Consultant Shadowing (Day 1)

For my first day shadowing a writing consultant, the consultant and I just pretty much talked about what it is like to be a writing consultant and what her sessions are usually like. She had no appointments set up, so all we could do was talk to each other. I asked my consultant what she usually does or tries to do with each session. She looks for an emailed draft of the writer's paper and prints out, briefly reading through it and makes few notes about what she is seeing. If there is no emailed draft, she spends the first few minutes reading over the draft the writer brings to the session. She takes the first couple of minutes just getting to know the paper and the assignment. From there, she asks the writer exactly what he/she wants to work on. She gets the writer to talk about what he/she is working (i.e. texts, discussions, etc.) on and what he/she thinks of the it. She then goes on to point out different trends she sees in the paper and tries to help the writer to see how those mistakes can be fixed by having the writer talk about the trends. My consultant also related several stories of students who will come into the writing center for help with study abroad applications and grant applications. This caught me by surprised in a way, because I had never thought that students could go to the center for help with applications. In my head, I just figured that students use the writing center for class assignments, so hearing about the students who come in for application help was an eye-opener for me.

One piece of information I found interesting in my conversation with my writing consultant is the way she helps students who may be having problems with making an argument in a writing assignment. She noted that the hardest thing a writing consultant faces is helping writers with an argument or working on the message of the paper. Her approach to this problem? She says she just tries to get the writer to talk. She encourages them to just say their argument out loud. As the writer speaks, she makes notes of what the writer is saying. In the end, she takes the writer through the notes and helps him/her to see ideas that he/she did not realize existed. So, in a sense, she has the writer free-write out loud. I also asked her about something we discussed in class: what do you do when a writer simply wants help with grammar and punctuation, not with argument? Simply put, she just helps them a bit with what they want, but if she sees something while reading the paper, she makes sure to point it out in the nicest way possible. However, if the writer is stuck on getting help only with grammar and punctuation, she just refers him/her to the writer's web or gives them handouts available in the writing center that deals with grammar and punctuation.

Although there was no appointment for my first day of shadowing, I think that I actually appreciate the opportunity to sit down and talk to my consultant before actually diving into an actual session with a writer. It is great to hear what a consultant should or should not do from a professor or from the boss, but it is more empowering to hear it from a consultant who has actually dealt with writers in sessions.