Purpose and Research Question

The purpose of my studies will be to determine if a preliminary evaluation of a writer's ability will be enough to determine the most effective strategy for their individual tutoring session. Will a writing coach be able to gather enough information during the 'getting to know you stage' to determine if a writer will respond better to directive vs. non-directive tutoring, storehouse vs. collaboration, etc?
My theory is that a checklist can be created to list 'where a writer is' and what strategies will help them acheive their necessary goals. Ofcourse, part of that checklist will have to include agreeing on what goals need to be met. Other things to be listed is whether the writer responds better to a male or female coach, if they have a high or low ability to write, if they are an ESL student or not, if they need help in a domain outside of their comfort zone, if they are aware of the assignment requirements and the tools needed to complete it to satisfactory standards, if they respond better when they are in control, or if they prefer to have a coach with more knowledge than them...
I'm aiming to find out if all these questions can be answered in the first few minutes of a session, so that the coach can proceed with the right strategy from the start of a session.

Tentative Focus

I feel drawn to writing about how to determine what strategies are useful with different writers. The readings we have gone over so far have been helpful, such as the readings about: high ability vs. low ability writers. Lunsford's essay describing the 3 different types of writing centers helped to give data about examples of tutoring that can be used, such as the storehouse, garret house and burkean parlor models. Brooks essay about minimalist tutoring was enlightening, because until then, most of us didn't realize that there was such a simple way to take to pressure and load off of us tutors. Using body language, and what I call therapeutic questioning, such as "how would YOU go about fixing these errors?"..."Can you show me what areas support your focus?" etc...are a great strategy for helping writers who are responsive to such non-directive tutoring.

Now, the thing is determining when it is best to use non-directive tutoring, collaboration vs. storehouse methods and so on. More research is required on my part, but I feel strongly about focusing on finding out which strategies are best for different writers, and being equipped to use multiple strategies (as a tutor).

Plan for Data Collection

Since I haven't been able to tutor or observe sessions recently, my plan is to read about the topics I find interesting to collect data. For topics relating to which strategy to use as a tutor, I can study Lunsford, "Collaboration, Control, and the Idea of a Writing Center",
Carino, " Theorizing the Writing Center: An Uneasy Task"
Brooks, " Minimalist Tutoring: Making the Student Do All the Work
Murphy, "Freud in the Writing Center..."

For topics relating to the effectiveness of tutoring sessions, I can study:
Newkirk, "The First Five Minutes..."
Barnett, "Redefining Our Existence...Short-and Long-Term Goals and Objectives"
Walker
Posey
Powers
Neff
Kiedaisch and Dinitz

(sorry for being "short-winded"...hand is stiff and numb at fingertips)

Brainstorming for Research Project

I am interested in researching:
How to identify who is high ability vs. low ability
When to use directive tutoring vs. non-directive tutoring
How to assess whether a session was helpful for a writer or not

Off the top of my head, I would think that higher level students, such as senior would have more ability than a new college student. I think that an ESL student would have less ability as a writer, since they are not used to the standards expected of writing in english, or for a particular domain. Even writing in a different domain than what one is used to for an english speaking writer may make someone's ability diminish. I believe I would need to study more about how to identify the differences between high ability and low ability writers, and possibly keep a checklist to determine this at the begining of a session.

I feel that there is nothing wrong with using directive tutoring if you notice that a writer is not responsive to minimalist tutoring. In my mind, minimalist tutoring falls in the same category as non-directive tutoring. Also, a tutor should definitely use directive tutoring if a writer needs help in a domain that you as the tutor are very familiar with. If someone needs help "correcting grammar", wouldn't it make for a successful session for an english major to help them directly with that? Maybe you could incorporate a little non-directive tutoring by saying things such as, "I found 6 typos...how about trying to identify and correct them now?" If the student needs further direction, you can show them how to locate tools to help, such as spell check, and let them do it on their own while you watch.

Finally, how do we determine if a session was successful or not? Maybe the tutor and writer can list what they feel goals should be at the begining of a session, and narrow them down to what they agree on. Then, the tutor can use a few minutes to write out a game plan for getting those goals accomplished during the session. This can be used as a checklist that at the end of the session will show just how many goals were accomplished. I'm a fan of using a rating system as well. This way, the tutor and writer can agree on whether a goal was completely satisfied, or just slightly. Finally, they can collaborate on ideas to get those goals accomplished more thoroughly during their next session.

BLOG # 10

Now that we are actually goint to the WC, I feel the pressure! This pressure leads me to coaching in any way that will relieve some of it for me... I will use the Garret House model, so that the student searches for and gives the needed knowledge for their writing. I will also use a minimalist approach so that the student sits closer to their writing and holds the only pen used in the session. I'm sure strategies may change along the way, and this is fine. I'm preparred to switch as need be, and will have no shame about referring to my text, the students syllabus, text book, having them refer back to their professor or a writing format if necessary.

BLOG # 9

I looked throught the text book and became inspired by Murphy's essay, "...The Psychoanalytics of Tutoring Well". I have always had in interest in being a therapist, and find the process of talking very helpful in most problematic situations. I'm interested in researching this further because there are aspects of psychoanalytics to review when it relates to tutoring. Some of them are:

1. What if the tutor sees himself as only a therapist?
2. What if the tutor gets a sense of power from giving 'therapy' to a student?
3. How will the Writing Center know if a student is helped by a session using therapeutic skills?

This last question leads me to another topic I am interested in. How can we judge the effectiveness of Writing Center sessions if no one is responsible for judging the progression of a student's work? I feel that checklist research is a strong topic to study. Writing Centers seem pointless if each tutor using his/her own practice. Students are at the mercy of tutors who may get power from giving knowledge, or acting as a therapist. How will the director know if the student has really been helped? So, to summarize my current interests...psychoanalytics in tutoring, and setting up an effective checklist system are at the top.

BLOG # 8

Checklist (To be kept in writer's file)

What Was Done: Effectiveness (1---5)

Name of Writer/Coach
Time/Date/Location

Small Talk/Establishing a rapport

Observations of personality/behavior

Describing assignment
Is writer clear? Unclear?

Figuring out where writer is
Thesis formulated? Ideas organized?

Establishing what writer needs
HOC'S? LOC'S?

Getting to work
Reorganizing ideas/ narrowing focus
Providing more detailed evidence
Tightening paragraphs...

Wrap up
Writer lists accomplishments
Tutor notes what wasn't accomplished

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