In my last post, I was talking about the changes I have made to motivate my students to speak with our Writing Consultants about their essays. I wanted to come back and reflect on how I have changed their relationship with the Writing Center through my own relationship with the Writing Center.

Getting to Know the Consultants

I knew our Writing Consultants before the summer began. I was in classes with some of them, knew others from professional organizations, and some I knew just from speaking in the hall or in another GTA’s office. But this summer, I’ve spent more time with them than I have before. For the most part, our conversations have been brief social interactions, but we do get professional as well. I think it is helpful to know the personality of the Writing Consultants when you plan to rely heavily on their input in your students’ writing development. We all know that some personalities just don’t work well together and I think it makes the relationship between Consultant and student that much better if I can recommend a specific consultant to a student based on the student’s personality.

With the first session of the summer semester nearly over, I can say in good faith that all of my students have found a consultant who best meshes with their own personality. Each of these students has learned that they can request an appointment with this tutor, even if it means that they have to wait until a later time to set their appointment. I know that this will mean that in the Fall semester they will have a better idea who they want to work with. So in the long run, it’s better for both the student and the consultant if I can give out good recommendations in the beginning.

Communicating (Professionally) with the Consultants

It goes without saying that Writing Consultants can only be as effective as you allow them to be. Our Writing Consultants work with students in all disciplines and with this comes the need for clarity on assignments. In the past, I have always told my students to take the Writing Assignment prompt with them so that the Consultant had an idea as to what the students were doing. But that is not really enough for the Consultant to work with.

This semester, I’ve spoken to the Consultants specifically about the assignments that my students have, I have forwarded them handouts I’ve provided the students and spent time speaking to them about questions they had with the assignments. I think that for this reason, the Consultants have a chance to give more concrete advice in their sessions. This is a key for a good writing consultation. If my students are getting advice that is too vague because the Consultant doesn’t know what’s going on in the class, then the students have a harder time applying the advice to their paper. So, if we can create a relationship where the students and the consultants know how to communicate about the specific things that I am looking for in an assignment, there will be much more improvement in the students work.

Availability and Access

One other thing that I’ve been working very hard to do this semester is make myself more available during my students’ writing consultations. This is somewhat simple for me since my office is literally next door to our Writing Center. With students setting up appointments during class, the Consultants know how to reach me for questions. But for students who do not have appointments during the class period, I encourage them to schedule their appointments during or close to my office hours or to let me know when they have an appointment. This allows me (for the most part) to make myself accessible to the student and consultant if they have questions.

Now, I am not saying that I’m hovering over the consultation. But knowing I am close enough to answer questions has led to several students coming into the office during a consultation to get clarity on a question. It has also led to several Consultants coming to make sure they are providing the most appropriate guidance on a sticky problem. I don’t discuss the consultation with either the student or the Consultant so that that relationship maintains the privelage that allows it to become a productive session. However, I have found that a student who is going the wrong way with an essay can be steeered back in the right direction in a consultation. I like to be nearby if I can help with this.

I have also given students permission to bring their Writing Consultant to their revision conferences. The revision portfolio is the most important part of First Year Composition and it stands to reason that if a student has worked consistently with the same Consultant for the duration of the drafts, they may want this Consultant to be present at the conference. While I have not had students take advantage of this yet, I have had several who made scrupulous notes in their conferences to take to their Consultant with their next appointment.

FInal Thoughts

I realize that the changes I have initiated over the past few weeks may not be the most feasible to every instructor and are much less feasible during the traditional academic year than in the summer. However, I plan to continue with as many of these changes as I can during the true academic year and see if I can continue to improve student writing as I have done this semester. The fact of the matter is that if only one of these changes becomes a full time part of my writing curriculum, it can make a change for the better. If I can get one more student to realize the value of the Writing Center before they leave First Year Composition, then I have one more student on the track to continual improvement in writing. All of my previous students who discovered the Writing Center in their early days of First Year Composition have continued to use the Consultation services throughout college. The key, though, is teaching the students how to put the Writing Center, the Consultants, and the consultation itself to good practice.