Introduce
Yourself
Always introduce yourself to the client right away. If you have
trouble pronouncing the client’s name, ask him or her to pronounce
it for you, several times if necessary, until you can say their
name correctly. If it helps, go ahead and write down the client’s
name phonetically so that you can remember. Clients will see how
much respect you have for them, and it will do
much to establish an immediate rapport. It’s essential to be on a
comfortable, first-name basis.
A Bit of Small Talk, if It Doesn’t
Feel Forced
Sometimes it helps to talk about anything but writing for the
first minute or so. This can help some students feel more
relaxed. You don’t have to do this if it feels
awkward or false, of course. Whether you’re chatty by nature, or
have more of a “let’s-get-down-to-business” personality, you need
to be true to your own personality. Just always try to be aware of
how your approach might have positive and negative effects on
certain students.
Don’t Gossip about the
Faculty!
If a client comes to you and starts venting about their
Professor’s terrible personality, you cannot join in and agree—even
if you too think Professor X is awful. You can say what you want
about faculty outside of the Writing Center, but during
conversations with clients on Writing Center premises, you must
maintain a professional attitude.
Resist the Temptation to Correct
Every Error
Many times you’ll take one look at the client’s paper and
immediately see a bunch of errors staring up at you. And you will
want to start circling and correcting and explaining them right
away. Try not to do this if you haven’t yet
considered some of the global concerns. If you spend half an hour
correcting a page or two of prose, only to discover at the end of
the session that the entire text has to be completely rewritten,
you’ve wasted a session. Also, you will feel more in
control of a session when you understand the direction of
the paper and writer; otherwise, you can get lost in the many
layers of errors and order to futilely attack them.
First, Get the Big Picture—Don’t
Miss the Forest for the Trees
Ideally (exceptions will be discussed below), you should focus
on global concerns first, then, if there’s time
remaining, shift to local concerns. Global, or “higher order”
concerns, pertain to the big picture: what’s the main topic or
thesis? How is the text organized? Has the writer effectively
anticipated the intended audience? Are the arguments sound, or
lacking in evidence? Such issues have to be addressed before moving
on to local, lower order concerns, which involve grammar, usage,
style, syntax, punctuation, and so forth.
5 Important
Questions
Be sure you have the answers to these questions before you get
too far into the session, for the client’s answers can dramatically
alter the nature of your conversation:
1. What is the
course?
2. What is the
assignment/do we have it in our binders?
3. When is the assignment
due?
4. What specific tasks or
requirements, if any, have been issued by the
professor?
5. What would the client like to
accomplish during this session?
See It in Writing
Ask the student to see a copy of the
assignment. Don’t just rely on the student’s
interpretation of the assignment. Many times a student will have
misinterpreted the writing task, so if possible you should begin by
looking at any written information supplied by the professor. It’s
pointless to spend a session talking about a writing assignment if
the student has misinterpreted the nature of that assignment from
the beginning.
If the student has no such written information, obviously just
go with what the student tells you.
Don’t Get Stuck in a
Rut: Avoid Burn-Out
Do whatever you can to make the sessions a little bit
different from each other. Experiment with a “high
risk/high yield” approach to consulting; try new techniques. Sit
someplace else. Work outside of your comfort zone. Use a handbook a
lot if you haven’t done much of that. If you do use Writing Center
sources extensively in your tutorials, spend a session using
nothing at all. Vary your approach, experiment, and do anything to
keep this activity interesting, not predictable.
Manage Expectations
Remember, you have about 40-45 minutes to work with the student.
Be sure that they understand that they may walk away with work to
do on their own – that they’ll need to apply whatever insights
they’ve gained with you to other parts of their paper.