Skip to main content

Blog 5: BF chapters 2,3

 Chapter 2 talks about what actually happens during a session, and how to go about doing it well. Important points to remember are to introduce yourself (duh), and give the writer control over their paper. Ask them questions about it, the writing is theirs, now yours. instead of correcting individual grammatical issues, point out trends, and have them learn to recognize and fix them on their own. Keep tools and resources nearby.  It's good to have structure in your sessions, Manage the writer's expectations by having them list their goals for the session. Always be an active listener and respond to what the writer is saying. Wrap up sessions a bit early to provide for time for feedback and reflection.

Chapter 3 talks about tutoring through the writing process. It's stated that the linear form of prewriting, writing, and revising is inadequate for tutors. "writing is recursive," so people go back to earlier parts of their paper to rewrite them. The process of discovery is much better. What you start out with in your plan probably won't be what you end up with. It then discusses the stages of writing: prewriting, drafting, and revising. 

I like the idea that writing is recursive. This probably sounds bad, but I almost never know how my paper is going to end up.  As I write, I come up with new ideas and points and struggle to fit them into my paper in a logical way, so my prewriting phase is usually quite vague, leaving a lot of flexibility in how I go about writing the actual papers. Unfortunately, this makes my papers seem to lack central ideas and, well, structure. 

I wish I knew how I could make my writing still have strong structure, while still allowing it to change as I write. 

Comments