer has initially checked or to the agenda that you and the writer initially set in the first few minutes of the session, you can always invite the writer to use the remainder of a session (or a next session) to talk about one of the other topics. Avoid being pushy, of course, but send the message that you are willing to talk about a range of topics that can help the writer become increasingly confident and successful.
The Role of Theory
At its most basic, the term theory means
explanation. A theorist takes empirical
observations of the world around them and tries to
account for the patterns of events, causes, and
effects. Writing center theory combines ideas and
observations of many fields and disciplines, for
example, pedagogical theory about educational
practices, social theory about the interaction of
race, class, gender, and culture, or cognitive theory
about how the brain learns. Theories can be used
as a set of guiding principles used to make
decisions about tutoring practice.
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Over twenty years ago the critical theorist and
linguist Mary Louise Pratt introduced the term
“contact zone” to describe social spaces where
varying cultures meet and interact, often in the
context of hierarchical power dynamics. Prior to
Pratt, writing centers predominantly assumed that
the contact between tutor and writer was among
equals because both were students. Pratt's idea,
however, illuminated how power continues to play
a role in tutoring.
One dimension of the power is culture. Some
students, for example, will find that the language
they use in their community is similar to the
language used in the college classroom, while some
students will experience a contrast between the
two ways of using language. Some students, to take
another example, will find that elements of their
culture are represented in course topics and
assignments, whereas some students will not.
These experiences are not simply different; rather,
they create advantages and disadvantages, for
some, a sense of belonging, while for others, a
degree of alienation.
Students using the writing center will feel the
power differential of a tutoring conversation far
more than tutors might. Tutors, on their part,
create conversations that do not make use of the
authority granted to instructors to create
assignments or evaluate them. But this authority is
not the only ingredient in a power dynamic.
Students are well aware that tutors are successful
writers who have been granted the institutional
authority to help others with writing. Despite a
tutor's intentions to share their successful
experience with others, in a contact zone, a
conversation will be influenced by important, often
silent, nuances. It would be reasonable for a
student to raise complicated questions for
themselves: why are some writers more successful
than others? Is it a question of talent? Hard work?
Opportunity?
Tutors use theory to better understand writers and
themselves. Reflecting on the role of power in
conversations about writing can help a tutor make
better decisions. How do the differences in culture
and experience affect a writer’s understanding of
academic discourse and faculty expectations? How
do we, as representatives of UIC, make choices
about behaviors and practices within the diverse,
sometimes uncomfortable, space of the contact
zone? Theory helps us to better understand how to
make tutoring more productive, especially for
writers who may not have been given as many
opportunities as others to learn about writing or to
experience belonging in academic settings.
In the diversity of tutoring experiences that make
the contact zone, there is no way to anticipate and
resolve every situation before it arises. But theory
can help us understand our contact with other
students at a deeper level and hence make us
better prepared for the unexpected. It is with
theory that you can best be an ongoing learner
who develops a praxis, or your own way of
enacting and embodying anti-oppressive theory as
best fits your own strengths, weaknesses, and
experiences as a learner, writer, and tutor.
Think of this handbook as one step in your
development of an individual praxis. In the next
sections, we will explain the theories that shape
Writing Center tutoring at UIC. The theories we
discuss have been observed to best fit the
experiences of UIC writers and students, although
as is hopefully made clear, there is no single one-
size-fits-all explanation.
On the basis of these theories, we will discuss some
major components of practice, such as the most
common structure of writing center sessions, what
can be expected to happen during a session, and
some basic tips about choices and decisions tutors
make to maximize the effectiveness of their limited
time with a writer. Practice should not be seen as
separate from theory -- both inform each other.
Use both theory and experience to develop your
own praxis, or your way of transforming and
improving yourself as a UIC tutor.
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Race at the Writing Center
Views on race are complex and changing. Racial
oppression, when blatant, is usually treated as
reprehensible in most popular media and this can
create an impression that racism is an exception.
Some even view society as “post-racial” and
academic discussions about race as outdated. But
for many, race continues to play a significant role.
The role can be positive. Identifying with a race or,
for many students, with several races, can offer a
rich heritage and meaningful cultural identity. Too
often, however, race also continues to be a
significant factor in unfairness and oppression.
On college campuses, first impressions based on
race continue to generate assumptions about
things like language use, immigration, choice of
major, participation in athletics, scholarship
distribution, or students’ place of origin. In addition
to inadvertent discrimination, college campuses
often make the national news when videos,
language, and symbols are used to intimidate
others and to attempt to display one group’s
superiority over another.
Research studies about the racial climate on
college campuses agree on two major points
(Harper, 2007). First, that often there is a
difference between how white students and
students of color perceive a campus’s racial
climate. White students say they experience the
racial climate more positively, while students of
color, often because they continue to face various
forms of discrimination, more negatively.
Secondly, when students experience the racial
climate negatively, they are more likely to question
their sense of belonging on campus (Harper, 2007).
This can affect academic performance. If people
get messages that they are outsiders to the
community, they are less likely to make use of
resources, ask for help, or participate in class. Not
belonging can also bring confidence levels down,
which can complicate the process of generating a
thesis or of learning about what professors look for
in writing. Some students may even begin to feel
that their peers are applying negative stereotypes
to them.
A tutor’s role in helping create an anti-oppressive
environment begins with understanding that the
racial climate is not experienced by everyone
similarly. Students who have had negative
experiences may be cautious about entrusting their
work or concerns to others. It is reasonable, as a
consequence, that some students will question
whether a tutor would be working in the student’s
best interest.
Tutors also need to question their own
assumptions. Researchers in psychology agree that
despite our best intentions, our brains tend toward
bias (Law, 2011). The good news is that we can
counterbalance our unconscious responses and be
more open and fair to others if we make it a
practice of trying to review our tutoring from the
perspective of someone who is new to our Center.
Did the writer feel that he or she was listened to?
Was any of my language possibly interpreted as
judgmental or biased? How would the writer know
that I was interested in what he or she was writing?
Perspective on race can also play a role in tutoring
when the subject of writing is race. If ever a writer
is openly hostile toward other students, either
verbally or in writing, the tutor should calmly
excuse him or herself and ask one of the Directors
to talk to the student. The Directors would then let
the student know that tutoring is a privilege based
on respect for all members of the UIC community.
If the student would want to continue using our
services, he or she would have to be willing to
abide by UIC’s standards on conduct.
Open hostility at the Writing Center is not
common, however. More commonly, bias in writing
or conversation occurs either inadvertently or
through ignorance. Even in these cases, however, if
a tutor feels unsafe, the tutor should ask one of the
Directors to be excused from the session. But if the
tutor feels safe, the tutor should look for an
opportunity to have a conversation about parts of
the paper that are biased.
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First, as always, the tutor should respond to the
writer’s concerns and then ask the writer if he or
she would like to talk about other parts of the
writing. If the writer agrees, the tutor can ask
about the section of the writing that may be biased
and ask the writer what he or she means by it.
Tutors will need to be very cautious – there are
many examples of assignments that ask students to
investigate racist terms. A use of a term does not
automatically mean the writer condones it. Also, a
writer may be actually willing to learn how to
express him or herself appropriately, but may
become anxious about being judged. If a writer is
open to more conversation, the tutor can explain
why the term is hurtful or offensive and tutor and
writer can work together to find an alternative.
Feminist Pedagogy at the Writing Center
The Women’s Studies programs that were
established in universities in the 1970s changed not
only the content of courses, but the way courses
were taught. Rooted in a common goal of bringing
in women’s voices into the academy, feminist
pedagogy opened opportunities for other voices
that were also unrepresented in traditions
dominated by male, Eurocentric, and middle and
upper class perspectives. Among the features of
feminist pedagogy now common are an emphasis
on building community, respect for diversity and
personal experience, and thinking critically,
especially about how and when traditions and
norms (for example, the idea that women “belong
at home”) can be oppressive.
Feminist pedagogy provides a broad span of ideas
that continue to generate the further development
of peer tutoring. Here are a few of the ideas that
tutors try to establish in their tutoring practice.
Central to any writing center that seeks to build
community is thinking critically about how
institutions contribute to making it easier for some
to speak and harder for others. If it seems a writer
is not willing to participate in a conversation, a
feminist pedagogy perspective would encourage us
to consider possibilities other than a writer’s
deliberate reluctance. Feminist pedagogy is
interested in how silence is constructed because
for so many years women were neither
represented nor expected to participate in
academic communities. When writers are silent,
could it in part be that the writer has not been
given opportunities to participate in these type of
conversations in the past? What ways has bias
played a role in how students are called upon in
class or are rewarded for what they say? How does
one develop the confidence to believe that others
are interested in what someone has to say?
Feminist pedagogy would look beyond writer’s
individual personality and think about how
academic community norms encourage some to
speak and some to “keep it to themselves.”
Feminist Pedagogy has also helped promote the
idea of “intersectionality.” Intersectionality pushes
against the inclination to reduce people to simple
categories. When we talk about gender, for
example, we have to think about how gender
“intersects” with other aspects of a person – how
our gender might intersect with the ways we
identify with class, race, economic status, or
countless other categories. During the feminist
movement, for example, white women and women
of color recognized how race played a crucial role
in their perception of what is most important about
feminism.
Understanding intersectionality is crucial for peer
tutoring. We sometimes talk about students in
categories. As tutors and educators, we think about
students who are learning English, or who are in
their first year, or who do or do not have to pay
their own way through college. It is, of course,
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helpful to keep in mind some of the challenges
these students tend to face. But none of these
categories should be used to assume what a writer
is interested in when coming to tutoring. Someone
learning English may or may not want to or need to
work on grammar; a feminist may or may not want
to write about women’s issues; a person from a
part of the world where marriages are arranged
may or may not want to write or talk about that
and so forth.
Feminist pedagogy also gives new focus to
students’ interests and voices. The feminist
movement saw an ally in the educational leader,
Paulo Freire, who called patriarchal education “the
banking system.” In this old model, professors were
to deposit their knowledge into students who were
supposed to absorb it passively. The feminist
movement recognized that changes for women
could not be made by a system that sought only to
transmit established knowledge. Change had to
include the views, interests, and experience of the
learners.
Although feminist ideas about shared power in the
classroom have been an influence on smaller,
discussion-based classes, at places like UIC, where
a student’s first year experience is dominated by
the large lecture hall, the ideal will still require a lot
of creative work before it is reached. In part,
however, one way that UIC recognizes the
importance of creating space for student voices to
be heard is the institutional support it provides for
the Writing Center. It is here that tutors aim to
create conversations that provide opportunities for
writers to speak, express their interests, and be
more involved in the learning process.
Queer Theory and LGBQT Writers at the Writing Center
Fundamentally, queer theory asks us to explore—
not answer—the question: What is normal? The
central tenant of queer theory is that there is no
normal, and that this truth can be made clear
through questioning why certain experiences have
been positioned as dominant in society. For Harry
Denny, one of the first Writing Center theorists to
invoke queer theory as a lens for examining writing
centers, the theory provides a way of both
critiquing the practices of writing centers, and
guiding Writing Center participants towards more
inclusive practice.
In her introduction to Denny’s “Queering the
Writing Center,” Michele Eodice, another well-
known writing center scholar, states that
“being queer in and of itself, of course, has
nothing to do with queer theory . . .it is not
primarily about an identity we need to
acknowledge (Oh, he is gay!). It is really
more about queer as a way to understand
identity, through a theory that borrows its
bends and twists from the actual
experiences of the fringe. . .to form a
generative way to view the world. (92)
In this way, queer theory is easily relatable to the
shared experiences of all communities, navigating a
world where identity is often seen in binary
distinctions—straight/gay, man/women,
white/person of color, educated/uneducated—that
make alternate spaces uncomfortable or invisible.
We can even think about the way binary
distinctions often dominate our understanding of
writing center practices. Consider, for example, the
way we could categorize tutoring approaches as
either “directive” or “non-directive,” when actually,
in practice tutors at different stages of the session
play both roles, or even invite writers to play both
roles. Peer tutoring, in fact, aims to break down the
sharp distinction between the role of a “tutor” and
a “writer.” The tensions built between each side of
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the two pairs suggest that the relationship is all or
nothing, one or the other. Believing in that binary,
however, is a threat to peernes—think about what
can happen if a tutor chooses only a directive or
only a non-directive practice, with no variation.
Or think about how damaging it could be if a tutor
thought of tutors as “us,” as those who belong to
the center, and writers as “them,” those who are
“needy,” or deficient, or inexperienced. Rather
than emphasize the binary (tutors vs. writers),
queer theory encourages us to view how the roles
of tutors and writers overlap – how as students, we
share interests, experiences, and a need for
confidence and dignity in our roles at the
university, and so forth.
Terms fundamental to understanding queer theory
are ‘passing’ and ‘coming out.’ ‘Passing’ was first
deconstructed as a concept in sociological
discussions of the Black American experience and
referred to African-Americans with light
complexions who were able to pass as white
people, especially during historical periods of racial
segregation. The LGBTQ community is one that has
also experienced passing as a way to survive a
hostile society that assumes heteronormativity, or
a view that heterosexuality is the norm, of its
participants.
‘Coming out,’ or more elaborately, ‘coming out of
the closet’ refers to the act of an LGBTQ person
making known their LGBTQ identity—an act, often
complex and fraught with struggle, undertook
many times in the life of any queer person, again,
in a society that assumes all participants are
heteronormative until stated otherwise.
Denny’s article discusses how many of us working
in writing centers use language to pass—even
though we may identify with the term ‘other’ or
belong to marginalized communities, our alliance
with academic English—authenticated by our roles
as directors and tutors—positions us as members
of privileged or normalized communities. After all,
attending college, speaking “Standard” English, and
participating in the assumed practices of dominant
culture is positioned as normal or expected, even if
statistically this does not reflect the majority of the
population. Being accepted in this community does
not necessarily make a tutor a participant in
institutional oppression. But viewed through the
lens of queer theory, it does create a space where a
writer is forced to ‘come out,’ or confess their
difference while being tutored. Think about the
first five minutes of most sessions, where students
explain what they are seeking assistance with, and
how intimidating this act may be for a student who
interprets the tutor across the table as a
‘legitimate’ participant in academia, and
themselves an outsider: such a dynamic is a threat
to the cultivation of peerness and learning.
One solution that Denny offers is that tutors
engage in their own coming out. They can do this
by disclosing their own struggles and methods for
overcoming them. Of course, viewed through the
lens of queer theory, this can also a potentially
problematic act as well. Coming out might enforce
the idea that alternate discourse norms of non-
dominant communities are things to be overcome.
It might be a way of encouraging the writer to try
to “pass” as someone who is part of the discourse
community when it might be more meaningful for
the writer to retain their identity.
So how does queer theory answer this
complication? Well, as you might expect of a
theory that posits that there is no standard or
‘normal, it does not. The lens of queer theory
supplies a framework that allows us to examine our
own practices in order to identify moments of
oppression and “othering,” explore the complexity
of those moments, and alter our practice as we
best see fit. Queer theory only demands that our
evolutions strive to remove the stigma of binary,
us-vs.-them thinking. In other words, as stated by
former Writing Center tutor Annie Goold in the
2013 issue of Through the Glass, queering the
writing center opens to writers and tutors more
flexibility and self-determination when navigating
their relationship to academia:
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Given students can create their identities
as writers and persons as queer theory and
its practices suggest, students are afforded
the means to identify, analyze, and rewrite
the world and its definitions of normal
across a myriad of spectrums as well, all
acts of self-empowerment and discovery in
line with those of writing center aspirations
(5).
Important to remember, though, is this—queer
theory, in all its efforts to eliminate binary thinking
and create an inclusive environment for all people,
originated in the experiences of LGBTQ people
oppressed because of their LGBTQ identities. While
‘queering’ is not necessarily about being queer, and
while American society has taken great steps
forward in improving civil rights for LGBTQ folk,
LGBTQ identities are still targeted, threatened, and
oppressed identities in our society and our
institutions. Therefore, it is paramount that tutors
consider the environment created through their
words and actions in relation to queer identity.
What does it mean for tutors to work with writers who identify as LGBQT? Like all students, LGBQT students learn best in a safe and respectful environment. But, unfortunately, many of these students have faced open hostility, even on campuses like ours, where the policy is that individuals “respect each other’s cultural role differences, including those based on sex & gender identity.”
Tutors should do several practical things to help
create a LGBQT-friendly environment. There are
resources on campus to increase awareness of
LGBQT concerns. UIC’s Gender and Sexuality Center
(GSC) offers workshops and is very open to talking
to students who have not had prior opportunities
to learn about LGBQT issues. Any of the Writing
Center directors would be happy to help organize a
brief information session offered by the GSC. You
are also welcome to contact the GSC directly: (312)
413-8619, or lgbtqa@uic.edu, or Room 181 BSB
(First Floor by Harrison Entrance).
Tutors can also set an inclusive tone in their conversations with all students and each other at the Writing Center. If someone around you makes a joke or a disrespectful comment, please say that you don’t like those words or find them hurtful.
LGBQT students will feel more included if people do not make assumptions about their gender. We can avoid making assumptions by referring to writers by name rather than with a pronoun. Instead of saying, for example, “He is sitting at table six,” we can say “Sam is sitting at that table.”
Once you sit down with any writer, you can ask them how they would like to be addressed. This would give students who have changed their names or prefer a specific pronoun to let you know how they would like to be referred to.
When students are asked to write about their identities, we need to think carefully about the line between questioning concepts and questioning them. LGBQT students may face a range of challenges when they are asked to write about themselves for assignments or personal statements, including whether it is worth the risk to share their identity with peers, instructors, or tutors. If students share their concerns, thank them for their trust.
After you’ve addressed the writer’s questions and concerns and you want to offer further suggestions, first ask if it is OK to do that. As the conversation develops, continue to ask writers if they are OK with your approach. If the topic of writing is about identity, we will likely be discussing things we haven’t experienced ourselves. It is OK to admit you don’t know something. Do not, of
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course, depend on the person you are tutoring to inform you about their concern. Writing is complex enough without adding this the plate. If you ask a question the writer seems not to be comfortable with, apologize, thank the writer for their patience, and then ask if you can help in another way.
When a session is about identity, gender or otherwise, give yourself and the writer plenty of space to reflect on the conversation as you go along. Being supportive and helpful will be founded on, as with most tutoring, careful and non-judgmental listening.
Grammar and Linguistics
That writing is the focus of Writing Centers does not mean we can ignore student identities—language use and identity are closely aligned. Sociolinguistics, which studies the relationship between language and society, and the ways people express and experience their social identities through language, asserts that there is no inherently inferior or superior language or dialect— there is only the perception of what any particular community has learned as appropriate behavior in specific situations.
The findings of linguists may come as a surprise to many readers, since most people consider the public conversation around language and identity to be a political controversy, rather than an area of scientific study. The political controversy—based on beliefs, opinions, and the social norms of dominant communities—obscures the scientific revelations and insights of linguistics. How certain individuals and identities label language—appropriate, not appropriate—is more a feature of their class, race, or gender identity, as opposed to any inherent value in the language.
In this way, language is directly tied to issues of social justice in a society that uses identity markers such as race, class, gender, and citizenship to determine the level of interaction one is granted in social institutions and the amount of power and control one has access to.
The language spoken in communities who have been oppressed historically—such as the language of African-Americans, the newly immigrated, or poor people—have come to be stigmatized right along with those groups. When a person reacts to a language feature with sentiments like “I don’t know, that just doesn’t sound educated” or “Her grammar is horrible,” it is very likely that the person is relying on learned responses to the status of certain language variations, rather than working to understand a speaker or writer’s meaning. All the above reactions to an individual’s language use can be harmful in an academic setting; even positive responses may blind a tutor or instructor to someone’s actual academic needs. Often the result of this type of language evaluation is that writers using non-dominant varieties of English, or writers in the process of acquiring English, are treated with less respect than their peers, and their academic activities can be pre-judged as less successful.
Upper-middle class English shares more features with Academic Discourse than other English varieties and has been a factor in who has been granted access to institutions of higher education. The expected language variation for writing in educational institutions poses difficulty for writers who are less familiar with the language practices of the upper-middle class, which is often racialized as a dominantly white group. This is not to say that only upper middle class white Americans practice Academic Discourse, or that it is impossible for others who do not fit this category to master Academic Discourse, or learn it as their natural variety. In a country of such diversity, many ethnic and racial communities can be described as upper-
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middle class—and thus have access to the language variation—and many white people who have grown up in poor or rural communities find the discourse practices of universities bewildering. So pointing out the often racialized and classed nature of linguistic communities is not an attempt to create boundaries between groups of people—instead, we are asking people to think about how and why these boundaries are conceived and how they may be both false and true descriptions.
Something sociologists call ‘intersectionality’ is at work here. As discussed in the feminist section of this handbook, intersectionality refers to how all people are many things and belong to many different groups at the same time. It also refers directly to patterns of oppression in societies—one cannot look simply at all members of an oppressed group and expect to see the same patterns. At any given moment, many different factors of an individual’s identity may be influencing how that person experiences oppression. Because of this, one may have access to the language of power because of the amount of money their parents make, but still face oppression due to their race or sexual orientation. In other words, language is power, but not the only power granted by any given society.
When a student’s language is criticized and degraded, that student is silenced, and effectively denied access to the language of power. Students need opportunities to interact with respectful members of the community in order to acquire the option of using academic language.
Student interaction with the institution most often takes place through writing. And in no aspect of writing is the power differential more sensational than grammar. Many writers are sent or select to come to the WC to work on their grammar. But grammar can refer to many different things. In its most basic sense, grammar refers only to the predictable patterns of language found within any particular language variation. The grammar of Mandarin contrasts sharply with Spanish grammar, as one would expect. But the grammar (not just the pronunciation) of American English also contrasts with the grammar of British English, which one may
not expect. For example, in the United States, collective nouns are treated singular, as in this sentence, “The committee makes the final decision.” In Britain, however, “The committee make the final decision” would be expected. Neither is an example of bad grammar. They are both examples of a different grammar. Imagine the confusion of an international or immigrant student who studied in British English—as most students from India and parts of Africa do—when told by a tutor or teacher that they are using incorrect English grammar when in the case of verb agreement with collective nouns.
This is one reason why we caution tutors to be careful when determining ‘correct’ from ‘incorrect’ grammar. This is not to say that your own, possibly vast, knowledge about what is expected grammatically in academic discourse creates oppressive tutoring. Being able to see mistakes that writers miss is a very helpful quality in a writing tutor. Instead, consider how a tutor’s reaction to error may be oppressive, silencing, or even racist.
Labeling a writer and their writing inferior, or creating an environment where writers come to view their own abilities and texts inferior, is oppressive tutoring. It is impossible for tutors to know all the syntactical variations of English accepted by all the world’s English speaking communities—which are many. Some of these variations are the result of natural language evolution within communities, which might be a result of social isolation from other groups, geographical isolation, cultural developments and events, immigration events, or interaction with other languages. The results of these evolutions are studied by linguists as a way of understanding the human capacity for language from many different angles.
An important term to introduce at this point is metalinguistic. Metalinguistic refers to talk about how a language functions, not just what a particular group of words means. The phrase metalinguistic faculty (Camps, 2014), is one’s ability to see language as a tool to be used for the benefit of a writer’s task. As a tutor, it is developing your metalinguistic faculty that will help you most in
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conversations where grammar and correctness are the focus. Why? Think about how an individual’s knowledge is constructed: as stated earlier, language, and all other types of knowledge, are constructed through interaction. Whether that interaction is with another student, a teacher, a text, or a situation, it is the interaction itself that gives all learners the opportunity to reason through new information and integrate it with what they already know. If our opportunities for a range of interactions are limited—or possibly absent—then our opportunities to learn are lowered as well. This is especially true for a primarily social tool like language.
Very few of us have the ability to analyze and reason through the language choices and grammar norms of Academic Discourse alone or without some scaffolding—this truth is at the heart of the peer relationship. The tutor and writer need each other to talk through the range of choices possible to create an intended meaning. Yes, sometimes writers may simply need an extra set of eyes for proofreading issues that they already at least partially understand, and it will be difficult or even condescending to impose a full “discussion” on such issues (for example, an explanation about subject-verb agreement when the writer has already demonstrated correct usage of third-person singular /s/ in previous sentences). But this does not mean that sessions which focus upon editing and proofreading are interaction-free. The process of proofreading itself is a metalinguistic activity, and should be approached as such—an opportunity to develop skill manipulating an important tool.
It is often much easier to just re-write a sentence for a writer using the language you would use yourself. But doing so eliminates opportunity for interaction, which eliminates the opportunity for a writer to acquire needed linguistic knowledge. As a result, we feel tutors should never take a text away from a writer to fix it, or write on someone else’s text. Writers should be given the opportunity to interact with their own texts. Writers unfamiliar with the grammar controlling Academic English will have questions, and we should always answer these questions to the best of our ability. But also,
a tutor should remember that correctness is relative to purpose and situation. Think of it this way: if you do not know what the sentence means, how can you correct the grammar? The grammar is contingent upon the intended meaning.
Focusing exclusively on correctness and isolating it from content and communicativeness is not only oppressive to a writer attempting to understand the discourse structures of the university, but perhaps a waste of time: what good is a grammatically correct sentence if it answers the wrong question? You and the writer should negotiate the meaning of a sentence or paragraph before moving on to grammar correction. When errors are identified, tutors should always provide options for correction and revision (there is never just one way to write a sentence), and an explanation of the error itself. For most errors, you should use references and resources to help you explain the error—many of us rely heavily on our intuition to revise, and it is easy in such cases to wrongly explain an error, or make corrections to something that is stylistic, as opposed to grammatically incorrect.
Using grammar references is a skill in and of itself, and as a tutor, modeling the behavior, and helping writers discover how to use a grammar reference can be a more important move toward writer self-efficacy than the actual correction made! Think about using references as a type of the interaction described above—using reference texts is a way for all writers to develop metalinguistic faculty.
If you are asked a difficult question that you cannot answer, do not worry! This situation is your opportunity to demonstrate the learning process, and is a positive thing: grammar reference books, other tutors, and Assistant Directors can all assist. If you are not sure who to ask for help, or what reference is the right one, the front desk person can point you in the right direction. We do not expect, or even want, tutors to have every answer; however, in terms of timeliness, tutor confidence, and as a way to create interactional opportunities in sessions, you will find that expanding your metalinguistic faculty is beneficial to your tutoring.
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A strategy for tutors is to become versed in what Martha Kolln terms “rhetorical grammar”: “Understanding rhetorical grammar . . . means understanding the grammatical choices available . . . and the rhetorical effects those choices will have on [a] reader” (3). Rhetorical grammar is about understanding how language works, and how to communicate these workings to writers. Relying on references to communicate prescriptive rules can be a tutor’s best option. First and foremost, it can help prevent you from miscommunicating a prescriptive grammar rule or from communicating one of the many grammar myths. But tutors are
also trained to focus on language choices that are of long term pedagogical value to the improved writing of a writer. This means that a discussion of subordination is accompanied by a discussion of what the focus of a paragraph is, which leads to other topics than comma placement. This can lead to increased student engagement with a text, with a class, and with writing.
Building Tutoring Practices
Your First Tutoring Session
New tutors have many questions in anticipation of their first session—some of those, based upon the innumerable experiences of long-time tutors, we have answers for, but for some questions, we will work together to generate different answers each time they arise with a different writer, a different tutor, a different context. In this way, you should never consider your praxis set, nor all your questions answered. Tutors who are successful think about the ways every session is like the first
session. This approach allows tutors to become more comfortable with the challenges and experiences of the new and unknown, making adaptability an important resource for both the new and the experienced tutor.
This section is therefore as useful for structuring and analyzing your 100th session as it is your first, especially because there will be similarities between all your sessions in terms of structure and form.
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Think of writing center sessions as a genre. Just like
all cover letters begin with a “Dear _____,” and all
academic arguments contain claims and evidence,
all Writing Center sessions have four main stages:
an introductory stage, a collaborative stage, a
concluding stage, and a reflective stage. Each of
these stages have commonalities, but, like the
writing process itself, they may be recursive in
nature. That is to say, you may return to the
framework of the introductory stage when deciding
to change topics and rework through a different
type of collaboration or task as a result. Although
there are not set steps A-Z that automatically lead
to a successful session, there are reliable and
important ways to address and meet writers’
expectations.
Introductory stage
To get the session on the right track, welcome the
writer. Keep in mind that not all people view
handshaking, humor, or physical proximity in the
same way. It is better to be reserved. Introduce
yourself by name. Conversations go better if you
learn and use the writer’s name throughout the
session. You will have the writer’s name on the
conference form to refer to. It can be important to
take a few minutes to break the ice and converse
to set a friendly tone for the session.
Once you have greeted the writer, learn about the
assignment and its purpose. Start with the
conference form, which will be present for every
session. If the writer has an assignment sheet, ask
to see it. But in keeping with our philosophy, learn
about the assignment through conversation. Ask
the writer to explain the assignment’s purpose and
requirements.
Once both you and the writer understand the
assignment, you and the writer should negotiate an
agenda for the session—what objectives are
achievable in the time you have together? What
methods and process will you and the writer use to
achieve these objectives? (In the next section of
the handbook, we will offer more detail on realistic
goals and possibilities for topics to address.) This
process of welcoming, writer-led informing, and
tutor/writer negotiation should be present in every
session you have. If the writer is new to the center,
you should also engage in tutor-led informing,
where you introduce the writer to the Writing
Center’s focus on collaborative learning processes.
Collaborative stage
Once the goals of the session are set and the
process for meeting them are agreed upon, it is
time to get to work! Follow the agenda set during
the introduction. As the tutor, part of your role is
to keep the session on-track. If it appears that the
goals of the session are changing—say you and the
writer realize the thesis statement needs
reformulation, or that the whole text must be
restructured into APA format—stop and reset your
goals and process. This may take a simple question
or two (“It seems that APA style is actually more
important now. Should we find a sample paper and
use it to restructure?”), or a full renegotiation of
the session’s priorities.
Your goal is to seek opportunities to make the
conversation reciprocal. Both you and the writer
should rely on each other to move the session
forward. You can create reciprocity several ways,
most importantly by listening carefully. Careful,
authentic listening includes letting the writer know
you are listening by summarizing the ideas in
writing passages you are working on or their
concerns or questions about writing, and using that
input to inform your responses.
Listening carefully also means attending to body
language. A writer may say "OK" in response to a
tutor's question or comment, but their body
language -- furrowed eyebrows, sighs, or lack of
focus -- may be letting you know that the
interaction is not going well at that moment. It is
most productive at this point to step back and ask
the writer if the conversation is helpful. A tutor can
then be more flexible and ask the writer if it would
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be better to work on another portion of the paper.
Or if appropriate, the tutor can apologize for being
unclear and patiently try another approach. It can
help to introduce a resource into the conversation -
- a handbook or a website. It can often help writers
if the tutor changes their mode of input. For
example, if the conversation is primarily verbal, it
might help to draw a diagram or write down key
words on a piece of paper so that the writer can
see what is being discussed.
Writers appreciate immediacy -- the notion that
you are not simply waiting for your turn to speak,
but taking the time to consider their questions and
comments. Writers will be more willing to
contribute as the session progresses if the tutor
also takes moments to appreciate the writer's
input, even if they are not in accordance to the
tutor's views. Reciprocity is less about harmony
than about how the tutor values the different ways
tutor and writer can participate in a conversation
about writing.
You can create immediacy in other small but
important ways, such as using pronouns like "we"
rather than "I," or using the writer's name
throughout the session.
Another common role for the tutor to play during
the collaborative stage is note-taker: keep a record
of decisions made by you and the writer, examples
of issues discussed, or perhaps a list of concerns to
be addressed at a later Writing Center
appointment, or when the writer is revising on
their own.
Notes should be taken on a separate sheet of
paper, not on the writer's draft. We have made this
policy for several reasons. First, when a tutor
writes on the paper, they are taking away
opportunities for the writer to be more involved in
a session. We have also noted that a written
comment on the paper itself can at times seem like
a directive for revision. Drafts are also often viewed
by instructors who may not fully understand the
context of the written comments.
The collaborative stage of any session is commonly
initiated by the tutor. In initiating collaborative
conversation, the tutor aims to involve the writer in
making decisions about both changes in the paper
and directions of the tutoring session. The tutor
also aims to keep in the forefront the Writing
Center principle of respect for writers.
Concluding stage
When there are ten minutes left, let the writer
know that the session is drawing to a close and
review what you have done together. A possibility
is to summarize the session in writing on the notes
you have been taking during the session, and
perhaps negotiate a “plan” for the writer to enact
after the session ends—hand the notes to the
writer and ask if you can provide anything else to
help them work on the paper after the session is
over (a handout, a web address). You can offer to
go to the front desk to help the writer make
another appointment.
The concluding stage of a session should always
include a summary of tasks completed, and a plan
for future action.
Reflection
The final step for all sessions is tutor reflection. This
process begins when you complete the record of
the session in our online database, but it should
continue as you think about the session in relation
to the readings and discussion in the tutoring.
As a tutor it is important to consider not only the
success of your sessions, but how the choices you
are making are consistent with your understanding
of theory, personal praxis, and the goals of the UIC
Writing Center. A common question tutors ask is
how does one determine if a session is indeed
successful? Simply feeling good about a session
when it ends is not enough to ensure that a session
was viewed the same way by the writer, or that it
corresponded to Writing center goals. Below are
some features of successful sessions that can be
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attended to throughout the entire tutoring
process.
A successful session means the writer had
1. their concerns heard and respected;
2. opportunities to participate in and direct the session throughout;
3. an understanding of how to further develop their paper after the session;
4. a sense of being respected for their ideas, work, and effort.
To facilitate these results a tutor can:
1. be attentive to the writer’s agenda and input throughout the session;
2. aim for reciprocity and immediacy;
3. pause to ask the writer if the conversation is helpful;
4. provide your input in multiple forms -- visual as well as verbal;
5. acknowledge the diversity of experience; be respectful of the writer’s boundaries and chosen identities.
Types of Sessions: A Universal Design Approach
In this section, we will discuss tutoring sessions in greater detail. Again, many of the tutoring strategies we offer are a response to the diversity of students at the Writing Center. We welcome all writers of all learning styles, at all stages of the
writing process, for all genres of writing, and at all levels, undergraduate and graduate alike. No session will be quite like another, and no single tutoring formula applies.
A particular strength of peer tutoring comes from the tutor taking as much advantage as possible from being a generalist academic reader rather than one who specializes in a particular content area. As generalists, we are "outside" readers and in a good position to help writers attend to the clarity and significance of the ideas they are communicating. We can approach their writing with an open mind and with fresh interest in what they are saying. Rather than evaluate or create assignments, we can listen and respond -- we can play the part of audience in the writer’s dress rehearsal. Almost all writers, regardless of expertise, benefit from a live, attentive, and curious audience. The tutor can help
develop ideas as part of the brainstorming process;
organize material as part of the outlining process; and
improve sentences as part of the revision and editing process.
From a cognitive standpoint, the very act of translation across media is shown to aid comprehension: making the nonverbal verbal, the auditory visual, the visual auditory. Giving the writer an opportunity to restate their written ideas verbally or to show their plan for organization through a chart are ways that already provide benefits for clarifying thoughts and revising or brainstorming ideas. There are a number of ways that tutors can enhance this process. They can offer:
The “I” reader response: reflect back to the writer their understanding of what they heard, pinpoint confusion--moments where clarification, reorganization or development would help the reader follow--and express genuine interest in the writer’s unique voice and ideas.
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The “we” collaborator response: transcribe a brainstorm, model ways to rephrase or add meta-commentary, suggest alternative outline structures.
Options: Inquire what the writer prefers: is it better if they write notes, or you write, or both? Is it better that you read aloud, or they read aloud, or that you take turns Would they like that you sketch out ideas as if on a map, or make a list, or a traditional outline?
Often tutors are verbal folks and are comfortable with conversation that goes quickly. But many learn better visually and could be overwhelmed by too much talking. Go slower than your instinct. When posing questions, rather than jump in with follow-ups, allow for wait time so the writer can process and respond. Let the writer direct the pace.
If desired, a “they” teacher response: When the paper deviates from the prompt, the citation from the format, or the tone from “academic” convention, the tutor can ask writers if they would like to talk about how an instructor might view these sections of the writing.
If needed, a human-peer-at-UIC response: Relate. Empathize with the challenges of being a student here, and offer your personal take on what has helped you make it through--coping strategies, resources, and stress relievers!
The First Five Minutes
The first five minutes of a session are not only important for building rapport, but also gathering critical information that will allow you to build an agenda with the writer and accommodate their individual needs. You can think of the essential questions as the "5W + H" questions:
Who are they--name, course, small talk to find some genuine point of connection between you
(commiserate about weather, compliment their phone cover, or simply ask how their day is going).
Also, are they new to the Center? If so, it is worth welcoming them and letting them know, in a friendly peer-like non-condescending way, more about the Writing Center.
When is their writing due and Where are they in the process?
Why are they here--what are their main concerns and priorities for the session?
What is their assignment prompt and What, in their own words, do they hope to convey in their writing?
Take time to read the assignment prompt together and turn it into a quick scrap paper checklist you both can reference so you can be on the same page.
Before reading the paper, Samantha Gordon, veteran tutor, has suggested that it is well worth it to ask the writer to sum up what their paper is about (the argument or story) so you go into reading it with an idea of their intent.
How would they like to proceed? Again, the tutor can offer one of several options: would the writer like to read? Or would they like the tutor to read? If the paper is long, the writer and the tutor could talk about reading some sections of the paper aloud and summarizing other sections. What should they focus on as they read the opening section: thesis? whether the first paragraph is responding to the requirements of the assignment?
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A Universal Design Approach
Disability studies has generated the concept of "universal design," the idea that accommodations created for people with disabilities are often ones that would be preferred by all people. When an entrance to a building has both a well-designed ramp and stairs, people will tend to take the ramp. In education, the methods used by teachers trained in special education are also preferred by all. Who does not benefit from a teacher who speaks slowly and clearly, or uses multiple methods of presenting material, not just verbal? Clarity and variety of approach make it easier for all students to take notes, absorb new material, and think about what they are learning.
When tutoring, we can also think about universal design. Although we will not have the opportunity to get to know students in a way that would allow us to completely tailor our method to their learning style, we can increase our chances of success by varying our approach throughout a session. For many writers, too much emphasis on talking can become overwhelming. You can change things up and emphasize methods that are not only oral, but also visual or kinesthetic.
Some examples of visual methods include taking notes and highlighting key words that you are using in your conversation. You can also use sticky notes to draw attention to portions of the paper that are being discussed. Making outlines with key ideas of a draft being discussed is yet another way to make your conversation more "visible" -- something all students, even if they are comfortable with verbal conversations, will appreciate.
Examples of kinesthetic methods include writing down key ideas on sheets of scrap paper or index cards so that they could be moved around on the table. Another way to make movement a part of your session is to offer to the writer to sit by one of our computers and to take notes or to pause to type in the changes you are discussing. At times you might find that a writer is restless or having a hard time focusing. It might help to ask the writer if they are comfortable at the table you are at --
maybe it is too noisy or distracting in other ways? Moving to a new table could be a small but important way to take a brief break from the conversation.
The following strategies for each the main stages of tutoring -- beginning, middle, and end -- embrace a “universal design” philosophy, including visual, kinesthetic, as well as auditory components, for better accessibility to writers of all learning styles.
Beginning (Mind-mapping)
Stage: The writer is just starting out with a prompt, thesis, or perhaps a very early, partial draft, and needs to brainstorm to develop their ideas.
Strategy: “Mind-mapping” (radial or linear).
How: Mind-mapping is a way to capture a writer’s ideas quickly by transcribing them--all of them, fast, without discrimination--in a web-like flowchart showing the hierarchical relationship between ideas using superordinate and subordinate “nodes.” You put the main thesis (or topic or question) in the main node. Then you essentially interview the writer about their topic: “Tell me about it.” “What might be an example to support that?” As the writer brainstorms supporting claims for a thesis, you draw lines from the main node attaching the claims with sub-nodes. As they brainstorm supporting evidence for a supporting claim, you draw lines from the claim node attaching evidence with sub-nodes. Keep going until you have a visual map of all the writer’s ideas for their paper, organized by their relationships--and a provisional outline for the paper.
Benefit: It works especially well for writers with visual learning styles; it tends to yield a lot, quickly, building confidence; and it allows the writer to focus on idea generation, at random, while you focus on organization. The linear map works well in generating a starting paper outline of all the writer’s points. The radial map works well for drawing out details about a single point.
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Middle (Reverse Outlining)
Stage: The writer has a rough draft. While they may wish for attention to sentence-level edits, they need to attend to the big picture first. In other words, they need to check more fundamentally that the content and structure of the draft is working. Does the paper respond to the prompt fully, develop its claims with sufficient and appropriate examples, organize itself in a way that helps the reader follow the progression of ideas? Are there paragraphs unified around distinct claims, sequenced logically, and connected with meta-commentary transitions to help the reader see the relationship between paragraphs? Sometimes writers express this as a needing to make sure their paper “flows well.”
Strategy: “Reverse outlining.”
How: Reverse outlining is a way to turn the paper BACK into an outline of itself--so the writer can see the skeleton of their argument, and make sure it’s saying what they intend, and is organized logically. What this entails is reading the paper aloud, paragraph by paragraph--and agreeing at outset NOT to stop after every sentence, or whenever the ear catches a typo. Instead, the writer simply marks any sentence-level issues that catch their ear, and holds comments until the paragraph’s end. At that point, stop and ask the writer to summarize what the main claim or job of that paragraph was. “What was that paragraph all about--what was the focus or main claim?” Then you record their words as sentence or phrase on a “node” in a linear mind-map. Going deeper, you might ask, “What supporting evidence did the paragraph give for its main claim?” and represent that in subnodes. Keep going, paragraph by paragraph, until you reach the end of the paper. If it’s a long paper, it’s wise to give the writer a heads-up at outset that given the 45 minute timeframe, you two can read through X or so pages out loud (find out what is your personal limit; some tutors say 5 pp. give or take); ask the writer which pages they’d like you to prioritize.
Once you have the reverse outline before you on a single sheet of paper, look it over together and
begin posing to the writer questions about organization, such as:
Are there any paragraphs that are doing more than one job--that perhaps could be split into two?
Are there any paragraphs that are doing the same job--that perhaps could be combined?
Is this the best sequence for the paragraphs--or is there another that might make more sense?
Are there places where the reader might need a more explicit topic sentence to clarify the focus of the paragraph?
Are there places where the reader might need a transition to better see the relationship between two paragraphs?
The writer can then hold the pen/pencil and annotate the outline, crossing out, moving, and merging the paragraphs as needed.
You can also pose questions about argumentation (assuming it is an argument driven genre), such as: Despite the wide variability in writers, when thinking about tutoring strategies, it can be helpful to think about sessions in terms of three basic types, corresponding to stages of the writing process: beginning, middle, and end. To follow are strategies for each stage that embrace a “universal design” philosophy, including visual, kinesthetic, as well as auditory components, for better accessibility to writers of all learning styles.
How well does the thesis match the supporting claims and evidence? Is there anything the thesis claims that the paper body doesn’t actually back up? Is there anything the paper body shows that the thesis doesn’t yet reflect? How might you revise the thesis so that it corresponds to the body you actually have?
Are there any claims that need more supporting evidence to be persuasive?
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Is there any evidence that doesn’t quite match its claim--that might better work in another paragraph or be trimmed?
Again, at this point, the writer can then take possession of the pen/pencil and annotate the outline, adding or cutting claims and evidence, and updating the thesis to better reflect their paper body.
Benefit: Reverse outlining is arguably one of the most helpful tools when reading aloud drafts. As a process, it foregrounds the content, a fundamental higher order concern. Our tendency when reading aloud is to get caught up in editing sentences, especially if there are sentence-level errors that trip our tongue. But this risks missing the forest for the trees. We wind up polishing a sentence before we even know if the sentence in question fits in the paragraph or paper at all. Reverse outlining forces both tutor and writer to attend to what they might otherwise overlook: what the paper is actually saying. No matter how grammatical and elegant the sentences, a paper lacking effective argumentation or organization will likely be non-passing.
Plus most of us, as writers, find it demoralizing when a reader ignores our ideas completely, in favor of nitpicking sentence-level errors. Even if editing is the focus of the writer’s agenda, it’s well worth taking a moment to acknowledge the content of each paragraph BEFORE attending to edits. End (Supported Self-Editing)
Stage: The paper’s argumentation and organization work, and the writer is interested in attending to sentence-level issues of style, grammar, punctuation, and/or citation.
Strategy: Reading aloud, paragraph by paragraph, to listen for language patterns.
How: The writer reads aloud, if they are comfortable doing so, or, if not, the tutor reads. The advantage to the writer reading is that they can often “autocorrect”--only they know what they intended to write, and will typically inject fixes as they read. The advantage to the tutor reading
aloud is when reading makes the writer self-conscious or overtaxes their processing ability such that they can’t attend to the meaning.
Either way, the writer holds a pen or pencil as they read and marks anything on the page that sounds “off” to their ear. This could mean a sentence that is overly wordy or redundant (not concise); a word choice that is ambiguous, or not what they meant (not precise); or an error of grammar or punctuation. To respect the writer’s ownership of their work, and to avoid any chance of accidental plagiarism, in keeping with policy, the tutor makes their own notes on scrap paper as they listen.
At the end of the paragraph, the tutor asks the writer FIRST to share what they noticed. “I see you underlined a few places. What were some things you noticed as you read?” If there is a sentence that has a multiple issues, or is simply convoluted and confusing, don’t worrying about “diagnosing” the error or putting a label to it. This takes years of training to do with any accuracy, and research suggests that, contrary to intuition, “coding” errors in this way adds no significant value for the learner. Instead, the most helpful and simplest approach is to ask the writer what they meant to say. “What did you want to say there, in your own words?” As the writer reformulates, the tutor transcribes--and far more often than not, the problem is solved by the writers themselves, which the tutor can then acknowledge: “That sounds much clearer to me--how does that sound to you? Want to swap that in?”
After the writer has had an opportunity to self-correct, the tutor can offer their own observations about what they noticed--ideally focusing attention on 1 or 2 top patterns of error that are a) most disruptive to meaning, and b) solved by a teachable rule which the tutor can look up in a handbook or explain simply in their own words. Some errors, like missing articles or off prepositions (idiom errors), are neither a) disruptive to meaning, nor b) solved by simple teachable rule. In fact, research shows that because they often have no parallel in the native language of the speaker, and because English rules are so idiosyncratic, mastery of these rules comes last developmentally in language
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acquisition, --in other words, these require long exposure, and no single intervention is going to “take.” Hence, it is rarely worth the writer’s time to prioritize such small errors. Instead, you can let the writer know there are a couple minor article and/or idiom issues that recur, and offer them the fix if it’s important to them or their teacher that their paper adheres to these conventions.
To make the learning visual and kinesthetic, the tutor can point out an example of two of an error pattern in the draft, and invite the writer to write the fix in the margin or on scrap paper (explaining ways to fix, as needed). As a next stage, the writer can then locate example, and try applying the fix, with tutor offering positive reinforcement and support.
Benefit: The idea behind this strategy is to a) harness the writer’s ear, since we can usually hear errors that we can’t see, and b) allow the writer to practice self-correction in a supported way, so that they can develop confidence and independence in editing.
Interactive Reading and the Tutoring Process
In the context of learning and higher education, reading has two outcomes: discourse acquisition and content-knowledge acquisition. Readings intended for the second outcome are seldom suited for the first, meaning, the reading students do in their classrooms to learn the content of their courses, the information they will be tested on, is usually not helpful for acquiring the discourse
norms of the university: at least not without scaffolding and support for that purpose.
Unfortunately, instruction on reading strategies is not a common part of curriculum across the disciplines—which means that not only can it be a struggle to understand the content of course readings, becoming a strong academic reader can also be a struggle most face alone.
The writing center is a space where no one must struggle alone—tutors are available to engage with writers at every level of a writing task, from discourse/language acquisition to the final polish of a completed paper. This includes helping students with reading. Modeling, scaffolding, and supporting academic reading strategies are important ways tutors can help writers develop their own writing process. Think back to the discussions of interaction and developing metalinguistic faculty in “Grammar and Linguistics”: discussing readings as both sources of information and models for the practice of academic writing fall under these types of skills and opportunities for learning.
There are several practical ways tutors can initiate the reading conversation in a session. Reading comprehension is most obviously a topic of conversation during brainstorming and outlining sessions – “What do your course readings say about this topic? Which readings do you want to focus on in this paper?” Tutors can also invite reading while alleviating writer’s block – “Let’s stop stressing about what else you can say and think about other ways we can engage with the course readings.”
If a writer has some familiarity with the readings, one method is to simply ask writers what a reading said, and then focus on note-taking as the writer speaks.
Some writers may not feel they have understood the readings enough to do this. Assure the writer that it is OK for the both of you to work with one of these problematic texts.
One way to get started is to focus on an abstract, or if working with a text that does not have one, the first and last paragraphs of the text. In those
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sections, you should be able to find both an author’s purpose in writing the text and the thesis. Many course readings do not have argumentative thesis statements, so you may want to think about “thesis” as “main idea” if needed.
When working on readings, it is especially important to keep notes about content and structure. You and the writer will not be able to go over every aspect of the text, so think about providing a “reading map” that the writer can take with them to scaffold their interaction with the reading after the session. It is preferable if both you and the writer contribute to the map, so be sure to position the paper you are using in an accessible spot and consider putting your pen down so it can be reached easily by the writer each time you add something to the notes.
Another important step after reviewing these schema-building paragraphs is to review tricky vocabulary. Ask the writer what words they do not know and be sure to point out the ones you do not know. Most words take on different connotations in different contexts, so be sure to look up words that you have encountered before, but occur in difficult to interpret sentences. Write down definitions on the map. Take turns with the writer putting the words and their surrounding sentences into your own shared terms, and be ready to encourage writers to use these vocabulary items in their own texts—in fact, be ready to point out that this may be expected by their instructors.
A final step for working with readings is setting up the reverse outline. This is where you and the writer skim the whole text—unlike the first few paragraphs where you read carefully—and create a kind of outline of the reading’s structure, subheadings, topic sentences, etc. Use whatever is available from the text. If there are subheadings, then it is easier. If there are not, then look to the first, second, or last sentence of the paragraphs. Those are usually where you will find the paragraph’s topic sentence. Write these topics down, leaving room for the writer to take notes later, when reviewing the text on their own. This will not only help both of you understand the basic structure and content of the reading, but will also
leave the writer with a clear action to take on their own after the session has ended.
Some writers have reported feeling like a session with a tutor was very helpful, but then not being able to continue the valuable work on their own. A reading map is an excellent tool to overcome this phenomenon, and may be handy to a writer throughout the writing process.
Group work
What is group work?
The Writing Center offers not only individual peer tutoring sessions, but also group work. Group work is when instructors bring their entire class to the Writing Center for a 45 minute workshop in tutor-led small groups of 3-5 writers each. Classes usually try to come in the early stages of a writing assignment, before the writers have produced full drafts, for one of two types of workshops. (Complete versions of the prompts are in the Appendix):
1. Beginning a Task: The instructor introduces a new writing assignment to the students, who then work in groups to unpack the prompt, brainstorm, and begin on an outline.
2. Developing a Thesis: The instructor reviews their specific criteria for a thesis. In groups, tutors and students review and list the criteria for a thesis for the particular assignment. Then, using the criteria, the group workshops each thesis statement.
How does it work--prequel, beginning, middle, and end?
Prequel
Observation: The group work coordinator assigns a time for tutors who have not done group work to observe.
Email notification: If you are scheduled for group work, you would receive an email from the group work coordinator. You would know when you are scheduled (it would be one of the hours you are already working), what class is coming, and what
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table you have been assigned. If a specific prompt has been provided by the teacher, you will receive a link and a request to review it in advance.
Day of Group Work
When you arrive to tutor at the Center, the front desk person would give you a hard copy of the specific assignment prompt and the group work feedback forms.
We ask that tutors who do group work wear a name tag. We will supply one for you to keep at the Center any time you have group work.
You would then wait at the table you were assigned.
Tutor opening spiel to class: Once you’ve taken your seats at your assigned tables, a staff tutor trained in delivering our group work script will address the class, welcoming new writers to the Center, then offering a brief overview of our services as well as group work ground rules and tips for making the time productive.
Teacher opening spiel to class: The teacher addresses the whole group about the assignment and goals for the session. Some teachers find it a good opportunity to invite students from the class to teach the tutors about what they’ve been reading and working on.
Middle--Group work
Group work introductions: Smile. For your reference, write down the names of students in your group. To break the ice, introduce yourself and ask students to introduce themselves as well.
For the thesis workshop, review the criteria for a thesis: what makes a thesis good for this assignment? How is different from or similar to other thesis statements? Ask questions to have the group inform you more about the assignment and topic.
Write down the group’s questions and concerns if they have any to start with, and transcribe those in a list all can see as a starting agenda. Here are some helpful tips from a student who was surveyed about group work:
Regardless of the format of group work (brainstorming or thesis), a good rule of thumb is to facilitate writer interaction, enabling writers to help each other, balancing participation from all, rather than dispensing advice to fill silence. An instructor surveyed offered this advice:
"For whatever topic you are discussing, whether it is thesis, or outlining, or analysis, start by asking what makes it good. What is a good thesis? Or a good outline? This makes it easier to engage everyone. Only after you collected a list of what makes the thesis good, should you focus on the students' own work. I've also noticed that the conversations are better when tutors first ask the students for their feedback and only then add their own."
Free write Jumpstart: it’s not uncommon for discussion to stall before the time is up, maybe 25 minutes in. An easy way to revive discussion is to invite everyone to free write for 5 minutes to brainstorm ideas, revise or draft a thesis, outline the paper structure, record next steps, or take stock of remaining questions. It helps when during the writing time, the tutor writes as well. Then go around and share.
Group work Wrap-up: Ask students about what ideas they have for further work on their writing. Transcribe a list or outline or map of the group’s ideas, questions and give to group to take with them.
End--Feedback and Conference Forms
Thank the students, distribute feedback forms for the writers to fill out, and let the students know that you appreciate their honest feedback.
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Before you leave the center or go to your next session, fill out the electronic conference form for tutors.
How does group work differ from 1:1 tutoring sessions? Group work is unlike 1:1 sessions in ways that present challenges, but also opportunities unique to the format. To follow are five key differences and strategies shared by veteran tutors.
1. Time is limited: Instead of 45 minutes with one writer, we have 45 minutes with four. Given that ratio, we can’t afford to give any one student’s draft the undivided attention we can in an individual session.
-->Strategy: For that reason, group work is best suited to the early stages of the writing process, well before writers have paragraphs, let alone full drafts--hence the two standard formats, designed to intervene early. Brainstorming, outlining, and thesis revision are all ideal group work agendas.
Your role in group work is to be more facilitator than tutor. It’s an opportunity to learn the collective concerns and questions of the group, ones they may initially have hesitated to voice in class, and harness the collective smarts of the group to address them. Frame good open-ended questions, reflect back what you hear, moderate the discussion so that access to airtime is equitable and comments are constructive--and play scribe.
Regardless of learning style, writers greatly appreciate when the tutor begins the session by recording their concerns and questions as an agenda on paper, and wraps up the session by
summarizing the group’s insights or next steps in a list, map, or outline for the group to take away.
Suggestion from a Writer: “It is good when a tutor writes stuff down and gives it to people afterwards.”
Suggestion from a Tutor: "Group work requires you to multitask with different writers at the same time. Something that I learned this semester was not to be as passive and not be afraid to make the writers be as engaged in the conversation even though it is not their paper the group is talking about."
2. Greater variety of students: Group work sessions are booked by the teacher. Since all students are required to come, we see a much greater variety of students – some looking forward to the visit; some coming with hesitancy.
-->Strategy: Reluctance to participate is not an unsurmountable obstacle--but it does mean, as one veteran group work tutor has said, that the responsibility lies with the tutor to bring the positive energy and frame the session at outset in an upbeat, pragmatic, peer-like way that both acknowledges the situation and makes the most of it: “We’re here anyway, why not make the time productive for you?”
Another veteran group worker, described her rhetorical strategy of unflagging good will as “assertive pep.”
As in an individual session, most tutors find that investing in the first five minutes is critical to dispelling anxiety and preempting apathy with a positive tone.
One group work leader says that at the outset, she asks lots of “low stakes” questions--ones that writers can respond to easily, without self-consciousness. For example, she asks writers to fill her in on the course theme and assignment, and inquires how is the assignment is like or unlike past ones they’ve tackled. Taking the time to ask each writer’s name and record it by seating allows you to check in with writers by name and invite, but not pressure, individuals to speak.
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3. Social dynamics are forces bigger than us, inscrutable and rogue--and learning styles vary: Writers may feel less inclined to engage for many reasons. For one, in group work, the writers forfeit privacy. They share writing that is often in its most vulnerable state.
They may also not be entirely at ease with their classmates. What’s more, social dynamics are intrinsically unpredictable. As one writer admitted later, unbeknownst to their teacher, they found themselves in a group post-break-up with their very recent ex!
Additionally, in group work, most writers are brand new to the Center and to UIC to boot. The newness of the campus and Center, compounded by the newness of their classmates and of the conventions of college writing, can be both socially inhibiting and create a higher cognitive load. Faced with so much new information, depending on our learning style, we may be more inclined to watch than dive into conversation, especially if we need more time for auditory processing.
-->Strategy: What helps? Know what you can’t know. We can’t know who recently defriended whom, who came off a 12-hour night shift at O’Hare, who suffers acute public speaking anxiety, who has spent the dawn hours cramming for a chemistry final, or who is a slow auditory processor and finds fast-paced discussions taxing. So, cut yourself slack: don’t take it personally if you find yourself in a group of writers. That said, it helps to be both proactive and adaptive: invest in the first five minutes to learn people’s names, set a positive tone, and get the writers comfortable with each other. Also, gauge where people are at in terms of learning and social styles. Respect it and accommodate it. For students who seem reserved, use eye contact to include them, or perhaps invite them to share their opinion with a low stakes question--then if they prefer to pass, move on. Has the discussion stalled 20 minutes in? Suggest a free write or 5 minutes of brainstorming about next steps for developing the assignment.
Suggestion from a Writer: “For it to be more comfortable . . . introduce everyone and [learn] something about them as writers."
A suggestion from another writer: “It would be nice if everyone gets a chance to talk and then the whole group brainstorms for each person.”
4. Writers come at different stages of preparedness (for Thesis Development, in particular):
Is the session about Thesis Development, but 3 out of 4 writers have brought no thesis? A tutor poll suggested that, best intentions notwithstanding, this situation is more common than not, making Thesis Development a more improvisational format relative to Beginning a Task, in which no prior writing is expected. Given this, the group work coordinator routinely recommends that, when taking attendance, teachers opting for Thesis Development do a “thesis check” as insurance. But logistics can and will contravene. Teachers have said that in the hectic opening minutes of briefing tutors, dispatching students to tables, and orienting the group to a prompt, this step may slide by the wayside.
-->Strategy: Plan to improvise. One veteran tutor with many group work sessions under her belt, has said that the best way to cope if students come at different stages is not to get frustrated, but plan for it as likelihood--and get creative. Invite the writer who has a thesis to read it aloud, while listeners takes notes on what’s working and what might be developed; then go around the circle and share feedback. Invite writers who have not yet begun their thesis to free write. They can brainstorm drafts or questions they want to pose to the group, then read aloud what they have, and solicit ideas.
Suggestion from a writer: “I like it when tutors think on their feet. It is good when they focus more on writing and the writing process than on the topic (e.g. help the tutors with different strategies they can use to help students brainstorm instead of trying to brainstorm the topic for the students.”
5. The teacher is present: It shifts the dynamic. One of the great benefits of group work is that it
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gives writers a new context that often prompts new questions and new interests. The tutor is in a good position not only to validate those questions, but to call the instructor over and ask the question as a representative of the group.
Instructors are asked to be accessible throughout the session to field those questions that arise. But, as teachers have told us in surveys and panels, how to be accessible without interrupting is not always simple. Some teachers circulate, asking how things are going. Some sit at front and invite tutors to seek them out. Veteran teachers of group work, like Nikki Paley-Cox, have found that a “drive-by pantomime” works best. She pointedly tells the class at outset that she will come by each group for a quick nonverbal check-in at the midway point, so as not to interrupt the momentum: quick eye contact with the tutor and a request for a thumbs up or down. Many tutors confirmed that the silent “drive-by” check-in is ideal.
When a class visits, we are collaborating not only with the students, but the instructor. Although it is Writing Center space, the instructor is still responsible for the class and is entitled to ask tutors to redirect the conversation, address their students, or troubleshoot.
On our part, we make this collaboration more productive by extending basic hospitality. When instructors enter our space, please greet them. Many instructors continue to talk their students or even to teach after the group work is over. Please respect their time with students by keeping the Center quiet and free of distractions. When instructors are leaving, they may have time to debrief and ask you how your session went. But often, they need to rush off to a next class. As they are leaving, be sure to thank them for coming.
-->Strategy: By hosting professional development group work panels where instructors and tutors exchange ideas, offering outreach to the instructors new to group work, and being explicit in a group work script a tutor reads at outset, we hope to inform instructors about best practices for finding that tricky balance of how to be accessible but not intrusive.
Why do group work?
Given some of the challenges of group work, and the tutor hours it consumes, one might reasonably ask, why do it? In surveys of teachers and tutors about the benefits of group work, a few themes have emerged.
“Group work magic”: Mary Hibbeler, a teacher who has been on board since the very first group work got off the ground, coined this phrase to describe one reason she brings her writing classes to group work every term. After the visit, she has said, her whole classroom dynamic perceptibly shifts. Talking in groups with peer tutors facilitating gets students talking more freely about their writing when they return to the classroom, both to each other and to her--ice broken all around. The small group format gives students a low stakes environment in which to air the questions which they might be apprehensive to direct to their teacher; tutors can act as intermediary, modeling how to seek out a teacher on the group’s behalf. Tutors can also model peer interaction, creating a productive opportunity for classmates to interact.
Introduction to the Writing Center: Group work creates a first impression of the Center that can define what we do in ways that debunk common misconceptions. It showcases the Center as a place that is inclusive, peer-like, and nonjudgmental, where “getting help with writing” is redefined as something writers of all levels (not just “remedial”) do at any stage in the process (not just editing), for any genre of writing (not just English). Many writers, once they experience the Center in group work, feel more comfortable booking 1:1 follow-up sessions or becoming tutors themselves.
Attention to prewriting: While 1:1 tutoring can be effective at ANY stage in the writing process, we've found conversation to be most productive at the prewriting stages, before writers have committed themselves to a full draft--the very stages many writers shortchange.
Group work is an intervention in the early stages of the writing process--a step often overlooked by writers who have never had feedback from a writer except at the very end stage, as red marks on a
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draft, and equate “feedback” strictly with sentence-level editing. But early stage feedback is arguably THE most profitable place to intervene: the very place where a conversation with a reader can have the biggest impact in shaping what matters most to the success of a piece of college writing: unpacking the prompt, considering more carefully how the readings relate to the assignment, brainstorming ideas; and outlining to organize ideas into a logical progression.
Small group discussion with a peer facilitator affords time to close-read the prompt, air questions, and test drive ideas, sentences, and paper structures with a small audience, before the deadline looms and stakes are high.
Writers who leave group work with a clearer idea of their assignment, readings, their claim, or a paper outline describe relief and greater confidence about the task ahead.
Suggestions from Writer: "If students continue to feel confused, the writing center staff could offer to set up a meeting with them. If it's not done there, the students may never set one up."
Who comes for group work?
We conduct approximately 70-90 sessions of group work per term. The thesis development workshop is more common than the workshop on brainstorming a new assignment. With few exceptions, the classes are all First Year Writing. English 161, the research writing course, is more frequent, but students also visit from English 160 as well as 070, the English Language learning class, and 071, the basic writing course.
How to prepare, as tutors?
Observations: Before leading a group work session, every tutor is first assigned an observation. If you feel later on that observing additional sessions would be beneficial as a refresher, just email the group work coordinator and we’ll do our best to arrange it with your schedule.
Consult fellow tutors: When you have downtime on a tutoring hour, talk to your colleagues about
group work situations. Some common group work challenges to troubleshoot:
Brief sessions: Your group work sessions seem to end early at 20, 30 minutes in, and you are looking for ways to get the conversation started again.
Group members are reserved: You are looking for ways to help draw writers out without becoming confrontational or bossy.
Group members seem unprepared: Your group seems to be on a different page than the teacher or unsure about the assignment. You are thinking about how to mediate this situation.
The Group members have various levels of involvement: One alpha sector of the group dominates; the rest withdraw. You are thinking about ways to create balance.
Consult staff: Please don’t hesitate to email the group work coordinator, Kim O'Neil <kimoneil@gmail.com> or your Writing Center instructor. You are also welcome to stop by the staff office at any time to talk to any of the Assistant Directors if you want to talk about a specific situation that has come up in group work or share an idea for how to make group work run more smoothly in future. Our best group work innovations have come straight from the suggestions of tutors.
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The Writing Partners Program: Multiple-session visitors
What is a Writer-Tutor Partnership?
A fraction of students who visit the Writing Center
come back multiple times to work in partnership
with the same tutor. This writer-tutor partnership
was originally set up by a program coordinator and
targeted the First Year Writing Program students
who are non-native speakers of the English
language. The program had grant support and was
called “The Writing Partners Program” (WPP).
But partnerships need not be set up by a
coordinator. All tutors can offer writers to return to
the Center. Many writers do not do this because
they do not know that we are not interested in
seeing the same writer. Some writers worry that
they might be wasting our time, or that we will
think of them as dependent on us, or even that we
are not willing to work with them when they don’t
have writing. It is important, therefore, to talk to
writers about returning and make a plan with them
about how to do it. Let writers know, for example,
that you would be willing to brainstorm, even when
they have no writing. Or let them know that you
would gladly look over a syllabus for another
course and start planning for writing they have to
do in the future. You could also encourage students
to begin working on personal statements they
could use for scholarships.
What are the benefits of having a Tutor-Partner?
We have learned a few things from our writers who
have been partnered with a tutor. On a survey
completed by writers, we found out that students
do indeed prefer to have a designated tutor-
partner who they can meet repeatedly instead of
meeting with different tutors every time. Writers
also have expressed that they feel their tutor-
partner listens to them. The surveys indicated that
listening was displayed when tutors showed
interest in the writer’s project, or when tutors gave
an opportunity for writers to be part of the
conversation. The surveys’ responses are some of
the evidence that peer collaboration is taking
place, and we believe listening can be shaped in
many other ways that you will learn about
throughout the semester.
We also found out that 94% of the writers who
come frequently feel that they have become better
at editing and revising their own writing. Learning
to edit and revise involves steps that may take
many visits to learn, beginning from when writers
receive instructor’s feedback until writers are able
to apply the rules on their own. The back-and-forth
dynamic process between getting feedback and
making revisions will eventually lead writers to
apply writing conventions accurately, and therefore
have more control over the revising and editing
processes. When writers reach this path of
decision-making, they have learned.
From Writer-Tutor Partnership towards a Writing
Community
Knowing the norms of composing and the
mechanics of language are certainly one of the
goals of the tutor-writer partnership. It means that
both writers and tutors become part of a writing
community in which at times, writers work or write
solo, and other times, writers work and write
collaboratively. This is done interchangeably
according to each group’s needs. A community of
writers would seek each other to review papers, to
write collaboratively on a paper, to work on their
writing at the same site, or write in different sites
at the same time.
The unique peerness that emerges from a writer-
tutor partnership may demonstrate that the
partnership dynamic is one of the steps prior to
forming a community of writers. Many tutor-
partners that have been working in partnership at
our Writing Center have expressed that their
partnership had evolved to a warm friendship.
Friendship may have multiple meanings in this
case, but it is a sign that there is trust and writers
are not judged based on their writing.
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Writer-tutor partnerships may last three, seven, or
twelve visits in a semester, and after the first visit,
each tutoring session may feel as if the
conversation is continuing from the prior sessions.
After few encounters with the writer, tutors may
skip some of the formalities of first-time visitors
and move immediately on to the agenda of the
day. Peerness, collaboration, being cognizant of
“other truths” to knowledge instead of “one truth”
from the tutor’s lens, all of these theories and
pedagogical approaches and practices are
grounded in the feminist pedagogy and the anti-
racist and queer theories. The participatory nature
of these theories, which ensure writers have a
space to express their needs, may well be the
reason that last semester the attendance of the
Writing Partners was higher than that of other
writers.
Writer & Tutor Rights and Responsibilities
Writer & Tutor Rights
Both Writers and Tutors are expected to respect
each other’s cultural, individual, and role
differences, including those based on age, sex,
gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national
origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability,
language, and socioeconomic status.
Writers and Tutors have the right to refrain from
sharing personal information.
Writers and Tutors have the right to a comfortable
and safe Tutoring environment.
Writers and Tutors can approach Writing Center
Directors or other UIC faculty and administration if
they have questions or concerns.
Tutoring is a partnership. Both Writer and Tutor can
expect that the other is willing to participate in the
tutoring conversation.
Writer Rights
Writers have the right to a Tutor who is on time,
willing to work, attentive, and ready to look out for
the Writer’s best interest.
34
Writers have a choice of whether or not to
acknowledge their visit to the Writing Center to an
instructor.
Writers have a right to ask questions about the
Tutor’s approach to Tutoring.
Writers have a right to talk to the director about
their sessions or changing Tutors if necessary.
Writers have the right to have their conversation
about writing be private, (except if there is
information about child abuse or sexual misconduct,
or harm to self or others).
Writer & Tutor Responsibilities
Academic Integrity
Both Tutors and Writers are responsible for
maintaining UIC’s policy on Academic Integrity.
Tutors cannot write papers for Writers and Tutors
cannot help with writing that is not the Writer’s.
Information on Child Abuse and Sexual Harassment
If a Writer shares information about child abuse,
sexual harassment, possible harm to self or others,
or a crime, the Tutor is legally required to report this
information.
Tutoring is a Privilege
Peer Tutoring is based on respect for all members of
the Writing Center community: Tutors, instructors,
and faculty. Writers and Tutors must also abide by
UIC’s standards on academic integrity and conduct.
Tutoring is a privilege that can be taken away if
Tutors or Writers do not abide by these standards.
Writer Responsibilities
Writers remain responsible for their writing. Tutors
can answer questions, offer suggestions, and
provide resources. But Writers make final decisions
about and remain the authors of their own work.
Tutoring is one of many steps in the writing process.
Writers are expected to continue revising their
writing beyond the Tutoring session.
Writers need to keep their appointments and be on
time, or cancel 2 hours in advance. Writers who miss
two appointments will not be able to make advance
appointments for the semester. Writers running late
should call 312-413-2206. Writers who are late may
lose their appointment for the hour.
Tutor Rights
Tutors can seek additional help or information from
the Directors any time during, before, or after a
Tutoring session.
Tutors can ask the Directors to excuse them from a
session or from working with a Writer in the future
if they feel unsafe, or if a Writer is not respecting
the Tutor’s or other Writers’ cultural, individual, and
role differences.
Tutors have the right to finish their sessions at the
scheduled end time.
Tutors have the right to be treated fairly by the
Directors and other staff working at the Writing
Center. Tutors have the right to seek assistance
from other campus units if they feel that they have
been treated unfairly.
Tutor Responsibilities
Tutors provide sessions in accordance with the
handbook. Tutors are expected to be helpful, clear,
and respectful. Tutors aim to provide full 45 minute
sessions. If a session is short, Tutors should be
prepared to work with another writer.
Tutors help create an inclusive environment. Tutors
acknowledge and greet writers and faculty who are
waiting in the lounge. The front desk should be clear
of social activity so desk staff can attend to guests.
When Tutors are at the WC, whether for scheduled
hours or on their own time, they should respect the
35
WC as a workspace and keep it free of distractions
or conversations that are exclusive.
Tutors cannot and must not estimate grades.
Tutoring conversations are confidential in the sense
that Tutors do not discuss sessions publicly or
casually with each other. However, sessions are not
confidential in all cases. If a Writer reveals
information about child abuse or sexual misconduct,
Tutors are federally mandated to report this
information.
If you are told about or witness the suspected child
abuse or neglect of minors, you must contact the
DCFS hotline at 1-800-25-ABUSE. You may make
reports anonymously. If the abuse occurs on
campus, you must also notify the UIC Police: 312-
996-2830.
For help that is confidential, Writers can go contact
the Campus Advocacy Network (CAN), Counseling
Center, or Student Legal Services.
If a staff Tutor observes or hears about sexual
misconduct about someone affiliated with UIC, the
Tutor is obligated to report the incident to the Office
for Access and Equity at 312-996-8670 or
oae@uic.edu.
For issues of child abuse or sexual misconduct,
Tutors are also encouraged to talk to the WC
Director or Assistant Directors, who are also
obligated to report sexual misconduct.
If a session is of concern in any other way, (for
example, a writer is hostile, or indicating the
possibility of harm to self or others), the Tutor
should inform one of the Assistant Directors
immediately. The Assistant Directors have a
supervisory obligation and may consult with any
Tutor about Writing Center concerns. Tutors are
required to read and, when necessary, reply to
communications from the director or the Assistant
Directors within 24 hours on working days.
Tutors need to document each hour on the online
“Tutoring Activity” form immediately after the hour.
The language on the forms should be descriptive;
the forms should not evaluate Writers. The Tutor
must also to fill out the top of a feedback slip and
tell the writer that written feedback would be
appreciated.
Tutors must be on time. Tutors who are late a
second time without notification will not be able to
Tutor. For illness or emergency, Tutors both call the
front desk (312-413-2206) and email
vainis@uic.edu. Tutors need to plan in advance
when possible. Tutors who miss frequently for any
reason may be asked to withdraw from Tutoring for
the semester.
References
Camps, A. (2014). Metalinguistic activity in language
learning. In T. Ribas, X. Fontich & O. Guasch (Eds.),
Grammar at school: Research on metalinguistic activity in
language education. Brussels, Germany: P.I.E. Peter Lang.
Celce-Murcia, M. (2002). Why it makes sense to teach
grammar in context through discourse. In E. Hinkel, & S.
Fotos (Eds.), New perspectives on grammar teaching in
second language classrooms (pp. 181-197). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Denny, H. (2010). Queering the writing center. Writing
Center Journal, 30(1), 94.
Eodice, M. (2010). Introduction to "queering the writing
center". Writing Center Journal, 30(1), 92.
Harper, S., & Hurtado, S. (2007). Nine Themes in Campus
Racial Climates and Implications for Institutional
Transformation. New Directions for Student Services,
120, 7-24. doi:10.1002/ss.254
Kolln, M. (2006). Rhetorical grammar: Grammatical
choices, rhetorical effects (5th ed.) Longman.
Kumashiro, K. K. (2000). Toward a theory of anti-
oppressive education. Review of Educational Research,
70(1), 25-53. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1170593
Law, B. (2011). Retraining the biased brain. Monitor on
Psychology, 42(9), 42.
36
Appendix A: Informational Flier about the Writing Center for Students:
What the WRITING CENTER can do for you!
Make an appointment at writingcenter.uic.edu You are welcome to drop in to see if a tutor is available.
Open August 31 through December 8. 105 Grant Hall 312 413-2206
Hours: Mondays 9:00-5:00 Tuesdays 9:30-5:30
Wednesdays 9:00-5:00 Thursdays 9:30-4:30
Fridays 9:00-4:00
Is the Writing Center for me? The Writing Center
is for everyone. Learning more about writing is one of
the most important outcomes of a college education.
You will be using writing to advance your career,
further your education, and work productively with
others.
All students can benefit from talking to someone who
will read their writing carefully and offer a helpful and
respectful response.
Can I work on personal statements and resumes?
Yes! We help with all types of writing – assignments
for any of your courses, research projects, resumes,
or personal statements for scholarships and jobs.
What does it cost? Tutoring is free.
What can I expect when I come for tutoring?
Tutors will talk to you about the assignment you are
working on. They will help you think about priorities.
They will answer your questions, offer suggestions,
and help you make changes that can improve your
writing.
Do tutors help to get started on an assignment?
Yes! Many students come to brainstorm, plan, or
make outlines. You don’t need to bring any writing –
just a willingness to participate in a conversation with
a tutor.
How can I make best use of the Writing Center? It is
best to work on writing in stages: talk to a tutor when
you are getting started, again when you are developing
your draft, and finally when you are adding finishing
touches. Bring the instructor’s syllabus or assignment
sheet, or, for scholarships, the essay question.
Tutors will provide support and options for making
changes. The tutoring session will provide you
opportunities to make choices that work best for you
and your assignment. Tutoring is a collaboration in
which both you and the tutor participate.
How do I make an appointment? Go to our website
at writingcenter.uic.edu. When you use the online
scheduler the first time, you will need to register and
set up a password. The online scheduler is easy to use.
Available tutors are designated by a white box. All
sessions are 45 minutes. If you have any questions, call
us at 312-413-2206.
You are also welcome to drop in; we will gladly help
you if tutors are available.
Can I become a tutor? Students who have completed
their writing requirement are eligible. We have a
diverse body of tutors from all majors. Tutors begin by
taking English 222 or 482. After the course, tutors can
apply for a paid staff position.
Peer tutoring is based on respect for all members of the Writing Center community -- tutors, instructors, and faculty.
Tutoring is a privilege that can be taken away if respect is not maintained.
Tutors work together with students to provide options for improving and learning about writing. The final responsibility
for revising and completing writing assignments remains with students.
We can provide tutoring only for writing that conforms to UIC policies for academic integrity.
37
Appendix B
Conference Form that Writers Fill Out at the Beginning of Each Individual Session
Your First name: ___________ Last name: ________ Net id or UIN: ________
Course: _______________________ Instructor: ______________________________
Should we let your instructor know you visited? yes__ no__
Check here if this is your first visit: __
Some suggestions for topics to discuss with your tutor:
o getting started on an assignment
o supporting a thesis or developing ideas
o creating organization and transitions
o responding to feedback from instructor
o thinking about audience expectations
o working on editing skills
o quoting, citing, or other research practices
Is there anything else that you would like to talk about?
Can we help provide accommodations for a disability? Please let us know at the front desk.
Peer tutoring is based on mutual respect. Disrespectful behavior at the Writing Center is unacceptable.
This part to be filled out by tutor: Tutor First Name: __________ Tutor Last Name: ___________
Appendix C: Feedback Form Students Fill Out after Every Tutoring Session
Thanks for coming! I welcome your feedback. Please leave this form in the red box.
Tutor’s Name: ______________________ Date & Hour: ________________________
The tutor answered my questions:
o strongly agree o agree o neither agree nor disagree o disagree o strongly disagree
I found my conversation with the tutor helpful:
o strongly agree o agree o neither agree nor disagree o disagree o strongly disagree
I plan on making another appointment in the future: yes__ no__
Use the back for comments or suggestions.
38
Appendix D: Group Work Format #1: Beginning a Task
Check in: Please tell the front desk that you’re here for group work and pick up 5 things:
1. Your assigned table number;
2. A hard copy of the teacher’s assignment prompt (as well as this standard prompt group work, if a helpful
reminder);
3. Your group work name tag so the teacher and class can identify you as group work tutor;
4. Some group work feedback forms (grab 6 or so, just in case it’s a big group—can return the extra later);
5. Scrap paper to record the groups’s questions and ideas
Go straight to your table: Rather than wait for the instructor to find you in the lounge, where you may be confused
with tutors here for 1:1 sessions and drop-in writers, head straight to your assigned numbered table for . . .
The Combined Briefing in the Big Space: The first 5-10 minutes of the group work itself will be devoted to the
instructor’s review of the assignment. Tutors should sit with the students and attend. (NOTE: this may be preceded by
a “Welcome to the Writing Center” spiel by a tutor trained in the script).
_________________________________________________________________________
NOTE: Be prepared to adapt these guidelines to circumstances or particular teacher needs.
Step 1: Introductions, invitations, ice breakers, invitations to partner (5 or so minutes)
It’s nerve-wracking for most of us to expose early writing to a complete stranger. You’re a stranger, and most
classmates are practically strangers to each other—this may be their first time talking directly in a small
group. A few things you can do to help ease nerves:
1. Introduce yourself, share something about yourself (your major?), smile…
2. welcome the group to the Center, and invite them to follow up by booking 1:1 appt.s with you during your
hours, if they’d like the benefit of working with someone familiar--add that they can come at any stage (NO
draft required), for any class, for no class (a resume or personal statement); all they need to do is bring a
prompt and be prepared to collaborate;
3. ask names and record on scrap paper in a semi -circle so you can invite people into the discussion by name,
4. break ice by asking a low stakes question, but not something overly time consuming—perhaps something
like, “What’s the theme of your class?” or “How is this assignment like/unlike others you’ve done in past?”
Step 2: Unpacking the Assignment (15 or so minutes)
Suggest everyone take a moment to read the assignment sheet to themselves, annotating as they go:
underline what seems key to note, add a question mark ? in the margin beside whatever seems unclear or
confusing. When writers are finished, debrief: have writers go around and discuss what struck them as
39
important and what struck them as confusing. Record on paper a list of what they found: key things and
confusing things.
Help writers answer each other’s questions, and record their answers. Note any questions that the group is
unable to answer--direct these to the instructor! (Don’t be shy— the instructor will be happy to be flagged).
Step 3: Brainstorming the Assignment (15 or so minutes)
After everyone’s immediate questions have been addressed, facilitate a group brainstorm about what a
completed assignment would look like. Your job will be to record nonjudgmentally a “mind-map” or outline
of the paper structure they envision for this particular assignment, asking lots of questions to elicit ideas
about how the beginning, middle and end might look:
What might go in this type of introduction? What might go in this type of thesis?
How might the body be organized—around what supporting claims? In what order?
What kind of evidence might be acceptable for this type paper in supporting the claims?
What might go in this type of conclusion?
As you make the list, your most important role is to acknowledge contributions. You can mix in one or two of
your own ideas after you have given students ample opportunities to generate ideas. Offer the sheet to the
group as a takeaway.
Step 4: Free Writing (5-10 minutes)
Writers should spend the last minutes pre-writing for the assignment--free-writing, outlining, mind-mapping
ideas, or whatever method the teacher prefers.
____________________________________________________________________________
Close with group:
Invite back: Explicitly remind the writers that you’d be enthused to work with them again, at any stage in the
process, for this class or others. Feedback forms: Write your name on these for the writers (add a last initial
so they get filed correctly!) and ask them to take a moment to fill them out—say that you are in training, and
you would be very grateful for their feedback in helping you develop.
Close with teacher:
Thank teacher and debrief: While the class fills out feedback, here is your chance to approach the teacher as
a group, thank him or her for coming in, and share any questions or concerns that arose that may be
applicable to future sessions.
Fill out your conference form online!
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Appendix E: Group Work Format #2: Developing a Thesis
Check in: Please tell the front desk that you’re here for group work and pick up 5 things:
1. Your assigned table number;
2. A hard copy of the teacher’s assignment prompt (as well as this standard prompt group work, if a helpful
reminder);
3. Your group work name tag so the teacher and class can identify you as group work tutor;
4. Some group work feedback forms (grab 6 or so, just in case it’s a big group—can return the extra later);
5. Scrap paper to record the groups’s questions and ideas
Go straight to your table: Rather than wait for the instructor to find you in the lounge, where you may be confused
with tutors here for 1:1 sessions and drop-in writers, head straight to your assigned numbered table for . . .
The Combined Briefing in the Big Space: The first 5-10 minutes of the group work itself will be devoted to the
instructor’s review of the assignment. Tutors should sit with the students and attend. (NOTE: this may be preceded by
a “Welcome to the Writing Center” spiel by a tutor trained in the script).
____________________________________________________________________________
NOTE: Be prepared to adapt these guidelines to circumstances or particular teacher needs.
Step 1: Introductions, ice breakers, invitations to partner (5 or so minutes)
It’s nerve-wracking for most of us to expose early writing to a complete stranger. You’re a stranger, and most
classmates are practically strangers to each other—this may be their first time talking directly in a small
group. A few things you can do to help ease nerves:
1. Introduce yourself, share something about yourself (your major?), smile…
2. Welcome the group to the Center, and invite them to follow up by booking 1:1 appt.s with you during your
hours, if they’d like the benefit of working with someone familiar--add that they can come at any stage (NO
draft required), for any class, for no class (a resume or personal statement); all they need to do is bring a
prompt and be prepared to collaborate;
3. ask names and record on scrap paper in a semi -circle so you can invite people into the discussion by name,
4. break ice by asking a low stakes question, but not something overly time consuming—perhaps something
like, “What’s the theme of your class?” or “How is this assignment like/unlike others you’ve done in past?”
ng Criteria (10-15 minutes)
Facilitate a group brainstorm about what an effective thesis for this particular assignment might look like.
Your job will be to record nonjudgmentally a checklist of criteria the group generates. As you make the list,
your most important role is to
Acknowledge and validate contributions, writing down all
41
help the group refer back to the teacher’s prompt or presentation to verify what specific kind of thesis THIS
assignment is asking for: not all thesis statements are in the first paragraph, not all are one sentence, not all
are argumentative, not all forbid first person. What a thesis involves for one teacher may be very different
than for another.
Help group members answer each other’s questions as they arise. Note any questions that the group is
unable to answer--direct these to the instructor! (Don’t be shy— the instructor will be happy to be flagged).
After the group has contributed, you may mix in one or two of your own suggestions.
ng Theses (15-20 minutes)
Ask students to take turns reading their working thesis aloud, twice, and slowly. Focus on the thesis
statements one at a time, balancing time between all writers.
Facilitate a workshop of each thesis, applying the criteria they generated, and revising the list as new ideas
emerge. Ask listeners what they notice: What from the list is working especially well? What are opportunities
for further development? Demonstrate that you value the contributions students have been making by
referring back to things others have already said. Encourage writers to record on their drafts the feedback
they receive.
.At times, when the conversation dies down or is going off track, initiate a thesis-related topic that you have
not discussed. “We can try listing some bullet points about how to support each thesis.”
Step 4: Free Writing (5 or so minutes)
Writers should spend the last minutes recording a plan of action—their ideas for revising.
____________________________________________________________________________
Close with group:
Invite back: Explicitly remind the writers that you’d be enthused to work with them again, at any stage in the
process, for this class or others. Feedback forms: Write your name on these for the writers (add a last initial
so they get filed correctly!) and ask them to take a moment to fill them out—say that you are in training, and
you would be very grateful for their feedback in helping you develop.
Close with teacher:
Thank teacher and debrief: While the class fills out feedback, here is your chance to approach the teacher as
a group, thank him or her for coming in, and share any questions or concerns that arose that may be
applicable to future sessions.
Fill out your conference form online!
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Appendix F: Introductory Presentation to Visiting Classes
WELCOME TO YOUR WRITING CENTER. I’m [name]. If you’re new to the Center, welcome! It’s a great free resource on campus. We encourage you to come back for 45 minute individual sessions in person or online. To make an appointment, go to the WC website, register the first time, and after that you can book a session with any tutor you want any time we’re open--you’ll see our hours and website on the flyer [hand these out if class’s first visit to Center]. We do have a waitlist for drop-in visitors, but because we tend to fill up, if you find a tutor that’s a good fit, it’s a good idea to book at least a week in advance. You can reserve that tutor for up to 2 sessions per week, up to 2 weeks at a time. At the end of group work today, the tutor you work with will share their tutoring hours if you’d like to keep working with them individually.
COMMON QUESTIONS WRITERS HAVE.
What if I don’t have a full draft? NOT JUST FOR DRAFTS. Come at ANY stage of writing—all we ask you to bring is your paper prompt. That way we can be sure we understand the specific expectations for your assignment. But no writing is necessary at all. Many find brainstorming when you are just starting out the MOST helpful type of session--writers come in with nothing, and leave with paper outline and a clear sense of where they’re going.
What if I’m not taking an English class? NOT JUST FOR ENGLISH CLASSES. Writers come from all disciplines and all levels. About half come for non-English classes, like psychology, business, public health etc. About a quarter come for grad classes. And many writers come for no class--to work on personal statements, application essays for grad school etc.
Will you fix my grammar? We help you learn about grammar. We cannot, of course, write your paper for you. In fact, to respect writers’ ownership of their work, one of our policies is that we don’t write on papers—instead we read them aloud with the writer and have a conversation about what changes are needed and why. The goal is to leave you with not just a better paper, but with a better understanding of grammar so you’re better equipped to self-edit in future.
Who are the tutors? NOT JUST ENGLISH MAJORS. In fact, about half of us are from other majors—which makes sense, since we help writers from all majors. What we have in common is that we all complete a semester-long tutor training course, English 222/482. We’re all really interested in writing and how conversation can help the writing process. And we’ve all used the Writing Center ourselves, as writers.
TIPS TO MAKE THE MOST OF GROUP WORK.
PHONES OFF: I know I get really distracted by my phone, so if we can all, tutors and writers, take a moment now to check that our phones are off and away, that would be great—that way, we make sure we give our full attention to each other.
NO PRESSURE: Feel free to engage in group discussion in whatever way you feel comfortable. Whatever stage you’re at, whatever your comfort level with speaking in groups--it’s all fine. Just listening and sharing your response as a reader to someone else’s writing can be helpful.
HANDOFF TO TEACHER
CUE ORIENTATION: At this point, we’ll turn it over to [Professor x] to share their expectations for the assignment and session so we’re all on the same page.
(turning to teacher) CUE CHECK-IN: Midway through, at the 15-20 minute point, we would welcome a check-in if you want to come by each group and just see if there are any questions, how it’s going… Thanks!
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