Friday, November 30, 2007
11-30
Today's November 30th. AAAHHH! The goal obviously for Monday is to have at least 6 pages of the research paper done. As usual because it just doesn't work for me to try and work in a class where I can't spread out my notes everywhere and talk about my paper to myself I have to have smaller goals in class. I'd like to continue working on the body paragraphs that I began on Wednesday. If I can do 2/3 pages (AKA 1 topic- the social conventions, student process, and bringing together, each day I should be ready for the draft workshops next week). I also want to look at the sample papers posted.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
11-28
In class today we did our free writing assignment and now we're writing again about our topic. I found that I was really more productive writing on paper than typing on the computer. For whatever reason it's easier for me to do my "pre writing" or rough drafts on note book paper as opposed to the computer. Unfortunately if I'm turning in any kind of documentation that would mean I'd have to transcribe the looseleaf to the computer. I had all kinds of issues sleeping and woke up early so during my sleep deprivation I went back and looked up different ways to approach my topic. In class today I went and made columns of all my articles that I will use in the body of my essay so that when I'm writing I'll have some sort of organization for my notes. After doing this I went back over my introduction to my paper.
Monday, November 26, 2007
explanation
If you're reading my blog you're probably confused why I have posted a possible conclusion to my paper today after posting a possible introduction Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I left my computer with my notes at home so I felt the best use of my time was to try and sum up what I had learned so far rather than to type a section and then try to fit in into the paper somewhere. Hopefully this is ok.
possible conclusion to paper
One of the topics that we discussed at the beginning of the course was collaborative learning, this requires a conversation, or sharing of knowledge between people. One of the benefits of a tutoring session in a writing center is that students are able to interact with a member of the academic discourse community in a one on one session. In classrooms students sometimes feel intimidated trying to adapt to the academic community. For students that take advantage of a writing center there is definitely potential for them to grow/develop. The focus of my paper however, has been on the strategies that writing center's staff members must use to create effective atmospheres for progress to take place. I've examined what might be called inner directed theory- the tutors focus on the process which takes place during the writing sessions. The positive aspects of this theory that I would like to incoporate into every writing center is the idea that a writer, as a person, has a unique style that they will carry with them. Focusing on the process in theory would also allow the tutor to discover a time during the process where the student was getting hung up, the tutor could devise strategies to help the student move past the sticking point in their process. If we acknowledge that students as individuals have qualities which make them unique we must also acknowledge that situations during writing. Different assignments have different requirements for students. The other school of thought believed it was better for writing centers to focus on the social construction around writing.
WHERE ARE YOU: This actually is a decent start to the conclusion. I'd like to finish moving through the positive feedback for social constructivism then just rehash my model quickly. In class next time it would probably make more sense to work on a few body paragraphs though.
WHERE ARE YOU: This actually is a decent start to the conclusion. I'd like to finish moving through the positive feedback for social constructivism then just rehash my model quickly. In class next time it would probably make more sense to work on a few body paragraphs though.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
possible introduction to paper
Typing in Microsoft Word just wasn't helping me to generate activities today. This is a possible introduction to my topic but by no means exactly what I will use.
For students who are struggling entering the academic discourse community writing centers are a place that students can go to work with tutors in a one on one situation. This type of interaction usually isn't available in the classroom. As in the classroom there are multiple perspectives on the best strategies to work with students. Some administrators believe that writing centers should focus on the process that students use while others believe that focusing on the social construction the writer is working with is most effective. Both of these approaches have aspects of them that seem worthy of exploring. I believe that a combination of both of these methods would be most helpful. My goal will be to highlight the benefits that each approach has. Ultimately I believe that writing centers should try to incoporate both of these approaches. Anne Mullin's article "Crossing Over Individuality and Social Constructivism" provided one model for this
Goals:
Get a few more paragraphs this weekend.
For students who are struggling entering the academic discourse community writing centers are a place that students can go to work with tutors in a one on one situation. This type of interaction usually isn't available in the classroom. As in the classroom there are multiple perspectives on the best strategies to work with students. Some administrators believe that writing centers should focus on the process that students use while others believe that focusing on the social construction the writer is working with is most effective. Both of these approaches have aspects of them that seem worthy of exploring. I believe that a combination of both of these methods would be most helpful. My goal will be to highlight the benefits that each approach has. Ultimately I believe that writing centers should try to incoporate both of these approaches. Anne Mullin's article "Crossing Over Individuality and Social Constructivism" provided one model for this
Goals:
Get a few more paragraphs this weekend.
Monday, November 19, 2007
revision of annotated bibliography
three things I'd like to improve on for my final bibliography
1) I'd like to in the 1st paragraph of each entry to a better job focusing on the author's claim
2) two of my topics I wasn't sure how to cite papers presented at conferences- I will figure this out before the final copy is due.
3) I could come up with better headings for the different categories I've created.
1) I'd like to in the 1st paragraph of each entry to a better job focusing on the author's claim
2) two of my topics I wasn't sure how to cite papers presented at conferences- I will figure this out before the final copy is due.
3) I could come up with better headings for the different categories I've created.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
a sample annotated bibliography
Law, Joe and Christina Murphy. “Formative Assessment and the Paradigms of Writing
Center Practice.” Clearing House 2 Dec. 1997. ERIC. Elmhurst College Library.,
Elmhurst. 05 Nov. 2007.
The authors of this article take a critical eye to the work that is taking place in writing centers today. In order to prove their point they examine the beliefs that writing centers seem to be founded on. A relatively brief history is given of how writing center process has shifted from post process theory to social constructionism. This seems to have taken place over a relatively short period of time, the article focuses on ideas which were expressed between 1967 and 1997.
Law and Murphy obviously had the goal that they wanted to see formative assessment and writing centers be evaluated together when they wrote this article, it's clear the history presented is arranged so that their goal will make sense. It's hard to believe that the background presented by these authors is all there is on the topic. They do cite names and present terms which are familiar to me from other research so I don't think they've simply made up a history about writing centers.
While this article has some flaws I think it fits the purpose I'm using for it. The article provides a background on the evolution of writing centers taking us reasonably close to present times. The article lays out which theorists fall into which side of the post process theory/social construction debate. The article provides a bibliography which will allow me to expand my source list.
Center Practice.” Clearing House 2 Dec. 1997. ERIC. Elmhurst College Library.,
Elmhurst. 05 Nov. 2007.
The authors of this article take a critical eye to the work that is taking place in writing centers today. In order to prove their point they examine the beliefs that writing centers seem to be founded on. A relatively brief history is given of how writing center process has shifted from post process theory to social constructionism. This seems to have taken place over a relatively short period of time, the article focuses on ideas which were expressed between 1967 and 1997.
Law and Murphy obviously had the goal that they wanted to see formative assessment and writing centers be evaluated together when they wrote this article, it's clear the history presented is arranged so that their goal will make sense. It's hard to believe that the background presented by these authors is all there is on the topic. They do cite names and present terms which are familiar to me from other research so I don't think they've simply made up a history about writing centers.
While this article has some flaws I think it fits the purpose I'm using for it. The article provides a background on the evolution of writing centers taking us reasonably close to present times. The article lays out which theorists fall into which side of the post process theory/social construction debate. The article provides a bibliography which will allow me to expand my source list.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Writing center sources-inquiry proposal
This is not the annotated bibliography
One thing that I needed to do for my revised inquiry proposal was to develop a list of sources. In class we discussed something about putting our sources on our blog. I'd don't know if we were supposed to do that now or not but in case we were here are some of the sources I'm considering using.
1) The Postmodern Writing Center: Some Lessons from Lyotard
according to the abstract this article discuss the potential of the writing center to break way from the rigid restraints of traditional academic writing. also has some ideas what the staff of the writing center might do.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED360630&site=ehost-live
2) Intersections: Theory-Practice in the Writing Center.
This is actually a collection of essays in a book. some seem like they might be more helpful than others. This book is available online through ERIC but the writing seems hard to read. I'd like to try and find this book in print.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED374464&site=ehost-live
3) Migrant Rationalities: Graduate Students and the Idea of Authority in the Writing Center
This article may be personally interesting but I'm not 100% sure I can use it for the paper. It does discuss why some graduate students feel stiffled by the conventions of traditional discourse in their academic disciplines.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ515911&site=ehost-live
4) Crossing Over: Individuality and Social Constructivism in the Writing Center
This article looks at writing in a writing center based on some of the ideas we discussed in class before- is writing an inner directed or outer directed activity.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED402577&site=ehost-live
5) Walking the Tightrope: Negotiating between the Ideal and the Practical in the Writing Center, Part 2: The Real.
This article seems like it might be an offshoot of the Mike Rose article I read. While he seemed to be challenging English departments and the faculty, questions how they fit into the university, this article looks like it more explicitly explores the relationships between writing
centers and the university
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED399538&site=ehost-live
6) Networked Computers + Writing Centers = ? Thinking about Networked Computers in Writing Center Practice.
This article gets me thinking in a slightly different direction. After reading this article there are some new questions I could ask during interviews with staff at the writing center.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ551935&site=ehost-live
maybe) Reforming College Composition: Writing the Wrongs. Contributions to the Study of Education.
I don't know if I will really be able to use this source. It is a book with a collection of articles. The abstract touches on some interesting issues- what students can and can't do in the class room is one topic which caught my attention- BUT I don't know if it will be practical for me to search through 19 articles to find the information I need. I'm keeping the citation in this list because if I find a topic that needs more information I can check the index of this book and see if any article is helpful.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED459452&site=ehost-live
7) Writing Center Internships: The Case for Collaboration and Integration?
Seems to be a fairly concise summary of what can be done to prepare tutors in a writing center.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED439428&site=ehost-live
8) My Place or Yours: Theorizing Eclectic Writing Centers.
Part of this abstract suggested that theories for writing centers don't work that practices only do. It suggested these were difficult to discuss. That made me a little nervous. This should provide a fairly modern but different way to look at my topic.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED470708&site=ehost-live
9) Making Thinking Visible: Writing in the Center
Unfortunately this article focuses on a high school writing center. I might compare what is described here to what happens in a college writing center.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ772109&site=ehost-live
10) Formative Assessment and the Paradigms of Writing Center Practice
This particular article seems like a good place to get some background on the evolution of writing centers. It's certainly a much better way to go about it than looking back at the early articles from the 1970s would be.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ559333&site=ehost-live
One thing that I needed to do for my revised inquiry proposal was to develop a list of sources. In class we discussed something about putting our sources on our blog. I'd don't know if we were supposed to do that now or not but in case we were here are some of the sources I'm considering using.
1) The Postmodern Writing Center: Some Lessons from Lyotard
according to the abstract this article discuss the potential of the writing center to break way from the rigid restraints of traditional academic writing. also has some ideas what the staff of the writing center might do.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED360630&site=ehost-live
2) Intersections: Theory-Practice in the Writing Center.
This is actually a collection of essays in a book. some seem like they might be more helpful than others. This book is available online through ERIC but the writing seems hard to read. I'd like to try and find this book in print.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED374464&site=ehost-live
3) Migrant Rationalities: Graduate Students and the Idea of Authority in the Writing Center
This article may be personally interesting but I'm not 100% sure I can use it for the paper. It does discuss why some graduate students feel stiffled by the conventions of traditional discourse in their academic disciplines.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ515911&site=ehost-live
4) Crossing Over: Individuality and Social Constructivism in the Writing Center
This article looks at writing in a writing center based on some of the ideas we discussed in class before- is writing an inner directed or outer directed activity.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED402577&site=ehost-live
5) Walking the Tightrope: Negotiating between the Ideal and the Practical in the Writing Center, Part 2: The Real.
This article seems like it might be an offshoot of the Mike Rose article I read. While he seemed to be challenging English departments and the faculty, questions how they fit into the university, this article looks like it more explicitly explores the relationships between writing
centers and the university
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED399538&site=ehost-live
6) Networked Computers + Writing Centers = ? Thinking about Networked Computers in Writing Center Practice.
This article gets me thinking in a slightly different direction. After reading this article there are some new questions I could ask during interviews with staff at the writing center.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ551935&site=ehost-live
maybe) Reforming College Composition: Writing the Wrongs. Contributions to the Study of Education.
I don't know if I will really be able to use this source. It is a book with a collection of articles. The abstract touches on some interesting issues- what students can and can't do in the class room is one topic which caught my attention- BUT I don't know if it will be practical for me to search through 19 articles to find the information I need. I'm keeping the citation in this list because if I find a topic that needs more information I can check the index of this book and see if any article is helpful.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED459452&site=ehost-live
7) Writing Center Internships: The Case for Collaboration and Integration?
Seems to be a fairly concise summary of what can be done to prepare tutors in a writing center.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED439428&site=ehost-live
8) My Place or Yours: Theorizing Eclectic Writing Centers.
Part of this abstract suggested that theories for writing centers don't work that practices only do. It suggested these were difficult to discuss. That made me a little nervous. This should provide a fairly modern but different way to look at my topic.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED470708&site=ehost-live
9) Making Thinking Visible: Writing in the Center
Unfortunately this article focuses on a high school writing center. I might compare what is described here to what happens in a college writing center.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ772109&site=ehost-live
10) Formative Assessment and the Paradigms of Writing Center Practice
This particular article seems like a good place to get some background on the evolution of writing centers. It's certainly a much better way to go about it than looking back at the early articles from the 1970s would be.
http://proxy.elmhurst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ559333&site=ehost-live
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