The First Blog

Well this is the first time I'm ever writing I blog so hopefully this goes well. First I want to talk about the class discussion about the expectancy of a tutor. Basically, coming into this class I was expecting a writing tutor to be someone that guides a tutee through a paper the student decides to bring in. Some of the errors the tutor may look for involve problems in syntax, structure of paragraphs, and even problems in the ideas that the student has included in his/her paper. Following our class discussion, I still basically believe a writing tutor has to fulfill those basic tasks. However, I know also realize that the tutor should also focus more on the writer himself. The tutor should work on helping the writer become a better writer, instead of just working on the paper become a better paper. This is idea was emphasized to me not only in the class discussion, but also in Stephen North's article, "The Idea of a Writing Center."

Throughout North's article, I get the idea that he wants everyone to realize that a writing center isn't a place students should go to for someone to do their paper for them. Instead, the writing center should be used as a tool for students to help better themselves so they can become better writers. One specific instance that stood out to me came on page 441 when North presents a typical remark from someone who uses the writing center. In this remark, the person says that even after the visit to the writing center, their paper was still full of errors. North goes on to say, "The axiom, if you will recall, is that we aim to make better writers, not necessarily-or immediately- better text." This helped me more understand what a writer tutor should want to be, but at the same time raises the question: Do students who come into the writing center want to become better writers, or do they simply want better texts?

While reading Kenneth Bruffee's article, "Collaborative Learning and the 'Conversation of Mankind,'" I realized how much conversation can help someone learn. Bruffee sites some writers, including Michael Oakshott. Oakshott relates conversation to reflective thought by saying human conversation is the external action for reflective thought. So, in my terms, people are constantly having conversations, either with themselves or with others. He goes on to explain how when people think, they have internal conversations. So, when people talk with other people, they are basically externally thinking. This idea could play a bug role in the writing center because when a student comes in they may not have any more idea about the paper their writing. So, as writing tutors it becomes our job to give the student the ability to use us another way of thinking.