Blog Post #2


Based on the reading, it seems important to take more time assessing the needs of ESL students. It is important not to engage in “native-speakerizing,” or make assumptions about what they do or do not know. Though it may seem obvious, I was particularly struck by the recommendation to pick up a pen and make corrections on ESL student papers. As a tutor, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the numerous grammatical errors in an ESL student’s paper, and thus, choose to focus on global revisions. “Serving ESL Students” made me realize the importance of bringing repeated grammatical errors to the attention of ESL students, and how it is essential to furthering their writing development.  

I absolutely love when I come up with an original idea that I am able to let flow seamlessly from my brain and onto the page; however, this does not happen every time. Quite often, when writing a paper, I struggle with wanting to make each sentence perfect from the start. I can spend hours working on one paragraph. Even worse, sometimes I realize that the paragraph that I just spent an hour writing is completely useless. I have discovered that a combination of blocking out the negative voices in my head, freewriting, and writing terrible first drafts helps me work through the arduous process of beginning a paper.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog Post #8 (Ian)

Interesting take on that timeless grudge match been academic and creative nonfiction, but cringed at Goedde's frequent use of what I'll call The Other B-Word, which raised its own separate set of questions for me about how we (as tutors) shape the way our students write about racism... Though the use of this word felt central to Loraine's story - and was further complicated by Loraine's own Mexican-American heritage - it was also impossible for me to imagine Goedde parroting it with the same zeal if, say, this had been a story about Loraine using the N-word, or any number of other xenophobic slurs. Not sure if others reacted similarly, but felt noteworthy given the particular necessity (and thorniness) of having students write about race at a place as overwhelmingly white as the University of Iowa. As for comparing this nonfiction case study to the more academic studies we've previously consulted, I feel like the pros and cons basically mirror those raised by Goed
Read more

Blog Post #1

Reading: The University of Iowa Writing Center Tutor’s Guide Question: The University of Iowa Writing Center Tutor’s Guide starts stating the most important goal the Writing Center, “to develop strong writers with positive attitudes toward writing.” I clearly see how through the Writing Center’s writing practices students can grow in confidence to write. Are there any specific practices addressing that vital part of the WC goal of developing positive attitudes toward writing? Reading: The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors, Chapter 1 & 2 Given that a student’s version of what transpires in a classroom “may be incomplete or even inaccurate (Ryan & Zimmerelli, 2016, 3), how professional and even ethical is to facilitate and somehow promote procedures for registering a complaint (4)?
Read more

JJ 7

I have yet to begin online/asynchronous tutoring but my initial impression (prior to the readings this week) was that the non face-to-face methods is an ersatz tutoring style. I was partially convinced by the readings that there are advantages in a more distanced approach to tutoring that are lacking with in-person sessions. Specifically, there is an element of anonymity associated with online tutoring that I can see appealing to students that may not be confident or are embarrassed about their writing, especially students that are more introverted and non-confrontational. As a tutor, asynchronous tutoring would give me the time to really digest the writing and carefully formulate a response. Sometimes after an in-person session I think back about better ways I could have phrased a certain point but by then, too late. A major take-away from the readings is that I will formulate my responses through the comment feature and rarely using track changes, if at all. I believe that carefully
Read more