WriteTutoring

What We Do IS Writing Center Work!

2007-09-27T13:13:00.000-05:00

The folks who are collaborating about the joint Grand Valley State University and Western Michigan University discussion at the Michigan Writing Center Association fall conference and about the consequental Writing Lab Newsletter submission should use this space to chat.

Supporting Returning Adult Students

2007-06-11T20:07:00.000-05:00

Do returning adult students have special tutoring needs that are sometimes ignored? Join this discussion if you want to consider presenting on this idea. In addition to talking about your own experiences, you might want to research some articles on this fascinating topic.

Issues We All Face

2007-06-11T19:58:00.000-05:00

Want to discuss specific issues all students face, such as working with students who speak English as another language, helping students who have learning disabilities (or specific types of disabilities), tutoring students with phobias/anxiety issues, or some issue you determine? Join the conversation by adding a comment, and see how things go.

Metaphors We Tutor By

2007-06-08T17:25:00.000-05:00

Starting Points: Want to collaborate on an MTA/MWCA panel/roundtable discussion focused on teaching metaphors used in various disciplines? This is your discussion then, and tutors from various disciplines should feel free to join in on the collaboration. You might talk about metaphors used to teach particular topics--such as the war/gaming metaphors of "attacking" a problem in math (or other topics), the plant metaphors used when writing tutors talk about parts of an essay being "organic," etc. Or you might talk about how metaphors work differently and/or similarily in different areas. Who knows what you might find to discuss with others interested in this topic, but we hope you enjoy the discussion and find a way to turn that discussion into a presentation.

Joining In: Consider adding a comment and reading comments already posted. We hope this blog can help tutors interested in developing a presentation brainstorm ideas, locate presentation partners, and finalize a presentation.

Conference Possibilities: You might present at both the MTA and MWCA conferences, present a different panel at each conference, present an initial panel at the Friday MTA and continue the discussion at the Saturday MWCA, focus on one conference, or come up with another idea.

Compare and Contrast Presentation Discussion

2007-06-08T17:12:00.000-05:00

Want to collaborate on a an MTA/MWCA panel/roundtable discussion by tutors from different specialities? You might present at both conferences, present a different panel at each conference, focus on one conference, or work out something else.

Starting Points For This Topic: This is the spot for your discussion about tutoring similarities and differences. Add a comment and review current comments. Consider how this panel might discuss best practices, goals, strategies, problems, issues, etc. that might be similar among all tutoring, how you've contrasted your area and tutoring in it with other disciplines, or how you think tutoring in your area differs from other tutoring situations.

Feel free to ignore the starting points sugggestions and to offer new topics.

Athens International Writing Centers Conference

2007-03-29T19:20:00.000-05:00

The Modern Language Association sometimes holds its annual conference in Canada, which may mean MLA is an international organization, but the International Writing Centers Conference is held in Europe, Asia, or the Pacific Rim each year! Last year the conference was held in Turkey, and this year Greece will hold its first writing centers conference!

Want to attend? Cost is only 150 Euros plus transportation and housing.

24th National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing

2007-03-27T23:15:00.000-05:00

Mid-November will bring fall leaves and the 2007 National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing.

Place: The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA

Details: http://www.wc.iup.edu/ncptw/upcome.htm

International Writing Centers Association Summer Institute 2007

2007-03-27T23:06:00.000-05:00

Oregon State University is the site for this year's IWCA Summer Institute 2007. Co-chairs for the week-long event focused on writing center's pedagogy, theory, and issues are Lisa Ede, Director of Oregon State University's Center for Writing and Learning, and Clyde Moneyhun, Director of Stanford University's Writing Center.

Dates: August 5-10, 2007

Scholarships: http://cwl.oregonstate.edu/iwcasi2007/guidelines.php

Details: http://cwl.oregonstate.edu/iwcasi2007/about.php

Participants: http://cwl.oregonstate.edu/iwcasi2007/participants.php

Costs: $600 for the institute; approximately $89 for room per night; food and travel (varies)

2007 Michigan Tutorial Association Conference

2007-03-26T20:39:00.000-05:00

This year's 2007 Michigan Tutorial Association Conference will be held Friday, October 19 in Muskegon. This program attracts tutors from across the curriculum. Western Michigan tutors in the Academic Skills Center and the Writing Center will be meeting in August and September to develop various presentations. When we have more information about due dates and submission requirements, we'll post the information here.

2007 Michigan Writing Centers Association Ideas Exchange

2007-03-26T20:24:00.000-05:00

The 2007 Michigan Writing Centers Association Ideas Exchange will be held at the Muskegon Community College on Saturday, October 20th. Submission deadline and details have not be announced yet, but the deadline will likely be late September.

This year Western Michigan University's Writing Center consultants will be able to participate in two special sessions focused on developing articles for the Writing Lab Newsletter (WLN). In one session, Grand Valley State University English Composition tutors and Western Michigan University English 1000 Writing Studio tutors will discuss how their programs represent best practices in writing center pedagogy, although the tutors work inside a classroom setting. The session will begin a collaborative article for the Tutor Column of the WLN. A second session will invite individuals to share their histories with the Michigan Writing Centers Associtation. Likely to attract directors as well as tutors, this session is also a beginning conversation that should lead to an article focused on what the state writing center organization offers that the International Writing Centers Organization and East Central Writing Centers Association do not.

Finally, all tutors are welcomed to continue Western's tradition at the Fall Ideas Exchange. From 2002 through 2007, Western has been representated at this conference. This year proves to be as rich in presentation possibilities as always.

2007 East Central Writing Center Association Tutor of the Year

2007-03-26T20:11:00.000-05:00

Elena Adkins was honored at the 29th Annual Conference of the East Central Writing Centers Association when she was named one of two tutors to win the 2007 Outstanding Tutor of the Year award. 13 tutors were nominated by their supervisors, and each tutor had to write a philosophy of tutoring. Elena and Valerie Belill, of the Central Michigan University Writing Center, tied for the award. Each tutor won a $200 check, a plaque, a conference registration waiver, and a plaque for her home writing center.

Great jobs Elena and Valerie!

East Central Writing Centers Association

2007-03-26T19:54:00.000-05:00

Three Western Michigan University Writing Center current and former staff members represented our school at the 29th East Central Writing Centers Association Conference, which was held at Bowling Green University in Bowling Green, Ohio March 15-17.

Elena Adkins and Kim Ballard joined a round table discussion of the history of the Michigan Writing Center's Association titled "Reaching Out/Remaining Local: Construction Stories from a State-Wide Writing Centers Association." Other participants included Jill Pennington, Lansing Community College Writing Center Director; Ellen Schendel, Grand Valley State University Fred Meijer Center for Writing and Michigan Authors Director; MaryAnn Crawford, Central Michigan University Writing Center Director; and Scott Russell, University of Michigan at Flint Writing Center Coordinator.

Kim Ballard also joined WMU alumni Jo Doran, who is currently a tutor at Purdue University's Writing Lab, for a roundtable titled "A Writing Center Is Not The Writing Center." Additional speakers in this session included Jule Wallis, a tutor at Wayne State University's Writing Center; Sharon Estes, a tutor at The Ohio State University Writing Center; and Doug Dangler, Coordinator of The Ohio State University Writing Center.

Elena Adkins also presented a paper titled "Digital Tutoring Spaces: Effectiveness, Theory, and Problems."

Teaching With Rhet/Comp Archives

2007-01-31T11:50:00.000-05:00

Though I'm at least a week behind, I've actually been thinking a lot about ways to teach with archives. Let me first confess that my area is rhetoric and composition, with special emphasis in professional writing, developmental writing, writing centers, and--believe it or not--computers and writing. The archives that most interest me are not literature archives, but archives in my professional field(s). I have the following suggestiosn for graduate and advanced undergraduate classes in this area who are using archives.

Add to An Archive: A cool lesson for undergraduate/graduate students interested in rhetoric and composition would be to skim such professional archives as International Association of Writing Centers, Writing Lab Newsletter, Writing Centers Research Project, Writing Program Administrators, and others looking for important information. Then students could think of questions the information generates and could email the originator of the materials for answers to the questions. Finally, the interviews could be collected in a new archive or added to the ones that exist.

Class Interview: Keeping with the idea of using archives to locate and interview professionals in the field, another assignment could allow students in an introductory writing center theory class, professional writing class, computers and writing class, teaching composition class, teaching developmental class, teaching English as a Second Language, etc. to do the following:

(a) search the archives, identify interesting scholars or scholars associated with "big ideas"
(b) collaborate on a set of questions they would like the scholars to answer about the field (scholarship, breaking into the profession, the future of the profession, smart moves to make, dumb moves to avoid, etc.)
(c) email a scholar (and have a backup or two) and conduct the interview online (each student would do this individually)
(d) share the interview transcripts as a contribution to an archive or do something else, such as write a paper, collaborate on conference presentations, etc.

The ideas above vary; both, however, give students a cool introduction to the field, an opportunity to connect with a professional, an opportunity to collaborate/share with others, an opportunity to contribute to the profession, and an opportunity to write something that will be read by multiple audiences.