After reading Matthew Ortoleva's essay, I was reminded of some mistakes I might have made on Monday. During my only session, I worked with a client who was tasked with the revision of a lengthy research paper. The problem I faced was separating her from the text in front of us. One of our main difficulties was a result of the unspecific comments made by her professor. We spent the majority of our time trying to decipher his notes in order to understand what issue was most in need of attention.
While I tried to separate her from the research paper and focus on her as a writer, it was clear that her concerns were largely focused on the grade. As Ortoleva points out, this is a common characteristic of many clients who visit the writing center. Although the text was our primary focus, I still feel as though sge left the session with a better understanding of how to write a research paper. We discussed how to include sources as well as how to properly cite them.
Initially, I was unsure how constructive my approach was until some dialogue was able to take place. During this, I could see that she had ideas about her writing and how she could improve. By the end of the session, it seemed that she was aware of what to focus on in her writing for future assignments.
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Jumping back in has got to be difficult, but it sounds like you managed this tough situation very well. I laughed about the need to "decipher" a professor's comments. How difficult we as teachers sometimes make our students' lives! No one should need a codex to understand our comments.
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to your situation, because, it seems that usually any student who walks in is only concerned with their grade. However, by the end of the session, I beleive that they finally get the idea, that they need to trully focus on their writing.
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