Stu, Stu, Studio

"Reflection in the Writing Classroom" highlights the notion that one becomes a writer "in between the drafts." By this Yancey means that taking time to analyze an existing draft is an unrecognized benefit to building knowledge and style as a writer. Bringing questions to the surface of consciousness such as:

-What have I learned?
-How does this connect with what I already know?
-Is this what I expected to learn? Why (not)?
-What else do I need to learn?
-How will I obtain the knowledge I need?

creates a thoughtful, resourceful, and flexible writer. Through analyzing student and peer works, Yancey suggests that tutors somehow employ techniques that make the transitory times and bewilderment a time to focus on as much as, if not more than, individual papers themselves.

Hey guys, sorry I wasn't able to make class today. I've got a LOT to do for tonight, but I'll have the main points of "Reflection in the Writing Classroom" posted by tonight. If anybody happens to check this and feels like oh so generously letting me copy or get a copy of their notes from today I'd really appreciate it!

Andrea Lunsford and Rebecca Moore have written two insightful essays questioning two foundations of modern classrooms and teaching. It is amazing how many aspects of the pedagogical setting we accept as unassailable principles we are not worthy to question. Our society keeps moving along following a tradition that may or may not be in our own best interest. These writers issues of authority and plagiarism under a microscope and question whether our contemporary practices are really helping us achieve our goals in education.

Ms. Lunsford questions whether the traditional authority models in the classroom are continuing to be successful. She is critical of the "top-down" strategy currently employed, emphasizing the teachers authority on subjects and devaluing the student's contribution to the classroom. Authority is, by nature, judgemental and hierarchical. It places a greater value on one person's view and says the other is inadequate. She sees this as an obstacle to true learning and critical thinking. The author then makes a case for a new classroom ethos, based on "dialogue, mutual respect, and connectedness". Although this ideal is very tricky to achieve, it should be persistent even when it fails.

Ms. Howard questions whether our definition of plagiarism as a criminal act should be modified. Although she admits blatant academic dishonesty such as buying a paper or cheating on a test is a student ethics problem, she claims patchwriting has been wrongfully included in the same category. Patchwriting is a problem of teacher ethics for this author. Her prescription for it is not punishment, but further instruction on citation and understanding the text. Patchwriting can be a wonderful way to try on ideas and words with which a student may not be familiar, and it should be treated as a developmental stage in students as opposed to a criminal act. Proper citation and continuing to explore the source text for a better understanding should be pursued not F's.

Both of these articles offered me something for my future as a studio associate. It is a unique opportunity to try out the pedagogical ethos in the first article, working with a fellow student through dialogue and give and take. Also, it will be a chance to apply the issues of the second article in helping others identify when they are "trying-on" others language and how that can lead to a deeper understanding of language and help develop the skills to put their own thoughts into clear and concise words. I could use a little of that myself.

The characteristics of selected readings effect how much a student will benefit from them. How easily text is comprehended will effect how much a student learns and how motivated they are to try. Lanham suggests that the shape of text determines its ‘comprehendability’ because: “Shape disciplines thought—shapelessness blurs it/” If text lacks shape, a reader will skim through the words without drawing connections between, loosing the their meaning, Many writers abandon the natural shape of language that people speak with in order to sound how they think a writer should sound.. They use an excess of needless words in which their intended meaning is lost or very vague. Lanham calls this style “pseudo-profundity.” In shapeless bodies of text, it becomes almost impossible to pull out the important points and the main action. The placement of action alone can begin to create shape. It must come in a simple action verb and appear quickly with no long wind-up introductions. (Otherwise it is lost in the sentence.) The piling up of prepositional phrases muddles comprehension because readers get lost in them trying to determine the main focus of the sentence. An excess of “is” forms does the same thing. A sentence’s length and rhythm also create its shape. Lanham suggests reading text out loud to determine whether or not it has any shape. Legal documents are hard to understand because they often have endless shapeless sentences where the subject and verb are hidden in legal verbosity. Parallel sentences have obvious visual shape. The eye helps the mind see the sentence’s pattern. For example “sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you.” In sentences like these, the shape embodies its sense and it is easily comprehended.

Comp Tales was the book I was assigned to read; it is a compilation of short memories of the interactions between students and teacher. The chapter I read focused on mis-communication between teachers and students. Many of the incidents were funny and ase on a bizarre interpretation of the teacher's instructions. However, some of the submissions felt very serious. They found their problems based in ethnic obstacles, economic struggles, and teachers who had no idea what to do as well as no help. Often, the tales of the technical misunderstandings between teacher and student, the teacher would foist his/her knowledge on the class assuming they knew where each student stood in terms of their academic involvement and past history. Similiarly, many of the teachers held classes in which the students were bored by the subject matter because they already knew and understood the topic. This occurred often when the teacher initiated a discussion rather than allowing the students to broach their own ideas. This chapter also comments on some stories of tutors, and their effectveness because they are not teachers and the students can view them as friends, a neutral party.

Samantha

The position of being a tutor is tricky to balance. You are more often than not a peer of the person you are helping, but are in the position of telling and listening rather than following and questioning. There are several aspects of character and familiarity w/ the subject that is necessary to be an effective tutor. It is difficult to revisit a subject taught to one years or even just months before. To be a truly efficient tutor one most be compeletly familiar w/ the subject matter. Patience and understanding of the tutee's level is also extrememly important. A desire to be there, helping someone is also essential. Respect for the people you are helping is at the top as well. These characteristics; however, would be worthless w/out the ability to communicate the material and the methods needed to share this knowledge.

A good tutor would be able to listen to the tutee in order to figure out what specific needs they have and how they best learn. Tutors should be personable and easy to talk to so someone feels comfortable coming to them and asking for help. They should not pretend to know answers they do not know and be flexible enough to help someone learn how to find answers. Tutors need to have patience and be willing to go over material as many times as a tutee needs them to. They should be able to motivate, keep material interesting, and always encourage the tutee. On the other hand, the tutee must be willing to listen and learn as well, or the tutor’s efforts will be lost. They must keep an open mind to new methods suggested by the tutor and never give up hope.

A good tutor must master a number of qualities. They must first be resourceful and easy to approach. If someone needs help, the tutor needs to offer a friendly, inviting air so that those needing help can first feel comfortable and reassured that their time is useful and their dignity remains intact. A connection needs to be made that ensures the advisee that the tutor is not of a higher power or in a position to look down on them.

When approached by a student, a good tutor will take time to listen to the student's problems, and at the same time, ask pertinent questions to guide the discussion towards a path to a solution. Asking the right questions allows the actual problem to be highlighted, which is often more difficult than it seems. Once all of the problems or questions are out of the way, the tutor's resourcefulness comes into play whether it be through finding information through others, computers, books, experience, or otherwise.

Although a tutor solves many problems, a good tutor does it in such a way as to extend the experience to the student. After a session with a good tutor, hopefully, students will feel a sense of accomplishment, and also leave with the skills necessary to more fully solve their own problems or efficiently seek out what is necessary to do so.

Post a brief summary or "take-away" from your reading. It can be in outline or even mind-manager format--your choice. Be ready to lead 10-15 minutes worth of discussion on the most significant information you got about tutoring, and make connections to issues of space.

Greetings Everyone,

I wanted to let you know that you should have your materials ready to begin whatever research you can do without interacting with subjects tomorrow (Tuesday) (perhaps site visits to look at spaces, library research, or initial fact-finding.) We won't have approval yet, but we do plan to give you some time to begin collecting non-subjects data.

See you tomorrow!

T. F.

Dear Participant,

The Studio for Student Communication Creative Inquiry Class at Clemson University is conducting research on the effects of space on learning. Through questionnaires, interviews, and observations, we hope to provide a framework for the creation of successful classrooms. Your participation in this research will help us draw the conclusions needed to produce an effective report for consideration by school districts as they restructure learning spaces in the future.

Your experience in learning environments will be investigated through observations, surveys, and interviews. Your participation in this research is voluntary, and you may refuse to answer any questions or discontinue your participation at any time without penalty. Your confidentially will be maintained; the information you provide will be stored on password protected computers, and at the conclusion of the study all paper data will be destroyed and electronic data will be deleted. Your responses will be collected through the end of April, and a report of our findings will be completed by the end of fall semester. A condensed report of our findings will be sent to you by the beginning of 2008.

If you have any questions about our research, please contact Teresa Fishman at 864-656-3168 or Barbara Ramirez at 864-656-0751, our two principal investigators. You may also contact the Clemson University Office of Research Compliance at 864-656-6460 with questions regarding your rights as a research participant. We appreciate your participation and look forward to receiving your responses.

Dear Participant:
The study that you have agreed to take part in today will be used to draw conclusions about how to best arrange educational spaces. You will be asked a series of questions regarding your personal experiences with different environments. No sensitive questions will be asked and it will not take more than 20 minutes to complete. Your answers will be used as research material to make generalizations about the effect of one’s environment on their education. These conclusions will be presented to officials and used as recommendations for the improvement of local education. Your participation in this research is voluntary and you may discontinue your participation at any time without penalty. Your confidentially will be maintained and the information you provide will be stored on password protected computers. At the conclusion of the study all paper data will be destroyed and electronic data will be deleted. If you have farther questions about our research, please contact Teresa Fishman at 864-656-3168 or Barbara Ramirez at 864-5382, our two principal investigators. You may also contact the Clemson Universty Office of Research Compliance at 864-656-6460 with questions regarding your rights as a research participant.
Thank you for your participation