In the aftermath of the 2008 economic recession, cash-strapped universities have tried to balance their books by slashing programs perceived as “non-essential”. As a result, university programs and departments have been forced to justify their existence in order to protect themselves against further cuts. In the midst of this fight for funding, humanities programs, including the writing department, tend to bear the brunt of cuts. The value of writing programs has never been so disputed in the entire history of American education. In light of this new trend, the question of what exactly the writing program is has never been more pertinent. More specifically, we can ask what writing tutoring programs have to offer at increasingly …show more content…
This point will move in either direction based on the specific needs of my student. The more a student requires directive methods of instruction, the more the point will move closer to academic discourse, while the same holds true for non-directive methods and peer discourse. Changes in directiveness and non-directiveness are also changes in power; the more directive I become, the more I am using my power as a tutor, while the less directive I become, the more I act as a peer.
The tutor’s status as peer or authority evolves dynamically throughout the session as the needs of the student are addressed. One of my students quoted a large excerpt from the course readings, failing to realize that it’s conventional to paraphrase quotes instead. No amount of non-directive questioning would lead her to the right answer, because she simply didn’t have the requisite experience with academic discourse to generate this knowledge on her own. In this case, I had to directly inform her on the conventions of paraphrasing in order to improve her paper, not ask a series of futile, non-directive questions. Since I used my knowledge of academic discourse to directly tell her what to do, I moved the session closer to the academic, directive, and power-based side of the spectrum. I effectively intermediated between the discourse of academia and the discourse of my peer. Later in the session, I asked her if
Adrienne Rich’s essay about “Teaching Language in Open Admissions” left me with much to ponder. I echo her sentiment about the “secret fantasy of many teachers: the ill-scrawled essay...which has the mark of genius” (Rich 14). I think all teachers have the innate desire to be able to say at some point, “Hey! I taught that student!” Rich explains that the SEEK program was for those students traditionally written off from college because of “the politics of their situation” (19). I’ve seen students in similar circumstances within my own teaching experiences. Rich mentions students with no nostalgia for high school or the experiences found there. As a high school teacher, it hurts my heart that there are so many students who do not have good experiences or memories of high school. Working in a non-traditional public high school gives me a different perspective on the traditional educational system. I have to agree with Rich, “that education has failed for too many students” (21). I was especially given pause by the thought that writing offers a type of freedom for students (Rich 23). I had never considered the freedom offered by writing expression.
Wardle says that any new worker, who is becoming member of a discourse community, encounters issues with authority and identity concerning learning to write for the workplace. In order for the new worker to learn new written practices, they may be asked to “give up some measure of authority to which they believe they are entitled” (Wardle 4) Wardle means that whatever the workplace recognizes as effective or appropriate, although it may not be, has to be recognized by the new worker as such. Hence, the new worker is being asked to give up values of efficiency and ethics for the sake of fitting into their workplace. Wardle defines authority as “an intangible quality granted to persons through institutions, which renders their pronouncements
The real world’s standards are constantly evolving, growing ever more demanding on the public education system, yet despite this the primary indicator used for the success of the public education system is the high school graduation rate. The high school graduation rate is a deeply flawed statistic conceived many decades ago and hasn’t changed at all, failing to encompass better and broader definitions for public education system success. However, the focus on critical writing skills at New Dorp High School had the effect of dramatically increasing the school’s graduation rate from 63 percent before the “writing revolution” to 80 percent (Tyre). At face value the increase is a tremendous success, but just because a student can graduation high school does not mean they have the technical skills to prepare them for college or the workforce. A list of the fastest growing occupations in the United States provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics mostly includes jobs from the medical field or occupations that require
One aspect that has been suggested and criticized all at once is the notion of having a purposefully diverse cast of writing center tutors. Bethany Davila, a graduate student and writing center tutor at DePaul University, claims, “When writing centers fail to acknowledge or question the power structure within which
Linguist James Paul Gee introduces the concept of literacy discourse by defining language as both what an individual says and how they present it. Literary language an important factor to maintaining academic discourse, because as Gee suggests this influences discourses being used correctly . Furthermore Gee suggests that in order to follow the intended guidelines correct discourse “must say or write the right thing in the right way while playing the right social role.” (pg.6) Indeed, within my academic experience using discourse here at Wayne State University, I agree with Gees definition of student’s adaptation of behavioral roles set by the institution. For example, students at Wayne State are expected to achieve a steady progression
Cynthia Haven is the writer of an article called “The New Literacy: Stanford study finds richness and complexity in students' writing” that is a study based on the amount of writing college students do. She followed students at Stanford during their undergraduate years and the first year after that. She discovered that today’s students are writing more than any generation before it. Cynthia had the students she was studying submit all of the writing they did, academic or personal. She found that only 62 percent of the work submitted to her was for classes; the rest of the material was “Life writing”.
In 2003, the National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges published a report called The Neglected ‘’R’’: The Need for a Writing Revolution. This report argued that ‘’writing has been forgotten in American schools for the past 20 years and how now it must receive the attention it deserves’’. As the name of the report mentions, there are three Rs in education. This refers to the foundations of a basic skills-oriented education program in schools: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. According to the above mentioned report published in 2003, ‘’Writing, Education’s Second R, has become the neglected element of American school reform. The school improvement journey that began 20 years ago with the publication of A Nation at Risk
University Writing Center (UWC) and Academic Success Center (ASC) are two of the university facilities that help students enrich their academic experience. While UWC assists students in improving their written and oral communication skills through one to one consulting sessions, online resources, and workshops, ASC works to enhance students’ intellectual performance through academic coaching, supplemental instruction, drop-in tutoring sessions, and peer mentoring. Both of the organizations take a collaborative learning approach to encourage students to develop necessary study skills for academic success and increase student retention. ASC offers various student development programs; however, our focus for this proposal will be on drop-in tutoring services offered by ASC.
Trazodone: This is an antidepressant classified as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor which is used mainly in the treatment of depression. Trazodone selectively hinders the reuptake of serotonin, causing the serotonin concentration in the brain’s synapses to increase (American Psychiatric Association, 2010). This increase in serotonin is thought to exert a penile erection however there is no clear evidence that supports this. It is used as a 50-200mg dose per night while the common side effects include dry mouth, fatigue and drowsiness. (Padush, n.d)
Bolero's restaurant, located on the grounds of the Seville Golf & Country Club in Gilbert, serves scrumptious modern American cuisine in its bright and welcoming eatery.For starters try the crispy lobster corn dogs with sweet chili ketchup and the baby golden beet salad with pistachios and goat cheese mousse. Entrees include the California sea bass with a white bean and panchetta cassoulet, the four cheese ravioli in a tomato vodka cream sauce and the herb roasted half chicken with mac and cheese. House specialties, like the bacon wrapped tenderloin with cornbread stuffing and the ciopinno, a seafood stew with shrimp, scallops, crab and white fish in a spicy tomato broth. Make sure to have the fried banana split for dessert, with ice cream,
Besides the fact that the writing center is understaffed, there are some challenges faced every day by all writing centers, not just the writing center at NOVA Alexandria. Some of these challenges were mentioned in a paper by Rachel Cooke and Carol Blesdoe, “(1) guiding students through the sequence of the writing process; (2) assisting students who may be uncertain about assignment guidelines; (3) operating under time constraints; (4) empowering students to take charge of their learning; and (5)evaluation of sources for quality and preventing plagiarism.”
Fish’s piece reflects upon most of college-level English courses lacking in their focus on composition and the craft of writing (n.p.). Stanley Fish’s “What Should Colleges Teach?” makes a lackluster claim by having insufficient evidence to back said claim
The nature of writing has changed in the past century. While writing still remains a form of visual communication, much of this change has been a result of technological advancements such as, from pen to paper or from a typewriter to a networked computer. The changes and expansion in the ways we are able to write today have brought about changes in writing pedagogy as well. The teaching of writing has been part of formal schooling in the United States for over 200 years (Kean 7). One major pedagogic change in United States’ education has to do with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. These standards have led to a change in the instruction of writing in schools. This paper, will focus on instructional changes of writing over time and current expectations for writing abilities as whole.
Incompetence in literature is on the rise in today’s society. “Students in two- and four-year colleges have the greatest difficulty with quantitative literacy: approximately 30 percent of students in two-year institutions and nearly 20 percent of students in 4-year institutions have only basic quantitative literacy.” (cite) In “The Shadow Scholar”, Jonathan Barkat tells the story of Ed Dante, a ghost writer who is paid significantly well for writing numerous papers for higher education students. “The Shadow Scholar” not only illustrates the ghost writing community, but also exposes serious flaws in the educational system and shows just how far students are willing to go in the quest for academic perfection.
I believe that achieving success in teaching very different aspects of life may still combine similar processes. My life in high school was very similar to the lives of many other students in that it revolved around two things: sports and school. My sport of choice was tennis and my favorite academic area was English. Unexpectedly, I found many similarities led to a successful performance in both areas. My understanding of the need for a good program to follow and a lot of practice with it led to success in both tennis and my academic performance (especially English). Upon becoming a recognized player in my area, I decided to take the skill that I knew better than any other and utilize it as a