Harris 1 Dionte Harris Nabila Hijazi ENGL388W 25 April 2014 From the Soul of a Writer and Now Writing

Tutor, I am Your Friend; I Promise I find myself physically struggling to put pen to paper, or in this case fingers to keys, to answer a question that some would probably find pretty simple: what is your statement of tutoring philosophy? Ill write a sentence, and then erase it. No, thats not what I mean I say to myself, but in reality the erased sentence is exactly what I mean. The struggle with this question comes from not knowing my tutoring philosophy, or rather not being aware of it. However, I do know that whatever my philosophy is, it is constantly changing, molding, and reshaping itself. So in order to answer the question, I find myself having to merge it into two others: what do I hope to achieve as a writing tutor? And more importantly, what do I hope that the writer obtains during our session? To the initial question, I apologize, sincerely, for my shortcomings in providing a response. To the latter questions, I say that, in short, I want to be a friend: a confidant that the writer can casually converse with about their writing, save of the fear of impressing or receiving a grade. I want the writer to feel at ease, to let them know that I come with a pencil not a red pen. I want to encourage every writer to fully utilize their voice and writing style as well as blur the feeling of hierarchy in the writing center and improve writing by utilizing collaboration between myself and the writer, for am I not, myself, a writing student? I want to help writers feel comfortable in talking to about their writingto bury the Im not a good writer mentality, and, therefore, allow every writer to be opened to what they do well, for no one does everything well.

Harris 2 All in all, I want the writers to feel as though they can conquer the world because they have built on their skills, they have the tools to continue to improve, and they have an increased confidence in their writing. To cultivate a confidence about their writing abilities in the student, using the aforementioned strategies, so that he or she feels comfortable and certain in their style of writingthat is my tutoring philosophy. Like most fields in academia, writing is collaborative. When a writer sits down, I let him or her know that reviewing the writing will be a collaborative effort. I think that writers like when the tutor, at least, seems as if they care, or as if they are interested, in the writing so much so that they vicariously take it on as their own. Ive found that most students are comfortable with this except for the ones who make appointments solely to gain extra credit or to correct grammar mistakes. I ask the writers to briefly explain the argument, or purpose, of the writing: what is he or she trying to get across? What should readers get when theyve completed the reading? By doing this, I find myself shortly acting as a Garret center in which the knowledge is in side the student and my job is to help him or her get in touch with the it (Lunsford 72). By picking at the writers brain and having them verbally tell me what the writing is about, I find that sometimes there are disparities between what is meant to be said and what is actually said. At this point, the session moves into a purely collaborative environment in which goals are clearly defined andthe jobs at hand engage everyone fairly (Lunsford 73). Collaboration is important, especially in writing. The bouncing of ones thoughts and ideas to another person and receiving feedback, suggestions, insight, etc. to them advances the writing. And with this collaboration, it is important to advocate that a writer writes in his or her unique voice. I think that we should push writers into using their distinct voices. I had a brainstorming session with a female student who was beginning her Considering Another Side

Harris 3 paper, and she made a statement that was very much informative, very much eloquent, and very much in the African American Vernacular. I told her to write down what she just said, but she was nervous about phrasing it exactly like that in her actual paper. It was her call; I wish it wasnt taboo to use the vernacular in academic writing, but it is. And because it is I make sure to encourage our different, our African American, ESL, Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, other minority, and even Caucasian students to utilize their voice no matter how many times they were told that it was wrong. We should push them to slip and begin speaking in a way that is comfortable and familiar to set themselves apart, not to be clones of a standard writing style (Barron and Grimm 305). Although I mentioned how much I push for writers to write in his or her voice, I am hesitant to assert a lot of authority in sessions. Yet I do know that in some cases tutors need to project themselves as the expert to gain control. I had a session where the student told me that he came because the instructor was giving extra credit; however, the writer still seemed to be initially interested in improving his writing. We started going through the writing and he took out his phone; I was reading so I kept going and he shortly focused his attention back to the paper. A few minutes later he took his phone out again. To this day, I question if I handled that situation appropriately? Should I have established a hierarchal relationship between the writer and myself? Should I have become the teacher? As Peter Carino of Indiana State University puts it, should I have asserted myself? Therefore, I would have at least shared the authority with the student, instead of allowing the session to go astray because of my lack of authority (120-121). While I find myself siding with Lunsdords idea of collaboration and even Jeff Brooks, Seattle Pacific University, idea of minimalist tutoring, I cant help but think that Carino is right. I should have

Harris 4 had more authority. Yet, in my tutoring I have found that students like when they have the opportunity to talk, to do all the work (Brooks 128). Ive only recently had the opportunity to employ the minimalist tutoring during a session. The writer wanted me to fix their paper, but I suggested reading through it together so that we can improve it together. Once the writer started to read, there was no stopping him. He found all of his mistakes and expounded on points that needed to be explained without being forced. During this session I found out how important it is to be a friend, to be a pair of listening ears to the writer. Brooks says, When we refuse to edit, we become more active than ever as educators. In writing center, we have the luxury of time that the classroom teacher does not have. We can spend that time talking and listening (129). Ive found that if we can get the writer to talk, we can actually improve their writing, not just their papers. However, I still am hesitant to fully employ the minimalist style, because I feel that a lack of active collaboration. I find myself conducting a balancing act between minimalist tutoring in order to make sure both the writer and myself gets the most out of each session. However, during this semester, Ive found that not everyone is open to collaboration, or even talking, about his or her writing. In such cases what do we, as writing tutors, do when a writer is reticent for whatever reason? The short answer is that there is no answer. Here is where we become artists as Steve Sherwood of Texas Christian University says. From English as Second Language writer to Hemingway, everyone learns differently; therefore, our job is to be adaptable in our approach to every tutoring session. What happens when a painter accidently streaks his greens into his reds? Does he scrap the entire portrait, or does he try his hardest to salvage it? As tutors we have to try our hardest to salvage the session and continue to help the writer. As Sherwood says, tutors begin to cultivate a taste for surprise (101). We do not know

Harris 5 who is coming to see us beforehand; we do not get to research the writer before they come. But even if they are repeat clients, we cannot base attitudes, moods, and emotions based off of the previous sessions. Therefore, we have to know how to respond to circumstance by accessing our improvisation, or go with the flow, skills. As tutors, it is important that we learn to think on our feet and have a full understanding of kairos: the Greek principle meaning fit for occasion (103). Actors, painters, instructors, and most of all friends, the writing tutor has to be all of this and more. Im not there yet. Im not sure of myself as a tutor yet. Am I doing this right? A small part of me thinks that I am, a large part of me hopes that I am. As I tell the writer during a session, you cannot base your success on how well the person next to you is doing; you have to base your success on your progression. And taking my own advice, I dont know if Im doing this rightif there is a way to do writing rightbut I do know that when writers leave a session with a smile on their faces, some part of my philosophy is working. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for your time,

Thank you.

Harris 6 Works Cited Barrons, Nancy, and Nancy Grimm. "Addressing Racial Diversity in a Writing Center: Stories and Lessons from Two Beginners." The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing Tutors. Ed. Christina Murphy and Steve Sherwood. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. N. pag. Print. Brooks, Jeff. "Minimalist Tutoring: Making the Student Do All the Work."The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing Tutors. By Christina Murphy. Ed. Steve Sherwood. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. N. pag. Print. Carino, Peter. "Power and Authority in Peer Tutoring." The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing Tutors. Ed. Christina Murphy and Steve Sherwood. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. N. pag. Print. Lunsford, Andrea. "Collaboration, Control, and the Idea of a Writing Center."The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing Tutors. Ed. Christina Murphy. By Steve Sherwood. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. N. pag. Print. Sherwood, Steve. "Portrait of the Tutor as an Artist: Lessons No One Can Teach." The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing Tutors. Ed. Christina Murphy. By Steve Sherwood. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. N. pag. Print.