Practice Coaching

Important notice: If you have trouble registering for your next English course because the online system does not recognize ENG 1620 as equivalent = go to OneStop and they can help you register.

In class today we discussed Chapter 8, Coping with Different Tutoring Situations. You did some role playing and talking to get some experience using language that can help you re-direct or re-start coaching sessions that have gone wrong.

In any case where you feel you are not able or up to dealing with a student you should excuse yourself and speak to the GA who is supervising the Center. In the rare case where a student becomes angry or abusive, you should not even attempt to resolve the situation; simply excuse yourself and speak to the GA.

For Tuesday:

Continue to observe coaching sessions in the center. Don't forget to sign-in, and to complete a tutor observation sheet. Be sure to date your tutor observation sheets. You will need to turn them in with your analytic essay.

Write: continue to work on your persuasive essay

During class you will work on the reflective writing for the persuasive essay, and on setting up your portfolio for the second grade check.

Workshop on Persuasive Essay

We spent most of class working through a sample persuasive essay. We used a strategy to create a "reverse oultine" to identify the position and claims argued by the author. We looked at each paragraph and pulled out the main point. We noticed that this author argued the counterargument FIRST - and noted that that was an especially good move - since she was arguing AGAINST the textbook. By acknowledging that the textbook had the right idea (but needed more information) she actually built on the "other side" to strengthen her argument. This is a good strategy for arguing against texts or people that have more authority than you have. Also - this essay used other authorities (books on teaching writing coaches) to challenge the authority of our textbook. This was also a smart move.

We also reviewed the schedule for observing in the writing center and went through the directions for what you are supposed to do. As stated on the syllabus & calendar, you will need a minimum of 5 observations in the Center. You need to complete a tutor observation sheet for each session you observed. The routine should go like this:

1. Sign in for your observation at the front desk. You should go in a few minutes early so you can find out which session you will observe. The Graduate Assistant (GA) will be there to help you. If there are no sessions for you to observe - the GA will set up a mock session or provide other instruction. If you would like to re-schedule - you may, but you should not be required to come back at another time.

2. Go through any preliminary instruction, discussion presented by the Graduate Assistant (GA). Ask questions.

3. Seat yourself off the the side, but where you can see. You may jot down a few notes - but be sensitive to the fact that you do not want to make the student and coach self conscious.

4. When the session concludes (it should be at least 10 minutes before the end of the hour), participate in any follow-up organized by the GA. Fill out your observation sheet.

As we discussed in class, your observation sheets will provide the basis for your final project for this course => the analytic essay. Be sure to fill in the date for each observation.

If you have any questions - ask me next class.

For Thursday:

Write: start to work on revising your persuasive essay. Read through the comments and if you have questions or don't know how to follow through on the suggestions - let me know.

Read: Chapter 8: Coping with Different Tutoring Situations

Due date for revised persuasive essay: November 4. Note: Even though the final draft for the persuasive essay will be due November 4 - come to class on November 2 prepared to work on your reflective essay (and give yourself a grade) for the final draft.

Thursday, October 21 - Sign up for time in Center

Today you turned in your observations sheets from class Thurs Oct 14 & Tues Oct 19, and we talked about how you were doing on your persuasive essay drafts. I will be reading your revised drafts over the weekend. I will look at your first draft, your plan for revising + your revised draft to get a snapshot of how you work on your writing.

We also reviewed the requirements for coaching in the center as it is written up on the course syllabus, and you signed up for 1 hour per week when you will participate in the center. You will write up a tutor observation sheet for each time period - either to document your own session, or to document your observation of work by one of the WC sessions. You will write observation sheets after the session - as you were instructed during your introduction to the Center (on either 10/14 or 10/19).

Here is the list of times you signed up for, with the name of the GA who will be there to work with you and answer questions.

Monday - 11:00 - Sam
Chris O'Keeffe

Monday - 12:00 - Sam
Kate Venter

Kristi Froisland

Monday 3:00 Eric

Melissa Flores

Lindsay Ireland

Tuesday 1:00 Angela

Alexandria Addesso

Kyle McLaughlin

Yurani Perez
Caroline Vargas

Tuesday 2:00 Angela

Sabrina DeJesus
Dina Rodrigues

Tuesday 3:00 Angela
Alexa Guillen

Bryan Erickson

Friday 12:00 Sam

Kyanna Sampson

George Bogner

Rees Kalthoff

If you have not yet signed up - you be sure to sign up for a time in class on Tuesday.

I passed out tutor observation sheets in class. Make copies so you can document your sessions.

Finally, we talked about R&Z's chapter on "Helping Writers Across the Curriculum." We listed the common genres that writers bring to the writing center and then discussed the main features of some of the less familiar genres. We also discussed strategies for working with a writer who wants help with a genre you are not familiar with. Assignment sheets, handbooks, online sites such as the Purdue OWL - and the GAs are all important resources. Remember that most of the time your purpose as a writing coach will be to ask questions to help the writer clarify his/her thoughts - and focus on the features of the essay s/he needs to work on.

No homework- except to begin attending & documenting sessions in the Writing Center at your assigned times. Be sure to sign in.

See you on Tuesday.

For Tuesday:

Read:

Tuesday October 19

I will not be in class as I planned today. Dr. Sutton will stop by to set you up.

You will be working in groups again - only this time Group 1 will do writing conferences and Group 2 will go to the writing center. Check the post from Oct 12 if you do not remember the assigned activities.

Writers in Group 1 should partner up as follows:

Addesso - Froisland

DeJesus - Erickson

Guillen - Rodrigues - Kalthoff

O'Keeffe - Vargas

If there are absences - adjust groups so you are all working in groups of two.

See you on Thursday.

Group 1 (listed below) will go to the writing center.

Alexandria Addesso, Sabrina DeJesus, Bryan Erickson, Kristi Froisland, Alexa Guillen, Rees Kalthoff, Chris OKeeffe, Dina Rodrigues, Caroline Vargas.

Erin will set you up to observe writing sessions in progress. Watch carefully, and write up the sessions you observe on the Tutor Observation Sheet. In addition to the comments, use the back to write up any additional questions, observations, ideas that came to you as you watched.

Due at the end of your time in the center: turn your observation sheet into Erin

Group 2 will report to CAS 307 and conduct writing conferences on the persuasive essay. You will work with the same partner you worked with last Thursday. The class is 75 minutes long. Manage your time so that each of you gets a 25 minute session with 5 - 10 minutes to write up notes.

Coaching partners:

Bogner – Perez

Flores – Sampson

McLaughlin –Cascone - Ventre

Ireland - Rodriguez

Due at the end of class: a plan for revising your persuasive essay from when you were the coach + a completed tutor observation sheet (from when you were the tutor). Turn the plan for revising your essay in as an attachment to an email. I will collect the completed tutor observation sheets on Tuesday.

For the dates + assignments associated with Project 1, see Chandler_Portfolio.

October 12: What to do for Thursday, 10/14

In class today we began planning for your work in the writing center. We went over strategies for note taking so your observations will be useful for you both in your coaching work - and as a basis for writing your analytic essay. We also visited the center space.

We also spent some time going over a brainstorming process for your persuasive essay. My notes are posted with the course documents, if you want to get a feel for how I would develop a topic for this essay.

For Thursday:

Write: Turn in your draft for Project 1 (persuasive essay) as an attachment. I will not be providing feedback to this draft, rather, it is the "start" you will use for work in your conference (either Thursday, or Tuesday, depending what group you are in). The Revised Draft is Due Thursday, October 21).

Group 1 (listed below) will go to the writing center.

Alexandria Addesso, Sabrina DeJesus, Bryan Erickson, Kristi Froisland, Alexa Guillen, Rees Kalthoff, Chris OKeeffe, Dina Rodrigues, Caroline Vargas.

Erin will set you up to observe writing sessions in progress. Watch carefully, and write up the sessions you observe on the Tutor Observation Sheet. In addition to the comments, use the back to write up any additional questions, observations, ideas that came to you as you watched.

Due at the end of your time in the center: turn your observation sheet into Erin

Group 2 will report to CAS 307 and conduct writing conferences on the persuasive essay. You will work with the same partner you worked with last Thursday. The class is 75 minutes long. Manage your time so that each of you gets a 25 minute session with 5 - 10 minutes to write up notes.

Coaching partners:

Bogner – Perez

Flores – Sampson

McLaughlin –Cascone - Ventre

Ireland - Rodriguez

Due at the end of class: a plan for revising your persuasive essay from when you were the coach + a completed tutor observation sheet (from when you were the tutor). Turn the plan for revising your essay in as an attachment to an email. I will collect the completed tutor observation sheets on Tuesday.

For the dates + assignments associated with Project 1, see Chandler_Portfolio.

October 7: Persuasive essay

Today we took a closer look at the assignment sheet for your persuasive essay in light of your reading assignment on arguments (Ch. 3 in HTWA). We talked about the audience for your essay and how you would establish your authority. You have an academic audience for this essay (me - as I stand in for faculty members at Kean University)and you listed Ryan and Zimmerelli's book, other tutoring manuals, and references to your personal experience as ways to establish your authority. We then began listing some of the topics from Chapters 4 & 5 that you might take a position on.

We also talked about the models for persuasive essays that were presented in HTWA - and I suggested that the essay from personal experience was probably most relevant to the kind of essay you would be writing. I pointed out that a 5-paragraph essay with a three-part thesis would not be appropriate for this assignment. You may be expected to use that form for persuasive essays for other courses - but we are working on a more flexible approach to deciding how to build arguments.

In this class - you are learning to make case-by-case decisions about how to focus, organize, and develop essays so that they respond to a particular audience and serve a particular purpose.

The assignments for Tuesday are DIFFERENT from what is written on the calendar. Do what I have listed below.

For Tuesday:

Write: Send me your Thesis statement (the position you will take in your persuasive essay) and a list of your claims (the points you will argue to support your thesis). You should include points that respond to arguments from the "other side."

If you have chosen a different topic than the topic for your initial brainstorming - you might also want to include brainstorming for your new topic.

The object of this writing is so that you can receive some feedback before writing your whole paper.

Read: HTWA, Chapter 3. Bring your book to class.

Tuesday, October 5: Evaluating your writing

Today we took a look at the calendar and talked about setting yourselves up for spending some time in the writing center and we talked about your persuasive writing assignment, but we spent most of the class working on how to figure out what kind of grade you will get on your writing assignments. Different teachers take different approaches, but the rubric we developed covers the main features that influence grades. Our rubric included: genre considerations, focus, organization + development.

After talking through the grades you gave to a sample essay, you evaluated your own essay in terms of our rubric, and sent the numerical grade to me in an email. If your grade matches the teacher's grade (mine), you will earn an extra 5 points.

The assignment sheet for the Project 1: Persuasive essay is posted under "writing assignments." We looked at the purpose + description and talked (very briefly) about some ideas for this essay.

For Thursday:

Write: Brainstorming for Project 1=> send to me as an attachment. The name of the file & subject line should be LastNameBrainstormProject1

This writing may include one or more of the following: listing, detailed listing (where you associate to or add more ideas beside items on your list); freewriting, clustering, researching (looking up ideas and making some notes about them); talking (and jotting some notes on ideas that came up in conversation); taking a walk or run or doing some other activity that can put you in the zone - and jotting notes on ideas that come up.

Read: Chapter 3, HTWA => Arguments (yes this is a long chatper. Skim the examples but focus on learning the vocabulary for talking about arguments: claims, assumptions, ethos, counterarguments).