Journals
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #1
09/06/20
I found chapter 2 and 3 very helpful in organizing my own thoughts about how to approach becoming a first-time writing fellow. I really appreciated the honesty from Gillespie and Lerner about writing and why it is difficult for so many students. Sometimes in class the writing process feels rushed and impersonal because of the strict time schedule and I think it is crucial to recognize that.
As a writer, I have tried an abundance of different strategies over my many years of school. One strategy that works best for me is designing a rough outline containing all the ideas I want to write about and use for my essay. I continue to develop this outline as I begin to write my essay, adjusting it to be more specific to my central theme. Making an outline also helps me figure out what I really want my central theme to be. When I am writing scientific reports, I like to do the methods and data first, and end with the introduction and discussion. When I approach my report this way, it allows me to get the easiest parts of my paper out of the way, so I can really think about the sections that require analyzing.
When writing essays for class, I find making an outline is the most helpful strategy for me, as well as having others read my paper (sort of like a fellow!). When writing scientific reports, I like to split up my work into sections because it helps me focus on what information I need to include in each paragraph. In my free time for personal writing, I find it most useful to write down all of my original thoughts, and then organize/revise them.
Developing an outline for my essay helps address my organization and format. It also helps me make sure I have all the parts I need to meet the expectations of the rubric, such as a thesis and critical analysis of my topic. Splitting a lab report into sections helps me make sure I put my information in the right section and helps me make sure I cover every part of the lab I’m writing about. Brainstorm writing helps me improve my writing when I go back to revise. Through revision I am able to give my writing more depth and better language.
What stuck with me the most about these chapters was making your tutee feel comfortable with you, and more importantly sharing and improving their writing. Getting to know each of my tutees is important to me, but I think I underestimated just how important their comfort with me would be to their writing process. I also came to the realization that not everyone will be able to use the same writing strategies I do. This is something that I had yet to consider, and I think it will encourage me to find many different writing strategies, so I can tailor my sessions to each individual student.
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #2
09/14/20
After reading this essay, my overarching conclusion was that all the parts that were essential for this essay to be great were there, they just needed to be organized and further analyzed. I thought the introduction had a good hook about morals and ethics that did relate to all the articles discussed, but it could have been “fleshed” out a bit more. The introduction also didn’t mention the article written by Mitford, which may be more of a local concern, but still a vital part of the introduction. In the first paragraph, the student goes on to write about Wallace’s piece, but doesn’t begin an analysis of it and mostly just sums up the article as a whole. The student then begins to make the connection between Wallace’s and Mitford’s narrative, but the analysis could be much deeper. I also became lost in which parts of these paragraphs were the student’s own thoughts and which were the authors of the articles.
As I read further into the essay, I had a hard time picking up on the student’s writing about Herzog. I reread the essay and found that they had written about Herzog’s article, but the connections made to it were not nearly as strong as the connections to Wallace and Mitford. I also noticed a lot of repetitive ideas and language as the essay went on, which could have been condensed into fewer paragraphs. The ending of this essay felt very abrupt to me and did not relate back to the original themes of the essay: morals and ethics. Lastly, the analysis of these articles had clearly been attempted, but it could be a much stronger essay if there was more analysis that represented deeper thinking.
I think this essay is a good first draft, and how I would advise moving forward would be to go back through the essay and really define each paragraph. Giving each paragraph a central topic would help condense repetitive ideas and leave room for more analysis and less summarizing. This essay had too much summarizing of each article, and not enough of the student’s own thinking. This would be reduced if they reflected back to their original themes and tried to connect them to the articles throughout the entire essay. I think by doing this, their writing would flow easily into a fuller circle conclusion.
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #3
09/21/20
When reading chapter six, I really liked the examples on how to take notes on a sample paper. I thought these examples were very helpful, because I think it will aid me in outlining my tutee’s paper when they read it aloud to me. Taking notes on where I feel a paragraph ends, what the paper is about, what is working, and what I’m confused about is something I had never considered before. I believe by employing this technique in my tutoring sessions I will have a clearer understanding of the paper and will be able to address more of my tutee’s concerns.
I also think formulating the questions I want to ask, and which questions are most important to the paper’s revision is something that I was struggling with, but this chapter provided a lot more clarity. By using the note taking strategy provided in this chapter, I think the questions I need to ask will become very clear by the end of the paper. I thought it was important that the book went through an entire example tutoring session like we will be doing in class. I now feel more confident using the techniques provided by the book on my own. I feel these techniques will help me assess the essay as a whole while not getting hung up on certain parts.
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #4
09/27/20
Overall, I thought the mock tutoring session we did in class went very smoothly. I thought Jess did a great job engaging with Caroline’s writing, and I thought Caroline played the role of the student well. I really liked how Jess asked Caroline what her concerns were at the beginning of the session. By doing this, Jess was able to give Caroline suggestions on the part of her paper she was struggling with the most. A suggestion I had written down for before the tutoring session began is explaining to your tutee why you are taking notes. This could relieve some of the student’s anxiety if they are having any. While Caroline was reading her essay, Jess was very engaged and focused on what she was saying. One thing I thought could be added to the end of the tutoring session was after Jess had finished explaining something to Caroline, she could’ve asked if Caroline understood her. This way, if the tutee still needs clarification, they may be more comfortable asking. I thought Jess made a great suggestion about a transition in Caroline’s essay. This suggestion was specific, so it gave Caroline something she could work on after their session. One thing I thought of while observing Jess and Caroline’s session that doesn’t directly correlate with their session is relating with your tutee. When Caroline said sometimes she gets lost in the “fluff” of an essay, I remember thinking “yeah, me too!” If you can honestly relate to your tutee, I think it would be reassuring to them if they know you’ve struggled with similar problems in your own essays.
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #5
09/27/20
For next class, I would like to discuss ways on how to better connect with my tutees. Before writing my journal response, I read over ones that had already been posted and I agree with Allie about having trouble connecting with each student. One of the biggest challenges to learning online is finding a way to relate to and help each individual student. I think brainstorming ideas about how to connect with our students would be very useful for me. I also would like to hear about everyone’s experiences with tutoring so far. I haven’t had any students sign up for a session with me yet, so I think it would be helpful to hear about what has worked for everyone else, what hasn’t, etc.
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #6
10/04/20
I actually have not been able to observe my student’s reading strategies, because I have not had them make an appointment with me yet. I have been holding office hours each week, but I may switch over to appointments only to see if this would be more beneficial to them. I know the students in my class are required to meet with me at least once this semester, so I will be reaching out by email again this week. Once I get to meet with my students, I am eager to observe their reading patterns. I suspect there will be a range of readers in the class I have been placed in, where some students will have more difficulty than others.
I plan to allow my students to read over their lab reports first, so I can observe how well they seem to understand the material. Like Gillespie and Lerner said in chapter 8, if the student becomes vague on a certain topic, it could be an indication that they do not fully understand the assignment/materials required for it. One way I could help my students who are struggling with understanding their sources is by having them read a small part of their source to me that their having trouble with. Then, we could break down this part of the source, sentence by sentence, where I would ask the student I’m working with to try and explain to me what they think that sentence means.
I have not experienced any of the examples in chapter 8 but could understand the tutor’s frustration. I can imagine I will run into students who have an especially hard time understanding the text they are reading. I have found what works best in frustrating situations is to take a deep breath and remain patient. This way I will be able to help my student, rather than offending them or making the task they are working on harder.
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #7
10/12/20
In this chapter, I thought the tips Learner and Gillespie gave about how to make connections with your students online were very helpful. I have already started applying the tip on getting to know my tutees better in my sessions. I try to ask the students I’ve met with how their day is going and/or how all their classes are going so far to try produce a warm and welcoming environment, even if that is over zoom. I also thought the tips on how to respond to your students writing were useful. I haven’t tried highlighting or underlining certain parts of the text, but I do feel that it would be a useful tool to help my tutees. I also am glad we are able to meet with students over zoom video so we can receive their feedback to the feedback we give them. In the book, Gillespie and Learner talked about the struggle of not knowing if your tutee understands your feedback when you are just in a chat room or exchanging papers. Since I am on a video call with my students, I feel as though I can tell if they understand my feedback by their facial expressions.
In the beginning of the chapter, Learner and Gillespie also discussed how to approach a text you may not be an expert on. I am a Writing Fellow in a biology class, so most of their assignments are lab reports and use a lot of scientific language. Even though I major in sciences, I still don’t consider myself an expert on writing lab reports because most of the writing I’ve done has been in English classes. Learner and Gillespie suggest that if you are feeling this way, to focus more on the structure and format of the paper, and less on the content. I have already started to employ this in my tutoring sessions. Learner and Gillespie also made the point that if you know less about the content of the paper, you are also less likely to present a bias. When you know the content of someone’s else’s paper very well, it can be difficult to not “correct” them or adjust their thoughts to fit yours. In some ways, being in a biology class where the content isn’t as familiar to me is an advantage.
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #8
10-19-20
During this semester, I have gotten to know my faculty partner pretty well. Getting to know her was slow at first, but as assignments for her students became more numerous, we had more conversations on how we could collaborate with each other. She has been very helpful in answering all of my questions and understanding of the fact that I’m a new fellow. I really like how she has treated me like an equal partner throughout the semester. She has done a great job of making my role in class known to her students and myself.
If I could give advice to future writing fellow’s I would say to take your role into your own hands and take the initiative to reach out. Your faculty partner probably has many classes they are teaching and a large amount of work to do for each of them. If you take the initiative to reach out to your faculty partner, they will be more likely to prioritize you in their class and you’ll have more success with the students in that class. I would also want future writing fellows to know that it’s okay to reach out to your faculty partner many times before you begin to make progress with them, and this doesn’t mean you’re “bugging them”. Just like most students do, professors also put certain tasks on the “back burner”, so sometimes as a writing fellow you need to remind your faculty partner of your role in class. Once they are reminded of the importance of your role, they are much more likely to offer you some assistance in connecting with students and their assignments.
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #9
10/19/20
Becoming a writing fellow is similar to what I expected in some ways, but also very different in others. I also think having to do our tutoring sessions online instead of in person has been an unforeseen challenge that new and old writing fellows are navigating for the first time. Before I became a writing fellow, I was under the impression that writing fellows understood the content each student was working on. This was intimidating to me because I knew I didn’t have an abundance of knowledge in the class I was placed in. Now that I am a writing fellow, I know that it isn’t about understanding the content at all.
Being a writing fellow is all about supporting and encouraging the student you’re working with. The student you’re helping isn’t going to fix everything about their paper in one session. This takes time and practice, so it’s your job as a fellow to point out the areas they should try to work on the most and give suggestions on ways they can do that.
Being a writing fellow is not the same as being a tutor. You are not the to teach the necessarily, you are there as more of a guide. The students you are working with should still be making their own decisions about their writing.
You probably won’t reach every student in the class, or even half of them. But you will reach some students, and you will be able to help them with their writing assignments. It will feel so great when you are able to help a student and feel like they are understanding your feedback. It’s important to remember that you are learning too, and you will make mistakes or wish you had done something differently. That’s why we are in a writing fellow’s class!
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #10
10/26/20
In my meetings with students, I have run into the problem of having students set up an appointment only to fulfill a class requirement. I have gotten comment like “so will you let my instructor know I met with you?” making it obvious that they weren’t seeking my help as much as they were trying to “check off” a box. I understand that some students may not know what questions to ask, may be too shy to share their paper, or just might not care enough about the quality of their paper. I liked how the chapter referenced this type of student and gave the advice on asking them why they set up a meeting. By asking questions, you may be able to help the student with their paper even if they weren’t originally looking for much help.
I also would like to talk in class about what we should be doing if we notice a student purposely plagiarizing work. I’m not sure what our protocol for plagiarism is for writing fellows, and if we should be reporting that to someone. I haven’t run into this problem yet in my sessions but want to be prepared for it in case I do.
Lastly, I found the part of the chapter about an overly dependent student to be very helpful. I have met with students who I could tell wanted me to give them a direct answer or proofread their paper. It can be difficult to explain to them that my job isn’t to edit their paper and I found this chapter had some good strategies to implement if the behavior continues with a particular student.
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #11
10/26/20
Through our readings and class discussions I have been able to learn a lot about becoming a writing fellow. One aspect of being a writing fellow I would like to dive more deeply into is making connections with students, and how to help these students when they are struggling. I think making connections with students is one of the most important ways we help them make progress. Making a meaningful connection with a student makes them feel comfortable enough to share their work, allowing for more room for progress. I also want to look into students who are struggling with writing, especially those with a learning disability such as ADHD or Dyslexia. I want to know how students with a learning disability learn differently, and what new strategies I could use to help them with their writing.
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #12
11/1/20
After viewing the journals WAC Clearinghouse and Across the Disciplines, I have come to understand the specific writing fellow challenge I’d like to focus on. For my essay and presentation, I would like to learn about the specifics of each student, and their different skillsets. I want to look into different strategies on how to help the quick learner, the dependent writer, the nervous student, etc. I have learned through this process that not every solution for a problem will work for each student. You need to be able to adjust your teaching tactics to the individual. I also want to look more closely at how we can help those with learning disabilities, who’s first language isn’t English, and the particularly anxious or upset students.
As a writing fellow, I feel that my main goal is to help each student and as many students as much as I can. I know I will not be able to reach every student but knowing more strategies on how to advise a student in their writing will be the most beneficial skill for me. I also want to explore how I can make students feel more comfortable reaching out to me. I think the best way to make students more comfortable is listening to them, showing compassion, and learning strategies to keep each student comfortable.
These will be my main questions:
- What are the strategies I can learn to help each student unlock their skill set?
- How do I figure out what a student’s skill set is?
- How do I become a better listener for my tutees, so I can understand how to help them with their writing and detect if they may be struggling with other aspects of life/quarantine/online school?
- How do I help students with special/unique challenges such as a learning disability, speaking English as a second language, and being overly dependent or anxious in sessions?
Shannon O’Roak
Final Journal
11/23/20
Being a nursing major, I can see many benefits this program would have. Nursing is all about helping people, which is exactly what being a fellow is. Some of the same skills you learn and build while being a fellow are also essential when becoming a nurse. Skills such as listening, understanding, and getting to know your student (or patient) are essential in becoming a nurse or a writing fellow. People in my major may want to know becoming a great writing fellow takes a lot of time a practice. I feel that this is the same as being a great nurse, so the early you begin practicing these skills, the better you will be at them when you obtain your degree and begin your career.
I wish my tutees could understand how much working with a writing fellow can benefit the paper/project you are working on. Even meeting with a fellow for just 15 minutes can provide a student with helpful tips and feedback on their paper that they wouldn’t have had without a session. A second pair of eyes can sometimes make all the difference in the world when you’re revising a paper. Writing fellows can also teach you skills such as reading your [paper out loud that will help you on future assignments and make you a more proficient writer overall.
Shannon O’Roak
Journal #9
3/23/21
Through today’s workshop I got to receive feedback on my story, and it helped me figure out which suggestions I wanted to use if I revise it for a final draft. I appreciated the comments I received about my foreshadowing and the ending of my story. I’m also glad I captured the perspective of a 13-year-old girl well, because I struggled with this during the writing process. For my revision, I would like to start by adding in more inner struggles/emotion for Mandisa. I want to go into painful detail about her walk back from the village. I also want to make her rage with the American’s coming into her village more obvious. I also really liked a comment Isabella suggested about giving the village people more of a role in the well building process. This was my initial intention, but I would like to make it more apparent in my story. Isabella also gave me a suggestion about a forming friendship between the girls who fetch water, and I found this idea interesting as well. Lastly, it’s really important to me that my story raises awareness for poorer communities who may not have access to these things most Americans have so easily, such as drinking water. I also want to raise awareness about the lack of education for many young girls and water-borne diseases such as cholera.
