Saturday, October 10, 2009
A cool tool for getting words on the page
Many students tell me the hardest part of writing a paper is getting started. "Writer or Die" (http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html) is a tool for freewriting that helps writers get past the blank page and start generating material that they can later rework and revise. You might even require students to do a "Writer or Die" session after you first assign a paper. You don't need to have them give you this very rough draft, but you could ask that they e-mail you a copy of the "Bragging Widget," which tells how much they wrote in what period of time.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The struggle to “sound like” a college student
This is one of a series of postings reporting on the findings from my interviews and work with SNL students about their development as writers. These interviews started last fall. I continue to meet with some of the study students each quarter to follow their progress. All student names have been changed.
Like many of the students I spoke with, Tiffany and Melina’s writing is weakened because of their anxiety about and attempts to sound like college writers. This posting shows how Tiffany and Melina struggle with how to communicate as college students and presents some ways you can help students like them.
Like many adult students, Tiffany and Melina have ample confidence in some spheres of their lives while being intimidated in others. Tiffany home schooled her sons and is a landlord who acts as a de facto social worker for her tenants. When talking with her one-on-one, it is hard to get a word in edgewise. In class, she never speaks. She says, “I’m like I know this stuff but why in class I freeze up? “ She reports doing better in a "more casual setting." Similarly, Melina wonders why she is a leader in her social circle, but at work and at school she is not. Friends and acquaintances come to her for advice and help, while at work and school she is afraid to speak up:
They both struggle with college writing assignments because they are unsure how to write like a college student. Although Tiffany journals for two to three hours a day as part of her spiritual practice, she feels “intimidated” and “inadequate” as a writer. She says “my stuff is like kindergarten . . . like children’s stuff.” To write more “scholarly,” she attempts to imitate the style and language of what she reads for class and she uses the thesaurus on her computer to make her writing sound “better.”
Like Tiffany’s journaling, Melina enjoys writing long letters to friends and family. However, at work, Melina labors over her e-mails to make sure they sound “businessy like.” For more important work writing tasks, she asks a friend with communications degree “how does this sound?” Like a number or students in this study, Melina fears that her writing will give away her lack of a college degree.
When writing for school, Melina has plenty to say. Her concern is that her readers will not “understand what I’m trying to say” because of “the way I’m writing it.” She also worries that her writing is not what she is “trying to put out you know?” The issue for Melina is not just with being able to communicate her ideas to an academic audience, but also with how she communicates and thus what messages she sends about herself.
Tiffany and Melina are in a bind. They want to communicate to their professors and peers as college students, but they have had very little experience as college students. Both first-generation college students, Tiffany relies upon her children and a college graduate friend while Melina turns to her co-workers with degrees for guidance.
The desire of students like Tiffany and Melina to sound like college writers can result in a multitude of problems including procrastination, writing that borrows too much from the structure and language of a source, and writing that is so wordy and convoluted as to be almost unreadable. For example, Melina strives to be more formal by using phrases like “structuralize the context.” When asked about this wording, she said she was trying to “sound like school.”
These problems are not unique to returning adult students. Scholars have shown that, in becoming college writers, students of all ages struggle to learn the conventions of academic writing and so sound like college students (for example, Carroll, Herrington and Curtis). Rebecca Moore Howard argues that this learning may involve imitation and copying that borders on or is plagiarism (for more on why students plagiarize and what you can do to prevent it, see http://snlwriting.pbworks.com/Plagiarism). Theresa Lillis shows how the taking on of an academic voice can be particularly fraught for working-class students like Tiffany and Melina who may find their home languages and cultures devalued by the academy.
For adult students, the stakes are arguably higher than for younger students. Melina knows that her ability to sound professional directly impacts her ability to be successful at work. Tiffany had to send her home-schooled child to a community college to learn English because she could not teach him. While she suffered the embarrassment of learning to swim with her children, she could not bring herself to take English classes with them.
You can help students like Tiffany and Melina by demystifying college writing and making clear what your expectations are. Giving students examples of excellent work from previous students is a good way to give them a more realistic idea of what they are being asked to do. You can choose these examples to highlight the variety of ways students can approach the assignment.
Even more helpful, is to give students feedback on their writing early in the quarter. This feedback helps students calibrate their sense of audience. Tiffany explained that before receiving feedback from her teacher, she was anxious because, “I don’t know what he’s looking for.” After receiving feedback, she better understood her teacher’s expectations and so, “I felt more confident to start just being more open . . . and not feeling so intimidated cause . . . he was able to understand my writing.” Once liberated, Tiffany stops worrying about sounding like a college student and starts writing like one.
Carroll, Lee Ann. Rehearsing New Roles: How College Students Develop as Writers. Studies in Writing & Rhetoric. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2002.
Herrington, Anne J., and Marcia Curtis. Persons in Process: Four Stories of Writing and Personal Development in College. Reconfiguring English Studies. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English, 2000.
Howard, Rebecca Moore. “Plagiarisms, authorships, and the academic death penalty.” College English. 57 (1995): 788-807. ProQuest Education Journals. ProQuest. DePaul University Libraries, Chicago, IL. 18 December 2005 http://proquest.umi.com.
Lillis, Theresa M. Student Writing: Access, Regulation, Desire. London: Routledge, 2001.
Like many of the students I spoke with, Tiffany and Melina’s writing is weakened because of their anxiety about and attempts to sound like college writers. This posting shows how Tiffany and Melina struggle with how to communicate as college students and presents some ways you can help students like them.
Like many adult students, Tiffany and Melina have ample confidence in some spheres of their lives while being intimidated in others. Tiffany home schooled her sons and is a landlord who acts as a de facto social worker for her tenants. When talking with her one-on-one, it is hard to get a word in edgewise. In class, she never speaks. She says, “I’m like I know this stuff but why in class I freeze up? “ She reports doing better in a "more casual setting." Similarly, Melina wonders why she is a leader in her social circle, but at work and at school she is not. Friends and acquaintances come to her for advice and help, while at work and school she is afraid to speak up:
I’m the leader. I take charge of everything. I’m always in control of everything. Everybody comes to me for advice, for help, for anything. But then, when it comes to work or when it comes to school, I shut down. I’ll have things in my head when the teacher is asking questions like, “What did you guys think of the chapter I asked you guys to read?” I’ll have things that I want to say but I won’t say ‘em. I don’t know why that happens to me . . . And they’ll tell me, everybody’s like you know you’re so smart, you know what you’re talking about and you… speak well and blah, blah, blah but and I know that I do and… I always tell myself well why, why can’t I just come out and be that person in school? Or at work… It doesn’t happen, I don’t know.While confident speakers in certain parts of their lives, Tiffany and Melina freeze up at school because they are afraid to say the wrong thing and to say it in the wrong way.
They both struggle with college writing assignments because they are unsure how to write like a college student. Although Tiffany journals for two to three hours a day as part of her spiritual practice, she feels “intimidated” and “inadequate” as a writer. She says “my stuff is like kindergarten . . . like children’s stuff.” To write more “scholarly,” she attempts to imitate the style and language of what she reads for class and she uses the thesaurus on her computer to make her writing sound “better.”
Like Tiffany’s journaling, Melina enjoys writing long letters to friends and family. However, at work, Melina labors over her e-mails to make sure they sound “businessy like.” For more important work writing tasks, she asks a friend with communications degree “how does this sound?” Like a number or students in this study, Melina fears that her writing will give away her lack of a college degree.
When writing for school, Melina has plenty to say. Her concern is that her readers will not “understand what I’m trying to say” because of “the way I’m writing it.” She also worries that her writing is not what she is “trying to put out you know?” The issue for Melina is not just with being able to communicate her ideas to an academic audience, but also with how she communicates and thus what messages she sends about herself.
Tiffany and Melina are in a bind. They want to communicate to their professors and peers as college students, but they have had very little experience as college students. Both first-generation college students, Tiffany relies upon her children and a college graduate friend while Melina turns to her co-workers with degrees for guidance.
The desire of students like Tiffany and Melina to sound like college writers can result in a multitude of problems including procrastination, writing that borrows too much from the structure and language of a source, and writing that is so wordy and convoluted as to be almost unreadable. For example, Melina strives to be more formal by using phrases like “structuralize the context.” When asked about this wording, she said she was trying to “sound like school.”
These problems are not unique to returning adult students. Scholars have shown that, in becoming college writers, students of all ages struggle to learn the conventions of academic writing and so sound like college students (for example, Carroll, Herrington and Curtis). Rebecca Moore Howard argues that this learning may involve imitation and copying that borders on or is plagiarism (for more on why students plagiarize and what you can do to prevent it, see http://snlwriting.pbworks.com/Plagiarism). Theresa Lillis shows how the taking on of an academic voice can be particularly fraught for working-class students like Tiffany and Melina who may find their home languages and cultures devalued by the academy.
For adult students, the stakes are arguably higher than for younger students. Melina knows that her ability to sound professional directly impacts her ability to be successful at work. Tiffany had to send her home-schooled child to a community college to learn English because she could not teach him. While she suffered the embarrassment of learning to swim with her children, she could not bring herself to take English classes with them.
You can help students like Tiffany and Melina by demystifying college writing and making clear what your expectations are. Giving students examples of excellent work from previous students is a good way to give them a more realistic idea of what they are being asked to do. You can choose these examples to highlight the variety of ways students can approach the assignment.
Even more helpful, is to give students feedback on their writing early in the quarter. This feedback helps students calibrate their sense of audience. Tiffany explained that before receiving feedback from her teacher, she was anxious because, “I don’t know what he’s looking for.” After receiving feedback, she better understood her teacher’s expectations and so, “I felt more confident to start just being more open . . . and not feeling so intimidated cause . . . he was able to understand my writing.” Once liberated, Tiffany stops worrying about sounding like a college student and starts writing like one.
Works Cited
Carroll, Lee Ann. Rehearsing New Roles: How College Students Develop as Writers. Studies in Writing & Rhetoric. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2002.
Herrington, Anne J., and Marcia Curtis. Persons in Process: Four Stories of Writing and Personal Development in College. Reconfiguring English Studies. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English, 2000.
Howard, Rebecca Moore. “Plagiarisms, authorships, and the academic death penalty.” College English. 57 (1995): 788-807. ProQuest Education Journals. ProQuest. DePaul University Libraries, Chicago, IL. 18 December 2005 http://proquest.umi.com.
Lillis, Theresa M. Student Writing: Access, Regulation, Desire. London: Routledge, 2001.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Suburban Campus Writing Groups Starting 9/26
Encourage your students to participate in one of the Suburban Campus Writing Groups. These Saturday morning writing groups will be convenient not only for suburban campus students, but also for Loop and online students who live in the suburbs.
Both seasoned and struggling writers are sure to gain valuable insights by attending. Studies show that writers improve most when they are able to gain multiple perspectives on their work. These groups give students such an opportunity, all while helping them become more effective writers and training them to give the best feedback possible to others. See the comments below from SNL students who participated in these groups in the Winter and Spring Quarters.
Both seasoned and struggling writers are sure to gain valuable insights by attending. Studies show that writers improve most when they are able to gain multiple perspectives on their work. These groups give students such an opportunity, all while helping them become more effective writers and training them to give the best feedback possible to others. See the comments below from SNL students who participated in these groups in the Winter and Spring Quarters.
This quarter writing groups on the Suburban Campuses begin on September 26 and continue to November 14. Groups are facilitated by consultants from the University Center for Writing-based Learning and will meet from 10 to 11:30 am.
Students can sign up for he full eight week session or only four weeks (Sept. 26 to Oct. 17 or Oct. 24 to Nov. 14) by emailing the Suburban Campus Writing Group coordinator at tmcnamar@depaul.edu.
Students can sign up for he full eight week session or only four weeks (Sept. 26 to Oct. 17 or Oct. 24 to Nov. 14) by emailing the Suburban Campus Writing Group coordinator at tmcnamar@depaul.edu.
Some comments from SNL participants:
“This was a perfectly timed and very positive experience for me. When I say that Morgan “saved my life,” I am exaggerating only slightly. I had been carving away at the block marble and trying to find the “angel” within it before he led me to the answer. Following that meeting, my instructor recognized the improvement between successive drafts, and my submitted final earned a good deal of praise from her.”
“Tom and Morgan were knowledgeable, polite, enthusiastic, and they appeared to really enjoy what they were doing. Their engagement with each of us created a comfort zone. I felt and saw in other participants a willingness to share ideas and to address specific writing challenges… I enjoyed the immediate and warm connection between all of us and felt that newcomers immediately became part of the group. I saw courtesy, respect, patience and encouragement. I saw (and felt no lack of my own) excitement when ‘something clicked.’ I just wanted to run right home and get to work, rather than avoid the assignment as happened when I lacked focus.“
Some comments from Exit Surveys:
I really liked how we learned how to break down essays (writing process).
The day and time of the SCWG [Suburban Campus Writing Group] meetings were very convenient.
It has improved my writing skills.
The thing I liked best about my SCWG experience was the one-on-one help.
I liked everything about my SCWG experience.
Some stats:
60% of participants who responded to the exit survey were advised by an instructor to join an SCWG.
80% of participants who responded to the exit survey said this was their first experience with the Writing Center.
90% of participants who responded to the exit survey were “very satisfied” with their experience with the SCWGs. 10% were “satisfied.”
60% of participants who responded to the exit survey were “very satisfied” with the level of writing knowledge the SCWG Leaders exhibited during meetings. 40% were “satisfied.”
100% of participants who responded to the exit survey said they were “very likely” to participate in another SCWG.
40% of participants who responded to the exit survey used other Writing Center services during the quarter they were registered for the SCWG; 50% of those participated in a face-to-face appointment at the Writing Center; 100% of those scheduled feedback by e-mail appointments; 0% scheduled a webcam/IM appointment or used the quick questions feature.
100% of participants who responded to the exit survey said they would definitely recommend the Writing Center to a friend.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Have the Writing Center Visit Your Class
Having Writing Center Tutors visit your class for a ten to fifteen minute presentation at the start of the quarter will let your students know about the many resources available to them and make them more comfortable using these resources.
If your class is at the Loop Campus, you can arrange a visit simply by completing the form on the Writing Center's website at this address: http://condor.depaul.edu/~writing/html/fac/pres.html
If your class is at a Suburban Campus, Writing Center tutors will be dropping by classes in the first few weeks of the quarter to ask if they can do a quick presentation.
If you teach online, please point out to your students that the Writing Center provides feedback by email as well as online tutoring using instant messaging and webcams. They can learn more here: http://condor.depaul.edu/~writing/html/sched/index.html
If your class is at the Loop Campus, you can arrange a visit simply by completing the form on the Writing Center's website at this address: http://condor.depaul.edu/~writing/html/fac/pres.html
If your class is at a Suburban Campus, Writing Center tutors will be dropping by classes in the first few weeks of the quarter to ask if they can do a quick presentation.
If you teach online, please point out to your students that the Writing Center provides feedback by email as well as online tutoring using instant messaging and webcams. They can learn more here: http://condor.depaul.edu/~writing/html/sched/index.html
For your syllabus
The Writing Center has developed the following syllabus supplement detailing their services for SNL students. Please consider adding it to your syllabus.
___________________________
The Writing Center
All students are urged to utilize the Writing Center to discuss their assignments for this course or any others. For your convenience, writing groups have been established under the direction of the Writing Center on the Oak Forest, Naperville, and O’Hare campuses, meeting Saturdays from Sept. 26 to Nov. 14 at 10 am. You may also use our online services at your convenience, including Feedback-by-Email and IM conferencing (with or without a webcam). If you are able to use services at the Loop and Lincoln Park campuses, you may schedule appointments (30 or 50 minutes) on an as-needed or weekly basis, scheduling up to 3 hours worth of appointments per week. All writing center services are free.
Writing Center tutors are specially selected and trained graduate and undergraduate students who can help you at almost any stage of your writing. They will not do your work for you, but they can help you focus and develop your ideas, review your drafts, and polish your writing. They can answer questions about grammar, mechanics, different kinds of writing styles, and documentation formats. They also can answer questions and provide feedback online, through IM/webcam chats and email. Obviously, the tutors won’t necessarily be familiar with every class or subject, but they are able to provide valuable help from the perspective of an interested and careful reader as well as a serious and experienced student-writer.
Schedule your appointments with enough time to think about and use the feedback you’ll receive. Bring your assignment handout and other relevant materials to your appointments.
Quick Links & Locations:
- For information regarding the Suburban Campus Writing Group program, visit http://condor.depaul.edu/~writing/html/sched/suburbs.html
- To schedule an appointment at the Center’s LPC and Loop locations: http://condor.depaul.edu/~writing/html/sched/WCOnline.html
- To schedule Real-time conversations with IM and/or webcam: http://condor.depaul.edu/~writing/html/sched/im.htm
- To request Feedback by Email: http://condor.depaul.edu/~writing/html/sched/email.html
- Loop Campus Office: 1620 Lewis Center, 312.362.672
- Lincoln Park Office: 250 McGaw, 773.325.4272
- For more information, visit: http://www.depaul.edu./~writing/
Friday, August 28, 2009
"Students Just Don't Know How to Read Anymore"
If you find yourself thinking the problem with your students' writing or with class discussions is that your students are not reading critically, try one of the strategies suggested here by Shelly Reid of George Mason University.
Welcome to our new writing teachers
Over the past few quarters, we've been lucky to have some additions to our group of writing teachers:
- Long-time SNL faculty member Renee Gilbert started teaching writing online this summer.
- Pamela Sourelis will also be joining our online writing faculty starting this fall. Pamela has an MA for DePaul's English Department, an MFA from Vermont College and has been teaching writing for over 25 years.
- Tom Dow will be teaching online and on-campus. Tom has his MA and PhD from Loyola and is currently the Chair of the Communications, Literature and Languages Department at Moraine Valley Community College.
In addition to these wonderful part-time teachers, we were fortunate to get two full-time writing instructor positions this year. These positions will be filled by Katie Wozniak and Stephanie Triller, both of whom have MAs from DePaul. Katie has already taught for us part-time while Stephanie has been teaching at Truman College.
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