Prompt # 10, 11, 12: Weeks of Nov. 13-December 4

Comment on the experience of sharing your thoughts and ideas with a “public” audience outside of your teacher and classmates.  What did you do differently than you might have if the audience were all people you knew? How, for example, did you address the challenge of tone and voice? As time went on, in what ways did you become more comfortable with the genre of blogging and/or did a different set of challenges surface?

After creating your post, select a category or two that best represents your post including the category that represents your “group.” For example, if you are in Group “A” and your post is about the role of the tutor and the politics, you should choose the following labels: Category A, the tutor, and politics.

Prompt #9: Week of November 6th

Share with our blog-o-sphere a strategy to improve written text at the global level (think: higher-order concern) in a writing tutoring session. Follow these three guidelines:

1) Set the scene. In other words, in what scenario would you use the strategy?

2) Describe the strategy in detail (perhaps number or bullet if appropriate), including the use of any handouts or visual or kinesthetic aids.

3) Include dialogue when you can: how would you explain the strategy to the writer or how would you walk the writer through the strategy? Write specific dialogue to help others see how they can implement the strategy.

After creating your post, select a category or two that best represents your post including the category that represents your “group.” For example, if you are in Group “A” and your post is about the role of the tutor and the politics, you should choose the following labels: Category A, the tutor, and politics.

Prompt #8: Week of October 30th

Imagine a scenario in which you work with a writer whose paper challenges one of your core beliefs.  Describe the situation and discuss a strategy you might use to address the disconnect between your belief and that of the writer. What factors might go into your decision to challenge the writer’s belief?

After creating your post, select a category or two that best represents your post including the category that represents your “group.” For example, if you are in Group “A” and your post is about the role of the tutor and the politics, you should choose the following labels: Category A, the tutor, and politics.  If you do not belong to a group, then you should not choose a group label.

 

Prompt #7: Week of October 23rd

Describe an experience you’ve had with learning to write in another language and how you think that will help you tutor non-native speakers. Consider not only the difficulty you might have had with word choice and grammar, but also larger issues such as trying to write in a language with different cultural conventions regarding directness or personal voice, etc.

After creating your post, select a category or two that best represents your post including the category that represents your “group.” For example, if you are in Group “A” and your post is about the role of the tutor and the politics, you should choose the following labels: Category A, the tutor, and politics.

Prompt #6: Week of October 16th

Using the readings, write a blog post that considers the challenges to a writing tutor when serving as a cultural informant.
More specifically, write about the ways the tutor/writer relationship might be shaped by power dynamics such as culture, language, race, gender, ability, sexuality, etc.

After creating your post, select a category or two that best represents your post including the category that represents your “group.” For example, if you are in Group “A” and your post is about the role of the tutor and the politics, you should choose the following labels: Category A, the tutor, and politics.

Prompt #5: Week of October 9

Using your readings, specifically the Bartholomae and/or other literacy texts we’ve read, discuss a moment in your college experience in which you needed a cultural informant.  A cultural informant is someone who serves as a “tour guide” for academic discourse and can “show you the ropes.”  After sharing your experience, discuss how you can use this experience to support novice academic writers?

After creating your post, select a category or two that best represents your post including the category that represents your “group.” For example, if you are in Group “A” and your post is about the role of the tutor and the politics, you should choose the following labels: Category A, the tutor, and politics.

Prompt #4: Post for the Week of October 2nd

Share with our blog-o-sphere a strategy to improve written text at the sentence level in a writing tutoring session. Follow these three guidelines:

 1) Set the scene. In other words, in what scenario would you use the strategy?

 2) Describe the strategy in detail (perhaps number or bullet if appropriate).

3) Include dialogue when you can: how would you explain the strategy to the writer or how would you walk the writer through the strategy? Write specific dialogue to help others see how they can implement the strategy.

After creating your post, select a category or two that best represents your post including the category that represents your “group.” For example, if you are in Group “A” and your post is about the role of the tutor and the politics, you should choose the following labels: Category A, the tutor, and politics.

Prompt 3: Week of September 25th

Using specific references to the readings we’ve done so far this semester and your own personal experience, respond to the following prompt:

For this week, share and reflect on a single moment in a tutoring session when authority and/or control over the writer’s text came into play. Use vivid and concrete examples (engage our senses!) and focus on a single moment. You won’t be able to capture an entire experience, so be sure to choose the moment carefully.

Have some fun with this, and be as creative as you can with your post. Consider creating a comic strip, short video reenactment, monologue, Prezi, short screenplay, song, slide show, puppet show, etc. If you use visuals, however, explain them with some written text.

After creating your post, select a category or two that best represents your post including the category that represents your “group.” For example, if you are in Group “A” and your post is about the role of the tutor and the politics, you should choose the following labels: Category A, the tutor, and politics.

Blog Post Prompt #2: Week of September 18th

Using specific references to the readings we’ve done so far this semester and your own personal experience, respond to the following prompt:

Writing centers have different names for the people who do writing center work, for example, consultant, tutor, peer tutor, writing fellow, or coach.  Select and explain your own metaphor, one that in your opinion best represents our work and the role we serve to support writing at the university. As you create your post, consider including an image or video that relates to your ideas.

After creating your post, be sure to select a category or two that best represents your post including the category that represents your “group.” For example, if you are in Group “A” and your post is about the role of the tutor and the politics, you should chose the following labels: Category A, the tutor, and politics.

Blog Post Prompt #1: Week of September 11th

Using specific references to this week’s readings and your own personal experience, respond to the following question:

Why should the university community value the work of a writing center and/or writing tutors? To answer this question, you might consider a specific individual or group of stakeholders to persuade.  As you create your post, take advantage of the blog format and consider including an image or video that relates to your ideas.

After creating your post, be sure to select a category or two that best represents your post including the category that represents your “group.” For example, if you are in Group “A” and your post is about the role of the tutor and the politics, you should choose the following labels: Category A, the tutor, and politics.