English 502: PRACTICUM FOR WRITING LAB TUTORS

Professor Linda Bergmann

Office: HEAV 228

lbergmann@sla.purdue.edu

MONDAY, AUGUST 27, PRACTICUM MEETING 1: PRACTICAL TUTORING:/ DRAWING ON WHAT YOU KNOW

Readings:

1. Jeff Brooks, "Minimalist Tutoring"
2. Thomas Newkirk, "The First Five Minutes: Setting the Agenda in a
Writing Conference"

Journal reflections: 1. What from your experiences teaching, tutoring, and learning do you bring to the Writing Lab as a tutor? What are your intentions and expectations as a tutor at this early phase of your experience here, and how do they accord with the experiences you have had so far? (Answer this question as specifically and as fully as you can, since we will return to this question several times during the semester.)
Agenda items: 1. What do you very much want to discuss at today's practicum meeting? (burning issues) 2. If there were no set topic or burning issue to be discussed, and you were responsible for choosing a topic for this session or the next, what would that topic be? (ongoing concerns)

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, LABOR DAY HOLIDAY

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5: Turn in this week's journal entries/agenda on Wednesday at 9:30 AM.
Journal reflections: 1. How well do Brooks' and Newkirk's suggestions accord with your experiences tutoring? What kinds of resistance from students and from your own inclinations have you encountered? Did any aspects of the readings or of the discussion of the readings resonate with you as you worked with students? 2. Describe the best tutoring session you have had so far. What made it work? To what extent were you responsible for the success of the session? To what extent was the student? What did you do that you want to mentally bookmark as something to do again? 3. Describe the tutoring session that you are least pleased with. What made it seem unsuccessful? To what extent were you responsible for what did not work well, and to what extent was it the student's responsibility? What strategies might you try next time a similar situation begins to occur? What questions does dredging up this experience leave you with?
Agenda items: Burning issues and ongoing concerns

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, PRACTICUM MEETING 2: THE IDEA OF A WRITING CENTER
Readings: Lunsford, Andrea. "Collaboration, Control, and the Idea of a Writing Center." The Writing Center Journal 12.1 (1991): 3-10. Rpt. in Barnet and Blumner, TheAllyn and Bacon Guide to Writing Center Theory and Practice, 92-99. North, Stephen M. "The Idea of a Writing Center." College English 46 (1984): 443-46. Rpt. in Barnet and Blumner, 63-78. Rpt. in Barnet and Blumner, 302-315. North, Stephen M. "Revisiting 'The Idea of a Writing Center.'" The Writing Center Journal 15.1 (1994) 7-19. Rpt. in Barnet and Blumner, 79-91. Leigh Ryan, The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors. Skim chapters 1 & 2; read Chapter 3. Browse recent and older issues of The Writing Lab Newsletter. (Find them, if you haven't yet done so.) Browse the OWL for handouts and other resources that address conventions of writing in disciplines that are strange to you. Make a list of resources and a list of "handouts you would like to see," and submit the lists with your journal entries. Post these lists to the class list serve.
Journal reflections: 1. What are the essential points of agreement and disagreement among the 4 writers you have read so far? What "ideas of a writing center" do you see at work in the Purdue Writing Lab, and how have you seen them function? Reflect upon how those ideas have played out in your experiences so far and in one or two pieces from The Writing Lab Newsletter. (Look particularly at pieces by tutors.) 2. Describe the tutoring session that you are least pleased with. What made it seem unsuccessful? To what extent were you responsible for what did not work well, and to what extent was it the student's responsibility? What strategies might you try next time a similar situation begins to occur? What questions does dredging up this experience leave you with?
Agenda items: Burning issues and ongoing concerns

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, STAFF MEETING: JOURNALS DUE 9:30 AM, PAPER COPY OR E-MAIL
Journal reflections: 1. Reflect on one or two of the readings you have read so far. How do they accord with the tutoring sessions you have held or observed? 2. Observe a tutoring session by another tutor. (Get permission first.) Trying very hard not to be evaluative, describe the session and the strategies the tutor used. To what extent do they reflect ideas and strategies in the readings so far? What new things did you learn from observation? 3. Describe the best tutoring session you have had so far. What made it work? To what extent were you responsible for the success of the session? To what extent was the student? What did you do that you want to mentally bookmark as something to do again?
Agenda items: Burning issues and ongoing concerns

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, PRACTICUM MEETING 3
Readings: Clark, Irene and Dave Healy. "Are Writing Centers Ethical?" WPA: Writing Program Administration 20.1/2 (1996): 32-38. Rpt. in Barnet and Blumner, 242-259. Walker, Kristin. "Difficult Clients and Tutor Dependency: Helping Overly Dependent Clients Become Independent Writers." Writing Lab Newsletter. 19.8 (1995): 10-14. Rpt. in Barnet and Blumner, 316-325. Leigh Ryan, The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors. Read Chapter 4 and do exercise 4-C, taking notes in your journal. Use the OWL handouts as your first place to find information. Browse the collection of Writing Center Journal recent and back issues, and read an article that interests you. Journal reflections: 1. Take notes on Exercise 4-C in The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors. 2. Why did the article you chose in the Writing Center Journal pique your interest? Summarize the article. Reflect on how it casts light on a problem you have faced or anticipated-or does not. 3. Describe the tutoring session that you have had so far you are least pleased with. What made it seem unsuccessful? To what extent were you responsible for what did not work well, and to what extent was it the student's responsibility? What strategies might you try next time a similar situation begins to occur? What questions does dredging up this experience leave you with?
Agenda items: Burning issues and ongoing concerns

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1: STAFF MEETING

Journal reflections:

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8: FALL BREAK

MONDAY, OCTOBER 15: STAFF MEETING

MONDAY, OCTOBER 22: PRACTICUM MEETING 4: SPECIAL CONCERNS

Readings:
Powers, Judith K. "Rethinking Writing Center Conferencing Strategies for the ESL Writer." The Writing Center Journal 13.2 (1993): 39-47. Rpt. in Barnet and Blumner, 368-375. Leigh Ryan, The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors. Read Chapter 5, and do exercise 5A, taking notes in your journal.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, STAFF MEETING:

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, PRACTICUM MEETING 5:

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, STAFF MEETING:

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19: PRACTICUM MEETING 6:

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, STAFF MEETING:

MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, PRACTICUM MEETING 7: