Blog 12: Observations for Research Project

For the research project, I will investigate if the success of a session is related to the type of approach a coach takes during the first stages of the session.

I will investigate the ways in which students' body language at the outset of the session communicates their relative comfort/discomfort.

I will note if coaches seem to read these cues and if so, if and how they adopt an approach that is appropriate for the "success" of the session. For example, if a student is highly comfortable and knowledgeable, does the coach play a less active role, allowing for the student to set the goals?
What evidence is there that the coach institute a specific approach?

And does this approach with this type of student lead to "success" during the rest of the session.

For this I will have to note several apects of the first stage of the session, namely:
Who sets the goal?
If the coach prompted the student before the student set the goal
If the student set the goal on her/his own
If the coach set the goal entirely by him/herself
If the coach and student stated goals (If these stated goals were different and if so, if and
how they were integrated/negotiated

The student's comfort level
If he/she made eye contact, slouched or sat upright, whispered, yelled, or talked normally, asked questions, or made statements

The coach's ability to read the cue from the student
What are the nonverbal signs that t coach was able to read the student's needs.
If the student seemed uncomfortable, did the coach adopt that would increase comfort level- asking leading questions, nodding, smiling, making

Blog 11: Research Idea Freewrite

I recently posted that my research idea would be to investigate the implications of agenda setting on the remainder of the writing session. I wanted to investigate whether or not the success of a tutoring session is determined by who sets the agenda. My hypothesis would be that if the writing coach controls the task of setting the agenda, then the student would be more likely to disengage from the remainder of the session. Receiving the message that the coach is the authority, the student would feel less obligated to participate fully. Conversely, if the student can determine the agenda herself or (at most with some prompting from the tutor), then she would view her input as being integral for the success of the session and would therefore invest more intellectual power to improving her paper.

Noting the body language of the tutor and the writer would also be important when investigating the impact of the "agenda setting" part of the writing session. For example, a coach who takes hold of the assignment sheet and reads it aloud may be sending a very different message about control than one who encourages the student to read the assignment. Likewise, a coach who sits back and listens, as opposed to leaning in with the student to read a paper, may be assuming a position of authority.

During my research, I should also note language. Which pronouns does the tutor use when referring to the work to be done- I, we, or you? The choice of pronouns could impact greatly the message the tutor sends about whose primary responsibility it is to determine the direction of the session and to participate in the session. I should also note sentence structure. Does the tutor use imperatives, suggestive language, or does he/she ask questions? And what is the impact of these various choices?

How am I defining a "successful" session? For now, I'm going to use these criteria:
1. one in which measurable progress has been made on a paper- ex: the student leaves with a written introduction, the student has altered information on his paper, the student can state clearly what he is going to do for the next session and why he will do it, the tutor and student feel as if the time they have spent in a session was valuable, the student can communicate that he/she feels the objectives/goals were met.

Success would not look like:

The student has no tangible evidence that work was done, the student cannot articulate what happened during the session, the student leaves with a look of exasperation/worry, the student and tutor spend much of the time missing each other's points and/or cutting each other off, the tutor dominates the session, the student cannot articulate any goals that were met.

Other ideas for research paper:

effective use of silence- when is it helpful, when is it an indication that something is wrong and how can tutors differentiate between the two.

the importance of "small talk" in establishing rapport, settling nerves, and opening space for work to be done.

how to steer students away from dependency

Blog 10: Coaching Strategy

My coaching strategy would be to remain student focused. I am planning to apply a minimalist approach so that the writer could contribute as much as possible to his/her writing. This approach is uncomfortable for me because I am used to giving direct feedback, in which I state my opinion about what "should" happen in a text. Yet, while this can work in some high school classes, where students often see absolutely no areas for improvement in their writing, the direct approach, I think, will hamper most college level students, who are actively seeking ways to improve. I plan on using probing questions to get the writer to open up about their expectations for the session and to help him/her generate ideas. I plan on also incorporating writing techniques so that they writer has something tangible with which to leave the session and has evidence that progress was made.

If during a session I see that a student is stuck or that the questioning is going nowhere, I will try a more direct approach. However, the struggle here would be to steer the student back to doing most of the work.

Blog 9: Research Idea

I took Dr. Chandler's advice and looked through the texts to see if any of the essays would inspire a research idea. I read Newkirk's "The First Five Minutes", which got me to thinking about agenda setting in the writing conference. Several questions loomed as I read the essay and thought about previous class discussions-namely
1. What are the benefits of an agenda set mainly by the student?
2. When, if ever, should the coach inject her voice in setting the goals for the session? How should she go about it?
3. What are the ways in which "who" sets the agenda impacts the rest of the session?
4. How can coaches assess students' needs, even when they have trouble expressing those needs?
5. Do coaches always need to steer away from trying to get students to buy into their vision for the paper?
6. What techniques can be used to set a clear, manageable purpose for the session?
7. How can agenda setting be efficient so that valuable time is not lost?
8. How can coaches minimize road blocks, such as making students defensive, losing student interests, taking over, getting bogged down in minutiae, etc.?
9. How can coaches descrease anxiety and increase buy-in from the student?

Blog 8: Writing Center Checklist

This checklist is to be used by writing coaches immediately following sessions. This is an aid for coaches to use to help them reflect on and improve their coaching.

Writer: Coach:

Date:

Assignment:

Beginning of session:

· At the start of session, I used “getting to know you” talk to engage the writer.

________Agree ____________Disagree

· The writer and I discussed the specifics of the assignment.

________Agree ____________Disagree

· The writer (and coach, if necessary) set goals for the session.

________Agree ____________Disagree

If so, they were to _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

During the session:

· I encouraged use of strategies appropriate for goals.

________Agree ____________Disagree

If so, they were __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

· I used appropriate body language to convey genuine interest in writer’s statements and work.

________Agree ____________Disagree

If so, two examples would be: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

· I listened and responded appropriately to writer’s statements.

________Agree ____________Disagree

If so, an example of this would be:

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

· I tried to keep the session writer-centered.

________Agree ____________Disagree

If so, a method I used was:

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

· I asked questions to encourage the writer to deepen, expand, clarify, or otherwise develop a perspective.

________Agree ____________Disagree

If so, an example of this would be:

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Closing the session:

· The writer was able to explain whether or not he/she believed the goals of the session were met.

________Agree ____________Disagree

• If the writer thought goals were met, he/she was able to state the goals and the process by which they were met.

________Agree ____________Disagree

· The writer was able to explain the steps they will take as they continue to work on the assignment.

________Agree ____________Disagree

· The coach encouraged the writer to set up an appointment for a “follow-up” session.

________Agree ____________Disagree

Observation of North pre-writing session

During this session, I observed to of my classmates as one prepared to write an essay and another coached her.

The body language-

Tim , the coach, and Talisha, the student, sat close together, almost facing each other. They made eye-contact during the session. As Talisha talked, Tim leaned in sometimes and sat back at others. Both he and Talisha nodded their heads when they seemed to reach a point of agreement or understanding. Talisha took notes during much of the session.

Language-
Talisha took the initiative by explaining the part of the text she planned on summarizing for her focused response. Tim then asked her to explain the process she would use to create her summary. This promted Talisha to refer back to the passage and to explain her individual points. She then added that she would re-read the text to make sure that she had a thorough understanding of the passage. After re-reading the passage, she explained her main points again.
At this point Talisha jotted down notes.

Tim then asked Talisha to explain the main points of the reaction she planned to write. Talisha said that she'd focus on the benefits of strong tutor/teacher relationships. Tim asked Talisha to share an experience from her own life that she could use to elucidate her example. Talisha seemed to exhibit a high level of interest as she told of her personal experience in a writing lab. She spoke more quickly than before while telling this story and used her hands to express herself. After she finished, Tim promted her to write down the example so that she could possibly use it later.

Tim then asked Talisha to verbally explain the connection between the passage she planned to summarize and her own reaction. Talisha attempted to explain but said that she would re-read the passage again to get a deeper understanding of the piece. The session then ended.


I believe that the non-verbal cues and the verbal cues are of equal importance. Non-verbal cues, such as head-nodded, titled heads, body language/positioning can all indicate someone's interest, understanding, connection. They can let the coach (and student) know when he/she is or is not being understood. From paying attention to these cues, the coach can learn when to keep going down a particular track or when to try something new. Coaches should pay special attention to non-verbal cues becuase they can be more honest than verbal communication. Sometimes a student may say they understand, even when they don't, in an attempt to spare the coach's feelings or to get the session over with.

However, I noticed that I focused mainly on the verbal exchange as I took notes. I think this was because I am not used to focusing consciously on people's body language. I will try to be more aware of non-verbal communication next time.

I think that this observation can be helpful to me in several ways. One, it can help me (as a coach) to be more in tune with a student. If I can read body language, I can more accurately assess a student's needs throughout the session. Observing sessions and taking notes also affords the opportunity to see questioning strategies that I can use in sessions. I can see other people's styles and learn from them.

Blog 6: Writing Center Philosophy Installment 2

Writing is a form of communication. We all want others to understand us, our perspective, our insights, and writing is a medium we often use to foster this understanding. However, sometimes we all need help generating or expressing our ideas. This is where the writing center can help. The writing center is a resource for all writers (undergrads and grad students from all disciplines, university staff, and even professors) who wish to communicate as best as they can.

Since writing is primarily used as a tool for communication, it usually implies the existence of an audience. For many writers, this audience is an imagined "other" that is actually just a projection of the writer. At the writing center, we provide a "real life" audience as opposed to the imagined one many writers speak to when writing. We believe that writers improve when they can interact with this audience, when they are able to share their work with a real other who offers insightful feedback.

The coaches at the writing center are highly trained and work hard to help during all stages of the writing process. When writers enter our writing center, they find someone who is skilled enough to assess their needs, even when they themselves have trouble articulating them. The coach at the writing center can help writers by talking with them about their goals/needs, by reading their written work, and by understanding the requirements of the assignment. Based on their understanding of a writer's goals and learning styles, our coaches can help a writer to implement various strategies. Coaches know strategies that can help writers think of an idea for an essay, focus on a perspective, develop and organize ideas, discover a voice that works, clarify certain elements, and heighten eloquence and beauty.

At this writing center, we are realist. We understand that many writers' main concern is to earn particular grades on their written pieces. We respect that goal, as it is the reason why many come into the writing center. We feel that our approach can help. However, we hope that writers will appreciate the interaction with the "real life audience" we provide and will use this resource whenever they feel the need. However, even if a writer visits only once, we hope that the experience at the writing center will carry over, that writers will use the strategies learned to improve their writing in the future.

Our aim at the writing center is to help writers to gain more confidence, to to learn and practice various modes of thinking, to grow as writers.