Spring 2010
Buck 102 (The Writing Center)
Tuesday, 12:15-1:00; Wednesday, 12:00-12:50
Website: www.iwu.edu/~jhaefner

Instructor: Joel Haefner
Office: Mellon Center 10 (basement of Stevenson Hall)
Phone: 556-3756

Email:  jhaefner@iwu.edu

Office Hours:  9:15-10:30 TR and by appointment


Texts:

Copies of the following texts will be available at the Writing Center. 

Meyer, E. and Smith. L.Z. 1987. The Practical Tutor. New York: Oxford University Press. [TPT]

Ryan, L. 1999. The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors. 2/e Boston: Bedford Books 

Rosen, L., and Behrens, L. 2000. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook. 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Objectives:

  • to prepare you as a writing tutor
  • to give basic instruction on current thinking about the composing process and the teaching of writing
  • to reflect on your own and others' writing
  • to observe tutoring in process

Assignments:

Most of our exercises and assignments will be done during our two-hour per week meetings, since this is (after all) a non-credit course.

I may ask you to do some short reading outside of class.

At some point during this semester, I want you to visit the Writing Center and get tutored on a paper you're writing. Your Journal entry for that week (see below) will be a review/assessment of that session.

Most importantly, I will ask you to keep a journal. For the first third of the semester, this journal will be simply a reflection about writing in general and your own writing more specifically. I'll spell this out more fully week by week, and I will post prompts for you on this website. I'll expect only about one page (250 words) per week in your Writer's Journal, but of course you're encouraged to write more. Naturally I would prefer something typed, but handwritten is fine too. You can write this in off moments you may be able to snatch here and there.

I will also ask you to turn in three tutor observation forms at the end of the semester.

 Schedule:
Reading assignments are referred to in the Assignment column and come from The Practical Tutor, abbreviated as TPT. Journal assignments are designated as Journal:
DATE TOPIC ASSIGNMENT
1/12 Introduction; professionalism; what happens at the Writing Center;
how IWU faculty use the Writing Center 
Starting the tutorial session;Tutors' roles; how tutors should respond; 

1/19 Eliciting Methods
Examining assignments
Narrowing a Topic
Invention strategies
Tutor Styles
 Journal: Reflect on your own composing process in some detail, including your invention strategies
TPT, 47-65
1/20
Workshop: looking at some assignments
 Bring in a writing assignment from one of your classes!
TPT, 74-81
1/26 Looking at instructor comments on papers Journal: Summarize BRIEFLY a writing assignment you got this school year, your reaction to it, and how you approached it.
1/27
 Library Session: meet in Ames Library computer classroom
Evaluating web sources
Evaluating print sources

 Journal: Search the library resources for a short article or book on tutoring. If you can find the full text, give a very brief synopsis. If it's not available, indicate how you found the citation and how you might get the full text.
2/2
 Library Session: meet in Ames Library computer classroom
 During the next two weeks, stop in the Writing Center, look at the appointment book, and choose a time to observe a tutorial. TPT, 94-97, 102-104.
2/3 Global revisions: glossing
Global revisions: logic & fallacy; transitions
 Bring a rough draft of one of your papers so I can reproduce it for next week's Wednesday session.
 Journal: discuss an instructor's comments on one of your papers. Don't identify the course or instructor. Be candid about what comments you thought were clear, unclear, fair, unfair, helpful, not helpful, etc.
2/9  Workshop: group tutorial of rough draft
Dispositio or organization of a paper 		Journal: take one of your own rough drafts, and write out an imaginary dialogue between yourself and a tutor. Have fun with this, if you like!
2/10 Tutoring International Students: workshop, 11-1

 Over the next two weeks, schedule a session for yourself with a tutor. If you don't have a paper this semester, you may either bring in another type of text (a resume? an application?) or a paper from last semester.
2/16 Thesis the Swordfish
Diana Hacker exercises(1)
Diana Hacker exercises(2)
Thesis statements    Exercise on problematic theses
 Journal:  analyze our group tutorial : what mistakes did we make? What did we do right? Would it be different if it was one-on-one instead of a group?
2/17
San Jose State University's Mission:Critical website   
Work through The Basics>Parts of an Argument>Statements
Argumentation

2/23
Workshop of student paper; Testing Against the Middle
TPT, 159-173. Journal:  record what happened and your analysis of at least two tutoring sessions at the WC. Write both a paragraph summarizing the tutorial (including dialogue if possible!) and a paragraph evaluating the tutorial.  Turn in a copy of your Writers' Journal to date  
2/24
 Tutoring International Students: workshop, 11-1
3/2
 Marking papers   Workshop: marking a student's paper TPT, 136-146 
Journal: again observe at least two tutorials and record what happened, and critique the session. 
3/3 The Elements of Grammar
Sentence errors: fragments, fusion, comma splices
Pronoun reference; misplaced and dangling modifiers
More grammatical considerations 		Journal: Work through the student draft provided in class in greater detail, and list (with brief discussion) the most significant errors you find.
3/9
 No Class
3/10
 No Class
 Journal: Create one faulty sentence to illustrate five of the ten most common student errors, with a one-sentence commentary on each.
3/12-22 SPRING BREAK
3/23 Shifts & Mixed constructions
Grammar Wars! Go to http://www.dianahacker.com/bedhandbook/subpages/gm_menu.asp
Competitions: 9-2, 11-1, 13-1, 13-2, 20-1, 22-1, 30-1, 63-4 		Journal:  record what happened when YOU went in for a tutorial on one of your papers! 
3/24 Parallelism, coordination, subordination 
 Verbals: agreement, tense-shifting, improper forms, improper mood
Check the appointment book in the Writing Center over the next two weeks. Put your name opposite an appointment, and make it clear in the appt. book for the veteran tutors that you're doing a "trial" tutorial.
3/30
 How to tutor students about local errors   
Journal: create a double-column journal of your errors, based on a rough draft of your writing.
3/31
 Tutoring International Students: workshop, 11-1 For this week's journal entry, 1) summarize your first tutorial(s) and 2) describe what you would do differently if you could do them again.
4/6 Cover letters, resumes, essays of application
Sample session reports; Writing Center policies 
Punctuation: commas and apostrophes; more comma practice
Web presentations and lab reports
Journal: Give a character sketch of one student you've tutored and characterize his/her attitude when he/she came in to the WC. Analyze if you capitalized on that attitude, worked against it, or altered in a positive way.
4/7
 MLA & APA styles
Style Wars! Go to
http://www.dianahacker.com/bedhandbook/subpages/rs_menu.asp
Competitions:  53-1, 55-1, 56-1, 56-2, 58-1, 59-4, 59-5, 59-6
4/13
 Student Employment policies;
using the database; fielding calls, etc. LAST CLASS
4/14
 Writing Center Staff meeting, noon-12:50, pizza, @ the Writing Center
4/28
4/28: Turn in a copy of your Writers' Journal to date
Also turn in three completed Tutor Observation Forms.