A Semester in the Writing Center

Earlier this year I wrote about starting my work as a consultant in the UofM-Dearborn writing center. A writing consultant is available for students to make appointments for one-on-one sessions to work on some form of writing. My content area is science but I hoped this would be a useful experience regardless. So far it has been very valuable.

I had only logged a few hours when I made that post. My main takeaway at that time was that it would take time and effort to become a better teacher and writer. No duh, Mitch. What that meant is that I needed to focus on the little victories to see my progression. The climb to my goal would be done one step at a time and sometimes the steps would be backwards. I'd like to list for you the highlights of my victories, and defeats, from a semester in the writing center:

   - In my Edd 469 class, Reading in the Content Area, we covered graphic organizers as a comprehension strategy for literacy. Many of my clients come in when trying to understand an assignment and brainstorm a way to write about the content. I immediately start to construct a concept map, informing the student about this process. It is always helpful for organizing our thinking and at the end of the session I ask the student if they'd like to take the concept map. They always do.

   - One student had a particularly difficult time constructing a thesis statement. She understood the content well and had plenty of options to write about. She just needed to focus these concepts around one idea. Using my teacher instincts I told her to, while not looking at a book or word processor, give me a thesis statement in 6 words. No more. She laughed, said she hated me for doing that, and knew why I made her. Her statement was 8 words, but she had a thesis to leave with.

   - Students feel really good when they come out of the writing center with a product, like the concept map. It can even be an 8 word sentence. That previous student had an hour long session and left with no writing except the concept map and 8 word thesis. She was thrilled.

   - You'll get a student from time to time that doesn't want to be there. Most of these were offered extra credit in a course if they visit the writing center. One such student scrolled through his phone while I proofread his paper. I'm fine with it as long as he knows neither one of us will get as much out of the process if he isn't engaged. Also, it makes me think carefully about how I implement extra credit in my classroom.

  - My writing has skyrocketed in quality. I also want to write more and have written a college football blog for months. I think critically about writing, music, film, or any other creative work. As I want every word and every sentence in my writing to have meaning and purpose, I want my speech, thought, actions, and ultimately teaching to live up to the same standard.

   - We were visited by an adviser who helps students write personal statements for graduate school applications. Not to toot my own horn, but many of the techniques and concepts she recommended were ones that I routinely used. It felt good, like I was meant for teaching.

I've rambled on long enough. I could go on and on about what I've learned and how much I love to write. If you see me around, feel free to ask me about it. Be warned, though: I likely won't shut up.