Re: tutor training

["Meg Larson" <mgl@tardis.svsu.edu>]

Thanks so much for your help and for responding so quickly.  This will help me a lot.



"Never look where you're going--you'll only scare yourself"--P.J. O'Rourke

Meg Larson
Saginaw Valley State University



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> From: Dr. Deborah Martinson <dmartin@oxy.edu>
> To: Multiple recipients of list <wcenter@ttacs6.ttu.edu>
> Subject: Re: tutor training
> Date: Wednesday, November 20, 1996 12:24 PM
> 
> Meg,
>         Tom Burkdall and I teach (together) the tutor training coarse at
> Occidental. Sometimes we are both there, sometimes one of us is at a
> meeting. We do plan the class together and try to both attend. The college
> does not count this class as one of our "real" classes, so in essence we do
> it for free. Part of both of our jobs, however, is running the writing
> center, so...
>         We have approximately 10 peer advisors for each semester. With a few
> exceptions, students take the class for one year, and work in the writing
> center for that year. The entire year course gives them the 4 units they
> need for a full class. The catalogue says of this course, "Eng. Writing 395:
> An exploration of the theory and practice of writing instruction,
> emphasizing rhetorical strategies, audience expectations, and forms of
> academic discourse. Collaborative techniques and interpersonal dynamics will
> also be discussed." (We have a WAC program, and a frosh colloquia taught by
> faculty from across the curriculum --this, plus spring semester research
> seminars, is the FWP. The advisors work with Frosh- Sr students from all
> disciplines.) We meet once a week for an hour, sometimes discussing
> theoretical readings, sometimes investigating pedagogical issues within
> teaching and  advising, sometimes requiring them to write and respond to
> theoretical and pedagogical concerns. Sometimes we just discuss the issues
> that arise. Often we follow that discussion with articles and research that
> respond to earlier discussion. We use essays from Writing Lab, Writing
> Center books, CCC articles, writing program manuals--in short, anything
> appropriate that we can find. For the past 3 weeks for example, we have been
> discussing ESL issues.This concern surfaced from advisor worries. To address
> it, we used this months writing lab as a point of departure, John Edlund's
> materials (with his permission) and tomorrow we are sending writing advisors
> to the WEB, with Eric Crump's latest posts,to do their own research. Because
> we are small, and because Tom and I work well together,  this flexible
> approach to the class works. We also require they see each other, document
> their own session as writer, write a retrospective about each semester, and
> see and talk to Tom or I about all of this. 
>         Sorry so long, Debby
>