This week Pegeen's students and I have been getting in to the meat and potatoes of critical analysis. I've found that at first most of the students tend to take broad, defensive views of Gladwell's work, and I've attempted to steer them in a more rational direction. Which isn't to say that I've tried to change their minds but rather that I've been trying to get them to express their feelings and views in a more constructive way. They also seem to feel the need to "choose a side," and their papers are evident of a desire to refute his work completely. I've rarely seen a student agree with Gladwell though even these students have trouble expressing why and speak in absolutes. Students on both side of the argument tend to give examples from their personal life that seem to either suppose or oppose his statements. I haven't been discouraging this but I have been trying to get them to analyze his choice of wording to pick up on the nuances of the work and to speak in generalities while remaining magnanimous and unbiased. I've also been encouraging them to write in a manner that speaks to their authority and credibility.
I write this because I'm curious as to the issues that some of the other tutors are seeing in sessions with their students.
I'd like to apologize again for missing class as now I feel totally out of the loop, and I'm unsure of how much of this was covered in class.
Alicia Allyn Bobcheck
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Week 7
Today in class the students had to have some of their 5 page essay about Gladwell's idea of success done in class and we spent the time doing some peer editing. We used this technique to help the students identify the focus they want to use for this particular essay and ways to "take Gladwell seriously." For this paper she wants the students not to worry so much about the organization of their essay, but more on the development of their thoughts and the words they choose that express their thoughts.
I think sitting in on the classroom was helpful because I know that a lot of the time I am emphasizing the importance of organization with my students in our sessions, but I think I will use the techniques Pegeen used in class to help my student identify her focus. I agree that this is a really complicated subject matter to deal with and the ideas that the students want to bring up will not be able to conform into a "neat package" like in a typical essay. My student did not come to her session yesterday and was not in class today, so I am anticipating going through the draft that she has and helping her develop her ideas and questions of Gladwell, and to make sure she stays with a focus rather than "rambling."
I think sitting in on the classroom was helpful because I know that a lot of the time I am emphasizing the importance of organization with my students in our sessions, but I think I will use the techniques Pegeen used in class to help my student identify her focus. I agree that this is a really complicated subject matter to deal with and the ideas that the students want to bring up will not be able to conform into a "neat package" like in a typical essay. My student did not come to her session yesterday and was not in class today, so I am anticipating going through the draft that she has and helping her develop her ideas and questions of Gladwell, and to make sure she stays with a focus rather than "rambling."
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Weeks 4 & 5
Hello,
I'm afraid to say that I really don't have anything to report about week four. Sessions were completed as usual without much consequence. I was a bit disappointed about the lack of communication between the tutors and the classroom. Fortunately, nearly all of my reservations were eased in week five when I received the message from Pegeen.
Once I heard that tutors were allowed to observe as many classes as they wished I made a point of sitting in on both the Tuesday and Thursday classes. After a full week of observations I must say I feel that the continued observation of the tutors is integral to the program. While I was not having difficulty understanding Pegeen's assignments, the observations provided me with more information about the class dynamic and structure, which can be used to organize some sessions and connect the work in the WC to the course goals and activities.
I was especially happy to see Thursday's class (10/8/'09) in which Pegeen guided the writers through an exercise to learn how to analyze their own sentences. This practice directly matched what I like to do in sessions. I felt that this class activity was in perfect harmony with the work the tutors do in the Writing Center and I hope that it helped to bridge any gaps felt between the two. In my session after that class my writer commented on the similarities between what we had talked about previously and what Pegeen was guiding them through in class. Witnessing that overlap was very exhilarating.
-Brian
I'm afraid to say that I really don't have anything to report about week four. Sessions were completed as usual without much consequence. I was a bit disappointed about the lack of communication between the tutors and the classroom. Fortunately, nearly all of my reservations were eased in week five when I received the message from Pegeen.
Once I heard that tutors were allowed to observe as many classes as they wished I made a point of sitting in on both the Tuesday and Thursday classes. After a full week of observations I must say I feel that the continued observation of the tutors is integral to the program. While I was not having difficulty understanding Pegeen's assignments, the observations provided me with more information about the class dynamic and structure, which can be used to organize some sessions and connect the work in the WC to the course goals and activities.
I was especially happy to see Thursday's class (10/8/'09) in which Pegeen guided the writers through an exercise to learn how to analyze their own sentences. This practice directly matched what I like to do in sessions. I felt that this class activity was in perfect harmony with the work the tutors do in the Writing Center and I hope that it helped to bridge any gaps felt between the two. In my session after that class my writer commented on the similarities between what we had talked about previously and what Pegeen was guiding them through in class. Witnessing that overlap was very exhilarating.
-Brian
Friday, October 9, 2009
Week 5
Hi all,
I just found out this week that all of us are allowed to sit in on all of the classes and not just the ones that we were assigned to in the syllabus. This, I believe, will be an immense help to the program. I have had no problems interpreting the assignments the way that I believe Pegeen wants, but now I will not have to just interpret based on the assignment sheet or the way the students describe it. The only issue that I am still having at the moment would be that of attendance by the students. I only have one or two from the class that are consistently coming to their sessions now. Other than that, everything is going all right and I think that because of the weekly participation in the classroom that I will be doing, everything will just start to get better.
I just found out this week that all of us are allowed to sit in on all of the classes and not just the ones that we were assigned to in the syllabus. This, I believe, will be an immense help to the program. I have had no problems interpreting the assignments the way that I believe Pegeen wants, but now I will not have to just interpret based on the assignment sheet or the way the students describe it. The only issue that I am still having at the moment would be that of attendance by the students. I only have one or two from the class that are consistently coming to their sessions now. Other than that, everything is going all right and I think that because of the weekly participation in the classroom that I will be doing, everything will just start to get better.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Notes from Pegeen
Hi all,
Thanks for your ongoing efforts to make this project work. This is new for me, too, and since I signed on to this project at the very last minute, I'm learning as I go. In fact, one thing I've learned--and this is a note for Dolly and Kyle for their report at the end--I believe that for this kind of set-up to work, there has to be a lot more deliberate preparation on the part of the instructor to integrate tutors into the classroom, while she's designing the course, the assignments, the daily schedule etc. As it is, I'm making this up as I go, and I appreciate your patience with me!
To address a couple of concerns:
Tutors are welcome in my class at any time, even on days they're not scheduled, and for as much of the class as they like. I may not have something for you to do every day, but there should always be conversations and instruction for you to observe. When I made the tutor schedule, I was trying to imagine those days when there would be more hands-on work and/or more explicit instructions about the assignments the students were working on. I was worried that you would feel like you were wasting your time just watching the students and me talk. But if you think this would be useful, then by all means, please come!
The piece of this that I'm still working out is how, and to what extent, to invite tutors to participate in the class discussions. As a teacher, I work really, really hard to make students accountable to the rest of the class by showing up prepared and willing to participate in conversation. Any teacher will tell you that the classroom dynamic is one of the trickiest and least predictable parts of teaching a course like this. I still worry that these students in particular will start to "shut down" if tutors are participating in the discussions. Not only do they see you as older, but also wiser--better readers, better writers, better students (after all, you're the tutors!) I'm not sure what to do about this, but I'm thinking about it, and would appreciate feedback.
During the next couple of weeks, we're still reading the first part of Outliers, they'll be writing a summary of Ch. 2 this week, and then we'll start working on the next major essay assignment. As I said above, you are welcome to attend my class whenever you like!
Pegeen
Thanks for your ongoing efforts to make this project work. This is new for me, too, and since I signed on to this project at the very last minute, I'm learning as I go. In fact, one thing I've learned--and this is a note for Dolly and Kyle for their report at the end--I believe that for this kind of set-up to work, there has to be a lot more deliberate preparation on the part of the instructor to integrate tutors into the classroom, while she's designing the course, the assignments, the daily schedule etc. As it is, I'm making this up as I go, and I appreciate your patience with me!
To address a couple of concerns:
Tutors are welcome in my class at any time, even on days they're not scheduled, and for as much of the class as they like. I may not have something for you to do every day, but there should always be conversations and instruction for you to observe. When I made the tutor schedule, I was trying to imagine those days when there would be more hands-on work and/or more explicit instructions about the assignments the students were working on. I was worried that you would feel like you were wasting your time just watching the students and me talk. But if you think this would be useful, then by all means, please come!
The piece of this that I'm still working out is how, and to what extent, to invite tutors to participate in the class discussions. As a teacher, I work really, really hard to make students accountable to the rest of the class by showing up prepared and willing to participate in conversation. Any teacher will tell you that the classroom dynamic is one of the trickiest and least predictable parts of teaching a course like this. I still worry that these students in particular will start to "shut down" if tutors are participating in the discussions. Not only do they see you as older, but also wiser--better readers, better writers, better students (after all, you're the tutors!) I'm not sure what to do about this, but I'm thinking about it, and would appreciate feedback.
During the next couple of weeks, we're still reading the first part of Outliers, they'll be writing a summary of Ch. 2 this week, and then we'll start working on the next major essay assignment. As I said above, you are welcome to attend my class whenever you like!
Pegeen
Sunday, October 4, 2009
I agree with Casey in that I believe having more classroom time would be helpful. At the Learning Studio, we are encouraged to build a rapport with our students to aid in our tutoring. I've found that this is essential to building a strong tutor-writer relationship. As such, I think that in addition to being more present in the classroom it would be to everyone's benefit and comfort if the tutors were able to participate in class more. While I understand Pegeen's concerns as explained to me by Kyle, I think our role as passive observers rather than participant observers might give the impression that we are in class to judge the students rather than to help them. If our intentions for this pilot are not understood clearly by the students then I believe that they, perhaps already overwhelmed by college life, might feel pressured and alienated from the classroom experience.
I do believe that this pilot has instilled in the writers a sense of personal responsibility. I find that Pegeen's students are more likely to bring their assignments to the sessions and work on them while they are there. This has been particularly impressive to me, and I've found my sessions with her students to be some of the most productive. I've also gotten the sense that my students of hers also feel this way and are more confident in their ability to think critically.
I do believe that this pilot has instilled in the writers a sense of personal responsibility. I find that Pegeen's students are more likely to bring their assignments to the sessions and work on them while they are there. This has been particularly impressive to me, and I've found my sessions with her students to be some of the most productive. I've also gotten the sense that my students of hers also feel this way and are more confident in their ability to think critically.
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