Blog Highlights
For the past few months I have been blogging about my experience and the insights I have learned as a writing tutor intern at my schools Student Learning Center. Here are a few of my best ones!
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Do Schools Foster 'Mutt Genres'?
April 2, 2018
The last few weeks we have been mulling over the things that we, as a class, would consider the important parts of writing, and how these are poorly executed in teaching students to be lifelong, cross-platform writers. This is because the teachers either personalize their teaching to reflect the work that is easiest for them. This is where mutt genres come into play. Many teachers expect that you learn specific things in order to function in their class, especially as you get into higher levels. Does this mean that the things we learn in school are all ‘mutt genres’ since most of it is just learned to pass a class? The problem with this is that then students are learning too many things to help them get through single classes instead of focusing on broad materials and skills that will help them succeed in the genre in general. If every teacher took the time to teach their students any extra knowledge they needed to have in order to pass a class, there would be more time that students could spend learning the material instead of what the teacher wants to hear.
Thinking about this as a tutor really helps to materialize how important it is that people like us exist. At the Writing Center, not only do we help students figure out how to write up to their teacher’s expectations, but we also try to leave them with tools that they can use on other papers as well. That being said, it is not our job to teach people the fundamentals of writing, we are there to help foster their learning to build on that. Many students come in with papers with such strict and conforming rules as to exactly how the professor wants their paper written that the students get stuck. Instead of writing an Agricultural paper about the problems of labor for undocumented immigrants, the student instead writes a paper that relates only the information that the professor wants. In the real world, people in this profession do not write essays like this. I fear that the tasks and projects that teachers assign are too focused on fine tuning a student’s skills on how to write a paper for specifically them, and that these students will be ill prepared for the genre of writing in the field they are studying. As a tutor who sees this happening, I wish I could help more, but really, it is up to the teachers to change their teaching if this problem is to be fixed.
Thinking about this as a tutor really helps to materialize how important it is that people like us exist. At the Writing Center, not only do we help students figure out how to write up to their teacher’s expectations, but we also try to leave them with tools that they can use on other papers as well. That being said, it is not our job to teach people the fundamentals of writing, we are there to help foster their learning to build on that. Many students come in with papers with such strict and conforming rules as to exactly how the professor wants their paper written that the students get stuck. Instead of writing an Agricultural paper about the problems of labor for undocumented immigrants, the student instead writes a paper that relates only the information that the professor wants. In the real world, people in this profession do not write essays like this. I fear that the tasks and projects that teachers assign are too focused on fine tuning a student’s skills on how to write a paper for specifically them, and that these students will be ill prepared for the genre of writing in the field they are studying. As a tutor who sees this happening, I wish I could help more, but really, it is up to the teachers to change their teaching if this problem is to be fixed.
"Good Writers Always Follow the Rules"
February 26, 2018
As I was reading the first three sections of the book Bad Ideas About Writing, I became really invested in the idea that ‘Good Writers Always Follow the Rules” and the article by Monique Dufour and Jennifer Ahern-Dodson. I just really do not agree with this. All of my best essays were written backwards (conclusion first) and many of my classes (including this one) require blog articles to be written, which sometimes require the usage of “you” or passive voice if I am writing about something reflective. Basically, this idea says that in order to achieve the desired outcome to fulfill the purpose of your writing, there are set rules to follow to ensure that it gets done. Some of these rules include: “Always begin an essay with a catchy hook. Never use the passive voice. Always make your writing flow. Always make a detailed outline before you start to write. Never edit as you draft” (121). In reality, there is more than just one technique that a person can use to achieve the same writing goal and these rules put constraints on people that may need to do things differently depending on the type of writing they do.
The fact is: writing is not linear. The reason this idea is still around today is because many K-12 teachers teach it that way. The linear “rules” of writing were created to be more of a guide to help beginning writers find what methods work best for them, but it has turned into the idea that the writer must write in this specific way in order to achieve the desired outcome. It may keep the paper organized, but at the price of the creation of authentic ideas emerging as the writer works. This is because “when writers believe that they must outline first, they often lock themselves into the ideas as expressed on the outline, rather than allowing their ideas to develop and change as they work” (123). As an alternative, the authors suggest that good writing should be thought of “as the thoughtful use of an evolving repertoire, rather than adherence to a static list of commandments” (123). This allows writing to grow, confidence to be built, and ideas to be expressed in full volume. Instead of seeing the writing outlines as “rules”, it will be more effective to think of them as “what-ifs”, or mere suggestions for the different approaches that a writer can take while composing. The rules for grammar and usage still stand, but that was not the issue in the first place. The issue is that the rules regarding the mentality of writing, the process, bog the writers down so all they think about is technique instead of content.
I like this idea that they pose. I would peg myself as a pretty good writer, and after high school I have refused to use an outline. Even then, I rarely followed what I had on the meticulously outlined paper. I found myself not being able to think between what I thought were requirements. However, I do think that outlines can be useful if they are optional, and to be filled out as a suggestion on how to start the paper if the person is having difficulty as it helps get the basic ideas down. This article brought up some very valid points and if I could, I would send it to the high school teacher of mine who practically based her course off of creating outlines to see if it would change her mind.
The fact is: writing is not linear. The reason this idea is still around today is because many K-12 teachers teach it that way. The linear “rules” of writing were created to be more of a guide to help beginning writers find what methods work best for them, but it has turned into the idea that the writer must write in this specific way in order to achieve the desired outcome. It may keep the paper organized, but at the price of the creation of authentic ideas emerging as the writer works. This is because “when writers believe that they must outline first, they often lock themselves into the ideas as expressed on the outline, rather than allowing their ideas to develop and change as they work” (123). As an alternative, the authors suggest that good writing should be thought of “as the thoughtful use of an evolving repertoire, rather than adherence to a static list of commandments” (123). This allows writing to grow, confidence to be built, and ideas to be expressed in full volume. Instead of seeing the writing outlines as “rules”, it will be more effective to think of them as “what-ifs”, or mere suggestions for the different approaches that a writer can take while composing. The rules for grammar and usage still stand, but that was not the issue in the first place. The issue is that the rules regarding the mentality of writing, the process, bog the writers down so all they think about is technique instead of content.
I like this idea that they pose. I would peg myself as a pretty good writer, and after high school I have refused to use an outline. Even then, I rarely followed what I had on the meticulously outlined paper. I found myself not being able to think between what I thought were requirements. However, I do think that outlines can be useful if they are optional, and to be filled out as a suggestion on how to start the paper if the person is having difficulty as it helps get the basic ideas down. This article brought up some very valid points and if I could, I would send it to the high school teacher of mine who practically based her course off of creating outlines to see if it would change her mind.
Apprenticeships and Peripheral Participation
February 5, 2018
While the readings that we were assigned were less than intriguing, our discussion in class was exactly the opposite. At first I found myself confused as to how everything all tied together, but after our group work and discussion, I now feel like I have a good grip on the material. Of the two readings, Wenger’s chapter 3 was the most interesting to me.
I’ll keep it simple to start off. So, why are apprenticeships so important?
Wenger argues that an apprenticeship can be more effective than schooling in some aspects strictly because it allows for real hands-on and specialized experience. He does acknowledge, however, that this term, “apprenticeship” seems outdated because people don’t associate progressive forms of learning with it. On the contrary, the purpose of this chapter is to show how apprenticeships are still important parts of today’s society as modes of peripheral participation. He observes this type of learning through five different case studies that all implement peripheral participation differently.
Here are some key takeaways that I got from each case study:
This chapter was actually one big example of why we are doing internships as a part of this class. Internships are simply a modernized concept of apprenticeships. The first week of class we learned that the purpose of internships is to immerse yourself into the community of the thing you are trying to learn until you eventually become an expert yourself. Like the case studies, we too are immersing ourselves into the the tutoring community at Chico State until we have acquired the adequate knowledge to become the tutor ourselves.
I’ll keep it simple to start off. So, why are apprenticeships so important?
Wenger argues that an apprenticeship can be more effective than schooling in some aspects strictly because it allows for real hands-on and specialized experience. He does acknowledge, however, that this term, “apprenticeship” seems outdated because people don’t associate progressive forms of learning with it. On the contrary, the purpose of this chapter is to show how apprenticeships are still important parts of today’s society as modes of peripheral participation. He observes this type of learning through five different case studies that all implement peripheral participation differently.
Here are some key takeaways that I got from each case study:
- The Midwives: An apprenticeship with the midwives happens very naturally, immersed as part of a family’s routine. Someone who becomes a midwife will pick up on all the necessary knowledge just by being in the family. This type of apprenticeship doesn’t involve any central teaching as they learn through the immersion of the job in their lifestyle.
- The Tailors: Unlike the midwives, apprentices of the tailors were newcomers from different families. This apprenticeship also went about teaching skill sets backwards, starting with the finished piece of clothing and finishing with learning how to cut the fabric used to create it.
- The Quartermasters: Stricter learning sessions make up the apprenticeship of this group. Most of the terminology s learned in school, but to be a master quartermaster one must have experience. Novice members of this group are watched with a close eye until they have enough experience to correctly do the job of the higher rank.
- The Butchers: This apprenticeship actually hinders learning for the trainee. Most of the mentors use the trainees as a means of free labor rather than helping them become independent meat cutters.
- The Alcoholics: This community of people is similar to the midwives in that it doesn’t have any central teaching system. The members of this community learn through the experiences of others. It is very much identity based learning, that is different from other groups because the end goal is to defer all of the habits that made you a part of the community in the first place.
This chapter was actually one big example of why we are doing internships as a part of this class. Internships are simply a modernized concept of apprenticeships. The first week of class we learned that the purpose of internships is to immerse yourself into the community of the thing you are trying to learn until you eventually become an expert yourself. Like the case studies, we too are immersing ourselves into the the tutoring community at Chico State until we have acquired the adequate knowledge to become the tutor ourselves.